G E O R G I A R E G E N T S U N I V E R S I T Y AU G U S TA SPRING 2013 VOL. 1
NO. 1
ALUMNI and FRIENDS MAGAZINE
stronger, &better, together.” “We believe that we are
–Your Alumni Association Presidents
Georgia Regents University’s Alumni and Friends magazine is published three times a year by the Office of Advancement and the Office of Communications and Marketing to connect the university with alumni, friends, the state and the world.
SPRING 2013 VOL. 1
NO. 1
IN EVERY EDITION
EDITORS Senior Vice President, Office of Advancement: Susan Barcus Senior Vice President, Office of Communications and Marketing: David Brond Associate Vice President, Office of Communications and Marketing: Jack Evans
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Message from the President
4
Campus Happenings
5
Alumni Advocacy Update
6
Advancement Update
26
College Catch-Up
30
Career Development
32
Jaguar Pride
34
Class Notes
The Final Frontier
8
Vision Discovery Center’s Namesake Launched Stunning Aeronautics Career
Executive Editor: Kristina Baggott Senior Editor: Christine Hurley Deriso
DESIGN & PRODUCTION
GEORGIA REGENTS UNIVERSITY
A U G U S TA
P.J. Hayes Design
PHOTOGRAPHY
A MAN WITH A PLATFORM
Senior Photographer: Phil Jones
Alumnus Ed Tarver, U.S. Attorney’s Career
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ADVERTISING Samantha Mellinger 706-667-4979 smellinger@gru.edu
Georgia Regents University does not discriminate on
HISTORY IN THE MAKING
the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, disability,
Vast Potential of Consolidation
16
religion, age, veteran status, gender identity or expression, or sexual orientation in its programs and activities as required by Title IX of the Educational Amendments of 1972, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and other application statutes and university policies.
Visit us online: gru.edu/gravity
FROM TERROR TO TRIUMPH
20
Alumni Weekend to Feature Bob Woodruff, Wife Lee
A LOOK BACK © 2013
Leilee Ault: Fierce Student Advocate
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From the Alumni Association Presidents: Dear Alumni and Friends, Your Alumni Association Presidents are working together through the transition of our universities to create the very best association to serve your needs as alumni of our legacy institutions: Junior College of Augusta, Augusta College, Augusta State University, Medical College of Georgia and Georgia Health Sciences University. Our goal is simple: to have an Alumni Association that best represents where we have been, where we are and where we are going. We will continue to honor our old traditions as we create new ones. We believe that the consolidation of Augusta State University and Georgia Health Sciences University will provide boundless opportunities for our students, or as we like to call them, our future alumni.
We believe that we are stronger, and better, together. We believe that our alumni—more than 54,000 of us worldwide—are a powerful force and can work together to ensure a bright future for those who come behind us. We believe that we are stronger, and better, together. We are so proud to be alumni of this great institution. The impact of our alums can be felt around the globe and even outer space (see The Final Frontier, page 8). We have done and will continue to do great things. We encourage those who have been involved to stay involved . . . and those who have not been involved to please get involved. You can start by marking your calendars for Alumni Weekend on April 26-28 (see page 22 for additional details).
This is our university. Let’s work together to make it n
Henry Cline, Medical College of Georgia
Ralph Cohen, College of Dental Medicine
Krishnan Dhandapani,
Thayer McGahee,
College of Graduate Studies
College of Nursing
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Barbara Russell, College of Allied Health Sciences
Adam Williams, ASU Alumni Association
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SPRING 2013
the best it can be.
The Force Behind
\gra-v -tē\ e
Kristina Baggott
the force that attracts a body toward the center of the earth—a force ensuring we stay firmly grounded while being aware of
A U G U S TA
everything going on around us.
So why name our new alumni and friends magazine after this compelling force of nature?
