The ‘Crown Jewels’ of William & Mary
Faculty members and football coach receive 2025 Plumeri Awards
May 16, 2025
By
Annie Powell M.A. ’18, Ph.D. ’24
“All of you represent all the things that are good, not only at this school, but in life,” Joseph J. Plumeri II ’66, D.P.S. ’11 told the recipients of the Plumeri Award for Faculty Excellence and the Plumeri Award for Athletics Leadership Excellence at the awards ceremony on May 9. “You represent achievement. You represent excellence.”
Nine faculty members and one athletics coach received the 2025 Plumeri Awards, which recognize and reward the core values that distinguish outstanding faculty members and coaches and define excellence at William & Mary. Each recipient receives a $20,000 prize.
The past year has been a triumph for William & Mary faculty: The university was ranked No. 6 among public universities in the nation for undergraduate teaching by U.S. News & World Report and designated an “R1” research institution by the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education (a status reserved for universities with the highest levels of research activity).
“Think of how many different modes of teaching and how many different modes of making new knowledge are captured in those achievements in one year,” President Katherine A. Rowe said her in remarks.
The Plumeri Awards ceremony arrived at the end of an exciting spring for W&M Athletics as well. In March, the women’s basketball team won the CAA Championship and played at the NCAA Tournament — a first in school history.
“At William & Mary, you can chase academic excellence and compete on the playing fields and the courts,” said Michael W. London Sr., head football coach and recipient of the 2025 Plumeri Award for Athletics Leadership Excellence. “Our teams are winning championships, and our graduation rates are as good as anywhere else in college athletics.”
According to an NCAA annual graduation report released on Dec. 6, 2024, the student-athlete graduation rate at W&M is the highest of all Division I public universities in the country.
The professors and coaches who receive Plumeri Awards are exceptional members of the campus community: At the awards ceremony, Rector Charles E. Poston J.D. ’74, P ’02, P ’06, G ’26 called them the “crown jewels of William & Mary.” The award that honors them comes from a similarly exceptional alumnus.
Plumeri graduated as a history and education major (and baseball and football team captain) from William & Mary in 1966 before achieving phenomenal success as a business leader in industries ranging from banking to insurance to technology.
His roles have included serving as senior advisor to the global investment firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. (KKR), vice chairman of the Board of Directors of First Data Corp., the world’s largest payments and business solutions company, and a variety of leadership positions over more than 30 years at Citigroup, including co-CEO of Shearson Lehman Brothers, CEO of Primerica Financial Services and CEO of CitiBank North America. He is currently the chairman of Sweet Loren’s, a gluten- and dairy-free baked goods company, and Combate Global, a Hispanic mixed martial arts promotion company.
Attending William & Mary was a turning point for Plumeri, who came to campus in 1962 from his hometown of Trenton, New Jersey, looking like, according to him, the “Happy Days” TV sitcom character Fonzie.
“Nobody here looked like me. I didn’t have a crew neck sweater. But I came here and was accepted for who I was. And this place had an effect on me. It made me excel,” Plumeri said.
The most influential people during his time at W&M, he recalled, were the faculty. It was in recognition of their influence that he established the Plumeri Awards in 2009.
Provost Peggy Agouris highlighted the ways that the Plumeri Award recipients have shone in their commitment to their students and their specialties: “They are the professors who spark the first research question. They are those who notice when a student needs encouragement, who stay late to mentor, who redefine what it means to teach, discover and lead.”
During the ceremony, Plumeri addressed the work and impact of each award recipient.
“If we have a nuclear problem, Saskia, I’m going to call you,” he said to Saskia Mordijck, Class of 1955 Associate Professor of Physics, who studies fusion energy and plasma physics.
“And Margaret,” he said, turning to Chancellor Professor of Biology Margaret Saha, “we meet again.” Saha’s work with William & Mary’s iGEM (International Genetically Engineered Machine) team has been, in Plumeri’s words, “unbelievable.” This is her second time winning a Plumeri Award; the first was in 2009, the inaugural year of the awards.
Although the 2025 recipients span eight disciplines, Plumeri noted that a common thread runs through each recipient’s work — an interest in helping others.
“They all mention somebody else’s name. They all mention that they want to help somebody, whether that is a student or a colleague,” Plumeri said.
When 2025 award recipient David Johnson, associate professor of marine science, was asked during the application process what he considered his greatest achievement, he identified helping his former student Serina Wittyngham Ph.D. ’22, now an assistant professor of biology at the University of North Florida.
