

Alumni Awards
Jeff Silk ‘87
Alumnus of the Year
Presented to an individual who holds one or more degrees offered by USF for exceptional and prolonged service to the University and/or the Alumni Association in the year(s) preceding the award.
Jeffery L. Silk was elected to the University of San Francisco Board of Trustees in June 2015. Mr. Silk is co-chief investment officer and vice chairman at Fisher Investments, Inc., an investment management firm.

Mr. Silk grew up in San Mateo, California. He credits his mother, Carol Silk, with teaching him the importance of hard work and education as a means to success. She worked as a secretary to raise him and his sister, Robin, while putting herself through college and graduate school. He met his wife, Naomi Berkovitz, at Aragon High School in San Mateo. They have been married 30+ years. Together, they have raised three children in Hillsborough, California. Their eldest son, Ashton, is a graduate of the USF master’s of Sport Management program. Harris is a graduate from Indiana University and their youngest, Abigail, is a senior at the University of Miami.
While an undergraduate at the University of San Francisco working on a degree in finance, Mr. Silk started as a research analyst at Fisher Investments, which was then based in Woodside, California. The year was 1983 and he was one of the firm’s first employees. Today, Fisher Investments manages roughly $200 billion, and has over 5,000 employees worldwide. In these 40 years, Mr. Silk has worked in most areas of the investment firm. In his current position as co-chief investment officer and vice chairman, Mr. Silk leads the Portfolio Management Group.
During his undergraduate years at the University of San Francisco, Mr. Silk was president of the Finance Association and wrote a weekly column on business affairs for the San Francisco Foghorn with the kitschy title “$ilk’$ Pur$e.” A self-professed finance nerd, much of his ink was devoted to educating his peers about why an educated person should know how to read financial statements, what stocks to buy in a record-setting stock market, and how becoming a millionaire is easier than one might think — it simply requires patience and a financial calculator.
Mr. and Mrs. Silk say their Jewish tradition of tzedakah, or giving to charity, is important to them. In 2016, they demonstrated their commitment to giving back by pledging a transformational gift to the University of San Francisco to bring international thought leaders to campus for a speaker series on global affairs, the economy, and business. The Silk Speaker Series provides enrichment opportunities for students, alumni, and faculty, and is intended to broaden the reputation of USF as a leader in business ideas and innovation. To date, the university has welcomed Janet L. Yellen, Steve Kerr, Magic Johnson, Condoleezza Rice, Steve Wozniak, Billie Jean King, Charles Schwab and several Nobel Laureates.
Mr. Silk’s interests in advancing and supporting higher education are reflected in his membership on the Board of Trustees here at the University of San Francisco, where his responsibilities include serving as the Vice Chair for the Investment and Academic Affairs Committees.
Mayor London Breed, MPA ‘13
Public Service Award

Homelessness and Mental Health
Housing
Environment and Transportation
COVID-19
Public Safety
Equity
About Mayor London N. Breed
Margaret Doherty-Simor ‘84
Alessandri Service Award
Named for the man often referred to as “Mr. USF”, the Al Alessandri Alumni Service Award recognizes a graduate who makes service to their alma mater a priority.

Margaret Doherty-Simor was elected to the University of San Francisco Board of Trustees in June 2020.
Margaret Doherty-Simor is a first-generation San Franciscan and was first in her family to attend University. She received her BSN at USF and a MSN in Nursing Administration from CSU-Dominguez Hills. She has authored and co-authored healthcare articles in the area of Interventional Radiology and radiology nursing and has written chapters for Radiology Nursing Core-Curriculum and an Advanced Practice and Leadership in Radiology Nursing text books. Prior to retirement, Ms. Doherty-Simor served as Director of Cardiovascular Serviceline Clinical Operations and Director Cardiovascular Clinical Projects where she oversaw the design and construction of the Cardiovascular Institute on John Muir Health’s Concord Campus. Currently, Ms. Doherty-Simor is a board member and treasurer of the Interventional Initiative, a 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to educating and engaging the public about the value of minimally invasive image-guided procedures (MIIPs) using public centric multimedia production and social media initiatives. (www.theii.org) Ms. Doherty-Simor also serves as a member of the John Muir Health Foundation Board of Directors.
Ms. Doherty-Simor is a current member of the USF Alumni Board, USF SONHP Alumni Advisory Board, and is immediate past-chair of the USF Women in Leadership & Philanthropy Board. She lives in Alamo, CA with her husband Brent and together they enjoy tennis, golf and travel. They have two children, son Andrew is a data scientist at Levi Strauss & Co. and daughter Rebecca, a recent graduate of LMU, is currently working towards her Masters in Museum Studies at USF.
Lindbergh Porter, JD ‘81
Professional Achievement Award
The Professional Achievement Award is presented to a graduate who has reached the pinnacle of career success.