Associate Vice President, Alumni Affairs and Special Events
kbaggott@gru.edu
Scott Henson Senior Director, Alumni Affairs
shenson@gru.edu
Rhonda Banks Director, Alumni Affairs
robanks@gru.edu
Mary Beth Gable Alumni Affairs Coordinator
mgable@gru.edu
Gravity magazine, the new alumni and friends magazine of Georgia Regents University, is a GEORGIA REGENTS UNIVERSITY
communication force that will serve to keep our large body of alumni connected to their alma mater. Our mission is to inform and
Samantha Mellinger Alumni Affairs Coordinator
smellinger@gru.edu
engage our readers regarding university programs
and
activities
on
campus,
throughout Georgia and around the world.
of
consolidation
Alumni Affairs Support Specialist
ptoole@gru.edu
THE ALUMNI AFFAIRS TEAM Benefits
Paula Toole
include
the
unification of two experienced, dedicated alumni affairs teams. We are here to serve,
Sherena Hobbs
engage and connect our alumni. Many
Alumni Affairs Administrative Assistant
exciting opportunities will be announced soon as we begin this journey together. n
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shehobbs@gru.edu
A Rich and Intricately Woven Story This January, Augusta State University and Georgia Health Sciences University joined forces to become Georgia Regents University, the state’s fourth comprehensive research university with nine colleges, nearly 10,000 students, 1,000 full-time faculty members, 5,000 staff members and 54,000 alumni worldwide.
RICARDO AZZIZ, MD, MPH, MBA Professor, Obstetrics & Gynecology, Medicine and Medical Humanities; President, Georgia Regents University; CEO, Georgia Regents Health System
GRU houses the nation’s 13th-oldest and 10th-largest medical school, the state’s sole dental medicine college, an aligned and integrated health system, a growing intercollegiate athletics program, the highly respected Hull College of Business and the diverse Pamplin College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, among other units. With 650 acres of land and nearly 150 buildings, our university is a $1 billion-plus enterprise with statewide, national and international reach. Our story is rich and intricately woven—a story of tradition and innovation, of academic rigor and creativity, of resilience and partnership, of research, patient care and instruction that have contributed immeasurably to advances in the state, nation and world. We need your help to tell others about this new and dynamic research university. Each and every member of the GRU community must underscore with passion and resolution the great benevolent giant that sits in our midst so that our story will be told—the bigger story . . . the story of the university’s enormous reach and size . . . the story of a giant.
We recently formed a volunteer grassroots group of alumni and friends of the university to communicate with members of the Georgia General Assembly and the U.S. Congress regarding issues of importance to GRU, academic health centers and higher To learn more about GRU’s education in general (read more on page 5). I encourage alumni advocacy program, email you to get engaged with this effort because we need gruadvocates@gru.edu. your voice. We need each of you moving forward with us, trumpeting who we are and how great we are. With pride and with confidence.
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As individuals, your unique experiences, memories, ideas and accomplishments are a very important part of our story. We’re counting on you to help us tell that story to the world. n
SPRING 2013
Get Involved.
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APRIL
Happenings
2013
Primary Care and Family Practice Symposium
20-25
Course for family medicine physicians and other specialists who focus on primary medical care; covers differential diagnosis and management strategies. Continuing Education, 706-721-3967
APRIL
MAY
Campus
JUNE
JULY
GRU Spring Commencement 2 p.m., James Brown Arena
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Celebrate GRU’s inaugural commencement ceremony. Tickets required; overflow and un-ticketed seating in Bell Auditorium via closed-circuit feed. Event also webcast.
Alumni Mixer
Greater Augusta Youth Orchestra
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7:30 p.m., Maxwell Performing Arts Theatre, Summerville Campus
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MAY
Conducted by Concertmaster Ryan Kho; 706-737-7971
Enjoy drinks with fellow alumni in a relaxed environment. Details to be announced. Alumni Affairs, 706-737-1759
Clinical Advances in a Restorative Practice Hilton Head Island, S.C.
Educator Interviewing Skills that Get the Job
5-6 p.m., University Hall Room 381, Summerville Campus
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JUNE
Tips and resources to strengthen interviewing skills. Melissa Hudson, 706-737-1604 or mrhudson@gru.edu.
A U G U S TA
Alumni Weekend
26-28
This campuswide celebration of alumni past, present and future will include traditional activities as well as new events like the Alumni Weekend Signature Event, featuring Bob and Lee Woodruff, and Alumni After Hours. gru.edu/alumniweekend
Drs. Lee Ann Brady and Franklin Shull will discuss key diagnostic elements for esthetic treatment. Continuing Education, 706-721-3967
Alumni Night at the Augusta Greenjackets
7:05 p.m., Lake Olmstead Stadium; 78 Milledge Road
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Join us for Alumni Night at the GreenJackets game. Details to be announced. Alumni Affairs, 706-737-1759
General Dentistry Symposium
King and Prince Beach Resort, St. Simons Island, Ga.
