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Alumni Awards

A table with the Alumni Awards presented at the ceremony.

The Loyola University Chicago alumni community features action-oriented, values-driven individuals who embrace the Jesuit call to be “people for others.” They are organizational leaders and community advocates, teachers and preachers, servants and champions of human achievement.

All four alumni awards celebrate particularly exceptional efforts. Alumni award winners represent their alma mater with spirit and integrity. They enrich lives. They strengthen communities. They impact the world in positive ways.

Honorees are recognized during the Alumni Excellence Celebration, which is the Friday night kickoff event to Alumni Weekend.

Susan (BS '76) and John Dewan (BS '76) accept the 2026 Heart of Loyola Award.

Heart of Loyola Recipient
Susan (BS '76) & John Dewan (BS '76)

The Heart of Loyola Award honors an alumnus or alumna for extraordinary commitment to Jesuit education.

John began his career as an insurance actuary, while Susan worked in banking IT. In 1985, they became co-entrepreneurs and founded STATS, Inc., pioneering the real-time collection of live scores and statistics, a method now standard across the sports industry.

After selling STATS, Inc. In 2000, the Dewans used the proceeds to establish the John and Susan Dewan Foundation, which supports people living in poverty in Chicago and around the world. John and Susan went on to build another sports analytics company, Sports Info Solutions, which they sold to focus on philanthropy.

Inspired by Pope Francis' encyclical on the global environmental crisis, Susan and John co-founded Dewan Solar, which, working alongside the Dewan Foundation, provides nonprofits with clean energy at no cost, supporting their missions with a steady flow of operating savings.

Susan has served on the boards of Franciscan Works and Children of Compassion. She sits on the board of Catholic Energies which guides Catholic entities in net-zero initiatives and teaches math via Zoom to ninth graders in Zambia.

John serves in Ignatian Volunteer Corps placements with Josephinum Academy, the United States China-Catholic Association, and Catholic Energies. Alongside fellow alumni of the Ignatian Legacy Fellows, John partners with the Kino Border Initiative.

Through their entrepreneurship, philanthropy, and service, the Dewans are working to create a more just and compassionate world.

Lauri Krakora (Loyola Rome 77-78) accepts the 2026 Spirit of Felice Award.

Spirit of Felice Recipient
Lauri Krakora (Loyola Rome ‘77-'78)

The Spirit of Felice Award is named after the founding director of Loyola Rome, the Felice Award is presented annually to a Loyola Rome alumnus who has shown exemplary leadership in business and community as well as support to Loyola Rome.

Lauri attended Loyola Rome in the spring of 1977, and since then, has been involved as a donor, volunteer, and champion of Loyola Rome. For more than 20 years, Lauri has served on the board of the alumni network, the Loyola Rome Advisory Council, the Rome Center Foundation Board, the Paver Committee, and the 60th Anniversary Planning Committee. She has also helped grow our alumni engagement efforts regionally by hosting an annual Rome alumni event in Naples, Florida.

Ric Estrada (BS '89) accept the 2026 Spirit of Loyola Award.

Spirit of Loyola Recipient
Ric Estrada (BS '89)

The Spirit of Loyola Award honors an individual who exemplifies the Ignatian spirit of leadership and service to the community.

Ric earned his BS in Psychology from Loyola in 1989, his MA from the University of Chicago Crown School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice, and an MBA from the University of Illinois at Chicago.

For the last three decades, Ric has served in human services leadership in Chicago. Currently, he is the CEO of Metropolitan Family Services, one of Illinois’ largest and best-respected human services agencies. Since joining Metropolitan in 2011, Ric has helped the agency more than quadruple in revenue and families served.

Prior to joining Metropolitan, Ric served as First Deputy Commissioner of the City of Chicago’s Department of Family and Support Services, and Executive Director of Erie Neighborhood House in Chicago.

Over the course of his career, Ric has been honored as a Marshall Memorial Fellow and a Leadership Greater Chicago Distinguished Fellow. He has received the City of Chicago’s Legacy Award, the City Club of Chicago’s John A. McDermott Award for Distinguished Social Leadership, the University of Chicago’s Social Impact Award, and Loyola University Chicago’s Damen Award. This is in addition to recognition from the Chicago Cubs, Chicago Bears, the Corporate Responsibility Group of Chicago, Crain’s Chicago Business, and more.

More than 25 years ago, Ric helped found Loyola's Latino Alumni Board, which continues to empower and uplift the Loyola Latino community today, and is a long-time supporter of the Latino Alumni Board's endowed scholarships.

Jason Pica (BA '17) accepts the 2026 Rambler on the Rise Award.

Rambler on the Rise Recipient
Jason Pica (BA '17)

The Rambler on the Rise Award recognizes alumni who have graduated from Loyola University Chicago within the past 10 years whose actions reflect the University’s mission and values. Recipients of this award have demonstrated a commitment to expand knowledge in the service of humanity through learning, justice, and faith.

While earning his BA at Loyola, Jason steered Black Students Matter, a student activist group, created "Color My Loyola," a workshop for Black students, and was invited by the Office of the President to advocate for Black students as part of Plan 2020, Loyola's strategic plan. In this role, he participated in efforts to re-evaluate the admissions process to support diversity and inclusion.

Since graduating from Loyola in 2017, Jason obtained a JD from the University of Illinois at Chicago School of Law, where he is now an adjunct professor. Jason also works as an associate attorney at Dussias Wittenberg Koenigsberger LLP, practicing divorce and family law with a focus on high asset and high-profile litigation. He also serves as a court-appointed guardian ad litem for children in family court.

Jason is a graduate of the American Bar Association’s Family Law Fellowship and serves as an editorial board member of the Family Law Quarterly, a peer-reviewed journal.

Among his many volunteer roles, Jason is most proud of his role as the Vice President of the Board of Directors for Chicago Advocate Legal, where he has helped shape Chicago’s nonprofit law firm, serving the under-served in family law.

He is the recipient of numerous awards from the legal community, including the Cook County Bar Association’s Presidential Award and Junior Counselor Historical Award, and has been recognized by Best Lawyers as “One to Watch” in Family Law, and by Super Lawyers as a Rising Star for 2026-2027.