Berry ‘sisters’ celebrate bonds forged in history-making triumph
In a year when Caitlin Clark’s record-setting exploits propelled her sport to new heights, Berry’s own women’s basketball pioneers renewed bonds of sisterhood formed during another history-making season nearly a half-century ago.
The women responsible for Berry’s first national championship in any sport are all smiles as they recreate the photo taken after their triumphant return to campus in 1976.
Published since 2003 for alumni and friends of Berry College and its historic schools. Winner of numerous regional awards for writing, editorial and design excellence.
Editor Rick Woodall (93C, FFS)
Managing Editor and Writer
Dawn Tolbert
Graphic Design and Production
Craig Hall, Natorio Howard
Director of Photography
Brant Sanderlin
Staff Writers Catherine Hamrick, Debbie Rasure
Deaths
McKenzie Todd
CONTACT INFORMATION
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Editorial: email rwoodall@berry.edu or mail to Berry magazine, c/o Dawn Tolbert, P.O. Box 490069, Mount Berry, GA 30149
BERRY ALUMNI ASSOCIATION
President: Meredith Lewallen Roberts (07C)
Immediate Past President: Aaron Chastain (15C)
Vice Presidents: Alumni Awards, Nancy Duvall Ratcliffe (77C); Alumni Engagement, Gavin McGinnis (09C); Culture and Heritage, Julie Williamson Trejo (91C, 21G, FFS); Financial Support, Alison Lounsbury Ritter (94C, FFS)
Chaplain: Brandi Calhoun Diamond (93C)
Parliamentarian: Jason Sweatt (88C)
Secretary: Larry Arrington (93C, FFS)
Senior Director of Advancement
Marketing and Communications
Jennifer Schaknowski
Assistant Vice President for Alumni Engagement and Development
Jean Druckenmiller
Vice President of Marketing and Communications
Nancy Rewis
President Stephen R. Briggs
Cover and above photos by Brant
inset photo
Brock Anderson (10C) is among a select group of professional ergonomists globally who are helping clients enhance productivity while easing the physical and mental demands placed on their employees.
Jennifer Williams Bronner (05C) has earned local and national acclaim for work done on behalf of her Georgia hometown in the role of vice president of finance for the Greater Macon Chamber.
For the first time in nearly two decades, Berry College is searching for a new president. The process began in April when Dr. Steve Briggs made public his plans to retire at the end of the 2024-25 academic year.
Briggs and wife Brenda have made Berry both their home and their mission since 2006, connecting deeply with all constituencies, but perhaps students most of all.
“We have had the joy of knowing thousands of students, with each generation forming Berry into its own vibrant and warm-hearted community,” Briggs related.
“The college is thriving, and I am excited about how we are elevating Berry’s distinctive student experience and exploring forwardlooking programs and partnerships,” he added. “The years ahead are full of possibilities.”
Briggs’ presidency has been highlighted by significant growth in Berry’s stature and expanded academic offerings and residential capacity. Traditionally strong programs in the humanities, arts, sciences, business and
education have been enhanced by continuing advancement in animal science and strategic additions in such areas as health sciences and creative technologies.
“Dr. Briggs has radically transformed Berry while deepening its commitment to the ideals of Martha Berry.”
- Rick Gilbert (77c), Berry board chair
Unprecedented support by alumni and friends has fueled creation of the Gate of Opportunity Scholarship, Berry Center for Integrity in Leadership and other student-
focused initiatives, along with construction and/ or renovation of a dozen buildings including Morgan-Bailey Hall – a new home for health sciences – which broke ground in March (see page 3).
These facilities offer ample space for students to pursue academic goals as well as extracurricular passions in music, theatre and intercollegiate athletics – the latter bolstered by the addition of nine varsity sports and Berry’s successful transition to NCAA Division III as a founding member of the Southern Athletic Association.
With Briggs’ leadership, Berry has strategically enhanced the beauty and utility of its campus through such collaborative ventures as The Spires at Berry continuing care retirement community, the Rome Tennis Center at Berry College and an adjacent Fairfield Inn.
Above all, he’s remained true to the college’s founding principles, a point of emphasis and praise for Trustee Chair Rick Gilbert (77c).
“Dr. Briggs has radically transformed Berry while deepening its commitment to the ideals of Martha Berry,” Gilbert reflected. “Throughout
by
the years, he has earned the profound respect and trust of the Berry community, donors, trustees and local leaders. We extend our heartfelt gratitude for his dedicated service and wish him and Brenda all the best in a well-earned retirement.”
That sentiment was echoed by many in the Berry community who took to social media to voice their appreciation for Briggs’ leadership.
“I think by any objective measure [Steve Briggs] will be remembered among the pantheon of greats at Berry, certainly one of the most consequential chief executives Berry has had – and likely at the top of that short list as well,” lauded Alexander “Whit” Whitaker IV (81C, FFS), the former Berry chief of staff who retired this summer as president of King University. “His
long tenure has been marked by improvement in almost every facet of the school, all the while remaining tethered to the values and vision that have guided Berry since its founding.
“When he arrived at Berry, I recall an oldtimer saying that ‘Dr. Briggs certainly has Berry in his DNA.’ Truer words were never spoken, and we have all been the happy beneficiaries of that –the students most especially.”
Next steps
The search for the ninth president in Berry’s 122year history is well underway, overseen by a search committee with representation from across the Berry community, including alumni and students. Leading this group is John Coleman (04C) of the Board of Trustees.
“As we work through the process of selecting the next president, we intend to gather extensive input from alumni, the Rome community, students, faculty, staff and other stakeholders,” Coleman explained. “Berry is in an incredibly strong position, and we expect to be able to attract the best talent available. No one can replace Steve, but we hope to find someone who can continue to lead us forward into a bright future while leaving their own distinctive mark on this school we love so much.”
Search updates will be shared on Berry’s website at berry.edu/presidential-search in the months ahead. You also can look for coverage in the Alumni Accent e-newsletter and the winter issue of Berry.
Bright blue fencing surrounds the future site of Morgan-Bailey Hall as workers progress with site prep and preliminary construction for the $33.4 million health sciences building.
The new addition housing Berry’s physician associate and nursing programs – with one floor of student housing – will be located on the corner opposite the Valhalla stadium complex. Completion is expected in summer 2025.
Work began within days of the March 22 groundbreaking ceremony featuring college officials, leadership donors, local medical professionals, faculty, staff and students. Despite a round of afternoon showers, enthusiasm for the project was high as President Steve Briggs encouraged everyone “to celebrate the promise of the new building, but more importantly
applaud and commend the efforts of the many people who are making this possible.”
Among those recognized were the Atlanta sisters for whom the building is named: Audrey B. Morgan and the late Bobbie Bailey. Their foundation provided the lead gift of $6 million for the facility, the latest in a long line of Berry projects that have benefitted from the generosity of two women renowned for their philanthropy and business acumen.
Two additional gifts –$1 million from an anonymous Berry graduate and $2 million from the O. Wayne Rollins Foundation – were announced at the ceremony just days after news of a $2 million commitment from the Atrium Health Floyd-Polk Foundation. A subsequent commitment of $2.5 million from a longtime
foundation partner brought the total raised to $31.3 million as of May 1.
Atrium Health Floyd President Kurt Stuenkel spoke of the foundation’s commitment to addressing pressing health care needs and disparities throughout the region. Berry’s forthcoming physician associate program, the first of its kind in Northwest Georgia, will emphasize rural health care, seeking to recruit future PAs with a specific interest in the region.
Partnerships with area health care facilities offer students clinical opportunities, externships and mentors, all crucial to the college’s growing emphasis in health sciences. Berry’s nursing program
has plans to double the number of graduates in the next five years, and the new two-year Master of Medical Science – physician associate degree (set to launch in August 2025 pending accreditation) will enroll up to 40 new students every year.
“Great programs need great places, and that’s what this is about,” Briggs stated. “Success in today’s health care environment requires rigorous science-based education coupled with strong critical thinking and problemsolving skills and dedication to meeting the needs of others. These qualities align perfectly with Berry’s signature education of the head, heart and hands.”
The first Berry College alumnus to serve as president of a four-year college or university returned home May 4 as the keynote speaker for undergraduate commencement on Williams Field at Valhalla. A separate ceremony for graduate students was held May 3 in the Berry College Chapel.
“It hardly seems possible that it’s been some 43 years since I graduated from this place that so changed and made better my life in every dimension,” remarked Alexander “Whit” Whitaker IV (81C, FFS), seen above with Berry President Steve Briggs.
Whitaker, who grew up on the Berry campus as the son of a longtime faculty member, retired this summer after eight years as president of King University in Bristol, Tennessee, earning emeritus recognition from university trustees in honor of his service. The retired U.S. Navy captain and past recipient of the Berry Alumni Council’s Distinguished Achievement Award also holds emeritus status at his alma mater, where he previously excelled in such roles as chief of staff, secretary to the Board of Trustees and assistant vice president for major gifts.
Addressing more than 450 graduates, Whitaker joked that no one remembers commencement speeches before offering a series of “predictions” on the many things the class of 2024 will grow to appreciate about Berry in the years ahead. These ranged from the beauty of the campus and the character of the institution to its continuing emphasis on hard work and the liberal arts.
In conclusion, he circled back to his original tongue-in-cheek premise, declaring, “You don’t have to remember anything I’ve said because each of these things has already been engraved and grafted and embedded into you in irreversible, unforgettable fashion. You don’t have to remember my telling you these things because they’re already part of who you are and I believe part of who you will always be, who you will become.
“You can surely forget this speech, but you will never be able to forget these and many other abiding truths about Berry and how it has and will change your life. Of that I’m sure.”
Berry opens the Gate ever wider
The promise of opportunity on which Berry was founded is now available to young adults with intellectual disabilities thanks to a new program in Inclusive Post-Secondary Education (IPSE) launching this fall.
Supported by a grant from the Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities, this initiative for students ages 18-26 is the first of its kind to be offered by a private college in Georgia and the 10th to join Georgia’s IPSE consortium.
Three Rome-area students are preparing to take their first steps as pilot participants in the two-year certificate program. Their Berry journey will combine academic, vocational and interpersonal learning opportunities presented within a highly supportive, actively mentored environment – not altogether different from traditional students.
“IPSE is mission-centric for Berry,” said Professor and Chair of Psychology Michelle Haney, who directs the program. “As I’ve learned about similar programs that exist in our state and across the country, I’ve discovered that their goals are just Berry goals.
“We want all Berry students to explore jobs on campus and have mentored relationships with faculty. As students
start off on their academic journey, they usually have more-experienced peers mentoring them. That’s how IPSE is set up, and that literally is the Berry culture.”
Beginning this fall, IPSE students will be on campus four to five days each week, taking one 3-hour course of their choice per semester alongside traditional students. They also will engage in skill development courses with other firstyear students and work six hours per week in an on-campus job.
As Haney describes it, IPSE students will be surrounded by a “circle of support” assisting them in exploring clubs, cultural events and other campus activities. In addition, they will meet regularly with IPSE staff to set independent goals, build résumés and hone job skills. At the end of their two years, students will receive a certificate reflecting their successful completion of the program.
“These students are going to be self-advocates and leaders in their communities, so we want to equip them to work in groups effectively and navigate professional relationships,” Haney described. “We will be following our IPSE graduates over time because one of the big goals is that they have a good quality of life and that the training they receive enriches their interpersonal skills. We want to see them employed, as independent as possible and to have choices in life.”
To learn more about the Berry College Program for Inclusive Learning, contact Haney at mhaney@berry.edu.
Meredith Lewallen Roberts (07C) has demonstrated time and again that she will go to great lengths for the causes she loves, once gracing the back cover of this very magazine after donning her wedding gown and rappelling off a 20-story building in support of a local charity. Now that can-do spirit has propelled her to the top post on Berry’s Alumni Council.
“I did not immediately get involved as an alum,” Roberts reflected. “I was unaware of how alumni could engage with the college until I attended a meet-and-greet in Chattanooga with the then-new dean of the Campbell School of Business.”
That meeting led to involvement with the Campbell Young Professionals Advisory Council, which spurred additional opportunities to connect with fellow alumni and the college, culminating in service on the Alumni Council, Berry’s elected body of alumni volunteers.
“I was amazed that there was such a robust and diverse group of alumni dedicated to Berry’s mission through volunteer service, and I wanted to be a part of that,” Roberts said.
With her two-year term beginning this summer, Roberts will head the Alumni Council during a pivotal moment in Berry history, with new leadership on the horizon as Dr. Steve Briggs begins his final academic year as college president.
“I was a junior at Berry when Dr. Briggs began his tenure, and I was able to see firsthand how his student-focused leadership inspired many graduating classes,” she recalled. “I am honored to represent the alumni body as we search for Dr. Briggs’ successor, which will be no small feat.”
An award-winning teacher, accomplished researcher and respected faculty leader has been named dean of the Campbell School of Business, emerging from a national list of finalists to retain the title she assumed on an interim basis last summer.
“Having been a part of the Berry faculty for 14 years, I know what a special place this is,” said Dr. Lauren Heller, who in addition to dean also serves as professor of economics. “I am so excited to continue to build on Berry’s great foundations in business education.”
Heller, who holds a Ph.D. in economics from the University of North Carolina, has flourished in a number of student-centered leadership roles since joining the Berry faculty in 2010, in addition to earning some of the college’s highest honors as a teacher and mentor.
“Dr. Heller has been a recognized leader for many years at Berry,” praised President Steve Briggs. “She is uniquely positioned to guide us into an era of dynamic change in the business world.”
Roberts will balance her service as alumni president (including concurrent service on the Board of Trustees) with her work as director of strategic advancement at the Tennessee Aquarium. One point of emphasis is encouraging other alumni to deepen their connections with the school.
