The Cathy Lester IT Excellence Memorial Award
We are thrilled to announce the recipients of the 2025 Cathy Lester IT Excellence Award and the Rising Star Award. This prestigious recognition celebrates outstanding contributions in the field of IT at UT Austin.
The 2025 Cathy Lester IT Excellence Award goes to:
Michael Wang, Senior Software Engineer, Enterprise Technology
Michael has demonstrated exceptional technical leadership and has significantly contributed to various projects, including the rewrite of the Directory application and the development of a custom application for the Bureau of Economic Geology.
The 2025 Cathy Lester IT Rising Star Award goes to:
Alicia Benavides, Software Developer/Analyst, Enterprise Technology
Alicia has shown extraordinary promise early in her IT career, impressing her team with her ability to learn new toolsets and her proactive approach in client meetings.
We also congratulate the other outstanding IT professionals who were nominated for this year's IT Excellence award: Doug Addison, Natalie Hensley, Brandon Hazlett, and Diana Yu Schofield. Additionally, we recognize the nominees for the Rising Star award: Addison Ashworth and Juni Kim.
Join us in celebrating these talented and worthy nominees for their high honors and contributions to IT excellence at UT Austin.