Medal of Distinguished Service recipients

The Binghamton University Alumni Association values the time and talents accomplished alumni give to their alma mater. In the fall, the association recognized four alumni who have excelled in their careers while sharing their expertise to enhance the classroom experience, connect students with internship and employment opportunities, and create meaningful industry-specific networking forums for alumni.

Subhachandra Chandra, MS ’95, was born in India and came to Binghamton to get a master’s degree in computer science. He says the graduate assistantships provided by the University were the key to making it possible. Chandra was part of Professor Kanad Ghose’s research group and completed a master’s thesis in 1995. He started his professional career in the San Francisco Bay area in 2000 building software systems and platforms at small startups. Chandra is a director of engineering at Ghost Autonomy and leads the Runtime Systems Group. He is an avid supporter of diversity initiatives in STEM at Binghamton and elsewhere.

Tim Kelly ’94 is vice president of operational excellence at Groundswell (formerly CollabraLink) in Northern Virginia. He is responsible for the growth and development of Groundswell’s workforce. He has been closely involved with Binghamton University, serving as a guest lecturer in computer science courses, where he helps students relate to course content using scenarios from his career in enterprise IT. Kelly serves on numerous panels and roundtable discussions at the University. He recruits new members for his team and remains active in the professional growth of students he mentors.

Taris T. Rodney ’08 is a child protective attorney who litigates child neglect and child abuse cases for the City of New York. Rodney received a Juris Doctor degree from Howard University School of Law in 2011. That same year, she created the Taris T. Rodney ’08 Scholarship at Binghamton, awarded to an Educational Opportunity Program (EOP) graduating senior who plans to attend law school. She is engaged with the University as a steering committee member of Harpur Law Council, member of the Alumni Association Board of Directors (2015–20), founding member of EOP’s Advisory Board and by regularly attending Homecoming.

Simone Sterling ’98 earned a Juris Doctorate at Indiana University-Maurer School of Law after double majoring in history and philosophy, politics and law at Binghamton, where she earned her bachelor’s degree in three years. She is a vice president, senior program manager at Citibank, N.A., where she is a member of the Human Resources Transformation team within Citibank’s Accountability, Culture and Talent Transformation Project Management Organization. She also serves on the Harpur Law Council as a steering committee member.