Over the course of 10 years, a lot can happen, and lives often change. In a decade of publishing Drexel Magazine‘s 40 Under 40, we’ve showcased the remarkable achievements of hundreds of ambitious Dragons. This procession of successful individuals in business and science, in public service, in academic pursuits, in charitable ventures and in artistic endeavors has proven, however, that one thing is constant: The influence of an experiential education remains as powerful as ever. Encore after encore, our honorees affirm the value of Anthony J. Drexel’s enduring vision to unite wisdom with experience, and action with impact.
How current. How timeless.
And in the 40 Under 40 Class of 2022, we once again applaud Dragons who have well, scaled, astonishing heights. You never stop impressing us.
William Entriken, 37
By day, William Entriken runs and co-owns an online nursing certification firm. But come Tuesdays at 6 p.m., he’s @fulldecent on Twitch, where he fields questions from blockchain developers about NFTs.
Naima Murphy Salcido, 33
Naima Murphy Salcido cherishes the spot she occupies at the very center of a raging debate over the nation’s history and how it is told. As director of partnerships for the Monument Lab — a public art and history nonprofit — she is helping the fast-growing Philadelphia-based organization lead a national conversation about the past, present and future of historic monuments.
BS business administration ’15
CEO and Co-Founder, SOS Carbon
BS sustainable product development ’16
Community Outreach Specialist, Trans-Pacific Engineering Corp. and in-house consultant to the Philadelphia Water Department
MHS ’11
Physician Assistant, Samaritan’s Purse International Relief
BS general studies ’21
Founder, Ascribe Magazine and affiliated content creator on Twitch
BS graphic design ’12
Artist/Creative Director, Efdot Studio
PhD materials science and engineering ’15
Associate R&D Manager, Cabot Corp.
BS/MS mechanical engineering ’08
Falcon Payload Accommodations Lead Engineer, SpaceX
BA international studies ’07
Political Chief, U.S. Embassy Zambia, U.S. Department of State
Paul Sesink Clee, 33
For six years, Paul Sesink Clee criss-crossed Africa in pursuit of his graduate research in ecology and biology. Whether studying environmental damage caused by elephants in South Africa’s Kruger National Park or hunting for chimpanzee feces to model disease distributions in primates across Central Africa, Sesink Clee made use of his geographic information system (GIS), data analytic and coding skills.
Jeffrey Gophstein, 28
Want to buy or sell a small apartment building? It’s surprisingly hard — and Jeffrey Gopshtein wants to make it easier. “It’s a very fragmented and broken process. The big commercial brokers don’t spend time on these small deals,” says Gopshtein, who received his BSBA in finance with a concentration in real estate from the LeBow College of Business in 2017.
BS ’07; PhD epidemiology ’16
Senior Director Epidemiology, Janssen Research & Development
BS mechanical engineering ’05
Founder and CEO, MORSE Corp.
JD ’13
Pro Bono Attorney, Blank Rome LLP
MS electrical engineering ’11
Director of Environment, Safety and Health, and Chief of Safety, Sandia National Laboratories
BS computer science ’08
Assistant Professor, Williams College
PhD environmental engineering ’16
Assistant Professor at the Biodesign Center for Environmental Health Engineering with a joint appointment in the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, Arizona State University
BS engineering technology, electrical engineering ’15
Lead ATLO Engineer, Millennium Space Systems, A Boeing Company
BS business administration ’11
Founder, Blossom Youth
Erika McDowell, 36
Educator Erika McDowell defines equity as “every person, every child, every parent getting what they need to be successful.” That has been her young life’s work, one that currently involves a three-pronged — and three-job — approach to serving students and the leaders who educate them. This includes creating a sustained impact by supporting a pipeline of educators, supporting their equity learning as part of their training, and consulting with schools and districts to ensure equitable systems.
Charles Peck, 34
Growing up, innovative composer Charles Peck took piano lessons, excelling at classical music and adding French horn to his repertoire. When he wasn’t practicing scales, he was writing bits of music. But he never considered composition a potential profession until high school, when he was looking for a break from the classical canon and landed on the electric bass.
BS communications ’12
CEO/Producer, Julia Grace Entertainment
BS, MS and PhD environmental engineering ’08, ’08 and ’13
Associate Teaching Professor of Civil Engineering, Quinnipiac University, and Founder, Auroran Environmental, LLC
PhD biomedical engineering ’12
Associate Professor, Department of Radiology, Thomas Jefferson University
MPH ’16
CEO and Co-Founder, Politicking
MS clinical psychology ’18; PhD clinical psychology ’20
Provost’s Postdoctoral Fellow, New York University
BA international area studies ’09
Major, U.S. Marine Corps; Intelligence; Weapons and Tactics Instructor, Pentagon
MD ’14
Family Medicine Physician, Geisinger Health System; Geisinger Kistler Family Medicine residency assistant program director; clinical assistant professor of family medicine, Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine
MD ’12
Associate Professor of Medicine and Associate Chief, Division of General Internal Medicine, Penn State University Milton S. Hershey Medical Center
Adit Gupta, 25, and Thomas Falzani, 24
When Covid-19 caused Adit Gupta’s parents to close their convenience store, the Drexel graduate saw an opportunity. With a 2019 BS in Software Engineering from the College of Computing and Informatics, Gupta envisioned a technological enhancement that could help convenience stores weather the ups and downs. He teamed with Tom Falzani, who received a BS in graphic design from Westphal College of Media Arts & Design in 2020, to found Lula.
BS business administration ’17
Black Media Initiative Director, Center for Community Media at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism, City University of New York
PhD marketing ’15
Assistant Professor of Marketing, The Pennsylvania State University (Abington)
BS mechanical engineering ’07
Founder and CEO, Charged
BFA music industry ’15
Co-Owner & Global Managing Director, Mountain Productions Inc.
BA architecture ’18
Architectural & Lighting Designer, The Lighting Practice
PhD environmental science ’13
Director of Conservation, Los Angeles Zoo and Botanical Gardens
BA architecture ’06
Principal; Skidmore, Owings & Merrill
PhD nursing ’18
Assistant Professor, University of California – San Francisco