Introducing the 2025 Alumni Award Winners

The Trinity University community will come together during Alumni Weekend to celebrate this year’s recipients of the Alumni Awards at the Alumni Awards Ceremony on Friday evening, October 24 in the Ruth Taylor Recital Hall.

Meet the awardees and learn how they are representing their alma mater in extraordinary ways.

Distinguished Alumni Award

Christina Soontornvat ’02

Christina Soontornvat is a New York Times bestselling author and one of the most celebrated voices in children’s literature today, with three Newbery Honors and numerous national and international awards to her name. She made history as the first author since 1954 to receive two Newbery Honors in the same year and is the only author to receive the Newbery Honor for both fiction and nonfiction in a single year. A proud Trinity alumna, Soontornvat champions her alma mater’s values in her continued commitment to fostering empathy and learning.

  

Spirit of Trinity Award

Jacob Tingle ’95, Ed.D.

From launching minors in sport management and arts, letters, and enterprise to serving as Trinity’s faculty athletic representative for the NCAA, Jacob Tingle’s vast contributions have made a profound difference on the University and beyond. Tingle helped launch Trinity’s Center for Experiential Learning and Career Success (CELCS) and served as the first director of Experiential Learning. He has been highly involved in the U.S. Department of State’s Sports Diplomacy programming and recently received the prestigious 2025 Sarah Fain Distinguished Service Award. Tingle also regularly connects students and alumni through his podcast, experiential learning initiatives, and his "Sport in England" course, bridging Trinity’s past, present, and future.

 

Outstanding Young Alumni Award

Rose Minutaglio ’15

Rose Minutaglio is a senior editor at National Geographic and an award-winning journalist whose reporting spans the Olympics, global women’s health, and headline-making features across the world’s most prestigious publications. A United Nations Press Fellow and frequent contributor on major platforms like the TODAY show, she has interviewed global icons, from Jane Goodall to Serena Williams, and has shaped stories that move hearts and minds. Minutaglio remains a proud and engaged alumna by writing features for Trinity, guest lecturing, and mentoring students, all while helping to shape the future of media from New York City and Washington, D.C.

 

Tower Awards

Patricia J. Blattman M’82

Patricia Blattman’s distinguished 34-year career in education began as an elementary school teacher in Colorado. After moving to San Antonio, she served as Northside Independent School District’s (NISD) first gifted and talented coordinator before moving to administration. Blattman’s accolades include the Northside’s Teacher of the Year Award and the Northside Distinguished Achievement Award for Student Relations. Blattman also served as an adjunct professor at Trinity from 1998-2008. Upon her retirement in 2003, NISD honored her 28 years of dedicated service by naming a new elementary school after her.

 

Homero R. Garza ’71, MPH, M.D.

Beloved by patients across San Antonio and surrounding communities, Dr. Homero Garza credits his Trinity education as the bedrock of success in his nearly 50-year career in gastroenterology. From his time as Trinity’s student body president to his combined service of more than 30 years with the United States Army and Army Reserves, Dr. Garza has always sought to contribute to something bigger than himself. He has donated to Trinity at the senior associates level for at least 45 years and, along with his wife, Sandee Marion, recently endowed a scholarship in the name of his parents to help local students from Bexar County attend Trinity.

 

Daniel J. Geddes ’96

Dan Geddes is the group executive vice president and chief financial officer of Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. and Frost Bank. He has been with Frost Bank since January 1997 and is an active member of the San Antonio and Trinity communities. Geddes mentors students as a judge for the Louis H. Stumberg Venture Competition and as a panelist for Alpha Kappa Psi. In addition, he is a member of the executive committee for Our Time: The Campaign for Trinity University.

 

 

Megan Selmon Kelly ’03

From winning the NCAA Division III Women’s Basketball Championship at Trinity to her career with the Department of State, Megan Selmon Kelly has embraced what it means to be a leader on a global stage. She co-founded the Shine Foundation, which operates an orphanage and school serving children in Liberia, West Africa, providing education, food, and shelter for almost 20 years. She is also the director of Executive Development at the National Foreign Affairs Training Center for the U.S. Department of State.

 

 

Rex Smith ’74

A pioneer in advocating for news literacy training in American classrooms, Rex Smith is the creator of the Substack newsletter The Upstate American and a longtime commentator and host of The Media Project, a nationally syndicated public radio program. After launching his journalism career at the age of seven when he created a neighborhood newspaper, The Maywood Roundup, Smith led newsrooms in New York for 30 years, including 18 years as editor-in-chief of the Times Union. He is now engaged in advancing not-for-profit journalism and champions the arts in the community.

 

 

Fraternity/Sorority Life Alumni Adviser of the Year Award

Mary Hayden Manning ’13

Since 2021, Mary Hayden Manning has served as a formal sorority adviser and is currently in her second year as president of the Gamma Chi Delta Alumnae Association. She launched a sustaining membership program in 2023, thereby strengthening alumnae engagement, raising funds, and supporting the club’s needs. She is a consistent donor to Trinity, Greek Council, and her club’s scholarship fund, demonstrating her deep commitment to the University as she strengthens relationships between active members and alumnae, ensuring connections across generations of Gamma Chi Delta.

 

Know any outstanding Trinity alumni who should be considered for next year’s Alumni Awards? Nominate them here.