“Berry has had such a profound impact on me, both personally and professionally,” she related. “I love that I can pay it forward through service on the Alumni Council. I have an 8-year-old daughter who I hope chooses to attend Berry one day. I look forward to bringing her with me to Mountain Day, Alumni Weekend, Berry sporting events or even just hikes on campus. That is something all alumni can do, which is a great way to get involved with our alma mater.”
Ready to take the leap?
Those interested in alumni leadership are encouraged to complete the online form available at alwaysberry.com/ Council. Questions may be directed to alumni@berry.edu or 706-236-2256.
as approved by the Berry College Board of Trustees
Promoted to professor
Dr. Julia Barnes, Spanish
Dr. Eliana Hirano, teacher education
Dr. Kevin Hoke, chemistry
Dr. David Slade (97C), Spanish
Awarded tenure and promoted to associate professor
Dr. Melissa Clark, marketing
Dr. Jordan Rowan Fannin, religion
Dr. Quentin Johnson, chemistry
Dr. Thema Monroe-White, data analytics
Dr. Thomas Ratkos, psychology
Promoted to associate librarian
Jessica Roy Hornbuckle (05C)
Emerita honors for retiree
Shannon Walburn Biggers (81C, FFS), director emerita, creative services
Congratulations to these faculty and staff members, who earned notable campus recognition this spring:
Martindale Awards of Distinction
Dr. Sunday Peters (right), faculty Associate professor and chair, animal science
Katie Farmer (14C), staff Director, operations and analytics, enrollment management
Eleana M. Garrett Award for Meritorious Advising
Dr. Kristen Diliberto-Macaluso Professor, psychology
Vulcan Teaching Excellence Award
Dr. Kirsten Taylor
Dana professor, political science and international affairs
Dave and Lu Garrett Award for Meritorious Teaching
Dr. Christopher Hall Associate professor, biology
Mary S. and Samuel Poe Carden Award
Dr. Paul Neal Associate professor, music
John R. Bertrand Superior Work Supervisor Award
Daniel Payne (15C) Manager, dairy operations
SGA Faculty Member of the Year
Dr. Alice Suroviec Dean, School of Mathematical and Natural Sciences; professor, bioanalytical chemistry
SGA Staff Member of the Year Scott Lively Coordinator, student involvement and intramurals
A year-long effort to update the visual identity for Berry athletics culminated in late March with the release of a new logo symbolizing the program’s competitive spirit.
Evocative of the Viking nickname first chosen by students 60 years ago, this “secondary mark” consists of a stylized helmet and shield clad in Berry’s traditional colors of silver, blue and white. It complements the new primary athletic logo released in 2023 featuring the college’s distinctive “B” –thus uniting and consolidating Berry’s athletic and institutional brands.
Feedback for the secondary mark was solicited from a cross-section of the Berry community, including coaches, student-athletes, trustees, faculty/staff members, the Alumni Council and alumni athletes. More than 30 different concepts were tested, with the final
version debuting to positive response on Berry’s social media channels.
“I am so pleased with our new logo as it honors our past and stays true to the competitive spirit of Vikings athletics,” said Berry Athletic Director Angel Mason. “With our community’s patience and feedback, we have a redesign that speaks to our studentathletes and coaches and will work well for all of our future Vikings!”
These new marks will be phased in over time as part of regular updates to equipment, apparel and facilities, taking the place of the most recent iteration of the Berry Vikings logo introduced in the late 1990s. Fans also can look for more consistency in uniform typography, resulting in a seamless appearance for studentathletes across all sports.
The first Berry Viking to play Major League Baseball has retired from the sport, capping a productive career that surpassed all expectations for the right-handed pitcher drafted by the New York Mets in 2008 after his junior year at Berry.
Collin McHugh (09c) pitched in 346 games over 11 major-league seasons, striking out 967 batters and posting a win-loss record of 71-47. He made 12 additional appearances in the postseason, including two innings of relief work in Game 5 of the 2017 World Series for the victorious Houston Astros.
In announcing his retirement on Instagram, McHugh noted with trademark humility: “I was never the best player on any team I played for. Including my 7th grade church league team, on which I played catcher. I never did travel baseball. I went to a small private high school [Providence
Christian Academy] and a small [then-NAIA] college. I got drafted in the 18th round by the Mets, most likely as a favor to my college coach [David Beasley]. I threw 90 mph. I was NEVER supposed to make it out of [Class] A ball.”
And yet he did, successfully navigating baseball’s extensive minor-league system before making his major-league debut with the Mets in 2012. Twelve years later, McHugh is taking on a new challenge as a broadcast contributor for Atlanta Braves games. This continues his affiliation with the team he supported as a child and later pitched for in his final two seasons.
Editor’s note: It has been our privilege to report on Collin’s success. As he retires, we join the rest of the Berry community in commending him for a job well done.
The cheers are still ringing from another amazing semester for Berry’s student-athletes. Here are a few notable highlights (among many!). Visit berryvikings.com for complete coverage.
• First-team All-Americans Becky Blaydes and Kaylee Howell led beach volleyball to a second consecutive national runner-up finish. The duo also earned “Top-Flight” recognition from the American Volleyball Coaches Association.
• Softball set a new program record for wins with 46 while claiming conference and regional crowns. Morgan Frye and Anna Jackson were named All-Americans.
• Men’s track and field won its third straight Southern Athletic Association outdoor championship and produced a pair of All-Americans: Jahari Jones (200 meters) and Alden McDonald (pole vault); notably, McDonald was an indoor All-American as well. The women’s team also boasted an AllAmerican in Macy Murdock (400 hurdles, outdoors).
• Nick Fonzo won acclaim as SAA Newcomer and Swimmer of the Year and competed nationally in three events.
• Powered by a 16-game winning streak, men’s basketball captured a record fourth SAA tournament title and advanced to nationals.
Members of the Henry Ford Heritage Association and Ford historic site representatives from around the country visited Berry for four days last fall, learning how the generosity of Henry and Clara Ford a century ago continues to bear fruits of innovation and entrepreneurship in Berry students.
The Ford Legacy Summit is an annual event rotating among Ford historic sites. Attendees explore ideas, share resources, build relationships and increase awareness of the Ford legacy. The 2023 event – the first at Berry – coincided with the 100th anniversary of Henry and Clara’s first visit to campus, explained Rachel Taylor McLucas (12C),
A multi-year restoration and renovation of Frost Memorial Chapel is now complete, ensuring that the beloved campus landmark will continue to be a source of inspiration and awe-inspiring beauty for years to come.
The $1.4 million donor-funded project included restoration of the chapel’s 25 diamond-shaped, clear leaded-glass windows; installation of a new climate control system to preserve Frost’s distinctive wood, stone and glass features; and improvements to the roof, rainwater management system and landscaping.
Built by students and school staff in 1937, Frost remains an important campus resource, supporting the mission and goals of the college by hosting a wide variety of events throughout the year, including worship services, small group gatherings, recitals, concerts, school programs and weddings.
Efforts to breathe new life into the facility began in February 2021 after severe bowing was discovered in some of the sanctuary’s windows. While glass can last indefinitely, the lead framework
curator of Oak Hill and The Martha Berry Museum.
Highlights included a concert in the beautifully restored Bell Recital Hall at Ford Auditorium followed by conversations with student performers; tours of historic Berry sites led by alumni historians Dr. Jennifer Dickey (77A, 80C, FFS) and Dr. Susan Bandy (70C); and a Student Innovation and Entrepreneurship Showcase. The latter featured the work of some of Berry’s most enterprising students, among them Cecilia Kolbash, the 2023 winner of the Henry and Clara Ford Prize for Innovation and Entrepreneurship presented annually at the student PITCH competition hosted by the Berry
holding the individual pieces in place becomes brittle over time, requiring replacement. The restoration team was able to preserve almost all 4,000 pieces of historic glass, as well as the steel frames of the windows.
Next came identification and installation of a heating, ventilation and air conditioning system that accomplishes the goal of extending the life expectancy of the 87-year-old chapel without altering or diminishing its interior or exterior beauty. Notably, the new system enables a comfortable temperature to be maintained regardless of season, a benefit attendees at summer events are sure to appreciate.
“We couldn’t be more pleased by the results of the work or the outpouring of support that made it possible,” said Associate Vice President of Advancement Scott Breithaupt (91C, 96G). “Thanks to the generosity of so many, including alumni and friends who honored loved ones with the naming of windows, this Berry icon has been restored for future generations to enjoy.”
Center for Student Enterprises and Entrepreneurship Development.
Among the summit attendees were Mark Campbell, treasurer and chief operating officer of HFHA and a great-great-nephew of Clara Bryant Ford, and Ford family representative Cyndi Peters, who was impressed by all she saw and
experienced during her first trip to Berry.
“My goal coming down here was to learn more about the Henry/ Clara connection and the seeds they planted decades ago that are continuing to support and sustain the institution,” Peters remarked. “Mission accomplished.”
What’s your favorite Berry animal? Bald eagles and deer spring to mind for many, but Quarter Horses top the list for the famed King and Four Sixes ranches in Texas.
Partners with Berry’s acclaimed breeding program since 2018, these ranches were drawn to the college by the quality of the
campus broodmares and student involvement in such areas as artificial insemination, foaling, health care and management.
“It’s something that not every college can offer,” explained Eddie Elsberry, director of agriculture operations, adding that no fewer than 50 students have worked with
National awards are nothing new for Berry student media, but EVERY outlet? In the SAME year? That’s definitely worth a shout! Here’s a quick rundown of their haul from the College Media Association’s annual Pinnacle Awards:
• Viking Fusion: College Media Group of the Year; TV Station of the Year (Fusion’s third win in the latter category)
• Valkyrie: Feature Magazine of the Year
• Ramifications: Literary Magazine of the Year (third for the second straight year)
• Campus Carrier: Weekly Newspaper of the Year (third)
Add to that NINE individual Pinnacles – including FOUR first-place nods – and two additional placements in the CMA’s separate Film and Audio Festival.
Berry also scored recognition in three categories of the National Student Production Awards presented by College Broadcasters Inc., all on the heels of national acclaim for Professor of Communication Brian Carroll in the form of his FIFTH J. William Snorgrass Award from the American Journalism Historians Association for Outstanding Paper on a Minority Journalism History Topic.
the breeding program over the last five years, including three in spring 2024 who conducted directed studies with 2-year-old offspring of Four Sixes stallions.
The Texas partnerships typically result in five to six new foals per year. Some remain on campus to be used for instructional purposes
The name of the organization responsible for Berry Vice President Nancy Rewis’ recognition as one of the “Top 50 Women Leaders in Marketing for 2023” aptly describes our feelings about her and two other recent award winners – Dr. Angel Mason and Haley Smith – who are continuing Berry’s longstanding tradition of visionary women in positions of leadership.
and as mounts for the equestrian team; others are sold to trainers across the Southeast. All wear the “BC” brand – one of Georgia’s oldest registered marks – symbolic of the commitment referenced by the American Quarter Horse Association in recently honoring Berry for 40 years of “breeding excellence.”
Praised for coordinating a comprehensive rebrand that has helped to increase and diversify enrollment, Berry’s marketing and communications chief claimed a spot on the Women We Admire list alongside colleagues from McDonald’s, Meta, Goldman Sachs and other major organizations.
Mason, meanwhile, joined three other individuals chosen by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics to share the title of 2023-24 NCAA Division III Athletic Director of the Year. Previously, she was named Nike Executive of the Year for NCAA Division III Colleges by Women Leaders in Sports for service in 2021-22.
Mason joined Smith among this year’s recipients of the Atlanta-based Not Alone Foundation’s Diamond Awards honoring excellence and societal contributions in entertainment, corporate and creative fields.
Smith is chief diversity and belonging officer for Berry, where her accomplishments include facilitation of an ongoing partnership with the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change. In 2022, she earned “Exceptional 7” recognition as one of Rome/Floyd County’s top young professionals.
What better way to celebrate an Olympic summer than with a “bronze” finish for YOUR alumni magazine in the Collegiate Advertising Awards? Making its contest debut, Berry joined Saint Mary’s College of California (gold) and Indiana University Northwest (silver) as winners in the external publication category. This latest honor follows 17 previous regional awards for Berry presented by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education, including two for best in class.
Berry’s Model United Nations secured the title of “Distinguished Delegation” for its representation of Singapore at the spring Model U.N. Conference in New York City attended by students from Europe, South America, Asia and North America. Additionally, four Berry students earned Outstanding Position Paper awards for their research and articulation of policy positions for their respective committees: Bree Durham and Hunter Sewell, Economic and Social Commission on Asia and the Pacific; and Camille Schmied and Gabriella Cole (24C), U.N. Environmental Assembly (which Schmied chaired).
Berry students participating in the National Collegiate Sports Sales Championship keep making their pitch – and winning! The event held annually at Atlanta’s State Farm Arena and co-hosted by the NBA’s Hawks consistently boasts a top-five Berry finisher – most recently Samuel Lacombe, who was fifth in ticket sales in 2024. A year prior, that same category was won by Berry’s Courtney Mosher (23C). Assistant Professor of Marketing Melissa Clark reports that the competition also delivers jobs and internships for students, using as an example the summer internship Kris Thomas (24C) secured with the New York Mets.
Dean of Mathematical and Natural Sciences Alice Suroviec is keeping GREAT company as one of 15 international scholars named to the 2023 class of Electrochemical Society fellows. Past recipients of this peer-driven designation include four Nobel Prize winners. Active in research and professional service, Suroviec also shines in the classroom, earning such notable Berry honors as the Dave and Lu Garrett Award for Meritorious Teaching and the Larry G. McRae Award for Meritorious Teaching in Chemistry.
Professor of Art History Virginia Gardner Troy has earned high marks from the Georgia Historical Records Advisory Council for documenting Georgia’s history, claiming a 2023 Award of Excellence for Dynamic Design: Jay Hambidge, Mary Crovatt Hambidge and the Founding of the Hambidge Center for Creative Arts and Sciences (a 600-acre artists’ sanctuary in extreme North Georgia). The Berry scholar was praised for examining the individual and collective importance of her subjects and their lasting contributions to 20th century art and cultural history.
