RED SPRINGS — Robeson County native Ashley Deese has been named the 2018 Methodist University Distinguished Young Alumni.
A 2011 graduate of Methodist University, Deese was honored during a homecoming alumni awards ceremony on Oct. 20. The Distinguished Young Alumni award is given to a recent alumni who has attained a high level of professional accomplishment.
Deese received her bachelor’s degree in Biology from Methodist University and a master’s in interactive media from Elon University. She is a 2007 graduate of Red Springs High School and is the daughter of Harold and Catherine Deese, of Red Springs.
She is the manager of Digital Media at the Smithsonian Science Education Center, a part of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., where she leads the digital media department throughout the production and distribution of Smithsonian science products, such as game apps, interactives and videos for children around the world.
Deese has produced internationally acclaimed and bestselling apps for the Smithsonian, such as “BumperDucks,” “Disaster Detector,” and “Showbiz Safari.” Deese’s “Morphy!” app received an honoree award at The Webby Awards in 2016. “Aquation: The Freshwater Access Game” was a 2018 nominee for The Webby Awards inaugural games category for Public Service & Activ-ism. Deese’s apps have been used in more than 100 countries and has topped the Top Charts on the Apple App Store worldwide.
Deese is a voting member of the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, a member of the Smithsonian Networks Review Committee for the Smithsonian Channel, a Smithsonian unit editor for the Smithsonian Magazine Voices blog, member of the digital advisory board for the Smithsonian’s American Women’s History Initiative, the Smithsonian representative for the White House’s Computer Science for All initiative, and the co-chair for Smithsonian Gaming.
