President Bernardo-Sousa Honored at Distinguished Alumni Awards

Each year, JWU welcomes alumni back to campus for Reunion, where we also honor three exceptional alums at the Distinguished Alumni Awards. Typically, the award winners are announced ahead of time, but this year’s ceremony included a surprise winner that was revealed at the presentation: JWU Providence Campus President Marie Bernardo-Sousa, LP.D. ’92. She and fellow alums Jaewoo Choi ’16 and Ryan Barry ’08 celebrated their wins with friends and family to finish Reunion Weekend in style. 

Meet the 2025 Distinguished Alumni winners! 

President Marie Bernardo-Sousa, LP.D. ’92: Outstanding Achievement Award 

The Outstanding Achievement Award winner was kept secret until the award was presented, and for a good reason. It was presented to President Marie Bernardo-Sousa, who will be retiring in August 2025. 

President Bernardo-Sousa has dedicated the past 35 years of her life to JWU. She started her career at JWU in 1988, working in the registrar’s office while also earning her bachelor’s degree in marketing. In 2002, she became the executive director of student academic and financial services. In 2011, she was promoted to vice president of student services and then senior vice president of administration before being named the Providence campus president in 2019. 

“Whenever JWU called, she answered, armed with willingness and dedication,” said Chancellor Mim Runey LP.D., as she presented the award to President Bernardo-Sousa. “She has had a steadfast and compassionate presence for our students and alumni for decades now, and she will be missed by all her colleagues. She is a true public servant in spirit, a lifelong learner and an educator at heart.”

Throughout her time at JWU, President Bernardo-Sousa has been an integral part of every student's experience.

Beyond her immense impact at JWU, President Bernardo-Sousa has made significant contributions to the entire higher education field and the local community. She has proudly represented JWU at the national level by serving on the boards of organizations such as the National Association of Student Personnel and Administrators, the National Association of College and University Business Officers and the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities. 

Locally, she has supported the Rhode Island community through her work with the Providence Chamber of Commerce, Junior Achievement of Rhode Island and Crossroads Rhode Island. 

Between her hard work at JWU and her dedicated involvement on these boards, she also found time to earn her master’s degree in human resources at Emmanuel College and her doctorate in law and policy from Northeastern University. Her passion for education, including her own, has always been evident. 

President Bernardo-Sousa was surprised to receive the award and held back happy tears as she accepted it. She thanked the Alumni Relations team and Chancellor Runey for putting the surprise together and honoring her with the award. 

“It has been a distinct privilege to be a part of this campus,” she began. “I admire all our faculty and our students, our administration, our leadership — always committed to really doing the best they could for the students who are here and ensuring they have opportunities. I was one of those students, so I am incredibly grateful. I don't feel like I earned this honor. I know so many of our wonderful alumni stories, and it's so impactful.” 

She thanked her husband, who was also on hand to share in the surprise win, as he always listened to the incredible stories she would bring home from campus each day. 

“JWU was a wonderful place where I got to see so many people grow and change and find success and be their authentic selves,” President Bernardo-Sousa said. “I'm grateful and always will be —and I will always wear my JWU blue!” 

The entire JWU community thanks President Marie Bernardo-Sousa for her many years of dedication. She will be greatly missed, and we wish her the best with her next adventure!  

Jaewoo Choi ’16: Graduate of the Last Decade (G.O.L.D.) Award 

Jaewoo Choi ’16 (whose name pronounced jay-woo elicits school spirit) has achieved great success in the nine years since graduating. He owns and operates BKCHOI, Inc., a parent company that owns four restaurants including local favorites PVD Noodle Bar and Sott (formerly Wok & Pot). 

This success didn’t happen overnight. The South Korean native traveled to JWU Providence in 2012 specifically because he wanted to learn about culinary arts from the best. He came with the goal of earning an associate's degree, but soon realized he wanted to continue on into the Culinary Nutrition bachelor’s degree program.  

After graduating in 2016, Choi spent time volunteering at Rhode Island Hospital’s clinical dietetics department before starting BKCHOI, Inc. and opening his first restaurant in 2018. One restaurant became four. Next, a marketing company, a beverage company and a distribution company to supply the restaurants were added to the BKCHOI portfolio. 

You could end the story there, choosing to focus on the wins as a tidy success story and gloss over all the setbacks and losses that come with real life – but that is not Choi. 

“If I had to describe the last 10 years in one word, it would be failure,” began Choi, as he accepted his award in front of fellow alumni. This sentiment was unexpected, but it’s essential to Choi’s story. 

To remain in the U.S., Choi took advantage of a program offered to international students through the U.S. Army. He served for six years in the Army Reserve, all the while completing his studies and opening his first restaurant, O’Boy, in 2018. Just six months after opening the restaurant, Choi was called upon to serve and had to leave Rhode Island for training in Texas.  