Most organizations, whether for profit or nonprofit, have a statement of mission or purpose. Consider a few examples.
Google: to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.
Tesla: to accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy.
Harvard University: to advance new ideas and promote enduring knowledge.
Mission statements point the way forward and are aspirational. Done well, they successfully differentiate an organization from its competitors. However, if grandiose or inauthentic, they can be viewed cynically.
Every five years, consistent with best practices in higher education and as part of the reaccreditation cycle of selfstudy, the college Board of Trustees reviews and affirms Berry’s mission statement. As the board initiated this process in October 2023, it recognized the need to update the language – last amended in 2003 – to make it more aspirational and less descriptive in tone.
The intent was not to change the statement’s defining elements but to enhance the focus on Berry’s enduring purpose, preferably incorporating a brief memorable phrase highlighting the college’s distinctiveness and anchored in its rich history.
In March 2024, the Board of Trustees approved the following revision to Berry’s mission statement.
“We educate the head, heart, and hands –to inspire leaders of integrity who cultivate thriving communities.
“Combining academic exploration with meaningful work responsibilities in a residential setting, our approach emphasizes firsthand experiences and mentoring. We invest in the personal growth and professional preparation of talented students from varied backgrounds, with an enduring commitment to help those hindered by financial need. Guided by Christian principles, we value the dignity of individuals, the search for truth tempered with grace, and the well-being of our neighbors.”
As part of the process, Wesley Romero (24C), then student manager in the Office of the President, scoured Berry’s academic catalogs for previous renderings of the mission statement. The earliest versions (1915-1926) pertained to the Berry Schools. Starting in 1927, they included and focused increasingly on the college.
From its fledgling years and into the late 1950s, Berry’s mission emphasized a commitment to young people “from the mountains and rural districts of the South ... too poor to go elsewhere.” It promised an education of
the head, heart, and hands to prepare students for leadership in country communities.
According to the catalogs from the 1940s:
“The Schools hold that a liberal education includes the training of the head, heart, and hand. It is not enough simply to know. Education in school must be like life out of school.”
As the South’s educational infrastructure improved, Berry adapted, broadening its reach, with its mission statement evolving accordingly. Although the expression “head, heart, and hand” disappeared, it has remained as the organizing theme since 1958. In the version adopted in 2003, Berry’s extended mission language conveyed the importance of this three-fold approach:
“Our first responsibility is to provide an education in the liberal arts and professional fields to meet the intellectual, moral, and material needs of our students; …
“An essential part of a sound education is the opportunity to explore religious faith and to relate faith with learning responsibly and intelligently …
“Worthwhile work complements knowledge and faith in building character. We dedicate ourselves to providing this opportunity.”
Berry’s renewed mission statement embraces the expression – head, heart, and hands – most often used to describe a Berry education. It also answers the question “why this approach?” in a way that connects our efforts today with Martha Berry’s founding aspirations. Her aim was to prepare young men and women to become the leaders and pillars of their rural communities, just as today we encourage students to invest in the well-being of their local organizations and home communities by meeting the needs of others well.
For more than a decade, members of our campus community have encouraged one another to live up to the college’s expectations using the adage: “Be Berry.” Students, faculty, and staff are attracted to Berry by its distinctive culture and character, and guests sense the difference as well. People allude to Berry’s values, sometimes quoting a phrase used by Martha Berry, but these principles have not been presented in any organized form.
As a complement to the renewed mission statement, the board endorsed an effort to articulate these formulative values, deeply rooted in the soil of Berry. The result of this work is on the facing page. Supporting quotations – in italics – are attributed to Martha herself (unless otherwise credited).
1. Love your neighbor.
More than a century ago, our founder Martha Berry was troubled by the daunting needs and cyclical poverty of families living in rural Georgia. She believed young people were the region’s most important natural resource and that education was the gateway to opportunity.
She offered an education of the head, heart, and hands in a residential context to inspire graduates known for their work ethic, integrity, resourcefulness, and willingness to serve.
Inspired by her faith and life’s work, Berry adheres to these core values and virtues.
Martha Berry was called to serve those in her community most in need of support. She considered them neighbors and offered education as a gate of opportunity, a way for them to move toward a better life.
“Miss Berry, realizing the great lack of her own neighborhood, began to lend her best energies to the solution of the problem of how to broaden the lives of the people living near her and to bring the advantages of education within the reach of the young people of the surrounding country.” (1920 Berry catalog, p. 5)
One of the quadrants in Berry’s seal contains a cabin, depicting the principle of simplicity that Martha Berry lived by. She was single-minded and self-sacrificing in her desire to create opportunities for her students and would not be distracted by the pursuit of other things.
“My simple desire to do something became a determined resolution to devote my entire time and resources to teaching students a way to help themselves.”
2. Lead through service. When the college was established, Martha Berry chose for its motto a text that speaks to the heart of leadership:
“Not to be ministered unto, but to minister,” which is to say, “Not to be served, but to serve.”
We urge members of our community to serve humbly as Good Neighbors. If we care about the big
problems in our nation and the world, we can address these issues faithfully in our home communities. A leader with a Good Neighbor mindset discerns and acts to meet the real needs of others beyond self-interest.
3. Assume responsibility. People want to be judged trustworthy. Trust is earned by accepting responsibility not just for our own work but equally for the work of the team and the betterment of the community. Responsibility is the backbone of character.
“Be a lifter, not a leaner.” The original motto of the Berry Schools, given as a charge by Teddy Roosevelt in 1910.
4. Care for nature.
The places we inhabit are entrusted to us for a time before we pass them to others. Martha Berry believed that “Beauty is a part of education.” We are responsible to our children’s children for improving the beauty and health of the places and the planet we call home.
“I pray that I might leave this place better than I found it.”
5. Aim high. From the start, Berry has celebrated the dignity of “worthwhile work done well.” The commitment to mastery of one’s craft begins with the first writing class, entry level job, and back-up position on the team. Martha Berry willed students to do their best. Seemingly mundane tasks teach
work ethic; demanding duties teach tenacity; complicated projects teach resourcefulness.
“Whether at work or at play do your best.” (Inscription on Green Hall)
6. Lean into difficulty. Martha Berry’s life’s work was framed by adversity. Looking at one of the wizened old oaks on campus she observed: “The troubles you have are what make you.” She respected hardship as a profound teacher that opens eyes, softens hearts, and emboldens resolve.
“Pursuit of the easy things makes us weak; pursuit of the difficult makes us strong.”
7. Learn firsthand. Berry was founded on the idea of combining academic study with a practical education of the hands. Today, firsthand experiences infuse our classes, laboratories, studios, research projects, community projects, internships, and study abroad as well as the college-wide LifeWorks program. We affirm a time-tested principle: “Learn to do by doing.”
8. Embrace difference. A rich variety of voices and ideas makes Berry a dynamic place to encounter perspectives that are unfamiliar and unsettling. This diversity combined with curiosity and respect for difference allows for richer relationships and deeper learning through candid and caring
dialogue. When difference leads to disagreement, our aspiration is to engage our neighbors with patience, humility, and warm-heartedness.
9. Build community. Inscribed above the fireplace in Roosevelt Cabin, where Martha Berry lived for a time, is the phrase “kindle friendship.” She understood the power of a caring residential community to ignite relationships that shape, heal, and invigorate hearts and minds. She established Berry’s commitment to engagement and mentoring.
10. Nurture faith. Martha Berry placed spires on many campus buildings, even the chicken houses. Meant to catch the eye and lift the heart, they reminded students of the worth of work done well before God. As students seek purpose and a moral compass for life, it is vital that they examine their religious commitments and relate faith with learning responsibly and intelligently.
These foundational values and virtues grew out of Martha’s resolve to live out the convictions of her faith, stepping past her doubts and failings. She was principled and pragmatic, and her efforts radically improved the lives of ten thousand young people over a period of decades. These values shaped and continue to define the mission of Berry College, just as her indomitable spirit continues to inspire us to improve this place where we live, work, and serve.
By Dawn Tolbert
Former Berry All-American
Nancy Paris Simpson (77C) couldn’t help but feel a swell of appreciation as she watched University of Iowa phenom Caitlin Clark chase college basketball history last spring. The young superstar’s undeniable skill and relentless pursuit of her goals kindled memories of another group of on-court history-makers who lifted Berry to unprecedented heights in 1976.
The “Berry Sisters,” as they call themselves, were trailblazers in the early days after landmark civil-rights legislation known as Title IX cracked open the door for women’s athletics to flourish on a national scale. They took full advantage of the opportunity, capturing Berry’s first national championship in any sport, as well as the state of Georgia’s first national title in women’s basketball at any level of college play. Their accomplishment would not be matched by another four-year college until Clayton State claimed the NCAA Division II crown more than three decades later.
In January, Simpson and her teammates blazed another trail – this time home – for a weekend reunion celebrating their incredible accomplishment. Joined by beloved coach Kay James, the entire group gathered in one place for the first time since the groovy days of the late 1970s. Laughter rang out and tears fell as they walked the familiar paths where hard work, determination and the sweet bonds of sisterhood once brought them – and Berry – never-beforeachieved success.
Opportune times
Berry women’s basketball boasted an established tradition of success even before Simpson and her teammates first arrived on campus as students, winning conference titles in 1967 and 1969 and routinely placing near the top of the standings. Chances to reach even greater heights were limited until a 1972 federal law prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sex in educational programs and activities signaled the beginning of a new era for women in college athletics.
Riding this wave was the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women, which offered national championships to parallel those available to men through such organizations as the NCAA and NAIA. In 1975, the AIAW split the field for women’s basketball, making it possible for colleges large and small to compete for top honors among their peers.
Against this backdrop, Berry opened the 197576 season with a roster featuring nearly as many newcomers as returnees. James was three years into her first head coaching job, having been hired by Garland Dickey (42C), the man renowned for his role in helping lead the post-World War II rebirth of intercollegiate athletics at Berry. James would go on to a Hall-of-Fame career as head coach at the University of Southern Mississippi; however, in
this Bicentennial year, she was just a few years older than her players.
“Back 47 years ago, she was just our coach, and of course, we’d complain about her making us work,” laughed Sharon Adamson Bass (78C), who like Simpson was an All-American on the 1976 team. “But now, we look back at all the things she did for us. She brought in a group of players who didn’t know each other. She allowed us to mesh, which is hard when you’ve been the best player on your team in high school and you’re now around these ladies who are a lot better or at least as good as you. But Kay James had a way to make us love each other and play as a team.”
Simpson, who put together her own successful career as a collegiate head coach and athletic
annual tournament for small colleges and Berry basketball’s first appearance on the national stage.
“I don’t think we ever dreamed we’d win,” Bass recalled. “We wanted to, but we were just so excited to be there.”
The exhilaration grew as Berry defeated George Williams College 88-54 before edging out Union College 84-83. Next, they faced host Ashland, winning again by the same nail-biting score. One very familiar hurdle remained: West Georgia College, located just down Martha Berry Highway in Carrollton.
“They were such a rival for us,” Simpson emphasized. “A lot of people would say, ‘I wish you could have played somebody different’ or ‘You could have done that at home without going to Ohio,’ but
“I didn’t realize we were the first [national champions] at Berry until years later. Our banner was in Ford Gym, and we just knew we had won.” - Sharon Adamson Bass
administrator, added, “I’m so excited that women’s sports and athletics have the support, financially and otherwise, that they have now. We didn’t at that time. Coach James was driving the van, doing the laundry and keeping the stats, and we were all just squeezing in this tiny little van going places, but that never seemed a hardship to us. We were just grateful for the opportunity. Every team was like that then.”
With Simpson and Bass leading the charge, the team averaged 83 points per game en route to state and regional championships, punching its ticket to the 16-team, single-elimination AIAW National Small College Basketball Championship at Ashland College in Ohio. It was the organization’s second
that’s just the way it worked out. And it’s a sense of pride that the two finalists were from the same area. That spoke to the strength of women’s basketball in the area and the support we were given.”
Berry emerged victorious, 68-62, beating their instate foes for the fourth time that season to secure their place in history.
“I didn’t realize we were the first [national champions] at Berry until years later,” Bass reflected. “Our banner was in Ford Gym, and we just knew we had won.”
While players such as Bass and Simpson earned individual accolades (with the latter claiming national tournament MVP), both stressed that the championship was very much a group effort, with no hint of jealousy to divide the team.
“I was honored [to be MVP], but I was much
happier about the team’s success,” Simpson noted. “One person doesn’t do it; it’s all of us together and the coach that made it happen. The journey is as important as the culminating title because each game, each step matters. That last game in Ashland, Ohio, was pretty huge, but had it not been for the fight all the way through and the sacrifices, we would not have been there.”
Despite their close bond, the teammates rarely saw each other in the decades following their championship run as careers and families took priority. Perhaps not surprisingly, they excelled in those areas too, making names for themselves as business leaders, health care professionals, educators and coaches, all while demonstrating an unwavering commitment to shaping young lives in their families and the communities they called home. (See sidebar on page 15.)
Fittingly, it was Berry that brought them back together, specifically an invitation to the 2008 opening of the Cage Center as a new on-campus home for basketball and other sports. The group, minus James and three players, watched proudly as their national championship banner made its way from Ford Gym to the new arena.
From that point forward, the team began gathering on a semi-regular basis, meeting for lunches and talking often. They even hatched a plan to surprise James by attending her induction into the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame.
“We bought tickets, and all but two of us were able to go,” Bass shared. “I went out early but didn’t tell her the rest were coming. They rented a van and hauled out to Mississippi. We had more
“I always say our common threads are our love of God, our love of each other and our love of Berry College.”
