Peabody’s 2016 Commencement ceremony took place on Peabody Esplanade May 13, where 629 undergraduate students and 64 graduate students earned their diplomas.
U.S. security and intelligence expert Lenora Peters Gant received the 2016 Distinguished Alumna Award during Commencement May 13. Gant earned a master’s of science at Peabody in 1976.
She is one of the nation’s leading experts on intelligence and has played key roles in U.S. security throughout her career. Since 2014, she has served as senior executive for outreach and engagement in science, technology, engineering and mathematics at the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. Among her achievements are the establishment of 18 Centers of Academic Excellence in Geospatial Sciences at U.S. universities, developed in collaboration with NGA and the U.S. Geological Survey.
Gant’s career spans more than 25 years and several countries, including Belgium, England, Italy and Japan. At the Department of Defense she managed multimillion-dollar budgets for human resources, education and technology-based training. She also worked with the Navy and Marine Corps (Okinawa, Japan), U.S. Air Force (Oxfordshire, England), U.S. Army, Marine Corps Institute, Office of the Secretary of Defense and the Defense Intelligence Agency-National Defense Intelligence College. Gant is married to retired U.S. Air Force officer Raymond C. Gant. They have two daughters and live near Washington, D.C.
Felicia Hanitio of Singapore is Peabody’s 2016 Founder’s Medalist. She graduated with a bachelor of science in child development and human and organizational development. She received a four-year Peabody Dean’s Achievement scholarship and was elected to Omicron Delta Kappa, the national leadership honor society.
She served as a prospective international student recruiter on behalf of the admissions office, a leader in an Asian American Christian student fellowship and an Alternative Spring Break volunteer. A Peabody Scholars summer stipend allowed Hanitio to spend two months with Children for Change Cambodia, co-piloting a social action program for youth at risk of human trafficking and economic marginalization.
Hanitio plans to explore positions with a focus on Southeast Asian development and future graduate studies in international development.