After eight months away, he returned to find that O’Boy’s operations were not satisfactory. He made the decision to close the restaurant and reopen with a new brand, Wok & Pot, in early 2020. “But, do you know what happened in 2020?” Choi jokingly asked the audience. After less than 90 days of being open, Wok & Pot was forced to close and pivot its operations to adhere to the pandemic guidelines. Another setback.  

“Everybody minimized their operation hours, but I maximized our hours, starting from 9am to midnight, 15 hours every single day,” he said. “One day, I was just sitting at the restaurant by myself the entire day. I checked the revenue — it was $70 for the whole day. Ouch.” 

Ultimately, Wok & Pot persevered and emerged from the pandemic as a popular spot in Providence, and it was Choi’s most successful restaurant among the others he eventually opened in 2023. But he did not stop there. He saw an opportunity to further invest in the development of his team and provide an environment that reflected how they had grown as chefs. “Everybody told me not to invest more money since it was already making money, but they underestimated [the value of] team growth,” he said. “I saw the potential, and I knew we could do something more.” 

In a bold move, Choi closed Wok & Pot for renovations from August-November 2024. With new kitchen equipment for the team, an upgraded interior and a revamped menu, they reopened as Sott. Rebranding an already successful restaurant may seem crazy, but Choi firmly believes it was the best move for investing in the growth and development of his team, which is more important to him than revenue. 

“This is what I learned from my failure. So, the word failure is not a negative for me, it's a good word. I'm going to fail, but I'm still going to learn — this is the experience I want to share with the community.” 

He has shared this and many other lessons with current JWU students to help them with their development and even gave one student the opportunity to take over his restaurant for a night. Choi’s continued dedication to the JWU community makes him a perfect choice for the G.O.L.D. Award. 

Ryan Barry ’08: Alumni Service Award 

The Alumni Service Award recognizes an active and engaged alumnus who is an integral and committed part of the JWU Alumni effort — a description that epitomizes Ryan Barry ’08. Throughout his successful career, the Marketing & Advertising program graduate has remained in near constant contact with JWU through class visits, donations and hiring alumni. 

“I have come back many times to speak to students, whether it's for the ADTEAM, which I was a member of, marketing or business classes — I think I've probably been back at least once a year,” Barry said.  

For the last 10+ years, he has also continually donated software to the marketing program from Zappi, a consumer insights software company he helped create and launch in the U.S. in 2014. 

During his time with Zappi, Barry held multiple key leadership positions to carry out the company's growth strategy and manage daily operations across departments. His leadership helped Zappi achieve a successful $300 million exit strategy to transition the organization to its next phase with Sumeru Equity Partners. He has now started his new role as CEO of Appcues, a user engagement software company, where he hopes to continue bringing his industry expertise into JWU classrooms. 

If that success wasn’t enough, Barry has also co-authored an Amazon best-seller book, The Consumer Insights Revolution: Transforming market research for competitive advantage. The Rhode Island native found his passion in customer experience and built a successful career from it, but he was not always the dedicated self-starter he is today. 

“I was busy playing sports and chasing girls in high school, and I didn't really know what I wanted to be when I grew up,” Barry said. “When I was a sophomore, I remember a guidance counselor telling me ‘You shouldn’t go to college, you should go be a construction worker – no one is going to bet on you’ and I guess it motivated me.” 

He decided to bet on himself, and he started by taking classes at Community College of Rhode Island (CCRI). A marketing class there reminded him of one of his favorite childhood pastimes of pretending to be a businessman while playing on his dad’s computer. “I realized I found business so interesting — how people connect with brands and connect with businesses,” Barry said. The next step was to transfer to a four-year institution. 

His mother had previously attended JWU for her master’s degree, so he knew of the school, but what really drew him here was the hands-on nature of the marketing program. “The ability to actually work with real brands and do case studies was just amazing for me,” he said. He also enjoyed the opportunity to study abroad, citing that as one of his favorite JWU memories. “I can still bring myself back to the streets of Denmark. That summer was amazing — not just the education but being in another part of the world as a 19-year-old. I learned a lot about myself and what I wanted to do.” 

But perhaps the greatest thing he took away from his JWU experience were the faculty mentors who he now calls friends. Professor Anthony Fruzzetti, who has been teaching at JWU for 25 years, was one of Barry’s most influential mentors and even helped him land his first job opportunity after graduation. Today, they are great friends, and Barry often visits Professor Fruzzetti’s classes to speak to students. Fruzzetti also joined Barry at the brunch to see him accept his award.  

“I want to thank Tony – he is a friend of mine first and foremost, but he was also a mentor to me when I went to school here,” Barry said as he accepted his award. “He was kind of the catalyst to my marketing research career, and he’s been an advisor to me all these years.” 

Barry ended his speech with a message to his two young sons, who were also in attendance. “If you find what makes you happy in life, you work really hard and you're adaptable to change, you can do whatever you want.”

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