30-July 6
Cost-effective clinical techniques, materials and treatment modalities of interest to the general dentist with an advanced restorative practice.
History of the Health Sciences Lecture Series
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Dr. Russell Moores, an MCG faculty member since 1965, will discuss procuring specimens to teach anatomy. All lectures in the series are free and open to the public. 706-721-3444
Students Caught in the Act
JULY
Noon, Robert B. Greenblatt, M.D. Library, Health Science Campus
GEORGIA REGENTS UNIVERSITY
25-27
3-5 p.m., Maxwell Performing Arts Theatre, Summerville Campus
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Short plays written, directed and acted by GRU students. Free for GRU students, faculty and staff; $5 for general public.
General Dentistry Symposium
King and Prince Beach Resort, St. Simons Island, Ga.
June 30-6
Cost-effective clinical techniques, materials and treatment modalities of interest to the general dentist with an advanced restorative practice. Continuing Education, 706-721-3967
Alumni Mixer
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Wind Ensemble
Enjoy drinks with fellow alumni in a relaxed environment. Details to be announced. Alumni Affairs, 706-737-1759
New Therapies and Current Controversies in Dentistry Kiawah Island Resort, Kiawah Island, S.C.
7:30-9 p.m., Maxwell Performing Arts Theatre, Summerville Campus
26-28
Drs. Margot Kusienski and Andrew Cheung discuss new diagnostic and surgical techniques along with cutting-edge materials. Continuing Education, 706-721-3967
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GRU’s wind band conducted by Dr. John Wojcik; Free for GRU students, faculty and staff; $5 for general public.
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provides regular updates on state and federal legislation directly or indirectly affecting our alumni.
FEDERAL News n GRU has created a strong presence in the nation’s Capital since establishing a Federal Affairs Office in 2011. Over the last two years, several legislators from the Georgia delegation have visited our campus. GRU’s first annual Congressional Fly-In last August hosted almost 20 Congressional staffers for two days of learning about the great things happening at GRU. n President Ricardo Azziz and other thought leaders have made multiple visits to Washington, D.C. to build relationships and discuss GRU’s progress. Several more Congressional visits are scheduled in 2013. n Direct or indirect effects of sequestration on GRU will include a 2 percent cut to Medicare payments; cuts to discretionary health care programs including $1.6 billion to the National Institutes of Health; $303 million in cuts to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; $209 million in cuts to the Food and Drug Administration; $168 million in cuts to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration; and $44 million in cuts to insurance exchange grants. The full effects were slated to begin April 1, barring further action.
Update
STATE News n Over 30 Medical College of Georgia students visited the state Capitol Feb. 5 for the first-ever MCG Advocacy Day. They spent the day observing the House and Senate session, hearing from prominent speakers and meeting with local legislators and Gov. Nathan Deal. n On Feb. 13, the Governor signed into law the Hospital Medicaid Financing Program, authorizing the Department of Community Health to implement the Medicaid Financing Program in order to maintain federal financial participation for Georgia’s Medicaid program. As with the current Hospital Provider Payment Program, critical access hospitals, psychiatric hospitals and state-owned hospitals (including Georgia Regents Health System) will continue to be exempt. n On the first day of session, the Senate adopted a rule limiting their gifts and meals to $100. The House passed an ethics bill Feb. 25 banning lobbyist spending on individual members of the General Assembly but allowing meals if an entire committee is invited. The restrictions would apply to all elected officials in the state, including mayors and school boards. The bill would also broaden the definition of a lobbyist, requiring more individuals to register. As of press time, it was unclear whether the Senate would take up the House bill this year. n The House and Senate passed the amended fiscal year 2013 legislation on March 5. Upon signature of the Governor, this bill will affect overall budgets for all state of Georgia departments and agencies including the Department of Community Health and the University System of Georgia. n The House passed the Safe Carry Protection Act March 7, which would allow guns to be carried on private and public college campuses except for fraternity/sorority houses, dormitories, sporting events and school public transportation.
