The Outstanding Alumnae Awards recognize alumnae who have made significant contributions to their community or profession while embodying the Goals and values of Sacred Heart education.

Golden Outstanding Alumna

Eileen Johnson Williams ’75

Eileen Johnson Williams ’75 graduated from Stone Ridge in 1975 after entering the School in Grade 7. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in print journalism from Howard University’s School of Communications in 1979 and a Juris Doctor from Georgetown University Law Center in 1983.

Following law school, Ms. Williams practiced law in Los Angeles, specializing in automobile liability, construction defects, and premises liability. In 1994, she returned to the DC area, where she worked as a writer for The Magazine Group with Stone Ridge classmate, Heidi Daniel ’75. She wrote for Washington Flyer Magazine and Washington Lawyer Magazine before joining the Bureau of National Affairs in 1997 as a legal reporter. For over 15 years, she covered bankruptcy, securities, criminal, and family law, including congressional proceedings and U.S. Supreme Court cases related to bankruptcy law.

From 2010 until her retirement in 2023, Ms. Williams served as an attorney for the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission in Bethesda, Maryland, where she enjoyed her role as the agency’s legal editor, overseeing legal documents and scientific materials.

Ms. William’s daughters, Alexis Williams ’08 and Dylan Williams ’12, are proud Stone Ridge alumnae. Alexis attended from Grade 2 and Dylan, a “lifer,” started in Junior Kindergarten.

Ms. Williams cherishes the lifelong friendships she formed at Stone Ridge. At least 17 of the 36 members of the Class of 1975 remain in daily contact. These friendships bring her joy every day, and she is forever grateful to their families and Stone Ridge for bringing them together.

Outstanding Alumna

Jennifer rusiecki ’85

Jennifer Rusiecki ’85 attended the U.S. Coast Guard Academy after graduating from Stone Ridge and earned her degree in 1989. She served six years on active duty in the Coast Guard before pursuing a Ph.D. in epidemiology at Yale School of Medicine, which she completed in 2002. Dr. Rusiecki then undertook a three-year postdoctoral fellowship at the National Cancer Institute, where she researched the effects of pesticide and industrial exposures on cancer risk.

In 2005, Dr. Rusiecki joined the faculty of the Uniformed Services University, School of Medicine, where she is now a tenured professor of epidemiology. Her research examines how environmental exposures contribute to chronic diseases such as cancers, respiratory illnesses, cardiovascular diseases, and metabolic disorders. Using molecular epidemiology and modern statistical methods, she investigates health risks from the multitude of exposures experienced over a lifetime. Her studies focus on diverse populations, including farmers, pesticide applicators, emergency responders, oil spill clean‑up workers, shipyard workers, and military personnel.

A passionate mentor, Dr. Rusiecki is dedicated to training the next generation of scientists, particularly women in science. Her commitment to environmental advocacy also led her to co-found Green Olney, a local citizen action group that promotes composting and reduces single-use plastics in her hometown of Olney, Maryland, where she currently lives with her husband Raj, and cherishes her favorite role as a mom to their two children, Calum (16) and Iona (15).

Young Outstanding Alumna

julia tepper ’15

Julia Tepper ’15 is an avionics systems engineer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California. She is currently working on the Europa Clipper mission, the largest planetary science spacecraft that NASA has ever launched. As part of the mission, she is responsible for the design, testing, integration, and operation of the spacecraft’s main flight computers and flight software. Once the spacecraft reaches Jupiter’s moon Europa, it will conduct a detailed survey to assess whether the moon harbors conditions for extraterrestrial life.

After graduating from Stone Ridge, Ms. Tepper earned a bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering from the University of Maryland. She then pursued a master’s degree in aerospace engineering at Georgia Tech, where she conducted research and published a thesis on active debris removal missions to clear space debris from low-Earth orbit.

In addition to her work at NASA JPL, Ms. Tepper has conducted research at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, contributing to heliophysics and planetary sciences projects. ❤