Homecoming 2025

2025 Homecoming Awards

	KEYNOTE SPEAKER 'Stars and Stripes in Orbit: Partnering to Preserve and Strengthen Space' Jessica Schafer (BS aerospace engineering, 2002) Director of Staff, Command Group and Special Staff Directorate U.S. Space Command
	ADVOCACY AWARD Sharon ONeal Professor of Practice, Software Engineering, University of Arizona; Member of Graduate Faculty ONeal, a professor of practice and former director of U of A’s software engineering program, is a major proponent of STEM as a tool for career success. She spent 35 years at Raytheon, an RTX Business, where she directed more than 550 engineers and became the first female senior fellow engineer. Drawing on that experience, she built the Bachelor of Science degree in software engineering from the ground up. ONeal has also endowed the Wildcat Engineering Trailblazer Scholarship and founded the Math Science and Technology Funfest in 2003, which has reached more than 75,000 K-12 students. She also serves on the board of directors of the Southern Arizona Research, Science and Engineering Foundation.
	BEAR DOWN AWARD W. Don McDonald (BS electrical engineering, 1965) Instructor - Senior Capstone Projects, College of Engineering, University of Arizona McDonald spent 40 years in the semiconductor industry, including serving as chief operating officer and board member for Intense Photonics, a semiconductor laser design and manufacturing company. He also ran JDS Uniphase Netherlands as president and CEO. Since 2016, he has mentored more than 30 Interdisciplinary Capstone teams to success at Craig M. Berge Design Day, with many projects focused on biomedical engineering. In June 2025, he and his wife, Sherry McDonald, committed $1 million to fund scholarships and BME capstone projects.
	PROFESSIONAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARD David Shilliday (BS mechanical engineering, 1994) Vice President & General Manager, Honeywell Aerospace Shilliday leads Honeywell Aerospace's Advanced Air Mobility unit as vice president and general manager, guiding the company's work in drone systems and urban air mobility. He has steered the unit to secure more than $10 billion in contracts with partners including Archer Aviation, BETA, Wisk and Vertical Aerospace. Now he's strengthening Honeywell's ties with the University of Arizona, building research partnerships with the College of Engineering that span aerospace, autonomy and advanced technologies.
	ALUMNI OF THE YEAR Susan Gray (BS electrical engineering, 1996) President & CEO, Tucson Electric Power Gray started at Tucson Electric Power in 1994 as an engineering student and collegiate swimmer. Over three decades, she rose to president and CEO of TEP, UniSource Energy Services and their parent company, UNS Energy Corporation. She now chairs The Chamber of Southern Arizona's board to steward economic development and serves on boards for the Southern Arizona Leadership Council and the University of Arizona's College of Engineering and Eller College of Management. Gray helped found Women in Energy, a company group that develops, mentors and inspires women in the energy industry.