Get Involved. For more information on our government relations activities, please contact us at governmentrelations@gru.edu or visit www.gru.edu/gov/
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n Health care-related legislation that has passed in one chamber or the other includes bills requiring nurses to renew their license before enrolling in continuing education; further regulation of pain management clinics; and re-categorization of new and existing drugs. Several bills exempting certain sectors from the requirement to receive a Georgia Department of Health Certificate of Need received hearings but are effectively dead for the year for lack of a chamber vote. n
SPRING 2013
Government Relations
GRavity
The Office of
Alumni Advocacy
The Transformative Power of
Alumni Giving This past fall, we broke ground for the J. Harold Harrison, M.D. Education Commons, an event that put an exclamation point on the transformative power of alumni giving. Dr. Harrison, a renowned vascular surgeon and a 1948 graduate of the Medical College of Georgia, and his wife Sue donated $10 million to help construct the Commons, a facility that will provide much-needed classroom space for our dental and medical students—in addition to housing a simulation center that will enhance the educational experience of
HARRISON
GEORGIA REGENTS UNIVERSITY
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all students on our health sciences campus.
t’s not every day that we receive a gift of this magnitude. But every day we do benefit from the advice, counsel and support of our alumni. The stately fountain at the entrance of our beautiful Summerville Campus was made possible through the support of Russell Blanchard, a 1928 graduate of the Junior College of Augusta and a founder of the Augusta State University Foundation. The plaque on the Blanchard Foundation, named in his honor, reads in part: “Proud Alumnus, True Friend, and Generous Supporter.” Augusta’s very own Mayor Deke Copenhaver, a 1991 graduate of our political science program, donated $20,000 last year, a portion of which is being used to establish the Matt Miklas Scholarship, which will be awarded to an undergraduate student for years to come. And over the past months, hundreds of our alumni have made donations—large and small—to the William A. Bloodworth, Jr., Scholarship Endowment, a fund that commemorates and recognizes
GEORG
EN IA REG
IVE TS UN
RSITY
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Please enjoy this inaugural edition of
TA
2013 SPR ING NO. 1 VOL. 1
MA GA ZIN d FR IEN DS AL UM NI an
the role former President Bill Bloodworth played in advancing Augusta State University over his 19 years of service. Alumni support takes many forms...from making financial donations, to serving on university boards and advisory groups, to advocating for the university within your respective spheres of influence. We are proud of you...our alumni living, working and representing your alma mater throughout Georgia, the nation and the world. And we are thankful for your support, in its many shapes and sizes, whether mentoring or hosting a student or making a lifetime gift. Alumni giving has the power to transform a university and its people—ranging from gifts such as the gateway fountain that warmly welcomes visitors to the Summerville Campus to a muchanticipated and highly innovative academic building to funds that strengthen our academic, research and clinical pursuits. We are humbled by the incredible generosity of our alumni and its far-reaching impact.
AU G U S
E
r, ronegre t s , &bett together.” ve “We belie
e that we ar
ni –Your Alum
Gravity, GRU’s new alumni publication. And let us know what you’d like to see covered in future issues. We want you to look forward to its arrival, like a friend on your doorstep with news to share. n Susan Barcus Senior Vice President, Office of Advancement
s n President Associatio
Advancement Update
Enduring Support for our Future When William A. Bloodworth, Jr., ended his presidency at Augusta State University, he left a legacy that will be remembered for generations to come. Some would define that legacy in terms of the physical transformation of campus from an Army arsenal with adapted academic space to a state-ofthe-art university. Others laud his nearly 19 years of service at Augusta State spent creating a culture of service, scholarship and collegiality. This is what the faculty and staff, students, colleagues and friends remember best about Dr. Bloodworth’s presidency. This is what led many to contribute to an endowment honoring the President Emeritus. “Anyone who knows Dr. Bloodworth knows of his genuine concern for students,” said Helen Hendee, Special Assistant to the Senior Vice President. “It is so appropriate that people chose to honor him through this endowment that recognizes the key principles of his leadership—principles that contribute to a student’s academic success.” The endowment, with donations currently totaling $115,000, provides for an academic scholarship as well
as monetary awards for service and for part-time teaching. A $1,500-per-semester renewable scholarship is to be presented to an undergraduate majoring in English. As the endowment grows, a second scholarship will be given to a history major. A cash service award will be presented to a member of the custodial or grounds staff assigned to the buildings or grounds of the GRU Summerville Campus, and the cash award to a part-time faculty member will recognize outstanding teaching. In January, Dr. Bloodworth returned to the classroom as a full-time Professor of English and American Studies. His classes this spring include two sections of American history, a public speaking course and a course on the literature of medicine. The William A. Bloodworth, Jr., Endowment was announced at the President’s retirement celebration in June 2012. It joins the ranks of hundreds of GRU endowments, funds that provide an enduring source of financial support to fulfill the university’s mission of education, research, clinical care and community service. n
William A. Bloodworth, Jr., Endowment
GRAND TOTAL
# OF DONORS
$21,251,082 6,058
FY 2012 $6,691,070 FY 2011
# OF GIFTS
AVERAGE GIFT
10,861 $1,956.64
7,134 10,543 $634.65
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# OF ALUMNI GIFTS
AVERAGE ALUMNI GIFT
3,455
$2,206.56
3,863
$907.28
GRavity
Giving Snapshot
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To make a donation or for information about establishing an endowment in your name or that of an individual you would like to honor, please contact Ralph Alee, Associate Vice President for Major Gifts, 706-721-7343, ralee@gru.edu.
