THE FLATS – Georgia Tech alumni Melanie Akwule (track and field), Thomas “Bo” Hatchett (swimming and diving) and Jenny Lentz Moore (track and field, swimming and diving) represented the Yellow Jackets on the 2021 Georgia Tech Alumni Association’s 40 Under 40 Class announced Thursday. Hundreds of individuals were nominated for the class which recognizes Georgia Tech’s most remarkable innovators, trend setters and people to watch.
A four-year letterwinner on the track and field team (2009-12), Akwule graduated from Georgia Tech in 2012 with a degree in business administration. A 2012 All-ACC Academic Team selection, Akwule founded MINWO, a diversity, equity and inclusion technology company, to close the racial wealth gap through business ownership. She came up with the idea for the company in 2015 and launched the MINWO Beta program in 2018. The founder and CEO, Akwule’s company was recently featured in the Washington Business Journal.
Hatchett, who served as a team captain his final two seasons with the swimming and diving team, earned a degree in biology from Georgia Tech in 2013. A letterwinner from 2011-12, Hatchett became the youngest state senator in Georgia when he was elected to the Georgia State Senate in 2020, representing District 50. Hatchett also serves as the governor’s floor leader.
A member of both the track and field and swimming and diving teams while at Georgia Tech, Moore graduated in 2005 with a degree in aerospace engineering. As a student-athlete, she was a member of the inaugural women’s swimming and diving team, recording several program top-10 times in her career, while also competing in the 400m and 800m in track. In 2017, Moore became the first female F-35 civilian instructor pilot and in 2019, she was given the opportunity to establish the United States Marine Corps F-35 training program at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar.
The 2021 class also features two individuals with significant ties to Georgia Tech athletics – Garrett Langley, a member of the Alexander-Tharpe Fund Board, and Miheer Walavalkar, the founder of LiveLike that partnered with WMT Media to launch a custom-built mobile application to engage college sports fans.
The 2020 and 2021 classes will be honored during a week-long celebration this fall with the pinnacle event, the 40 Under 40 Awards Ceremony, taking place on Sept. 2. To view the complete list of 2021 honorees, please click here.
Alexander-Tharpe Fund
The Alexander-Tharpe Fund is the fundraising arm of Georgia Tech athletics, providing scholarship, operations and facilities support for Georgia Tech’s 400-plus student-athletes. Be a part of developing Georgia Tech’s Everyday Champions and helping the Yellow Jackets compete for championships at the highest levels of college athletics by supporting the Annual Athletic Scholarship Fund, which directly provides scholarships for Georgia Tech student-athletes. To learn more about supporting the Yellow Jackets, visit atfund.org.
