Each spring, the College of Arts and Sciences’ Alumni Awards ceremony recognizes a distinguished few of our more than 215,000 living alumni whose accomplishments are tangible evidence of the enduring value of an Arts and Sciences education. Their contributions and achievements in their chosen fields, communities, country and university are creating a lasting impact locally and globally.
The ceremony features the following honors:
- The Emerging Leader Award, which recognizes alumni who have demonstrated distinctive and outstanding achievement in their profession and through civic involvement.
- The Distinguished Achievement Award, which recognizes the outstanding career achievements and contributions of our alumni in fields that encompass disciplines across the arts and sciences.
- The Distinguished Service Award, which recognizes exemplary service to the College of Arts and Sciences, its faculty, students and programs.
This year, the April ceremony will celebrate five individuals for their extraordinary successes and service. With backgrounds and careers spanning climatology and entrepreneurship, biotechnology, satellite communications, congressional affairs and law, this year’s group of honorees not only exemplifies the extraordinary pathways provided by an Arts and Sciences education, but also what it means to be a Buckeye for life.
Stephanie Peters
BA, political science, 1986.
Honoree of the Distinguished Achievement Award, 2024.
Stephanie Peters is the senior director of congressional affairs at Microsoft. In this role, she represents Microsoft on public policy issues ranging from artificial intelligence, intellectual property laws reform, trade policy, immigration, STEM education, cybersecurity and sustainability. Peters manages fifteen government affairs consultants and a portion of the Microsoft Political Action Committee. She drives collaborative legislative efforts and corporate affairs initiatives across U.S. government and legal affairs teams as well as business divisions. Peters represents the company at technology industry trade association meetings, diversity, equity and inclusion-focused policy efforts and digital equity initiatives.
Prior to joining Microsoft, Peters was a partner at the law firm Squire Patton Boggs in their Washington, D.C. office, where she represented multi-national corporations, trade associations and foreign sovereign clients. From 1995 to 2000, she worked on Capitol Hill as minority counsel to the Democratic members of the House Judiciary Committee. She was responsible for briefing members on laws and policies regarding immigration, refugees, intellectual property and encryption, and served as an impeachment counsel during President Clinton’s impeachment proceedings.
Peters received her BA in political science and women’s studies from The Ohio State University; she was Senior Class President, a member of Undergraduate Student Government, Ohio Staters, the Zeta Phi Beta sorority and the 1985 Homecoming Court. She earned her JD from the Georgetown University Law Center and her master’s degree in political management from George Washington University.