The
Final Frontier Vision Discovery Institute’s Namesake Launched Stunning Aeronautics Career
GEORGIA REGENTS UNIVERSITY
A U G U S TA
By Christine Hurley DERISO
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Alumni
Spotlight
THE JAMES AND JEAN CULVER VISION DISCOVERY INSTITUTE
G
en. James F. Culver’s career has included so many stunning milestones— supporting the nation’s first manned spaceflights, treating President Lyndon B. Johnson, studying the effects of radiation on vision—that one would think his friend, Dr. Julian Nussbaum, would be hard-pressed to cite his greatest achievement. But Nussbaum, Chair of the Medical College of Georgia Department of Ophthalmology, doesn’t hesitate for a second: “He absolutely adores his wife,” Nussbaum said. “They have an amazing symbiotic relationship. It’s just fun to be with them; you can tell they love each other so much.”
Culver and Nussbaum struck up a friendship when they met a decade ago at an MCG alumni event. Nussbaum had recently assumed the helm of the ophthalmology department, and Culver was well-known as one of MCG’s most illustrious alumni. Nussbaum was wellacquainted with Culver’s groundbreaking work in ophthalmology, which included studies of the ocular effects of radiation, retinal burns, flash-blindness, glaucoma and aerospace medicine. But Nussbaum was astonished to learn of the depth and breadth of that expertise. Born in 1921 in Macon, Ga., Culver earned his MCG degree in 1945, then served two years on active duty as a member of the surgical staff at Pratt General Hospital in
GRavity
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Gen. James F. Culver (MCG Class of 1945) with wife Jean and the Nussbaums’ children, Noah and Maya.
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Coral Gables, Fla. As a reservist, he completed postgraduate work at Northwestern University Medical School in Chicago, then completed ophthalmology residencies at Wesley Memorial Hospital and Passavant Memorial Hospital, both in Chicago. Next came private practice, with Culver and wife Jean settling in Watsonville, Calif. But seven years after hanging his shingle,
in Washington, D.C., as Chief of the Medical Research Group-Biotechnology Office and ophthalmology consultant to the U.S. Surgeon General. In 1973, he was assigned as a Commander of the Air Force Clinic at Hickam Air Force Base in Hawaii, then became Command Surgeon for Headquarters Pacific Air Forces. His last post before retiring as a Brigadier General in 1981 was as Deputy Surgeon General for Operations and Commander of the Air Force Medical Service Center at Brooks Air Force Base. Culver amassed countless honors along the way, including the prestigious Arnold D. Tuttle Award from the Aerospace Medical Association in 1966. Throughout his career, Culver and his wife enjoyed seeing the world and envisioning their legacy. When he met Nussbaum, he quickly embraced the work being done DRS. JULIAN NUSSBAUM AND SYLVIA SMITH
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“He helped screen the first astronauts of Project Mercury.”
