Each year, Omicron Delta Kappa recognizes six outstanding student leaders as National Leaders of the Year. The Society selects one student to receive the Gen. Russell E. Dougherty National Leader of the Year Award, which comes with a $4,000 prize. This honor is named in memory of Gen. Russell E. Dougherty (University of Louisville, 1947). Gen. Dougherty was a one-time staff member with the Federal Bureau of Investigation. He also served in the U.S. Air Force as commander in chief of the Strategic Air Command and director of strategic target planning.
The Society also recognizes a student in each of the five pillars of campus life celebrated by O∆K: academics and research, athletics, service to campus and community, communications, and creative and performing arts. Each of these individuals receives a $1,000 award.
Click on each name below to open their profile.
Hannah Harris | Gen. Russell E. Dougherty National Leader of the Year
Hannah Harris
Morningside University, 2021
Hannah Harris of Homer, Nebraska, has been named the 2024 Omicron Delta Kappa Gen. Russell A. Dougherty National Leader of the Year. This award is the highest honor presented to an undergraduate member of the Society each year.
Harris is a 2021 initiate of the Morningside University Circle of Omicron Delta Kappa in Sioux City, Iowa. She will graduate in May 2024 with a 4.0 GPA, receiving a Bachelor of Science in Biology and a Bachelor of Arts in Chemistry. Harris will be the first in her family to graduate from college, and she plans to attend the University of Nebraska College of Medicine this fall.
Her collegiate leadership experience at Morningside University included serving as vice president and later president of the Morningside Circle. As part of her O∆K leadership roles, Harris organized the circle’s Into the Streets event, coordinating more than 800 student volunteers who served at more than 100 local nonprofit organizations in a one-day event.
Harris also served as president of the Sustainable Environment Association for two years, president of the Beta Beta Beta National Biology Honor Society, two-year executive board member for the Chemistry Club, and vice president of the Pre-Professional Health Club. She worked as a Student Lead for Morningside’s orientation programs and is a recipient of the Faculty Award in Biology and the Outstanding Service to the Chemistry and Biology Department Award.
She is a graduate of the Connie Wimer Women’s Leadership Program and also served on the Faculty Sustainability Committee, Chemistry Position Search Committee, and Presidential Inauguration Committee.
Kathryn (Katie) Yurechko | National Leader of the Year - Academics and Research
Kathryn (Katie) Yurechko
Washington and Lee University, 2023
Kathryn (Katie) Yurechko of Havre de Grace, Maryland, has been named the 2024 Omicron Delta Kappa National Leader of the Year for Academics and Research.
Yurechko is a 2023 initiate of the Alpha Circle at Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia. In May 2024, she will graduate with a 4.0 GPA, receiving a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science and Philosophy and a minor in Poverty and Human Capability Studies.
Yurechko was recently awarded the Marshall Scholarship and will attend the University of Oxford to pursue a Master of Science in Social Science of the Internet, followed by a Master of Science in Computer Science at University College London. She is the first student from Washington and Lee to be named a Marshall Scholar. She was also a finalist for the Rhodes Scholarship and is a member of Phi Beta Kappa, Phi Sigma Tau, and Phi Eta Sigma.
As a summer research intern at Carnegie Mellon University, she researched “algospeak” in relation to content moderation and marginalized communities on TikTok. She participated in the Computer Science Research Mentorship Program at Google, and works with the University of Washington’s Social Futures Lab, researching methods of addressing hate and harassment on social media platforms, piloting an interactive machine learning tool that offers ChatGPT assistance to support users in moderating their feeds.
She has delivered nine presentations for venues including Google and the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) Web Conference, and co-authored two publications with citations from Vox, MSN, and other outlets.
Jasmine Kiley | National Leader of the Year - Service to Campus and Community
Jasmine Kiley
Tulane University, 2023
Jasmine Kiley of Penfield, New York, has been named the 2024 Omicron Delta Kappa National Leader of the Year for Service to Campus and Community.
Kiley is a 2023 initiate of the Tulane University Circle in New Orleans, Louisiana. In May 2024, she will graduate with a 4.0 GPA, receiving a Bachelor of Science in Biological Chemistry and a minor in Public Health. Kiley will attend the University of Cambridge as a Fulbright Scholar this fall to pursue a Master of Philosophy in Medical Science, and then will attend medical school at Vanderbilt University.
