Texas Exes, the University’s official alumni organization, is hosting its annual Outstanding Young Texas Exes Awards panel free for all UT students to attend on Sept. 29.

The award recognizes the achievements of four alumni who have made significant achievements in their careers, community and service to the University. This year, the Texas Exes honor film producer Kovid Gupta, emergency physician Amy Faith Ho, entrepreneur C.C. Melvin Ike and actor Glen Powell. 

“It’s not so much a ceremony as just (really) a panel conversation; we’re going to ask questions of these four individuals who won this year,” said Dorothy Guerrero, vice president of communications at Texas Exes. “Students can learn a lot from these Longhorns who’ve achieved so much professionally and it’s a great way to sort of understand where they came from (and) how they got to where they are.”

Guerrero said a board of Texas Exes staff chose the alumni through a nomination process. To qualify for a nomination, an alumnus must be 39 years old or younger on Jan. 1 of the year the award is presented. Once receiving the Outstanding Young Texas Exes Award, the individuals could potentially earn the Distinguished Alumnus Award, another honor provided on the Forty Acres.

Gupta, who has previously worked with some of India’s most successful film studios, explained his excitement towards receiving the Outstanding Young Texas Exes Award. 

“I’m still surprised they chose me and I still don’t understand why they chose me among so many other highly accomplished people who I look up to a lot,” Gupta said. “I’m very grateful.”

Ho, who currently serves as senior vice president and chief of clinical informatics at Integrative Emergency Services in Dallas, said her time at UT gave her the tools to kick start her career. 

“UT is the place where you learn to say ‘yes’ and honestly it is massive and kind of intimidating when you first get there, because it’s a place of really limitless resources (to get involved with),” Ho said. “It’s kind of on you to go find the right resources and figure out what to do with them. There’s tons of mentorship opportunities with professors and obviously other students.”