2023 Distinguished Young Alumni Awards Washington and Lee University is proud to announce this year's Distinguished Young Alumni Award winners

Office of Alumni Engagement
October 3, 2023

Washington and Lee University is proud to announce this year’s Distinguished Young Alumni Award winners. We will celebrate the recipients during Young Alumni Weekend, Nov. 3-5, 2023.

Kathryn Stewart Gragg ’13

Kathryn Stewart Gragg, a Johnson Scholar, graduated summa cum laude from Washington and Lee University in 2013 with a degree in Business Journalism with Politics and Marketing concentrations. As a student Katy was an active member of the Mock Convention Steering Committee and Kappa Alpha Theta sorority, and was inducted into Omicron Delta Kappa, Phi Beta Kappa and Phi Eta Sigma.

During her time on campus, Katy participated in and reported on the project The State of Health Care in Rockbridge County, partnering with local representatives from Carilion Rockbridge Community Hospital and the Rockbridge Area Health Center. The project explored barriers and access to care, women’s health hurdles, lack of area physicians, obesity and other local healthcare issues.

Following graduation, Katy began her career in Texas at the Houston Business Journal as their Social Engagement Manager. After covering real estate, the industry piqued her interest and she joined Stream Realty Partners in 2014 as an associate on the firm’s Houston Office leasing team, overseeing project leasing efforts for institutional ownerships, and represented several assets across Houston. In 2017 Katy joined Transwestern as a senior associate on the Houston Office team, specializing in agency leasing services, including transaction management and execution, as well as marketing and business development. She quickly established herself as a valuable asset and was awarded the Transwestern 2018 Newcomer Award and the 2019 Rising Star Award for her considerable deal volume and community involvement. In 2021, Katy was named vice president of one of the highest grossing office leasing teams in the country, receiving numerous industry awards and accolades for the deals she executed. Most recently, the Houston Business Journal awarded her team with the 2023 Landmark Project Lease Award for their involvement in placing Apache at BriarLake Plaza; the largest agency lease in the city of Houston in 2022.

Katy is an active and dedicated alumna. She has served as president, vice president, Alumni Admissions Program Chair and Social Events Chair for the Houston Alumni Chapter; served on her 10th Reunion Committee and has served as an Alumni Admissions Program committee member. During her tenure as president of the Houston Alumni Chapter, the chapter was named Chapter of the Year.

She and her husband Johnny Gragg, also Class of 2013, and their 1.5-year-old daughter Frances reside in Houston.

Wayde Marsh ’13

Wayde Marsh graduated summa cum laude from Washington and Lee University in 2013 as a politics and religion double major, completing an honors thesis under the guidance of Professor Alex Brown. He was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, was a member of Phi Kappa Psi social fraternity, and his senior year was selected as a winner of the Algernon Sidney Sullivan Medallion, awarded by a vote of the faculty to the male and female students in the graduating class who “excel in high ideals of living, in spiritual qualities and in generous and disinterested service to others.” Additionally, Wayde was named the national leader of the year by Omicron Delta Kappa, becoming the first Washington and Lee student to win the prestigious award.

Marsh was president of Phi Eta Sigma First-Year Honor Society, won both a Religion Department Award for Excellence and a German Department Award for Excellence, and belonged to the Pi Sigma Alpha Politics Honor Society. He was the vice president of the 1 in 4 Sexual Assault Prevention group. Wayde was also active in W&L Dance and the University Wind Ensemble, served as a Mock Convention State Chair, and was head resident advisor.

A two-sport athlete, excelling in both swimming and track and field, Marsh earned a combined seven letters, four for swimming and three for track and field. He was captain of the swim team as a senior and a four-time All-American and earned all-ODAC honors in track & field. In May 2013, Marsh won the William D. McHenry Male Scholar-Athlete Award and a month later he was named to the 2013 Capital One Division III Academic All-America At-Large team.

Following W&L, Wayde received his Master of Divinity from Duke University in 2016 and completed his Master of Arts in Political Science at the University of Notre Dame in 2019. In May 2022, he completed his Ph.D. in the Department of Political Science at the University of Notre Dame. Before beginning his doctoral studies, he worked as a case manager and employment specialist with CWS, a refugee resettlement agency, in Durham, N.C. He remains an active alumnus, volunteering his time on both his 5th and 10th Reunion Committees.

Wayde is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. His work has been published in the American Political Science Review, Public Opinion Quarterly, American Politics Research, and Politics, Groups, and Identities. He is a collaborator on the Strengthening Democracy Challenge, a collaborative project bringing together academics, practitioners, and industry experts to identify and test “interventions to improve Americans’ commitment to democratic principles of political engagement” and to reduce partisan hostility and conflict.

Camie Carlock McKee ’13

Camie Carlock McKee graduated magna cum laude from Washington and Lee University in 2013 with a degree in Politics and a minor in Poverty and Human Capability Studies. She earned her J.D. from The University of Texas School of Law in 2018, where she served as Managing Editor of the Texas Journal of Oil, Gas, and Energy Law. As an associate attorney in the Energy, Power and Natural Resources Practice Group of Haynes and Boone, LLP, her practice focuses on energy transactions, including crude oil, natural gas, and renewable energy. Camie has been recognized by Texas Super Lawyers Rising Stars and included in the “Ones to Watch” category of The Best Lawyers in America for her work in Energy Law.

Camie serves as co-chair of Haynes Boone’s firmwide Pipeline Initiatives Network, which supports underrepresented students interested in the legal industry through local partnerships with high schools, colleges, and non-profits. Through this role, she serves on the firm’s Attorney Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee. In addition to her involvement within Haynes Boone, Camie continues her service to The University of Texas School of Law as a board member of the Texas Energy Law Association and Associate Advisory Council of the Kay Bailey Hutchison Energy Center for Business, Law and Policy.

At W&L, Camie served on the Mock Convention Steering Committee and Student Recruitment Committee, was a Peer Counselor, and an active member of Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority and the Reformed University Fellowship. She was inducted into Omicron Delta Kappa and received the Frank J. Gilliam award for leadership and excellence. She has continued to support W&L through her former roles as Co-Chair of the Alumni Admissions Program in Dallas, Young Alumni Chair of the Washington, D.C. Alumni Chapter, 5th Reunion Committee Volunteer, and Annual Fund Class Agent.

In Dallas, Camie has served on the Alumni Association Board of Directors for The Episcopal School of Dallas and as the Underwriting Chair for the young professionals board of Genesis Women’s Shelter. She and her husband, Matt, are active members of St. Luke Medical District, an Anglican church founded by her sister, Happy Carlock Madden ’15, and brother-in-law, Rev. James Madden ’08.

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