Mr. Lindbergh Porter was elected to the University of San Francisco Board of Trustees in June 2014.
Mr. Porter is a shareholder and Chairman of the Board of the firm Littler Mendelson, P.C., Employment & Labor Law Solutions Worldwide. Mr. Porter advises and represents employers in class action and single plaintiff cases and in National Labor Relations Board, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Department of Labor and other federal and state agency investigations and trials. In addition to scores of court, jury, and administrative agency trials and labor arbitrations, Mr. Porter has argued precedent-setting appeals before United States and California courts of appeal. Active in professional and community affairs, he serves as an early neutral evaluator for the United States District Court in Northern California and has served as a Lawyer Representative to the United States Court of Appeals, as president of the Bar Association of San Francisco, and chair of the Labor Law Section of the National Bar Association. He is also a board member of the San Francisco Giants Community Fund and Chair of its Education Committee. Mr. Porter is a fellow to the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers, a fellow in Litigation Counsel of America and named in The Best Lawyers in America© and The National Black Lawyers – Top 100. He earned his J.D. from the University of San Francisco School of Law and his A.B. from the University of Illinois.
Mr. Porter and his late wife, Mary, grew up in rural Lexington, Mississippi and along with 14 other high school classmates, were awarded scholarships to attend the University of Illinois. They dated while in college. Both relocated to California and rekindled their relationship, married and raised a family in San Francisco.
In 2011, Mr. Porter was recognized as the School of Law’s Alumnus of the Year. He resides in San Francisco. His daughter, Clara, is a 2012 USF School of Law graduate and son, Trey, is a San Francisco start-up techie.
Peter Read ‘67
Fr. Privett Living the Mission Award
The Fr. Privett Living the Mission Award recognizes an alumna or alumnus who lives the mission of USF through their career and volunteer work.

Peter is the former Co-CEO and Chairman of the Board for Grocery Outlet, Inc. Peter is a current Board Member of Seacology. Peter actively supports and formerly served on the Boards of the San Francisco SPCA, the Santa Clara University Leavey School of Business, the California Shakespeare Theatre, and the Santa Catalina School. Peter and his family established The Otter Cove Foundation, which supports a number of philanthropic causes in the San Francisco Bay Area, such as the Alta Bates Summit Foundation, the Carol Ann Read Breast Health Center, the Lindsay Wildlife Museum, the Marine Mammal Center, USF and UCSF. Peter is a member of the World Presidents' Organization (WPO).
Peter attended high school and college both in Switzerland and in the United States, and completed his education as an Economics graduate at the University of San Francisco.
Craig Newmark
Cable Car Award
The Cable Car Award is presented to an individual or individuals who, though never having attended USF, through their generosity, have promoted the vision and mission of the university and are “alumni” in spirit. Founder of craigslist and Craig Newmark Philanthropies Craig Newmark is a philanthropist who gets stuff done. Most commonly known for founding the online classified ads service craigslist, Newmark creates and funds networks that work to protect the country and to help people out.

This includes... Building networks to help protect the country in the cybersecurity world, defending against disinformation warfare, and fighting online harassment. Support for ethical and trustworthy journalism, particularly in underserved communities. Support for veterans and military families. Support for groups feeding the hungry. Support for organizations advancing women in tech and media. Support for pigeon protection (Craig loves birds, and, has a sense of humor).
Craig is on the boards of a number of organizations providing serious support in these areas.
In 1995, Newmark started curating a list of San Francisco arts and technology events, which he personally emailed to friends and colleagues. People were soon calling it “Craig’s List.”
When Newmark turned it into a company he chose a business model that prioritized “doing well by doing good.” Today, billions of ads have been posted on craigslist, the vast majority for free.
Newmark has not run the company since 2000. He retired at the end of 2018.
Born in Morristown, New Jersey, Newmark earned degrees in computer science from Case Western Reserve University. He lives in New York City and enjoys birdwatching, science fiction, and TV. Craig is not as funny as he thinks he is.
His sole serious social media efforts are via Twitter.
He reminds you that “a nerd’s gotta do what a nerd’s gotta do.”