- Nancy Paris Simpson
Berry players there than Southern Mississippi!” Their closeness has seen these “Berry Sisters” show up for each other in good times and bad, from celebrations to family funerals.
“We always had that bond,” Simpson explained. “We are like family, probably closer than many families. We have a text string, and every time there is any kind of an event or happening where prayer or support is needed, we come together like a magnet. It is just about the most special thing I can imagine. I always say our common threads are our love of God, our love of each other and our love of Berry College.”
Back at Berry to begin 2024, the women gathered atop Lavender Mountain to relive a moment of spiritual reflection from their championship season.
“We were most excited to start the weekend at the House o’ Dreams where Kay James did a great job with a devotion that hit us right in the heart,” Bass recounted. “Thinking about our sisterhood just gave me chill bumps. We even had some hikers who just happened by who listened in and had tears in their eyes.”
Other reunion highlights included recognition at halftime of a Berry women’s basketball game in the Cage Center, where the team’s championship banner remains on prominent display. Among those looking on with pride and gratitude was Berry’s current athletic director, Dr. Angel Mason, a former NCAA D-I basketball player whose own journey has been shaped in part by those who came before her.
“Berry College has had seeds planted by
incredible women – beginning with Martha Berry herself – who have been pioneers, trailblazers and change agents,” Mason stated. “These women had a competitive spirit that pushed for greatness, and the 1976 women’s basketball championship team blossomed out of that foundation.
“Theirs are the shoulders our young women compete on today,” she added. “Celebrating our first national championship team was truly an honor for me and an important moment for our current athletes to see.”
Though grateful for the recognition and excited to cheer on a new generation, the championship teammates most enjoyed time spent crammed together in Simpson’s hotel room sharing memories – so many memories –not far from the place where they made history together nearly a half century ago.
“[The reunion] was special for two reasons: number one, we were all there; and number two, we were on campus,” Simpson reflected. “We were back in our environment, where every corner held memories. Both of those nights, it was as if we were 18 years old again. We all gathered in our sweats and PJs, telling stories. I think all of us would say it was one of the most special times we’ve ever had.”
Blazing a new trail into their retirement years, these “Berry Sisters” can be confident in the love they feel for one another and proud of their place in the history of their school, state and sport.
Berry was only the beginning for the 1976 AIAW smallcollege women’s basketball national champions. Here’s a quick glimpse of their subsequent successes:
Sharon Adamson Bass (78C): College and high school coach; registered nurse and recipient of a (post-Berry) Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree; nurse manager and robotic coordinator, AdventHealth Gordon in Calhoun, Georgia; retired.
Kathy Hood Carr (79c, 88G): educator and coach, Madison County, Mississippi, and Cedartown, Georgia; retired.
Paula Dean (78C): played one year of professional basketball in precursor to the WNBA; later retired as senior vice president and director of retirement plan services, Synovus Trust Company.
Margaret Downing (78C): manager, AT&T; retired.
Celeste Powell Giordano (78c): speaker, author, sales strategist and philanthropist for Celeste Giordano Consulting; co-founder, Women of Community Impact nonprofit.
Lynn Clark Lovett (79C): area manager, Georgia Power Company; retired.
Deb Rice Parker (78C): human resources and payroll administrator, Callaway Gardens; retired.
Lisa Lynn Payne (79C): budget director, Georgia Building Authority; retired.
Nancy Paris Simpson (77C): head women’s basketball coach and instructor, University of California Riverside; director of athletics, California State University – San Bernardino and Anderson University; retired.
Barbara Struckhoff (77C): retired educator, head softball coach and director of athletics, Wayne County (Georgia) High School, where the softball field is named in her honor; foster mother to 62 children, including four she adopted.
Pam Pinyan Thompson (78C): physical therapist and coordinator of rehab services, Northside Hospital Cherokee.
Coach Kay James: after five seasons at Berry became head women’s basketball coach at the University of Southern Mississippi; also coached one season with the WNBA’s Seattle Storm; 2016 inductee into the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame; retired.
What do Gulfstream pilots, Harvard neurosurgeons and Delta baggage handlers have in common? All have been the focus of work done by Brock Anderson (10C) in his role as a professional ergonomist.
While the word itself isn’t the stuff of everyday conversation, ergonomics is absolutely something you think about, particularly when mulling that aching shoulder after hours of repetitive yardwork or rubbing your eyes at the end of a long day in front of a computer.
Such issues stimulate Anderson’s curiosity and ignite his creativity. With expertise spanning exercise science, biomechanics and industrial engineering, he is one of a select group of experts globally who are helping clients enhance productivity while simultaneously easing the physical and mental demands placed on their employees.
STORY BY RICK WOODALL
Photography by Brant Sanderlin
What’s in a word?
The first time Anderson heard someone suggest a career in ergonomics, he couldn’t believe his ears.
“I thought she said origami, like paper birds,” Anderson recalled of his conversation with an Auburn University graduate professor. “I’m like, ‘What is ergonomics? This is silly.’”
To that point, Anderson had focused his studies on the human body, first as a kinesiology and exercise science major at Berry, then as a graduate student pursuing a master’s degree in biomechanics and exercise physiology at Auburn.
This emphasis came naturally to someone who had spent the bulk of his life – including four years at Berry – pursuing success in baseball. Now, his insatiable desire to understand how things work demanded fresh challenges.
“I kind of got tired of sports,” Anderson acknowledged. “I just said to myself, ‘What else is out there?’ I’d look up in the sky and see these airplanes and think, ‘How were they made?’ Or I’d look out and see this car and wonder, ‘How did this get here?’”
Ergonomics provided the ideal outlet for indulging such curiosity. Even better, it complemented his knowledge of human performance in ways he’d never imagined.
“Ergonomics is a mix of both fitness and engineering,” Anderson explained. “It is totally focused on making sure that human capability,
either mentally or physically, is able to meet the demands of the job.”
Inspired by the possibilities, Anderson shifted his focus, leaning hard into study habits forged at Berry to meet the challenge of his new coursework.
He was within sight of a Ph.D. in industrial systems and engineering with a concentration in occupational safety and ergonomics when he got his first big career break, leading to six years of onthe-job learning with Gulfstream Aerospace and Coca-Cola. Unexpected adversity then spurred his next leap forward, this time as founder of one of the nation’s few ergonomics consulting firms.
Springing from dry-erase scribblings on the windows of Anderson’s back deck, Ergo-ology has grown from a one-man operation in 2018 to four full-time employees and 22 contractors, which he said accounts for upwards of 30% of the certified professional ergonomists currently active in applied consulting roles nationwide.
Boasting nearly 200 active clients – more than half Fortune 500 companies – Anderson’s firm offers a broad array of services ranging from supply-chain analysis and workplace risk assessments to customized engineering solutions and assistance with developing in-house ergonomics programs.
The needs of each client are as unique as the
solutions required. The work could be as simple (relatively speaking) as analyzing and improving the physical movements of an assembly-line employee or as complex as prototyping tools and overhauling processes to fundamentally change the way a job is done.
Sometimes, the focus is more cognitive than physiological, as with the pilots referenced in the introduction on page 16. That project – conducted during Anderson’s tenure at Gulfstream – took the form of a sleep study meant to help pinpoint how fatigue negatively impacts awareness. Results guided development of standards for flight schedules based on circadian rhythms (physical, mental and behavioral changes experienced over a 24-hour cycle) for Gulfstream and the Federal Aviation Administration.
Fatigue also was at the heart of Anderson’s work with Harvard neurosurgeons. In that case, he used electrical sensors and a patented algorithm to gain a better understanding of the physical demands of a specific procedure related to Parkinson’s research.
Whether surgeons or factory workers, frontline employees often play an active role in such projects – and not just as test subjects – offering invaluable firsthand perspective Anderson first grew to appreciate while working in-house for Gulfstream and Coca-Cola.
“Berry taught me how to learn and gave me a passion for education. It truly transformed my priorities and life vision ...”
“No matter how technical you think you are, if you ever come across somebody who has been doing a job for many years, it’s a pretty safe bet that they’ve sat there either angry or bored and thought about a really creative way to make that job better,” he related. “My job is to be an outlet for those people.”
Berry foundation
Anderson’s journey toward a career in ergonomics began at Berry, though he never would have guessed it at the time. Baseball was foremost in his mind when choosing a college; he got a lot more.
“Berry taught me how to learn and gave me a passion for education,” he praised. “It truly transformed my priorities and life vision in the four years that I was there.”
Fully expecting to be a star performer on the baseball team, Anderson instead found himself working harder than ever just to maintain a starting position on a roster filled with talent.
“I honestly learned a life lesson,” he admitted, “and that’s the importance of analyzing any situation to find where you can be the biggest value to something that’s bigger than yourself.”
Though cherishing memories made on the diamond – particularly during the Vikings’ 2009 NAIA World Series season – it was elsewhere that Anderson truly shined. In exercise science and kinesiology, he found a major he could be passionate about and a mentor willing to answer ALL his
questions: Dr. Angela Baldwin Smith (93c).
“This lady probably was exhausted at the end of teaching, and yet she just continued to go further and further and further to add value,” he marveled. “She genuinely has a passion for educating people, but I think she has a bigger desire to add value to students’ lives.”
With Smith’s support and encouragement, Anderson landed an internship with the Atlanta Falcons the summer before his senior year, then secured a national strength and conditioning certification that helped him gain admission to Auburn for graduate school.
Smith recalled with pride Anderson’s accomplishments as a student laboratory assistant, as well as the volunteer support he provided to campus community members preparing for Berry’s annual half-marathon. She also pointed to the manual for pre-screening athletes and injury testing he developed during his summer with the Falcons.
“Brock was a unique student in that his mind was always spinning with unconventional and creative ideas,” she recounted. “His positive energy and enthusiasm in and out of the classroom were contagious to me and to his peers.”
Showing the same grit and determination once exhibited as a baseball player battling back from surgery for one final season at Berry, Anderson has enhanced his knowledge and skill set at every step of the academic and career ladder – often benefiting from mentors like Smith willing to invest in his success.
At Auburn, it was the dean of his graduate program, who went so far as to climb into Anderson’s “big, jacked-up truck” for a drive across town to finalize the community assistantship vital to his admission.
Next came Gulfstream, where Anderson gained valuable insight into corporate culture while flourishing under the guidance of a supervisor who understood the importance of effective communication, critical thinking, conflict management and other so-called “soft skills.”
Once he got to Coca-Cola, Anderson’s skills were infused with cultural understanding due to global responsibilities as a corporate program manager tasked with encouraging adoption of an ergonomicsconscious mindset companywide. He “learned really quick that leading people and creating purpose is much different in different cultures” while coordinating efforts across five continents.
In 2016, Anderson joined nine other colleagues in earning global recognition from Coke as a “Transformational Leadership Team.” Two years later, corporate reorganization left him unemployed.
Relying on his Christian faith, Anderson did his best to remain upbeat as he considered his next move, with options ranging from a different role with Coke (requiring a move to Iceland!) to another in-house ergonomics position, this time at Amazon.
Encouraged by wife Courtney, Anderson said no to both, choosing instead to strike out on his own. Soon, he was learning sales and marketing on the fly while cobbling together a revenue stream from cold calls, “mom and pop” clients and pro-bono pitches to larger companies.
Anderson recalled with amusement one such pitch, which took the form of a cold call to a local Clorox facility. Once on the phone, he immediately declared, “Hey, you need me!” Their response? “No, we don’t. We’re good.” He then countered, “I’ll come do it for free. If you like it, you can have it.” When they called back afterward to praise his work, Anderson closed the deal: “Well, the next time you’ve got to pay.”
Such persistence has helped him build a formidable list of current and former clients including Chick-fil-A, NASA, US Foods, Google, Disney and Mercedes-Benz, with projects as varied as spacesuits, drive-throughs, assembly lines and amusement park costumes.
Net revenues have grown along with his client base, but more impressive are the savings achieved by clients due to process and safety enhancements resulting from work done by Anderson and his team (topping $56 million last year alone).
Hands on
Though Ergo-ology has grown significantly in a short time, Anderson retains considerable responsibility as founder and chief consultant, spending as many as 130 nights a year away from home. That’s down from 180-plus in the beginning, but still more than the husband and father of three would like.
His duties span boardrooms and assembly lines – often in the same day – as was the case working with Delta Airlines to improve safety and efficiency in baggage handling.
In the morning, Anderson met with leadership team members at Delta headquarters. A few hours later, he donned decidedly different attire, recalling, “I’m wearing a hard hat, safety vest and steel-toed boots out on the tarmac in Atlanta with some guys who are slinging luggage up onto the conveyors.”
That ability to operate comfortably in both environments helps him to “bridge the gap” between operational efficiency and employee well-being for profit-focused clients. He also does his homework, once informing a would-be client that his analysis revealed monetary losses equal to three months of annual productivity due to easily preventable worker injuries. Needless to say, he got the contract.
While bottom-line success is important to any business, Anderson’s greatest desire for Ergo-ology is to be known for improving the lives of employees.
While bottom-line success is important to any business, Anderson’s greatest desire for Ergoology is to be known for improving the lives of employees, particularly “blue-collar workers who are grinding to just put food on their table.”
That same desire drives Anderson’s volunteer work in places like Taiwan, where he used his
knowledge of ergonomics to help improve the speed and efficiency of the walnut harvest. And then there’s Honduras, where with support from crowdfunding donations he was able to assist locals in the design and construction of more than 200 wheelchairs for malnourished children.
He also seeks to further his profession through service to such organizations as the National Safety Council and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, as well as investing in the next generation through development of a patented certification program offered by Ergo-ology.
In every facet of his work, Anderson takes great satisfaction in building up others, whether it’s the young professionals in the training seminar he conducted in California before returning to Atlanta via “red eye” the day of his Berry magazine interview or the frontline employees whose great ideas he takes such joy in crediting when meeting with executive leadership.