Kiley served as the Supplemental Instruction Captain and Leader at Tulane, managing a team of more than 50 supplemental instruction leaders. She was vice president, and later president, of Phi Delta Epsilon Medical Fraternity, leading revitalization efforts that resulted in the chapter raising more than $10,000 for Children’s Hospital New Orleans and receiving the Phoenix Award for Most Improved Chapter. Tulane’s chapter also received the Chapter Excellence Award the following year. Kiley was also recognized internationally as Phi Delta Epsilon’s Outstanding Premedical Member.
As co-president of After School Newcomb Tutoring, she coordinated a partnership with Title I schools and mentored other student tutors. Kiley was also named a Stamps Scholar at Tulane, taking on a leadership role within the program to help strengthen the connections between scholars across all classes.
Juliette LeRay | National Leader of the Year - Communications
Juliette LeRay
Louisiana State University, 2023
Juliette LeRay of Hammond, Louisiana, has been named the 2024 Omicron Delta Kappa National Leader of the Year for Communications.
LeRay is a 2023 initiate of the Louisiana State University Circle in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. She graduated in December 2023 with a Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communications and Public Relations and a minor in Business Administration. She will begin pursuing a Master of Business Administration at LSU this fall.
As president of LSU’s Public Relations Student Society of America, LeRay led efforts to grow the organization from 10 members to more than 150 students, and created new strategies to increase the number of LSU students who won awards through PRSSA. She was also elected as the 2023-2024 LSU Homecoming Queen.
LeRay currently works as a communications specialist for the LSU College of Human Sciences and Education, and completed communications internships with ExxonMobil Baton Rouge, Action News 17, and KLSU. She worked as an LSU Ambassador, representing the university at recruitment events to engage with parents and prospective students. She was a member of Delta Gamma’s Executive Office Collegiate Advisory Board, served on LSU’s Student Philanthropy Council, and graduated as an LSU Distinguished Communicator Program Medalist.
Aleksandr (Alek) Kuzmenchuk | National Leader of the Year - Athletics
Aleksandr (Alek) Kuzmenchuk
William & Mary, 2022
Aleksandr (Alek) Kuzmenchuk of Bowie, Maryland, has been named the 2024 Omicron Delta Kappa National Leader of the Year for Athletics.
Kuzmenchuk is a 2022 initiate of the William & Mary Circle in Williamsburg, Virginia. He will graduate in May 2024 with a 3.98 GPA, receiving a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations and a minor in Data Science. After graduation, he will spend the summer working at the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee before traveling to India on a Fulbright-Nehru fellowship for student research. Kuzmenchuk will then return to a job in strategy & consulting at Accenture Federal Services.
After three years on the William & Mary Division I men’s gymnastics team, Kuzmenchuk served as captain his senior year, leading a group of 18 elite athletes. In 2022, he received the NCAA’s ELITE 90 award, which recognizes student-athletes with the highest cumulative grade-point average participating at the finals site for each of the NCAA’s 90 championships. He led the team’s community service efforts his junior year.
In addition to his athletic pursuits, Kuzmenchuk is the editor-in-chief for William & Mary’s Journal of International Studies and served as a research assistant for the William & Mary geoLab. He worked as a student consultant for the U.S. Department of Defense’s Innovation for Defense program and as an intern for the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Conflict and Stabilization Operations. He also worked as a research assistant for the Global Research Institute and a database assistant for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
Natalie Nagy | National Leader of the Year - Creative and Performing Arts
Natalie Nagy
Wright State University, 2023
Natalie Nagy of Bellbrook, Ohio, has been named the 2024 Omicron Delta Kappa National Leader of the Year for Creative and Performing Arts. This award is one of the highest honors presented to an undergraduate member of the Society each year.
Nagy is a 2023 initiate of the Wright State University Circle in Dayton, Ohio. She graduated in April 2024 with a 4.0 GPA, receiving a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance Performance and a minor in Arts Management. She plans to teach, choreograph, and dance professionally and work in arts administration.
As a New Student Recruiter for the Wright State University dance department, Nagy attended auditions to engage with potential recruits and served on a discussion panel for parents and families. She also served as the student representative for the Emerging Choreographer’s Concert, which showcases one choreographic work from all juniors and seniors. Her choreography was chosen to be showcased at the School of Creative and Performing Arts’ Arts Gala Fundraiser.
Nagy also served as president of the Wright State University Circle, helping to plan its Leader2Leader: Beyond Borders conference.