“That’s what I’m talking about,” Plumeri said. “Achievement is helping somebody else. Leadership is making a difference in other people’s lives.”
Using those metrics, Plumeri has demonstrated extraordinary achievement and leadership at William & Mary. He served two terms on the Board of Visitors and is a former board member of the W&M Foundation, W&M Alumni Association, Business School Foundation, Athletics Foundation and the National Campaign Steering Committee for the Campaign for W&M, among other roles. Plumeri enhanced the baseball park (now called Plumeri Park) and endowed the Plumeri House, a place of hospitality for visitors to the university. He has supported 257 Plumeri Award recipients since the establishment of the awards in 2009.
In 2011, Plumeri delivered a W&M Commencement speech that NPR ranks as one of the best commencement speeches ever. In that address, Plumeri said: “You can Google for an answer. You can Google for a mate. You can Google for a career. But you can’t Google to find what’s in your heart — the passion that lifts you skyward.”
The Plumeri Award recipients have all found the passions that lift them skyward. And they are sharing their passions with the next generation of scholars, leaders and innovators with a focus, as always, on excellence.
Meet the 2025 Plumeri Award Recipients
David A. Dominique
Sallie Gertrude Smoot Spears Associate Professor of Music, Music Theory & Composition
A composer, performer and music theorist, Professor Dominique created the albums “Ritual” (2013) and “Mask” (2018). He also composed and conducted theater works, including a live score for the LA production “Starcrosser’s Cut.” He joined William & Mary in 2016.
Jozef J. Dudek
Margaret Hamilton Associate Professor of Physics
Professor Dudek is a theoretical physicist specializing in nuclear and particle physics. His research attempts to understand how the fundamental subatomic particles known as quarks and gluons arrange themselves into composite particles called hadrons. He is an enthusiastic teacher of physics and a mentor to students and early career scientists.
David S. Johnson
Class of 1964 Associate Professor of Marine Science
Professor Johnson is a storyteller, writer, photographer and marine ecologist focused on how coastal species, such as those found in salt marshes, adapt to global environmental changes like rising temperatures and sea levels. He advises and mentors students in W&M’s Batten School & VIMS and is engaged in a variety of multidisciplinary research initiatives.
Jennifer G. Kahn
Associate Professor of Anthropology and Director of Graduate Studies of Anthropology
Professor Kahn specializes in the comparative archaeology of chiefdoms and Oceania’s prehistory. Her research integrates scientific methods with community engagement, working with marginalized communities in Eastern Polynesia to empower descendant voices in public history. In addition to advising 25 graduate students, she emphasizes scientific rigor and socially informed interpretations in her teaching.
Michael W. London Sr.
Head Football Coach
As he enters his seventh season leading the William & Mary Football program, Coach London has achieved four consecutive winning seasons, including a 7-5 record in 2024. In addition to leading the football program on and off the field, he is dedicated to spreading awareness and support of the Be The Match national bone marrow donor program.
Saskia Mordijck
Class of 1955 Associate Professor of Physics
Professor Mordijck has made significant contributions to fusion energy and plasma physics, with 68 peer-reviewed articles and two best paper awards. Her expertise has been recognized through invited talks at prestigious institutions, support from the Department of Energy and the National Science Foundation, as well as media appearances. She is a transformative mentor focused on psychological safety and the well-being of her students.
Helen A. Murphy
Associate Professor of Biology
Professor Murphy is co-director of the computational applied math & statistics mathematical biology track and a distinguished scholar in evolutionary biology and genetics. Her research uses budding yeast to understand the evolution of fungal pathogens. She is a devoted educator and has provided research mentorship to over 50 students.
Margaret S. Saha
Chancellor Professor of Biology
Professor Saha has had a longstanding interest in mentoring undergraduates in research and engaging and retaining students in the sciences. For the past 10 years, she has served as the faculty advisor for the award-winning W&M synthetic biology iGEM team. Her research focuses on understanding the molecular genetic mechanisms underlying early embryonic plasticity of the developing nervous system.
Deenesh S. Sohoni
Professor of Sociology
Professor Sohoni is director of the Asian Pacific Islander American (APIA) Studies program at William & Mary. His research examines the significance of race, ethnicity, nativity and citizenship status in a variety of social institutions such as education, marriage, the military, the law and the media.
Chris Tucker
Francis S. Haserot Professor of Philosophy and Department Chair
Professor Tucker works broadly in ethics, philosophy of religion and epistemology (the study of knowledge, rationality and evidence). His current work embraces the idea that what you ought to do or believe depends on what reasons you have and how weighty those reasons are.