the U.S. Air Force came calling, seeking ophthalmological expertise for its fledgling aerospace program. Culver began conducting extensive research into areas that initially affected astronauts but now have widespread applications, such as the potential effects of cancer treatment on the eyes. With the United States in a breakneck race with the Soviet Union to be the first to put a human in orbit around the earth, the Rocket Boys era heralded one of the most revolutionary technological periods in history—and Culver played a defining role. “He helped screen the first astronauts of Project Mercury (the nation’s first human spaceflight program, with the inaugural mission launching May 5, 1961) and he flew lots of classified missions determining effects of radiation on vision,” Nussbaum said. “He has a wealth of information about aerospace ophthalmology; his stories are just fascinating.” In the mid-1960s, Culver joined the Aerospace Medical Division at Brooks Air Force Base in Texas as Assistant Director of Research and Development, then graduated with distinction from the Air War College. He was assigned to the U.S. Air Force Surgeon General’s Office
at GRU’s Vision Discovery Institute, which Nussbaum oversees with Dr. Sylvia Smith. “Our mission dovetailed nicely with his 50-plus-year career, which included authoring over 50 papers on experimental and clinical ophthalmology,” Nussbaum said. The two quickly became friends as well as colleagues. “We struck up a friendship and our families have visited once or twice a year ever since,” Nussbaum said. “He is very likable, ethical, engaging and disciplined, with a huge range of interests. For instance, he loves to travel and he collects antique cars. And even though he’s retired from ophthalmology, he still stays current, reading scientific articles every month.” Culver and his wife demonstrated their generosity almost immediately upon meeting Nussbaum, donating property and several rare first-edition ophthalmology textbooks to the department. Then came the donation that would seal his legacy for generations to come: a $2 million gift to the Vision Discovery Institute, now named the General James F. Culver, M.D.,
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and Jean Culver Vision Discovery Institute. “The donation will be transformational for the VDI and for the legions of students, researchers and patients who will benefit from its work,” said Tony Duva, GRU Senior Director of Development for Gift Planning. Culver hopes his gift will motivate others to follow his lead. “I would encourage all alumni and friends of MCG to make a plan for giving,” he said. “I am convinced that the mission statement of the VDI will be fulfilled because of leaders like Dr. Nussbaum.” n
Naming Opportunities
Culver’s Accomplishments at a Glance
Would you like to follow the Culvers’ lead and make a donation to GRU that will enable a center or institute to be named in your honor, ensuring your legacy for generations to come? The following naming opportunities are available: GRU RESEARCH CENTERS n Cancer Center n Center for Biotechnology and
ORGANIZATIONS
n
n
n
n
Genomic Medicine n Center for Nursing Research n Dental Research Center n Georgia Prevention Center n Vascular Biology Center GRU RESEARCH INSTITUTES n n n n n
AWARDS/HONORS
n Institute of Public and Preventive Health
n Aeronautical Rating of Chief Flight Surgeon
n n n n
n n n n
Brain Behavior Discovery Institute Cardiovascular Discovery Institute Child Health Discovery Institute Diabetes and Obesity Discovery Institute Education Innovation Institute
(2,000-plus flying hours) 1966 Arnold D. Tuttle Award, Aerospace Medical Association Legion of Merit Joint Service Commendation Medal Air Force Commendation Medal, Outstanding Unit Award Ribbon and Longevity Service Award Ribbon Good Conduct Medal World War II Victory Medal National Defense Service Medal Armed Forces Reserve Medal
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n Institute for Regenerative and Reparative Medicine
n Immunotherapy Discovery Institute
Get Involved. To make a donation to the VDI or to include GRU in your estate-planning, contact Tony Duva at 1-800-869-1113, 706-721-1939 or aduva@gru.edu.
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Fellow, American Academy of Ophthalmology Fellow, American College of Preventive Medicine Fellow, Society of Eye Surgeons Diplomate, American Board of Ophthalmology Member, American Medical Association Former Air Force Member, Executive Council of Armed ForcesNational Research Committee on Vision of the National Academy of Sciences Former Chair, Aerospace Medical Panel for the Advisory Group for Aerospace Research and Development-NATO Former President, Space Medicine Branch of the Aerospace Medical Association Former Member, Air Force Vision Committee, Advisory Group for Aerospace Research and Development for North Atlantic Treaty Organization on Aerospace Medical Panel Former Member, Nuclear Weapons Effects Group, Biomedical Panel of Defense Atomic Support Agency
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n n n n n n
PATRICIA JOHNSON
A U G U S TA GEORGIA REGENTS UNIVERSITY
U.S. Attorney Edward J. Tarver (B.A., Political Science, 1982), received his alma mater’s Alumni Association Golden Key Award in 2007 and its 2011 Distinguished Alumnus Award.
