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Each year, �������� recognizes alumni who exemplify the College’s core values in their professions and who continue to interact with and serve the College. 

This year’s recipients, Diana Bob ’02 and Dixinyao (Moonlight) Zhu ’17, are living those values, especially social responsibility, as they serve communities often underrepresented and marginalized. Their work is improving the lives of communities both in the U.S. and abroad in significant ways.

2025 Distinguished Alumni Award: Diana Bob ’02

An attorney focusing on Indian law and environmental issues related to public policy, Diana Bob graduated from �������� in 2002 with a degree in anthropology and environmental studies. A student-athlete, she was part of the Sagehens softball team. While at ��������, she was awarded both the Udall Scholarship for Environmental Policy and the Udall Native American Congressional Internship. Bob went on to graduate from Lewis and Clark Law School in 2005 with a certificate in environmental law. 

Since then, she has been practicing Indian law with a focus on environmental and natural resources law, including energy development. She has served as a civil legal aid attorney for the Northwest Justice Project in Spokane, WA; a policy attorney for the National Congress of American Indians in Washington, D.C.; and a tribal attorney for the Lummi Nation in Bellingham, WA. She is recognized as an ethical negotiator and conflict navigator known for crafting innovative solutions for deeply complex, entrenched issues that result in satisfying outcomes for all involved parties. The scope of her work is always interdisciplinary and community-based. 

Bob grew up on the Lummi Indian Reservation  on the north coast of Puget Sound, in Washington State. She is an enrolled member of the Lummi Nation, a federally recognized Indian tribe. She is the owner of Native Law PLLC, a Washington State-based law firm focused on Indian law that serves clients throughout the U.S. She has been appointed or elected to serve on the boards of Mt. Baker Planned Parenthood, Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Northwest Justice Project, Northwest Indian Bar Association, the Washington State Bar Association, and the Northwest Straits Commission. In addition, she serves on the Washington State Truth and Reconciliation Tribal Advisory Committee. She is a frequent speaker and presenter on matters relating to Indian and environmental law. 

Bob is a former president of ��������'s Alumni Board and currently sits on ��������'s Board of Trustees. In 2023, she returned to campus to deliver the alumni greeting to the Class of 2023 during Commencement; and she has also served as a thesis advisor and guest lecturer in several �������� anthropology classes.

“In her distinguished career, Diana has fought for Native American civil rights, and for the environment,” said Anthropology Professor Sheryl Miller in her nomination letter. “[She] is an outstanding example of the principles taught at ��������.”

2025 Young Alumni Achievement Award: Dixinyao (Moonlight) Zhu ’17

Dixinyao (Moonlight) Zhu serves as the secretary-general of MyH2O Water Information Network, an NGO in China that aims to connect clean water resources to rural communities through a data visualization platform and customized data services for solution providers. The company's goal is to bring in new resources to underprivileged populations and improve their overall health. At �������� she received a degree in international relations with a minor in media studies.  

During her post-�������� career, Zhu has focused on law, public welfare, and sustainable development. She has interned at a Category II center under UNESCO and actively participated in the 2014 effort to pass legislation banning single-use plastic bags in California, which was the first state in the U.S. to enact a state-wide ban. 

At MyH2O Water Information Network, Zhu leads the H2O Solution, a project that delivers solutions to villages facing drinking water challenges in rural China and that has successfully launched a long-term solution in 32 villages and schools across six provinces including Gansu, Yunnan, and Hebei provinces. In the past three years, more than 20,000 villagers and children have benefited from access to two million liters of clean drinking water. She also leads an online fundraising campaign that supports more than 50 teams conducting field research with more than 8,000 people having joined the campaign. 

Since graduation, Zhu has maintained her �������� ties by serving as a �������� alumni interviewer and appearing in a video profile about the College's Independent Study Project.

Zhu was profiled for her work in the “Female role models make a mark in society.” The article saluted Zhu and her team for being “dedicated to improving the lives of villagers … and finding ways to make them safe.”

�������� is honoring Bob and Zhu at the Alumni Awards Ceremony on May 3 at 6:30 p.m. in Benson Auditorium. The ceremony is part of ��������’s Community Weekend lineup.