Albertus Magnus College Announces 2024 Alumni Award Recipients
Presented to Alumni for Positive Impact on Others
New Haven, Conn., September 19, 2024 – Albertus Magnus College is proud to announce the recipients of the 2024 Alumni Awards. Both the Alumni of the Year and the Premier Achievement Award recognize the standard of excellence in making an impactful difference in the lives of others. The ceremony will take place on Friday, October 4 at 6pm in the Behan Community room at the award-winning Hubert Campus Center.
- The Alumni of the Year Award is presented to a living member of the Alumni Association who has attained preeminence in their life through outstanding professional, scholarly, and artistic achievement; who is devoted to serving others through volunteer and community service; or who has manifested extraordinary loyalty and dedication to Albertus. This year, there is both an undergraduate and graduate recipient.
- The Premier Achievement Award is presented to a living member of the Alumni Association who has graduated from Albertus within the last 10 years and who has either excelled professionally within the community or has shown extraordinary loyalty to the College.
Timothy Quinn ’88, a resident of West Palm Beach, Florida, is the 2024 undergraduate recipient of the Alumni of the Year Award. Continuing a proud family tradition at Albertus, Quinn’s mother and two aunts are all alumnae, underscoring a deep relationship with the College.
Quinn is a world-renowned makeup artist and former Vice President of Armani. He has dedicated his career to enhancing the beauty and confidence of high-profile celebrities and politicians. His work has been featured in The New York Times, Vogue, and Glamour — to name just a few — and he received a Genius Award in Elle Magazine as one of his many honors.
Recently, he launched Halo42, an award-winning skincare brand that has quickly garnered acclaim for its innovative approach to beauty and wellness. Diagnosed with cancer in 2007, Quinn underwent treatment at Mass General Cancer Center. To thank the nurses who cared for him, he organized Tim Quinn Nurses Appreciation Day, now an annual event which celebrated its 10th anniversary in 2024, offering beauty services to dedicated nurses.
To show his exceptional loyalty to Albertus, Quinn organizes regional receptions and was previously on the Alumni Advisory Board. As part of the historic first class of males to graduate from Albertus, Quinn served as Class President.
Ena Williams ’07 M.S., ’08 M.B.A., a resident of Hamden, Connecticut, is the 2024 graduate recipient of the Alumni of the Year Award.
Williams currently serves as the Senior Vice President and Chief Nursing Officer (CNO) at Yale New Haven Hospital (YNHH). She is the first ever Black Nursing Director, Vice President, Senior Vice President, and CNO at YNHH.
After beginning her nursing career in Jamaica, Williams migrated to the United States — first working in New York City and then New Haven, where she quickly progressed through several leadership positions. In 2018, she assumed the role of CNO and led the YNNH nursing team to important accreditations, as well as through the COVID-19 pandemic.
Williams serves on numerous local, state, and national boards and committees, is the president-elect of the American Organization of Nursing Leadership, and is a lifetime member of National Black Nurses. She’s been recognized with numerous awards including: one of the 50 Most Influential Clinical Executives by Modern Healthcare and the Trailblazer Award from the National Black Nurses Association. Williams is also a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing and one of the Inaugural Fellows of the Academy of Diversity Leaders in Nursing. Williams is married to her husband Leonard of 41 years and is the proud mom of Andrea, Andrew, and Alex.
Shamain McAllister ’18, known to most as ‘Sha’, is a resident of Irvington, New Jersey and the 2024 recipient of the Premier Achievement Award.
McAllister currently serves as the Associate Director of Education and Community Impact for the International Festival of Arts and Ideas where she creates impactful programming through creativity, authentic partnerships, and innovative ideas. Additionally, she is the Managing Director of Kulturally LIT, an organization dedicated to cultivating awareness of the African Diaspora culture. She also proudly serves on the boards of The Arts Council of Greater New Haven and Best Video Film& Cultural Center.
While at Albertus, McAllister earned a Bachelor Science in Healthcare Management with a minor in Criminal Justice. While attending the College, she held significant roles in the Student Government Association, serving as Vice President of Advocacy and Director of Student Concerns. She also founded the Student Justice League, dedicated to raising awareness of local and global injustices and implementing practical solutions.
She’s the recipient of the “Uplifting Our Community” award from the Freddy Fixer Parade Committee and a member of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority.
About Albertus Magnus College
Albertus Magnus College, founded in 1925, is a coeducational Catholic College in the Dominican tradition. As New England's most diverse Catholic College, Albertus' values- and liberal arts-based education is recognized by external rankings such as US News & World Report, Money Magazine, and The Wall Street Journal/Times Higher Education, and has been named a Top 10 Military Friendly School. For eight consecutive years, graduating classes at Albertus have achieved post-graduate employment and graduate school success at a rate of at least 95%. The College has an enrollment of approximately 1,300 students across its traditional undergraduate, accelerated adult undergraduate, and 12 graduate programs. Proud to enroll a student body where more than half of its students come from minority backgrounds with nearly the same percentage of undergraduates receiving Federal Pell Grants and being first generation college goers, Albertus is known for its innovative curricular offerings, recently launching new Bachelor's degree programs in Nursing, General Health Sciences, Interdisciplinary Studies, Public Health, and Supply Chain Management; among its graduate programs is the State of Connecticut's only Master of Arts in Art Therapy and Counseling program. Just two years from its historic 100 th Anniversary Year, the College is implementing its Albertus 2025: Lighting the Way to a Second Century strategic plan, which articulates an inspiring, bold vision to "be a destination liberal arts-based college, distinguished in its interdisciplinary and experiential approach to education, rooted in Dominican values, that prepares students for lifelong civic engagement and success." To learn more, please visit albertus.edu.