“We all work to get a check and take care of ourselves,” he expressed. “But that’s a means to an end that focuses on you. When that flipped for me and it became more about teaching people and putting them in the limelight, that’s where my passion and expertise started to intersect, and the full potential started to rise.”
Paper birds may not be the focus of Anderson’s work, but his outlook definitely soars.
Pet a dolphin
Attend a murder mystery dinner
Visit a new country
See a Broadway play Sleep in a treehouse
Cheer loudly at a soccer game Go ziplining
Take a trip to Disney World
By Rick Woodall
These are just a few of the experiences
Jennifer Williams
Bronner (05C) checked off her list of 40 things she wanted to accomplish before turning 40 last December.
She might also have checked the box for “appear on a magazine cover,” but those words were nowhere to be found, probably because the idea of such recognition just didn’t seem realistic to her.
That all changed the day Bronner took a call from Macon Magazine informing her that she would be joining four other difference makers under the age of 40 on the cover of the publication’s annual “Leadership Edition” in late summer 2023.
“It’s the wildest thing!” Bronner exclaimed, marveling at the fact that she would be considered for such acclaim by the former honorees responsible for selecting each year’s winners. “I didn’t even think there were enough people in Macon who knew who I was.”
That’s doubtful, as Macon is both Bronner’s hometown and the place she’s built a life with husband Joey, a local musician. It’s also home to her parents, both of whom retired from longtime jobs with Bibb County, her mother with the sheriff’s office, her father in the engineering department. They continue to live in the same house where they raised her.
However, this distinction – along with her inclusion on the NATIONAL “40 under 40” list of emerging leaders identified by the Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives – isn’t about Bronner’s longstanding place in the community but rather the work she does on its behalf as vice president of finance for the Greater Macon Chamber.
And while this daughter of Macon considers it “absolutely ridiculous” that she would be talked about in such lofty terms, Greater Macon Chamber President and CEO Jessica Walden has a very different perspective.
“The Greater Macon Chamber has been Jennifer’s first and only career since graduating Berry College and earning her MBA,” Walden praised. “She is dedicated to Macon, and Macon is better because of it. She is a cornerstone to many small businesses in our region and has navigated
our chamber through nearly two decades of challenges and transitions.
“Many on our board will agree – and credit –Jennifer’s financial instinct, care and diligence to steering our organization through times of scarcity and abundance.”
Doing her part
As a teenager working in fast food and retail jobs, Bronner yearned to understand “what made businesses successful and how people generated income.” Today, she gets daily lessons in that regard thanks to a career that brings her into regular contact with local businesses of all types, from small startups to major corporations.
Her responsibilities at the chamber are significant, covering every aspect of accounting and finance for the 163-year-old organization, including oversight of human resources and building operations. Duties run the gamut from highly strategic forecasting and planning for the chamber’s $1.7 million annual budget to more mundane tasks such as reconciling petty cash and making deposits, just as she once did as a student financial manager for the Oak Hill Gift Shop.
“Some things don’t change,” she said with a laugh.
While enjoying the challenges posed by her accounting work, Bronner is equally motivated by the opportunities her role affords for oneon-one interaction with chamber members and other representatives of the Macon business community. Tapping into the same interpersonal skills that served her so well as a member of Berry’s Krannert Center Activities Board, she takes great satisfaction in facilitating connections that enable businesses to grow and flourish, even in difficult times.
As one example, she recalled a local brewer who reached out to the chamber during the COVID-19 pandemic to say his facility had the capability to make sanitizer. Enter Bronner and team, who were able to connect his business with local hospitals in desperate need. During that same period, she assisted a company that specialized in manufacturing shoe covers in sustaining its operation by pivoting to producing masks and other protective gear instead.
“Those are some of the things that I can look back on with pride,” she related. “It was cool to be
able to help a business remain profitable while at the same time fulfilling a community need.”
Bronner’s pride in the Central Georgia city perched on the banks of the Ocmulgee River some 80 miles southeast of Atlanta is evident when talking about Macon’s vibrant downtown, deeprooted music scene, economic expansion in areas such as health care, and a diversifying population now more than 150,000 strong.
She’s also excited by chamber-supported efforts to emphasize quality of life and workforce development as drivers of continued growth for the region, stating, “Macon is becoming one of those places that people can think of the place before they think of the job.”
To Berry and back
The teenager who stood teary eyed on the side of Opportunity Drive watching her parents’ Toyota 4Runner recede in the distance on a Sunday evening in late-summer 2001 never envisioned that the path she was starting would lead back home.
It’s not that she didn’t like Macon – far from it. She just thought life would lead somewhere else.
“Growing up in Macon was awesome for me,” Bronner declared, recalling participation in her school orchestra and chorus as well as volunteer service in the community, sharing one amusing memory of hammering nails into a roof at a Habitat for Humanity exhibit at the state fair while friends walked by on their way to the Ferris wheel. “I’ve had great experiences in Macon.”
The same was true at Berry, where Bronner helped establish the “In His Name” gospel choir, sharpened her career focus as an accounting major in the Campbell School of Business and served fellow students through participation in KCAB.
She also connected deeply with the late Rev. Dr. Clarice Ford, then-associate dean of multicultural student affairs, and Pamela Bissonnette, who remains a spiritual mentor to this day.
Relevant experience gained through accounting-related positions at Oak Hill and Harbin Clinic complemented her classroom studies, while other important lessons – not the least of which was how to bake homemade rolls and other treats – were learned through a longrunning job in Berry food service.
“I never in my life thought that I’d be making dinner rolls and pastries from scratch in college,” she said. “There was nothing better than taking hot rolls fresh out of the oven and getting to serve them to my friends. It was amazing!”
Bronner graduated with education, experience and a wealth of great memories. What she didn’t have was a job, at least not at first, so home she went. The next spring, she got her start at the chamber as an accounting clerk, thinking the role was more of a means to an end than the end itself. She explained: “I thought this was going to be that job that got me the experience that other jobs were saying I needed, and then I was going to move on to the next thing.”
Turns out the next steps were up, not out, with subsequent promotions bringing growth in responsibility and stature while offering fresh opportunities to serve her organization and hometown.
After 18 years, Bronner can point with pride to her leadership role in gaining statewide accreditation for the chamber, among other accomplishments, but the answer to why she’s stayed in Macon to this point in her career transcends individual achievement or recognition. Family is a primary reason; another is the sense of satisfaction she feels investing so much of herself in the place she calls home.
“Right now, I choose to stay in Macon because I know I’m playing a part, no matter how small, in making Macon better for the next generation,” she stated. “As a Macon native, my commitment to creating opportunities for people to develop professionally and personally has been fueled not only through my work, but also by the countless people I meet daily.”
Now that’s motivation worthy of a magazine cover.
Your generosity is crucial to Berry’s ability to provide students with the opportunity to pursue an unmatched learning experience. Here, we are pleased to highlight leadership gifts, pledges and realized planned gifts of $25,000 or more received between Sept. 1, 2023, and Feb. 29, 2024. We are grateful for the generosity of all alumni and friends who make a gift of any size in support of Berry students.
A friend of Berry College, $50,000 for the Morgan-Bailey Hall health sciences facility
George I. Alden Trust, $150,000 for the Morgan-Bailey Hall health sciences facility
Anonymous, one $5 million commitment and three separate $1 million gifts for the Morgan-Bailey Hall health sciences facility
ARAMARK Corp., $43,838 for the general fund
David (84C) and Kelly Asbury, $50,000 for the MorganBailey Hall health sciences facility
Atrium Health Floyd-Polk Foundation, $2 million for the Morgan-Bailey Hall health sciences facility
Betty Anne Rouse Bell (52H, 56C), $200,000 for the Robert H. Bell Scholarship
Randy and Nancy Berry, $275,000, with $200,000 for the Griswell Scholarship Program and $75,000 for the MorganBailey Hall health sciences facility
Brian (97C) and Susan Wells (97C) Brodrick, $25,000 for the Morgan-Bailey Hall health sciences facility
Leslie Choitz (76C), $36,718 for the Morgan-Bailey Hall health sciences facility
Al (61c) and Becky Browning (61C) Christopher, $160,000 for the Al and Becky Christopher Gate of Opportunity Scholarship
William H. Ellsworth Foundation, $51,000 for the MorganBailey Hall health sciences facility
Edward (57C) and Evelyn Quarles (57C) England, $25,000, with $22,000 for the Edward and Evelyn England Endowed Scholarship, $2,500 for the George W. Cofield Memorial Scholarship, and $500 for the Tim and Odetta Howard Endowed Scholarship
Joan Fulghum, $100,000 for the Mendel D. Johnson Endowed Scholarship
Opportunity Scholarship, $20,000 for the John Hinman and Kathryn Grams Adversity Scholarship, and $10,000 for the John Hinman and Kathryn Grams Nursing Scholarship
Nettie Howell, $25,000 for the Morgan-Bailey Hall health sciences facility
Sonia and Mark Ivey, $40,000 for the James W. and Ruth T. Ivey Endowed Scholarship
Hubert Judd Charitable Trust, $25,000 for the MorganBailey Hall health sciences facility
Leitalift Foundation, $100,000 for the Leitalift Foundation Endowed Scholarship
Ann Levin and Larry Beeferman, $32,091 for the Rose Esserman Levin and Jule Levin Endowed Award for Social Justice
Bowen H. and Janice Arthur McCoy Charitable Foundation, $25,000 for the McCoy Science Scholars Program
Buzz and Barbara Mote (61C) McCoy, $50,000 for the McCoy Berry Center for Integrity in Leadership (BCIL) Faculty Development Endowed Fund
Jim Miller (53C), $75,000, with $25,000 for the Allen Morris and Elizabeth Smith Kincheloe Scholarship, $25,000 for the James Zenus and Miriam Kincheloe Miller Scholarship, and $25,000 for the James Kincheloe and Geraldine Speering Miller Scholarship
Larry and Mary Montgomery, $1 million for the MorganBailey Hall health sciences facility
Kennard and Joy Jones (83C) Neal, $25,000, with $20,000 for the Class of 1983C Endowed Student Work Position and $5,000 for the H.I. “Ish” Jones Endowed Agriculture Scholarship
Sunny and Kay Park, $1.1 million, with $1 million for the Sunny K. Park Family Scholarship and $100,000 for the Morgan-Bailey Hall health sciences facility
Impart wisdom, share gifts, improve lives
Georgia Independent College Association, $36,970 for the general fund
Rick (77c) and Debra Bourne (76C) Gilbert, $25,000 for the Morgan-Bailey Hall health sciences facility
Walter Gill (63C), $25,000 for the Morgan-Bailey Hall health sciences facility
Gayle Graviett Gmyrek (67C), $50,000 for the Ed and Gayle Gmyrek Endowed Scholarship
John Hinman (72C) and Kathryn Grams, $65,000, with $35,000 for the John Hinman and Kathryn Grams Gate of
Jim and Lonnie Puhger, $25,000 for the Judge James and Mrs. Ilona (Timko) Puhger Endowed Scholarship
Brent (88C) and Georgia Ragsdale, $50,000 for the Morgan-Bailey Hall health sciences facility
Lydia Richardson, in-kind gift of a horse valued at $25,000
Tony Rivers (78C), $25,000 for the Dorothy K. Rivers Scholarship
Pete and Carol Roberts, $50,000 for the Morgan-Bailey Hall health sciences facility
O. Wayne Rollins Foundation, $2 million for the MorganBailey Hall health sciences facility
Gayle Miller Sumner (64C), $25,000 for a charitable gift annuity that ultimately will support Berry’s greatest need, given in memory of her husband, Robert “Lem” Sumner (63C)
Martha Taylor, $53,882 for the Clarke-Taylor-Goodwin Endowed Scholarship
Randall Tibbals (79C) and John Zellars, $160,000 for the Tibbals/Zellars Endowed Gate of Opportunity Scholarship
Nurah Williams knew she was bound for adventure when she left her home in Takoma Park, Maryland, to begin college in a state she had studied but never visited. What she didn’t expect was that her choice of Berry would result in a whirlwind trip to Pittsburgh just a few weeks into her freshman year.
Once in Pennsylvania, Williams found herself in the midst of a huge 50th anniversary celebration commemorating Roberto Clemente’s induction into Major League Baseball’s Hall of Fame. She was on hand as the first recipient of Berry’s Roberto Clemente Scholarship, established by Trustee Roger Lusby (79C) and his wife, Candy Caudill Lusby (82c), in coordination with the Clemente Foundation to honor the legacy of the baseball legend killed in a 1972 plane crash while delivering aid to earthquake victims in Nicaragua.
“That was definitely a unique experience,” Williams said of the trip, highlighted by a banquet attended by current and former major-leaguers and an on-field ceremony at Pittsburgh’s PNC Park. “I didn’t understand how big it was until I got there.”
While not an avid baseball fan, Williams cherishes memories of attending Baltimore Orioles’ games with her late father. Fittingly, his favorite team – the New York Yankees – occupied the visiting dugout for the game in Pittsburgh.
“The Yankees won again,” Williams said with amusement, harkening back to games with her dad.
WEM Scholarships Inc., $30,000 for the Griswell Scholarship Program
WinShape Foundation Inc., $287,770, with $204,000 for the WinShape Scholarship, $71,270 for the WinShape Founder’s Scholarship, and $12,500 for the WinShape Appeals Fund
Buster (73C) and Janice Wright, $400,000, with $350,000 for the Morgan-Bailey Hall health sciences facility and $50,000 for the Nursing Immersion Program
Scholarship giving is nothing new to the Lusbys, nor is tying their generosity to a personal interest or passion – in this case baseball.
The oldest of three brothers, Roger grew up idolizing the likes of Clemente and Hank Aaron. Now he and Candy have established needbased scholarships at Berry honoring both men in partnership with foundations dedicated to further enhancing the two Hall-of-Famers’ already considerable legacies.
