Sonja B. Santelises
Honorary Degree Recipient
College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences, School of Social Work, Erickson School of Aging Studies Ceremony
Dr. Sonja Brookins Santelises has spent close to 30 years focused on building high-quality teaching and learning to help students excel. She first came to Baltimore City Public Schools as chief academic officer, serving in that role from 2010 to 2013. She returned to City Schools in July 2016 after three years as vice president for K-12 policy and practice at The Education Trust, a nonprofit organization focused on closing the achievement gap experienced disproportionately by African American, Latino, and Native students and students from low-income families.
Dr. Santelises came to Baltimore in 2010 from Boston, where she was the assistant superintendent for a network of 23 “pilot schools” with broad autonomy and a track record of successfully meeting students’ needs and improving the achievement of low-income students, particularly students of color. Prior to holding the pilot schools post, she was assistant superintendent for teaching and learning/professional development in Boston.
Dr. Santelises began her career in education as director of professional development and teacher placement with Teach for America (New York). She then served as a teacher and curriculum specialist at Decatur Clearpool School, a year-round school in Brooklyn, where she oversaw the founding of the middle school. Before joining Boston Public Schools, Dr. Santelises lectured on urban education for two years at Harvard University and spent six years as a senior associate with Focus on Results Inc., where she coached superintendents and trained school leaders in five major urban districts. Prior to that, she served as executive director of the New York City Algebra Project, the local site of the acclaimed national math reform program.
Throughout her career as an educator, academic, and administrator, Dr. Santelises has been steadfast in her belief that excellence in urban education is achievable at scale. “Our students have the same capacity for success as any other students,” she says. “We must communicate and demonstrate our complete confidence in that capacity, by charting a pathway to success for each individual child. The real challenge is ours – as educators – to hold ourselves and our students accountable for their achievement.”
Dr. Santelises is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Brown University. She holds a Master of Arts degree in education administration from Columbia University and a Doctor of Education in administration, planning, and social policy from Harvard University. She has lived in Baltimore with her husband and three daughters since 2010.
Anwesha Dey, Ph.D. ’04
Commencement Speaker
College of Natural and Mathematical Sciences, College of Engineering and Information Technology, Division of Undergraduate Academic Affairs Ceremony
Anwesha Dey is an executive director, and distinguished scientist in the Discovery Oncology Department at Genentech, regarded as the world’s first biotechnology company. Among Genentech’s transformational discoveries are the first targeted antibody for cancer and the first medicine for primary progressive multiple sclerosis.
In her role, Dr. Dey leads a large group of senior and principal scientists and group leaders across a wide range of disciplines. Her research is focused on understanding the biology of Hippo and PI3K signaling pathways and how they can be targeted for cancer therapy. Dr. Dey was part of the team whose research led to the most recent approval of Itovebi, which targets one of those key targets, PIK3CA using the P13K pathway. She has served as both the project team leader and biology lead for drug discovery program at Genentech where she leads an interdisciplinary team focused on biology, drug discovery, and translation to make medicines for cancer. She currently serves on the Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) of the Keystone Symposia. Dr. Dey is a recipient of the 2022 GWP Emerging Leader Award at Genentech, the 2023 Genentech Changemaker award, and is one of the 2024 National Academy of Medicine’s Emerging Leader in Health and Medicine Scholars.
Dey, who earned a bachelor’s degree in biotechnology from the National University of Singapore, did her graduate work at UMBC in the laboratory of Michael Summers and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. In 2023, she was honored with a UMBC Alumni Award for Distinguished Service.