Four Arts And Sciences Graduates Named To 12 Under 12 Young Alumni Spotlight Cohort

Four College of Arts and Sciences graduates have been named to the 2023 cohort of the Texas A&M University 12 Under 12 Young Alumni Spotlight.

Maj. Kenneth Bell '10 (bachelor of arts in political science, 2010), Keegan Bradley, M.D. '10 (bachelor of arts in biology, 2010, and doctorate in medicine, 2015), Andrew Wipke '10 (bachelor of arts in both English and history, 2010) and Liang Feng '20 (doctorate in chemistry, 2020) are among this year's 12 recipients selected by The Association of Former Students to receive the prestigious honor recognizing former students who have graduated within the past 12 years for demonstrating excellence in business and service while representing Texas A&M’s core values of excellence, integrity, leadership, loyalty, respect and selfless service.

Additional members of the 2023 cohort include Cameron Brown '10, Matt Fransted '10, Lt. Cmdr. M. Scott Lassiter '10, Maj. Paden Allen '11, Capt. Maxwell Anthony '12, Melinda McClure Haughey '15, Sharareh "Sherri" Kaermanshachi '16 and Stefan Gresham '18.

Bell has been a United States Air Force Intelligence Officer for nearly 13 years and a faculty member at National Intelligence University in Bethesda, Maryland, since April. His previous assignments include the Joint Space Operations Center, Defense Intelligence Agency, Joint Staff, Military Commissions Prosecution and support to F-15E strike Eagles at 4th Fighter Wing at Seymour-Johnson Air Force Base in North Carolina. A member of the Texas A&M College of Liberal Arts Advisory Council since 2016 and a former appointed member of the Santa Barbara County Alcohol and Drug Advisory Board (2013-2015), Bell was recognized with the George H.W. Bush Military Outstanding Volunteer Service Medal for his Boys & Girls Club involvement. He also led 270 volunteers for an Air Force Assistance Fund campaign while at Seymour-Johnson.

"Intelligent and hard-working, with keen attention to detail, Major Bell’s work on highly classified projects was flawless," Bell's nominator said.

Bradley is an emergency medicine physician with McKinney-based Envision Physician Services as well as medical director for multiple area fire/emergency medical services (EMS) agencies. Since May, he has served as medical team manager for Texas A&M Task Force 1, one of 28 federal teams under the Federal Emergency Managment Agency (FEMA) National Urban Search and Rescue System, and as a physician for the Region 2 Emergency Medical Task Force State Disaster Response Team. While previously affiliated with Atrium Health, Bradley helped design and oversee the COVID-19 vaccination operation in North Carolina. A past volunteer for the Bryan/College Station Spina Bifida Association, he also was the motorcade physician for President Donald Trump during the 2020 Republican National Convention.

"He is exactly the kind of person who best represents the core values of Texas A&M," Bradley's nominator said. "The medical profession is better because Dr. Bradley chose to become a part of it."

Wipke has been assistant county attorney for Fort Bend County since 2019 and a former assistant criminal district attorney in both Lubbock County (2016-2019) and Wichita County (2014-2016). A 2011 John Jay Institute Fellow, he earned his doctorate of jurisprudence from Texas Tech University School of Law in 2014, graduating with honors. He also received a master's degree in public administration from Texas Tech that same year. In addition to chairing various county committees and boards, Wipke's record of service includes stints on the Texas A&M College of Liberal Arts Advisory Council and Association of Former Students Young Alumni Council. He also is a volunteer at local churches.

"To him, nothing is more important than justice for victims and restoration for local constituents, and stewardship of the public trust," Wipke's nominator said. "This is what we hope all former students leave with — the idea that one’s own success, in some form, is founded upon the service of others."

Feng is a postdoctoral fellow in chemistry at Northwestern University, where he works with 2016 Nobel Prize in Chemistry recipient Fraser Stoddart on nanotechnology-related problems. Feng recently discovered a new chemical concept at the nanoscale called mechanisorption, and his research could help the development of life-like materials for applications ranging from chemical separation to computing to energy storage — areas he first explored as a member of Texas A&M chemist Hongcai Joe Zhou's research group en route to his Ph.D. While at Texas A&M, Feng was recognized with multiple awards, including a Distinguished Graduate Student Award and the doctoral thesis of the year for 2020. Most recently, he was named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 List for 2022. Feng also takes an active role in promoting socioeconomic diversity and first-generation college students in STEM fields.

"Liang’s ability to collaborate with others and lead, combined with his innovative vision, interdisciplinary research experiences, and driving passion for doing work on challenges in chemistry and materials science, will take his career in exciting directions lying at the interfaces of porous materials, polymers, catalysis and biomedicine," his nominator said.

The 12 Under 12 Young Alumni Spotlight was conceived by the Young Alumni Advisory Council, a selected body of younger former students who advise The Association’s staff on ways to better connect with the hundreds of thousands of recent graduates of Texas A&M. Since the award's inception in 2014, only 120 of Texas A&M’s 500,000-plus former students have been recognized with the accolade.

The Association of Former Students, established in 1879, is the official alumni organization of Texas A&M University. The Association connects hundreds of thousands of members of the worldwide Aggie Network with each other and the university and provided $13.6 million in impact to university scholarships, awards, traditions and student activities and recognition for students, faculty, staff and former students in 2021.

For more information about the Texas A&M 12 Under 12 Young Alumni Spotlight or The Association, visit www.AggieNetwork.com.