Aaron came first for the couple, in 2020. Their leadership motivated others, spurring creation of additional Hank Aaron Chasing the Dream Foundation 4 for 4 Scholarships at Berry. Roger hopes to see the same thing happen with Clemente.
Inspiration for such gifts can be found in Williams’ experience, for without the Clemente Scholarship, Berry might have been out of reach.
The gratitude she feels is shared by Ary Flowers, the couple’s current Aaron recipient. Both are proud to have their names associated with individuals known as much for their character and integrity as their onfield accomplishments.
“I already hold myself to a standard,” explained Williams, a psychology major who dreams of a career working with children. “But now I have an even higher bar because I know that I’m attached to someone who gave a lot of himself to others and made a big impact on his community here in America but also back where he came from in Puerto Rico. That means a lot.”
Estate of Pat Alderman, $53,009 for the Pat Alderman Scholarship
Estate of Marie L. Barlieb, $341,073 unrestricted bequest
Estate of Robert Coleman, $119,797 unrestricted bequest
Estate of J. Paul Ferguson, $25,000 for the J. Paul Ferguson Endowed Scholarship
Flowers, a political science major who also hails from Maryland, added, “To be connected to Hank Aaron in this way and to be a part of his legacy evokes a sense of pride, honor and responsibility, especially since I want to uphold the values and ideals that he stood for in his life. His legacy and accomplishments aren’t just on the baseball field but also in his personal life with his resilience in the face of adversity, his commitment to excellence, and his advocacy for equality and justice.”
If you’re interested in learning more about how you can leverage your personal passions as a Berry scholarship supporter, contact Scott Breithaupt (91C, 96G) at sbreithaupt@berry.edu or 706-346-0049.
Names are followed by a number and letter indicating Berry status. Uppercase letters denote graduates; lowercase letters denote attended/ attending and anticipated year of graduation:
C, c College
G, g Graduate school
A, a Academy
H, h High school
FS Faculty/Staff
FFS Former Faculty/Staff
Dr. Earnest Rodgers (60C) has recently married. He and wife Barbara live in Mount Pleasant, S.C.
Iva Madden Brown (69C) and Mike Brown were married on July 30, 2023. The couple lives in Kingston, Ga.
Delos Tull (69C) is retired and traveling all over Europe.
John Steele (70C) has retired as a public-school administrator after a career spanning 39 years. He lives in Calhoun, Ga.
Jennie Roberts (73C) has been honored by the Carl Vinson Veterans Administration Medical Center in Dublin, Ga., for 25 years of continuing service as piano player for Sunday chapel services. Jennie also has celebrated 28 years as a renal dietitian at Davita Dialysis clinics in Dublin.
Dr. Walt Mason (75C) has retired after 37 years in higher education, including 32 in the University System of Georgia as director of health and physical education at East Georgia State College.
Rufus Massey (75C, FFS) has stepped into two new roles, now serving as president of the Atlanta Vocal Project and as success coach and referring partner at Maria Sims GroupKeller Williams Realty Partners.
Sue Cox Dobbs (77C) has retired as a high school guidance counselor, vocational rehabilitation counselor/ manager and realtor. She lives in Sun City Hilton Head, S.C., staying busy teaching and helping others research their family trees and compile family histories. She also is active in the local chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Sue proudly added that she has two children, two stepchildren and seven grandchildren.
Terri Dean Chastain (79C) was guest of honor in absentia at a Jan. 20, 2024, launch party for Birdhouse Jesus, a novel based on an earlier memoir recounting her perseverance in the midst of traumatic events in her young life. Sadly, Terri died of stomach cancer in August 2022, shortly after receiving her publishing contract. Though she could not join them physically, Terri’s spirit certainly was felt as husband Wayne and approximately 60 friends celebrated her accomplishment.
Send your news to us online at alwaysberry.com/classnotes or email classnotes@berry.edu. Submissions are subject to editing. Photos of sufficient quality will be used at the discretion of the magazine staff. News in this issue was received Oct. 1, 2023, to March 31, 2024.
Lynda Harris Smith (71C) has been elected president of the Kiwanis Club of Providence Point in Issaquah, Wash., for 2023-24.
Dr. Jennifer Dickey (77A, 80C, FFS) recently earned the Distinguished Professor Award for the Radow College of Humanities and Social Sciences at Kennesaw State University, where she has served as a history professor since 2008.
Jill Ellington (78C) has “retired again,” this time to a tiny house village in Flat Rock, N.C., the first time she has lived outside Georgia. Jill initially retired from teaching in 2008 before working as a substitute teacher, advisor at Clayton State University and ticket scanner at the Atlanta Botanical Gardens. Now she has left those roles behind, embracing life as a professional volunteer by serving in the archives at Carl Sandburg National Park, as an usher at Flat Rock Playhouse and as a docent at the Henderson County Heritage Museum. She exclaimed: “I have to keep busy!”
Bill Grant (84C) has been reelected to a second four-year term as mayor of Canton, Ga., extending his service through 2028. He previously served the community as mayor pro tem and city councilman. Bill’s Canton-based business, the internationally acclaimed brand design firm Grant Design Collaborative, celebrates its 30th anniversary in 2024.
Dr. Deidre Mercer Martin (85C) has retired from her role as chief advancement officer at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College in Tifton, Ga., and taken on a new challenge as the first gifts officer for the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine (PCOM) South Georgia. Located in Moultrie, Deidre’s new professional home is committed to meeting regional health care needs with a strong focus on rural medicine.
Andy Craddock (88C) has left his job in commercial real estate with CBRE and Cushman and Wakefield to become executive director of CARES for Pickens County, a food and emergency financial assistance ministry that includes the Kindling
Coffee Café in Jasper, Ga. Wife Sharon Ostack Craddock (90C) is preparing to take on a new role of her own as adjunct professor at Reinhardt University. The freshly minted MBA graduate previously served as executive administrative assistant for the deans of four schools at Reinhardt.
Jody Bishop (89C) has won reelection without opposition to the post of circuit judge for Alabama’s 28th Judicial Circuit. He has completed his 23rd year as a judge in Baldwin County.
leadership for four Chick-fil-A locations in Orlando, Fla. He is the franchisee for two freestanding restaurants, in addition to consulting with Chick-fil-A corporate to ensure that company standards are met at two other units in the Orlando International Airport, including a new location in the south terminal. Rocky gratefully shares credit for his success with wife Tricia Lynn Cook DeStefano (92C), his partner in business and life.
Katheryne Atkins Fields (90C) is executive director for the Georgia Rotary Student Program, which awards one-year ambassadorial scholarships to international students so they can further their studies at Georgia colleges and universities, including her beloved Berry. She possesses more than 20 years of communications, management and nonprofit experience, including previous service as program director
Debby Allen Brackett (78C) showed her Berry pride (see back cover) during a recent trip to Antarctica – her SIXTH continent! Afterward, she marveled at the wonders witnessed by her expedition team (which included the grandson of famed Antarctic explorer Robert Scott), enthusing: “It is a magical, amazing part of our world!”
Fully enjoying retirement, Debby since has taken two trips to Europe: a Rhine River cruise in May and a jaunt through Italy, Switzerland, Austria and Lichtenstein in June. She is hopeful that 2025 will be the year that she rounds out her exploration of the seven continents with an African safari. When that happens, we will be sure to share her big news in Berry magazine!
and marketing/development director for GRSP. In her current role, she is pleased to be promoting the cause of world peace through higher education by assisting students, speaking to clubs, raising funds and building awareness for the organization. Katheryne is also 2023-24 president of the Daybreak Griffin Rotary Club in Griffin, where she resides with husband Dale, an avid golfer.
Creswell (93C) has been elevated to equity partner at Kabat Chapman and Ozmer LLP, a boutique labor and employment, business, and white-collar litigation firm with offices in Atlanta, Chicago and Los Angeles. The firm represents Fortune 500 companies in class, collective and representative actions; labor and employment disputes; complex commercial and consumer-facing disputes; and white-collar investigations and litigation in jurisdictions nationwide.
David Grindle (93C), left, and James Knight
staged an impromptu Berry reunion after unexpectedly bumping into each other last fall at a professional event in Amsterdam. They spent the rest of the evening catching up and now are working on a “cool” project together. James is head of media and entertainment for AMD, while David is executive director for the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers. In sharing the news, David remarked: “Thought you would like to know that Berry connections are coming around even 30 years later.”
Shannon Walburn Biggers (81C, FFS) has retired from her role as director of creative services after 38 years of shaping Berry’s brand through writing and design.
Starting as news editor in 1985, when her beloved Macintosh computer was but a seedling and e-communication was in its infancy, Shannon displayed a knack for learning by doing, continually mastering the new skills necessary to help her alma mater meet the challenges of an ever-changing communication and marketing landscape.
Projects for which she led design and production claimed one national gold medal award and more than three dozen regional awards from the Council for Advancement and Support of Education. In 2002, her
at the Georgia State Capitol for “outstanding integration of science, technology, engineering and mathematics instruction.” Also District Teacher of the Year for the Chattooga County Schools, Leigha is known for cultivating an environment of exploration in her work at Summerville Middle School that not only excites and energizes students but also equips them to pursue enhanced educational opportunities in STEM. During the January event, she and other honorees had breakfast with members of the General Assembly, received congratulations from Gov. Brian Kemp and First Lady Marty Kemp, and were recognized in the State Senate Chambers by Sen. Clint Dixon, chair of the Education and Youth Committee.
Cathy Meadows Burwell (94C), husband Troy and their four children live in Johns Creek, Ga. She teaches sixth-grade English and language arts at Fulton County’s Taylor Road Middle School.
status as an innovator and problem-solver who inspired others to extraordinary achievement was recognized with Berry’s Martindale Award of Distinction. Her latest honor came in March, when Berry’s Board of Trustees granted her recognition as director of creative services emerita.
For many years, Shannon was lead designer for this publication, only stepping aside when other highpriority projects demanded her attention. Examples of her subsequent creativity adorn the walls of numerous campus buildings, helping convey Berry’s distinctiveness to all who enter.
Shannon now looks forward to playing pickleball with her Berry sweetheart, retired bank executive Reed Biggers (77A, 82C), and enjoying life with the couple’s two children and four grandsons.
Dr. Gavin Adams (95C) recently published Big Shoes to Fill: Stepping into a Leadership Role … Without Stepping in It Building on his own experience in ministry and the marketplace (most recently as founder of Accelerate Consulting Advisory), Gavin offers direction on how to effectively assume a new/existing leadership position while simultaneously guiding others through the transition. The Berry marketing alumnus holds an MBA from Georgia State University and master’s and doctoral degrees from Liberty University.
Scott Chancey (95C) has enjoyed a “super” 2024 starting with an all-expenses paid trip to Super Bowl LVIII in Las
Vegas as a winner of the Pepsi Super Bowl Sweepstakes. The newly promoted sports editor of the Florence (S.C.) Morning News also earned national acclaim from the Associated Press Sports Editors for the 2023 Darlington Raceway special section he directed, as well as his reporting on the death of auto-racing legend Cale Yarborough. The latter was his 10th national writing award.
Dr. Sean Langford (95C) has completed a doctorate in education from Maryville University in St. Louis. The director of internal auditing for Concorde Career Colleges lives in Huntsville, Ala., with wife Nickey Mancin Langford (96C). Oldest son Caleb is finishing an English education degree at the University of Alabama Huntsville, and youngest son Nathan is a U.S. Marine stationed at Camp Lejeune, N.C.
Gina Dowdy (96C) earned a nurse practitioner degree in family practice in December 2023 to complement her certified nurse midwife and master’s in nursing degrees. Gina owns and runs The Midwife Clinic in Rome with Stephanie Kempf Longino (96C, 00G). They are pictured above on the day they graduated from Berry.
The Rev. Robyn Powell Rhodes (98C) was ordained May 14, 2023, at Heritage Baptist Church in Cartersville, Ga., where she is associate pastor of children, youth, families and outreach.
Dr. Polly Stewart Holder (00C) continues to seek out new growth in teaching. Already the recipient of a doctorate in education, the former finalist for Georgia Teacher of the Year is currently pursuing another degree with the goal of helping students with disabilities. Polly teaches Spanish at Walnut Grove High School in Walton County, where she earned Teacher of the Year recognition in 2012-13. She also has taught adult learners in Mexico as a participant in the Fulbright Distinguished Awards in Teaching Short-Term Program. Polly lives in Social Circle with husband Gabel and daughter Lily Kate.
Chandra Palubiak Formaggioni (03C) recently celebrated 18 years with Encore, a global event technology production company. In January, she earned global recognition as a finalist for the new “E2” awards honoring those who embody the company’s core values not only in their work but also in interactions with others within and beyond Encore. Emerging from a pool of more than 400 nominees across seven categories, she ultimately won the “Driving Results” award presented at a gala in Washington, D.C. That same week, Chandra was promoted to executive producer. In that role, she will continue her impactful work with long-standing clients like Marriott Hotels and Four Seasons Hotels, traveling internationally to produce their corporate events.
Amanda Highfield Tortorige (05C) and husband Carson welcomed second daughter Eleanor Mica on Nov. 9, 2023, joining big sister Afton and “best doggo” Keswick. The family has relocated from Alaska to Quincy, Ill.
Jeremy Wood (06C) is a newly promoted engineer for the Puget Sound Regional Fire Authority,
a large fire department just outside Seattle. He also serves as director of the benevolent charity fund and as a member of the peer support team for his union. Jeremy is pictured with daughter Rosalie on his promotion day.
Meredith Lewallen Roberts (07C) recently was promoted to director of strategic advancement at the Tennessee Aquarium, her professional home for more than 16 years. She also is beginning a two-year term as president of the Berry Alumni Council.
