18 Under 31 – Class of 2025

Lieutenant Steven Beall is a physician in the U.S. Navy. Beall was drawn to UA’s culture of excellence, where he was an active member of the Dr. Robert E. Witt University Fellows Program. During his time at Alabama, he founded a mentorship program for at-risk high school students and led a research team investigating the role of stress in early child development. He graduated in 2016 summa cum laude while majoring in biology and minoring in psychology. Following his time at UA, Beall was commissioned into the U.S. Navy and began his medical degree at the Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences. Upon graduation, Beall entered his top residency program, the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center of Internal Medicine. Beall thrived at “the President’s Hospital,” providing care for service members, veterans and elected officials, and graduated as the most outstanding resident in his class. Now, Beall serves onboard the USS WASP, a U.S. Navy amphibious assault ship forward-deployed to the Eastern Mediterranean.

Megan Birkes is vice president of operations and development for the Yummy Restaurant Group,
a UA alumni-owned restaurant company in Honolulu, Hawaii. She became the company’s first intern her senior year in college, then joined Yummy after graduation and quickly ascended the ranks. Birkes grew up in a hospitality and military family in Orlando, Florida. Her father was an organizational psychologist who helped clients move forward in their careers and lives. Birkes knew she wanted to be like her father and has always had an entrepreneurial spirit, starting her first company at 10 years old. After high school, she joined the University’s hospitality program and business management program. As a student, Birkes became an Avanti orientation leader, resident adviser, Honors College Alabama action leader, Honors College ambassador and a member of The XXXI. At Yummy, she now manages the same internship program that launched her career and focuses on what her father inspired her to do, developing nearly 600 team members and turning them into leaders. In her free time, Birkes helps coach youth basketball, surfs, paddleboards and cooks with her friends.

Lillian Roth Brand is an innovative communicator known for connecting people and ideas to activate change. As a director with NP Strategy, the strategic communications subsidiary of Maynard Nexsen, she brings industry experience and political acumen to the firm and its clients through business development, strategic communications and stakeholder management. Brand is a Montgomery, Alabama, native and completed her graduate and undergraduate work at UA, earning both her bachelor’s degree and an MBA. She served as the Student Government Association president and later
served as the MBA Association president, chairman of the Advisory Council on Student Wellness and chairman of the 125 Years of Women celebration while in graduate school. Brand continues to serve her alma mater through the Student Life Leadership Council, Alumni Advisory Council on Wellness and the Student Government Association’s Presidents Council. In the community, she is involved in the Alabama Girls State program, the Rotaract Club of Birmingham and her local Chi Omega Alumnae Association.

Piper Reyanne Daniels is a passionate and philanthropic senior systems engineer at Lockheed Martin Aeronautics. Daniels graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering in 2019 and an MBA in 2020. While heavily involved in various organizations during college, Daniels was recognized as an outstanding senior leader, the AIAA outstanding aerospace senior, and she received the Manderson Graduate School of Business Outstanding Leadership Award. Daniels is most proud of her involvement in the Outstanding Student-Initiated Engagement Effort Award granted to UASPACE. As founding project manager of UASPACE, she secured the opportunity to launch the University’s first satellite into orbit through the NASA 2020 CubeSat Launch Initiative, making UA a space-faring university. Daniels is actively involved in her community today through initiatives such as Habitat for Humanity, Girls Inc. and Rebuilding Together. She serves as president of the Fort Worth alumni chapter, is a volunteer committee member for her hometown of Grapevine, Texas, and president of a club for Lockheed Martin-Fort Worth’s early career employees.

Michael Dunn is a transportation safety engineer
for VHB. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree
in civil engineering in 2017. While at the Capstone, he was a member of Randall Research Scholars and an Honors College ambassador. Following graduation, Dunn went on to earn his master’s in civil engineering from the University of Texas at Austin, where his thesis developed performance measures for prioritizing traffic signal retiming. Dunn then moved to Raleigh, North Carolina.
Dunn’s strong foundation in traffic operations,
forged while at UA, positioned him to address
the rising traffic crash rates in the U.S. by exploring the relationship between traffic operations and safety. He has become a national expert in the Safe System Approach, a paradigm shift in how roadway safety is addressed, and has managed over $1 million in federal and state safety projects. Additionally, his interest in urban planning and passion for walking and biking have led him to become an expert in designing roads to improve pedestrian and bicyclist safety. 

Caitlyn McTier is a passionate brand strategist
and community activist based in New York City.
With a robust background in communications,
she specializes in sports marketing at William Morris Endeavor, where she manages projects and drives ideation. A native of Sylacauga, Alabama, McTier graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in news media and double minors in African American studies and civic engagement and leadership. During her time at the University, McTier served as the vice president of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in the Student Government Association, was president of The XXXI, an all-female honor society, and was an active member of Capstone Men and Women and the Blackburn Institute. She received the prestigious Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award in 2021. McTier also co-founded Alabama’s coalition dedicated to addressing student poverty in 2018. She serves as a fellow for the White House Historical Association and actively participates in the White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition and Health. Additionally, McTier is a board member of the East Alabama Rural Innovation Hub.

Dr. Allyson Pitzel is a research assistant professor
at The University of Alabama. She received her Ph.D. in special education in 2023. Pitzel’s research focuses on improving the literacy and self-determination skills of students with disabilities and students at risk for disabilities in the most restrictive education settings, such as residential treatment facilities and juvenile justice facilities. Her goal is to teach youth how to use reading and writing to self-advocate for things they want or need once they transition back to less-restrictive settings such as their neighborhood school, community or workforce. Pitzel has led a series of single-case design studies using the Self-Regulated Strategy Development (SRSD) instructional approach with self-determination for adolescent girls with disabilities and at risk for disabilities in a juvenile justice facility. Across all studies, youth wrote and self-advocated more through their writing. She has also been published in top-tier special education journals that are presented nationally and internationally and recognized through numerous national awards.

Bethany Triplett is the owner and operator of the Tuscaloosa clothing staple, The Shirt Shop. After graduating in 2016, Triplett stayed in Tuscaloosa to start her professional career at The Shirt Shop. During her time in Tuscaloosa, she has seen The University of Alabama from the perspective of a student, a resident, a young professional and a business owner. Triplett’s love, dedication and passion for The Shirt Shop stems from the incredible experience she had in Tuscaloosa, beginning with UA. It comes full circle for her daily when she meets families from across the country coming to school at UA or attending a football game. The excitement in their eyes is a familiar feeling that she remembers all too well.

Amanda White is a senior technical project
manager in cybersecurity at Walmart, where she
leads projects within the company’s eDiscovery
& Forensic Services Laboratory, a cutting-edge
crime lab focused on securing digital evidence for litigation and investigations. White serves on leadership teams for Walmart’s Black & African American Resource Group and Black Technology Network. White graduated magna cum laude in 2018 with a bachelor’s degree in management information systems and is a Tuscaloosa native. In 2021, she earned an Executive MBA from the University of Arkansas, serving on the EMBA Student Advisory Board and Dean’s Young Alumni Advisory Council while completing the National Science Foundation’s I-Corps Program. While at UA, she held leadership positions such as Culverhouse Ambassador, SGA Student Judiciary Board, Order
of Omega, Omicron Delta Kappa, executive positions in Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. and the National Pan-Hellenic Council. White also serves as chief marketing officer for the STEAM nonprofit, A Little Bit of HOPE, and volunteers with various STEAM organizations and accelerators.