Krista Firkus (08C) is pleased to announce the adoption of first son Parker Firkus, who is 7. The adoption was finalized Sept. 14, 2023.
John Cason (09C) graduated from Georgia Tech’s Scheller College of Business in December 2023 with an executive MBA. A few months prior, he started a new job as manager of technical solutions for Visa Commercial Solutions in Atlanta.
Kristen Whaley Schrampfer (09C) and Tyler Schrampfer were married June 3, 2023, in the bride’s hometown of Sevierville, Tenn. After honeymooning in Greece, they moved into their new home in Kennesaw, Ga.
Kate Fitchett Swarthout (09C, 11G), husband Bradley and son Will Parker are living aboard their sailboat “Biscuits” and traveling internationally.
Weston Burleson (10C) has joined the government affairs team at Freeman Mathis and Gary LLP. In his work with clients, Weston draws on more than a decade of experience in government affairs, communications, public relations and political consulting. Most recently, he served as director of communications and legislative affairs for the office of Georgia Insurance and Safety Fire Commissioner John F. King. His legislative experience includes work for North Carolina and Tennessee, in addition to six sessions in Georgia.
Mick McCann (80C), right, has traveled many miles since his Berry days, but Eston “Sam” Alford (FFS) – the college electrician who supervised his efforts as a student working in the physical plant – remains close to his heart.
Recently, Mick reflected on their lifelong friendship in a post written for his blog, Geographical Journeys. “It could only happen at Berry College” chronicles a relationship spanning more than 40 years, during which time the Berry Spanish major served as a foreign missions worker in Mexico, a sea kayak wilderness guide in Alaska, a business owner, and finally a college professor teaching geography and leading a studyabroad experience in Barcelona, Spain.
Through all that time, he never has lost touch with his former supervisor, who Mick likens to “the older brother I never had.” On the surface, the two had little in common – Alford was a Floyd County native, Mick a self-described “Yankee” from the mid-Atlantic region. One liked peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, the other tomato (Mick still swears that tomatoes should only be eaten in condiment form).
Despite their differences, the two introverts forged a deep bond working side-by-side in corners of the Berry campus few have seen: boiler rooms and basements, crawl spaces and sweltering attics, rooftops and even the inside of silos, literally “anywhere there were wires carrying electricity.”
In the intervening decades, they have stayed in touch, meeting when Mick’s travels looped through Georgia, often returning to campus to share a meal and quiet conversation. At other times, Alford, who retired after 27 years of service to Berry, proudly tracks the adventures of his protégé on a map in his home.
Writing gratefully of his own experience, Mick penned, “I only hope that Berry’s current student population still has some of the same opportunities in the work-study program that I had long ago … and that there are other people like Sam still working at the college to mentor them.”
Rest assured, Mick, there are!
We love getting updates from alumni, but it’s not every day we hear from an entire team. Recently, members of the 1988 team that restarted baseball at Berry let us know about their reunion in Panama City Beach, Florida.
“The stories were plentiful, some details are now cloudy or maybe even exaggerated, just a little, but the smiles on all these faces give you a little insight to how much fun this 35-year reunion was to all those who made the journey,” wrote Shannon Klug (91C), who worked with team co-captain Bill Garber (90C) and teammate Dr. Ty Carter (91C) to organize the event.
Fourteen fellow Vikings were able to join them: Jeff Allen (90C), Todd Brophy (91C), Scott Gilkey (90C), Bob Koch (90C), Tom Lashley (90C), Gene Owenby (90C), Dr. Mark Piecoro (90C), Brad Simons (90C), Dr. Keith Stansell (90C), Rich Stoll (91c), Mike Van Minos (89C), Derek Willis (90C), Rodney Wilson (91C) and Jeff Winningham (91c). They came from seven states, with Bob claiming the prize for farthest traveled after making the trek all the way from his home in San Diego.
“I love all these guys,” Shannon declared. “They are a significant portion of a very
Ashley Elizabeth Dunn (10C) and husband Dan live in Boston, where they have bought their first home.
Ashley Painter McElreath (10C) and husband Mark welcomed second son James on Sept. 25, 2023, much to the delight of big brother Jackson. In January 2024, Ashley was promoted to director of finance for the mills division at Graphic Packaging International.
Dr. Kenneth Wessel (11C) married the love of his life, Devan Floyd, in fall 2023. He also recently accepted a new position as clinic director of PT Solutions in Adairsville, Ga.
Dr. Alison Crane (12C) married Weston Borcher on Sept. 30, 2023, near Red Lodge, Mont. The couple lives in Northwest Wyoming, where Alison is executive director of the Wyoming Wool Growers Association and their family maintains a mid-size flock of purebred (Rambouillet and Hampshires) and commercial fine wool sheep, selling stud and range sires nationally.
important chapter of my life. I know they all feel the same way. We had not gathered as a group in 35 years, but it felt like we had just seen each other on campus a few short moments ago.”
Festivities included a round of golf and some poolside games, a day at the beach and plenty of good food – their grocery order filled a truck bed! The group is already talking about deep-sea fishing in Charleston, South Carolina, with “plenty more shenanigans,” Shannon said laughingly. “We’re not sure when the next reunion will be, but I can guarantee it will not be another 35 years.”
Amelia Todd (12C) has started a new position as senior associate, human rights at Booking.com in Amsterdam. After graduating with a juris doctor degree from Emory University School of Law, she has spent the last seven years working in international law, human rights and security in the Netherlands, serving in various tribunals and other international organizations. She joined Booking.com in 2019.
Mark Trager (12C) is pursuing a master’s degree in professional writing at Kennesaw State University. The Berry biology grad recently published his first book, a poetry collection titled
Shine, the first entry in his poetry anthology called Seasons Also, his nonfiction piece, “Lasting Ordinance,” has been published by Solid Food Press. Visit marktrager.com to learn more about his work.
Jared Hall (13C) and Jamie Carelson Hall (13C) welcomed daughter Sutton James on July 24, 2023. She joined big brothers Peyton and Carson at the family home in Knoxville, Tenn.
Katie Weisbecker Kosmala (13C) and husband Matthew proudly announce the birth of second son Benjamin Thomas on Jan. 3, 2024.
pleased to introduce third
born Jan. 15, 2024.
Courtney Hansill McIntosh (13C) and her husband welcomed their third son in February 2023. They live in Smyrna, Ga., and stay in touch with Courtney’s Berry friends, including Laura Briggs (13C), who took this family photo.
Emily Nicholson Schneider (13C) and husband Kyle Schneider (13C) are delighted to announce the birth of daughter Nell on Oct. 23, 2023.
Hannah Bentley (14C) has been named 2023-24 Teacher of the Year for her work with fifthgrade students at Sope Creek Elementary School in Marietta, Ga.
James Carter (14c) has started a blog, Tails of Service, inspired by his experiences with Austin, his service dog of two years. In that time, James has been blessed with newfound freedom thanks to the assistance Austin
provides in helping him to overcome challenges posed by cerebral palsy and other health issues. Having shared their story with groups in and around Denton, Texas, James now hopes to expand his reach utilizing the same skills that previously enabled him to write stories for the Campus Carrier, Berry magazine and Viking Fusion. See his latest work at tailsofservice.com.
Katie Minor Hardwick (14C) and husband Justin celebrated the arrival of son Maxwell Keats in January 2024.
Taylor Jennings Hassell (14C) married Rusty Hassell on Sept. 1, 2023.
Brittni Trollinger Swanson (14C) has been accepted into the master’s degree program in emerging media at the University of Georgia. This news comes on the heels of her selection as winner of the 2023 Operational Excellence Award for marketing by her company, LocumTenens.com, a fullservice staffing agency seeking to solve employment shortages in health care by connecting clinicians and facilities nationwide. As a field marketing manager, Brittni assists recruiters and sales staff with materials, strategies, projects and industry shows for a variety of health care specialties. Her husband of 10 years, Dr. Koty Swanson (14C), is a chemist for the Centers for Disease Control. When not in the lab, he enjoys performing with the Stone Mountain Chorus, a men’s barbershop choir, and the Four Fellers barbershop quartet. A prolific collector of bobbleheads, Koty recently had a portion of his collection chosen for display at the Atlanta History Center as part of a celebration of the life of Hank Aaron. `
Jacob Clifton Albritton (15C, FFS) graduated from the executive MBA program at Georgia Tech’s Scheller College of Business with a degree in global business in December 2023. He continues to serve as senior major gifts officer at the Movement for Black Lives.
Dr. Paton Roden Beck (15C) earned a doctorate in higher education administration from the University of Alabama in August 2022 before moving to Salt Lake City for a competitive post-doc research and teaching role. There she met life partner David, whom she married on Nov. 11, 2023, at her home parish in Birmingham, Ala., the city they now call home. The former SGA president currently serves as a clinical assistant professor at the University of Alabama, where she teaches graduate students. Paton credits Debbie Heida (FFS),
Tametria Conner Dantzler (07C) was among 25 Alabama residents honored in This is Alabama’s 2024 class of “Women Who Shape the State.” Once an award-winning broadcaster, Tametria is founder and chief executive officer of Disability as an Ability Toward Success: Moms on the Move (DATSMOM), a nonprofit serving families of children on the autism spectrum or with related developmental disabilities. By providing free family services, programs and training, she has helped more than 500 families across the nation progressively navigate the autism journey. Read more at datsmom.org.
A Bonner Scholar at Berry – where she was recipient
vice president emerita, with helping her to find her niche in higher education. They still talk regularly.
loving life with son Joe “Simms” Crain IV.
Corwin Hall (15C) has been promoted to corporate managing director at Savills North America, a global real estate advisory firm, and taken on the role of assistant coach for varsity boys lacrosse at St. Pius X High School in Atlanta.
of the Communication Department Achievement Award – Tametria has written and/or created more than 50 programs, services and community partnerships while training professionals and coaching parents on how to help turn their children’s disability into an ability. She also created the Conner Dantzler Autism Scholarship fund, which awards two annual $1,000 scholarships for individuals on the spectrum, with preference given to residents of Alabama, Georgia and Mississippi.
At Berry, Tametria established and funded the Dr. Clarice R. Ford Memorial Leadership Scholarship, an annual $1,000 award.
Berry extends sincere condolences to family and friends of the following alumni and former faculty/staff members. This list includes notices received Sept. 1, 2023, to Feb. 29, 2024.
Walt Johnson (41H) of Honolulu, Hawaii, July 15, 2023.
Allene Branton Brown (43H) of Aragon, Ga., Aug. 13, 2022.
Betsy Russell Cummings (44H) of Huntsville, Ala., Dec. 15, 2023.
Cleo Ollie Ray (44H) of Douglasville, Ga., Feb. 19, 2024.
Ruth Ables Harris (48c) of Taylorsville, Ga., Nov. 24, 2023.
Smith R. Foster (49H) of Dalton, Ga., Feb. 21, 2024.
Gwennie Templeton Howard (49c) of Union Grove, N.C., Dec. 2, 2023.
Mary Bell Beal Mintz (49H, 53C) of Tellico Village, Tenn., Sept. 4, 2023.
Wanda Barclay Strickland (49C) of Sarasota, Fla., Jan. 3, 2024.
Dot Houston Whitfield (49C) of Ball Ground, Ga., Sept. 9, 2023.
Henry Phillips (50H) of Red Bud, Ga., Feb. 12, 2024.
Wynelle Giddens McMillan (51c) of Lilburn, Ga., Jan. 6, 2024.
Margaret Edge Turk (51c) of Braselton, Ga., Sept. 1, 2023.
Emory Bales (52H, 55c) of Dahlgren, Va., Dec. 15, 2023.
Jessie Green Brown (52c) of Sandy Springs, Ga., Feb. 1, 2024.
Nettie Brown (52C) of Saint Augustine, Fla., Dec. 2, 2023.
Janelle Warren Smith (52H) of Bowdon, Ga., Oct. 19, 2023.
Morris “Jack” Crawford (54c) of Hoschton, Ga., Sept. 28, 2023.
Ron Kidwell (55H) of Charlotte, N.C., Oct. 22, 2023.
Jimmy Woodall (55c) of Epworth, Ga., Nov. 17, 2023.
Barbara Doster Biddy (57c) Lexington, S.C., Nov. 30, 2023.
Rebecca Jordan Suggs (57C) S.C., Dec. 26, 2023.
Betty Brown Madden (58C) Anderson, S.C., Dec. 2, 2023.
Sara Baggett Nielsen (58C) of Adairsville, Ga., Oct. 25, 2023.
Frank Ronald Norman (58C) of Dahlonega, Ga., Sept. 4, 2023.
David M. Still (58c) of Blakely, Ga., Jan. 18, 2024.
William James (59C) of Conway, S.C., Oct. 5, 2023.
Bobby Logan (59c) of Montevallo, Ala., Sept. 11, 2023.
Dorothy Everett Sundy (59C) of Atlanta and Dallas, Ga., Nov. 22, 2023.
Tony Anderson (59H) of Bremen, Ga., Sept. 7, 2023.
Bob Campbell (60H) of McDonough, Ga., July 19, 2023.
Carolyn Bradberry Holloman (60C) of Elberton, Ga., Feb. 10, 2024.
Judy Muschamp Silvey (61C) of Carrollton, Ga., Dec. 3, 2023.
John Chastain (62H) of Jasper, Ga., Nov. 4, 2023.
John Burgess “Jack” Dickey (62c) of Atlanta, Jan. 19, 2024.
George Gravitte (62C) of Chelsea, Ala., Dec. 19, 2023.
Eddie Saxon (62H) of Deltona, Fla., May 29, 2023.
Cynthia Jordan Epting (64C) of Columbus, Ga., Jan. 11, 2024.
Steve Sorrow (64C) of Rome, Dec. 31, 2023.
Elizabeth Smith Sutton (65C) of Reidsville, N.C., Dec. 1, 2023.
Samuel Lee Akers (66C) of Signal Mountain, Tenn., Jan. 16, 2024.
Judy Longshore (67C) of Deland, Fla., June 6, 2023.
Faith Robinson Welch (67C) of St. Johns, Fla., Feb. 27, 2024.
Phil Malone (68C) of Oxford, Miss., Jan. 24, 2024.
Pat Gaston (69C) of Lindale, Ga., Feb. 27, 2024.
Cathy Steadman Hamlett (70C) of Rome, Feb. 19, 2024.
George Johnson (70C) of Eatonton, Ga., Dec. 6, 2023.
William Perkins (71A) of Wetumpka, Ala., Oct. 23, 2023.
Jane Swift (72c) of Jasper, Ga., Feb. 1, 2024.
Susan Moncrief Clark (74C) of Washington, W.Va., Dec. 7, 2023.
Barbara Woodward Sneed (74G) of Tallahassee, Fla., Feb. 9, 2024.
Melinda West Bilbrey (76C) of Cookeville, Tenn., Feb. 5, 2024.
Pam Rush Kizziah (76C) of Silver Creek, Ga., Jan. 8, 2024.
Dan Barton (77C) of Cartersville, Ga., Sept. 7, 2023.
Jerry Strauss (83C) of Hot Springs, Ark., Jan. 10, 2024.
Barbara Jean Weathers Littleton (85G) of Chickamauga, Ga., Jan. 28, 2024.
Charlotte Seymour (86c) of Monroe, Ga., Aug. 29, 2023.
Elizabeth Huelster (17C) of Marietta, Ga., Dec. 2, 2023.
Tanner Chase Spalding (19c) of Franklin, Tenn., March 4, 2024.
Glenn Atkins of Rome, Nov. 23, 2023.
Bill Hoyt of Asheville, N.C., Dec. 9, 2023.
Jim O’Hara of Rome, Jan. 16, 2024.
Berry is saddened by the Jan. 23, 2024, passing of James B. Williams, a member of the Berry Board of Visitors from 1973-86. His career with the Trust Company of Georgia (later SunTrust Banks and now Truist) spanned five decades, including service as president, CEO and chairman of SunTrust Banks. An influential friend of the college, Williams distinguished himself as chair of the Robert W. Woodruff Foundation, Joseph B. Whitehead Foundation, Lettie Pate Evans Foundation and Luther C. Fischer Foundation, among many civic roles. Survivors include his wife, three children, five grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.
Becca Ottinger Spivak (15C) has earned a master’s degree from the Pratt Institute in New York City after spending two years training to become an art therapist. Becca has completed two year-long internships, one with a community center for people in recovery from substance abuse and the other at the LAND Studio and Gallery, a progressive studio for artists with disabilities. Next up is work as an art therapist in a preschool for students with autism.
Dr. Heidi King Berman (16C) and husband Braham Berman (16C) welcomed first child Elliot Murray on Nov. 7. 2023.
Shelby Smith King (16C) was voted best physician assistant in Rankin County, Miss., by Hometown Rankin Magazine.
Dr. Maggie McCarter (16C) has completed a doctorate in epidemiology from the University of South Carolina, concentrating in advanced biostatistics. She now works as a principal biostatistician for an international pharmaceutical company, leading multiple clinical trials seeking to reduce seizure frequency and severity among individuals with epilepsy.
Dr. Cody Marchant (17C) and Hannah Chesterton (15C) were married Nov. 18, 2023, at Frost Chapel. Hannah is pursuing a Doctor of Education degree in student affairs leadership at the University of Georgia, where Cody earned his Doctor of Pharmacy and MBA degrees in 2022.
and husband Zac
announce the birth of second son Elias Gideon on Sept. 16, 2023.
Nathan Hirsh (18C) and Megan Radosta Hirsh (19C) celebrated the birth of second daughter Lily Jo on Nov. 15, 2023. She weighed 8 pounds and measured 20.5 inches.
Dr. Thomas Shepherd (18C) graduated from the Dental College of Georgia in May 2023 with a Doctor of Medicine degree in dentistry. He is thankful for his Berry foundation and excited to be returning to Rome with wife
Dr. Britton Ody (19C) was accepted into the inaugural class of the Wilmington (Del.) University School of Law after graduating in May 2023 from Georgia State University with a doctorate in organic and medicinal chemistry. Britton shared credit for both achievements with Berry mentors, hailing a law school recommendation submitted by assistant soccer coach Konrad Jacobs (00C, 07G, FS) and the “continuous and compassionate support” provided by undergraduate research advisor and dissertation coauthor Dr. Mark Turlington (FS). The grateful grad added: “I’m proud to say my time and experiences as a Berry Viking have shaped my road to success.”
Hannah Atsma (20C) graduated from the University of Florida with a master’s degree in entomology in December 2023.
Tony McIntosh (20G) is now an adjunct faculty member teaching communications and management courses at Georgia Highlands College. The awardwinning broadcaster is in his third decade with Rome’s WRGA
radio station, where he hosts the weekday First News program. He also served on the broadcast team for Berry football and basketball from 2015 to 2022, providing play-by-play and commentary.
Andrew Myers (20C) and Bailey Fowler Myers (20C) are thrilled to announce the birth of their “healthy, beautiful, smart little girl,” Eleanor Mae, in August 2023. She is their first child. Bailey has completed a master’s degree in elementary education, while Andrew is a senior additive manufacturing engineer for Henry Schein at the Brasseler USA site, where medical devices are manufactured.
Tim Goodwin (03C), front center, “strikes a pose” with his team in celebration of the 20th anniversary of Goodwin Investment Advisory, the company he and wife Maureen Trane Goodwin (03C) started nine months after graduating from Berry. Team members include two fellow Vikings: Justin Pitcock (14G), front left, and Joanna Howard Billy (14C), back left. In addition to his work as a senior investment advisor, Tim also has served Berry as a member of the Alumni Council, including a term as president, during which he concurrently held membership on the Board of Trustees.
Bo Dyar (21C) and Brooke Boyd Dyar (21C) were married in the summer of 2023. The wedding party included roommates and close friends from Berry Dylan White (21C), Michael Bemis (21C), Laramie Sellers (20C, 22G), George Johnson (21C), Cali Fillmer (21C), Claire Bousquet (21C) and Taylor Blaylock (21C)
Mason Lanford (21C) and Ashlyn Larsen-Lanford (21C) were married March 25, 2023, at Frost Chapel. The couple met as freshmen in zoology lab and became best friends before starting to date just over a year later. “Five years after becoming best friends, we tied the knot!” they exclaimed. “We couldn’t think of a better place than Berry to commit to one another in front of our friends and family.” Credit for the photo goes to Alex Ruble (23C, FS).
Genny Castillo (08C) is the latest in a long line of Berry alumni named to Georgia Trend’s “40 under 40” list. Renowned as a leader in policy, community outreach and administration, Genny recently was promoted to the post of deputy director of the Southern Economic Advancement Project, facilitating local programming to improve economic security and access to health care. The 2022 winner of the Berry Alumni Council’s Distinguished Achievement Award previously was honored as one of the top five Latinas reshaping U.S. politics for her work during the 2020 election.
Abigail Stallings (21C) earned a Master of Fine Arts degree in illustration from Savannah College of Art and Design in spring 2023 and started 2024 in a new role as assistant professor of digital media at the College of Central Florida in Ocala.
Alicia Gauker (22G, FFS) now works at Georgia Tech as a communications program manager.
Sheryl Caycho Mantilla (22C, FS) has started her professional journey as coordinator for Berry’s Bonner Scholarship Program. The former Berry Bonner Scholar is “thrilled to be a part of an awesome team” led by Laurie Hattaway Chandler (95C, FS), director of the Bonner Center for Community Engagement.
Bronson Pierce (22C) was one of 17 Mercer University medical students selected as Nathan Deal Scholars for 2023-24. The scholarship recognizes future doctors with strong ties to rural Georgia who demonstrate outstanding character, leadership qualities, community involvement and a likelihood of practicing in underserved communities. Bronson’s work in health care was inspired by the experiences of then-future wife Dr. Kaitlyn Spurgeon Pierce (18C) as a nursing major at Berry. Kaitlyn later became an ICU nurse before earning a doctorate in nursing practice from Lee University in 2023. She now serves as a family nurse practitioner in Columbus, Ga. The couple is pictured with daughter Adeline at Bronson’s white coat ceremony.
Emily Rapach (22C) began her career with the Georgia Department of Natural Resources in August 2023 as a
wildlife biologist for the Urban Wildlife Program. Her work focuses on human-wildlife conflict, education/outreach and research around Atlanta.
Leanna Ritchie Roberts (22C) and Parker Roberts (20C) were married July 8, 2023, in Young Harris, Ga. They live in Michigan, where Parker is pursuing a doctorate in aerospace engineering at the University of Michigan and Leanna is working on a master’s degree in mental health counseling at Spring Arbor University.
Anna Van Kley (22C) has begun working as the museum educator at the National Music Museum in Vermillion, S.D. In May, she graduated from the University of South Dakota with a master’s degree in history.
Adeline Grimes Bluhm (23C) and Andrew Bluhm were married Nov. 11, 2023, at Frost Chapel. The ceremony was officiated by Adeline’s aunt, the Rev. Kendra Grimes (93C)
Jacob Caldwell (23C, FS) and Madison Massey Caldwell (24C) were married Aug. 12, 2023. Jacob has been working for Berry’s enterprise systems since graduating. Madison plans to pursue a career as a curator, building on her passions for historic preservation, museum curation and pottery.
Mads Letts (23C) has begun pursuit of a master’s degree in marketing at Vanderbilt University after deferring her acceptance for a year. She noted: “I’m excited to attend this amazing university and build on all the experiences I gained while at Berry.”
Zoë Wooten (24C) has been promoted to human resource generalist at a health care nonprofit in Atlanta. As part of her work there, she already has had the opportunity to meet Vice President Kamala Harris. In a LinkedIn post sharing news of her promotion, Zoë thanked Berry Trustee Mairo AkposéSimpson (97C) for “shining a light on the world of HR and welcoming me in.” Others receiving shoutouts included Dr. Casey Dexter (FS), Dr. Curt Hersey (93C, FS) and Dr. Bob Reimer (FS), as well as members of Zoë’s Berry volleyball family.
By Catherine Hamrick
Asked to describe herself in three words, Annabelle Norton (24C) doesn’t miss a beat: “Curious. Creative. Confident.”
Ben Lord (20C) spotted these qualities upon meeting Norton at a 2023 networking event sponsored by Berry’s LifeWorks program. Sensing potential, he passed along a lead for a summer social media internship with IEX, a national securities exchange facilitating the trading of U.S. equities.
The opportunity to take a bite out of the Big Apple proved irresistible to the communication and English major with on-campus work experience as PR coordinator for Viking Fusion and communication manager for the Office of Diversity and Belonging.
ride to another borough for an event – not only showed me how capable I am to rise to a challenge but also allowed me to experience a lifestyle I had not yet lived.”
With a firm grounding in social media but limited financial knowledge, Norton plunged into the business world, joined by a cohort of 22 interns from 17 states. Benefiting from “jumpstart” sessions offering necessary insight into fundamental aspects of IEX’s business and operations, Norton took on the challenge of expanding audiences in the tech, retail and finance industries through LinkedIn and X (formerly known as Twitter). Of particular emphasis were promising young professionals who might be interested in a career with IEX.
“Upon researching the company and reading about IEX’s story and values, I knew I wanted to work there,” Norton said. “Ben guided me through the process of applying to the company. I couldn’t be more thankful for Ben’s mentorship and the kindness of the IEXers who interviewed me.”
Arriving solo, she quickly found herself navigating an unfamiliar landscape on foot.
“When I first got to New York, the biggest culture shock was the ability to walk everywhere instead of sitting in an hour of Atlanta traffic to travel a mile,” she recalled. “I was unbelievably nervous, but getting outside my comfort zone and just exploring – whether that looked like a 30-minute walk around the East Village or a 30-minute train
able to see everything I’ve learned about in class in action,” she stated. “I learned about the events that they plan for different clients, their relationships with different business publications, and their strategy regarding which audiences they want to meet with each campaign.
“My manager, Sarah Karlovich, taught me a tremendous amount about content strategy, as each week she showed me how the data I collected and analyzed not only told the marcomms team a story about the consumer but also allowed us to tell the consumer a better story in the future.”
Such knowledge kindled an even greater appreciation for the ways in which Norton’s two Berry majors complement each other.
“The coolest part about this internship was being able to see everything I’ve learned about in class in action.”
She went into the role hoping to build on knowledge and skills gained at Berry, and it did not disappoint. Norton dove into the analytical side of social media and content creation, explaining, “Most of my previous experience was within the realm of design and calendar planning, but at IEX I got hands-on experience in navigating analytical suites and interpreting data to drive business objectives and tell their story in a meaningful way to a maximized audience.”
At the same time, collaboration with IEX’s marketing and communications team provided an industry insider perspective on the vast array of projects across business groups.
“The coolest part about this internship was being
“Communication and English go so well together because at the end of the day, their primary focus is to master creative storytelling that has intention and purpose,” she reflected. “I’ve come to think of building a brand in a similar way to telling a good story. Both need plot, dynamic characters and, above all, a guiding theme and message.”
Norton’s NYC adventure landed her a dream job even before graduation. She’s now an account coordinator for the Arketi Group, the marketing company she worked with while at IEX.
Thanks to a connection facilitated by alum Ben Lord and her courage to explore, Norton discovered she can make it anywhere — with all the swagger of Sinatra singing “New York, New York.”
Berry College, Inc. P.O. Box 495018
Mount Berry, GA 30149-5018
When Debby Allen Brackett (78C) headed south … WAAAAAY south … for a once-in-alifetime Antarctic adventure (see page 25), she took Berry with her. Follow her example the next time you travel, and we might just include your photo in a future issue.