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Alumni
Spotlight
A Man with a
Platform By Christine Hurley DERISO
13
GRavity
in America strikes you as hopelessly partisan these days, you haven’t spent much time with Ed Tarver. “When I got elected to the Georgia State Senate in 2005, I found I had friends on both sides of the aisle,” says Tarver. “I didn’t let politics get in the way of friendships. And I found my colleagues to be honorable people who represent things they truly believe in.” Tarver, now the U.S. Attorney of the Southern District of Georgia, credits his consensus-building skills to his undergraduate days at Augusta College (now Georgia Regents University). Tarver earned his bachelor’s degree in political science in 1982. “That’s where many of my colleagues and I obtained our leadership abilities,” he says. “As chair of the Student Union, I learned how to do so many of the things I do now: overseeing a budget, presiding in meetings, articulating a position, learning to be persuasive. . . . It’s really served me well, because I’ve learned that, even in a position of some authority, you’re more effective when you can persuade people that
SPRING 2013
If government
Stepping Stones to Success Have Marked U.S. Attorney’s Career
feel very strongly about, and it was hard to walk away from that. But my wife and I agreed it would be a great opportunity for our family.” “Of course we’re very proud of him; that goes without saying,” says wife Beverly, a longtime GRU employee currently serving as Director of the GRU Office of Student Diversity International. “At every juncture, we’ve felt very fortunate as a family.” Tarver, who served several years as a Partner with the Augusta law firm Hull, Towill, Norman and Barrett (now Hull Barrett), was pleased not only to return to his roots but to affect change on a much larger stage than that of the state of
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your mission is best for the organization.” Considering that Tarver’s current “organization” is now the country he loves, he couldn’t be more gratified with how his career has evolved. “The best thing about being a U.S. Attorney is that my special interest group is the people of the United States of America,” he says. Not that the position comes without challenges. “[Accepting President Barack Obama’s invitation to become] a U.S. Attorney was one of the more difficult decisions I’ve had to make,” Tarver says, noting that he was loath to cut his Senate term short. “I was championing legislation that I
U.S. Attorney Edward J. Tarver with wife Beverly and their children Eddie, an attorney with Wethington Smith Attorneys at Law in Atlanta, and Elizabeth, a University of Georgia sophomore
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Georgia. “U.S. Attorneys get to focus on the worst of the worst social problems,” he says. “For instance, during the housing collapse, we were able to address mortgage fraud, and we’ve also targeted pill mills (clinics that feed prescription drug addictions) and felon-inpossession crimes (illegal gun transactions). We have the discretion to focus on the issues inflicting the most harm on the public.” His boss, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, sets the tone by encouraging the 93 U.S. Attorneys that he leads to immerse themselves in their communities. “Gen. Holder was in Savannah Feb. 6, and he took the time to address my entire office during his visit,” Tarver says. “I have the utmost respect for him and President Obama. They have tremendously difficult positions and I believe that they handle them as well as they can be handled.” But as much as he admires Obama and Holder, Tarver reserves his greatest debt of gratitude to the parents who urged him to follow his dreams. Tarver’s father joined the military as a teen, forgoing a high school diploma but impressing on his son the esteem and fulfillment of a military career. He initially followed in his father’s footsteps, joining the Army after earning his undergraduate degree. He served seven years as a Field Artillery Officer, eventually attaining the rank of Captain. “I learned a great deal in the Army,” Tarver says. “You learn to manage resources, both human and material, and to get
A
s a U.S. Attorney, Ed Tarver definitely has
the highest-profile career in his family. But he’s just as proud of wife Beverly as she is of him. “Every decision we make, we make as a family,” he says. “And we always support each other.”
As Director of the GRU Office of Student
Diversity International, Beverly supports members of the university who come from foreign countries. She has particular empathy for those who may feel they’re on the outside looking in, culturally speaking. “My job has given me a lot of insight into the challenges people face coming to this country,” she says. “I’ve been pleased with how much resilience they show in overcoming their challenges. It’s hard to be at the top of your field
life. “I was used to getting up early and cramming as much into each day as possible. I approached law school as a job.” Yet a labor of love, he hastens to add. “To be able to work with and learn from lawyers who have made tremendous contributions to the field was very exciting for me.” After law school, Tarver completed a clerkship with U.S. District Court Judge Dudley Bowen, and then joined Hull Barrett. “I enjoyed it very much,” he says. “Law gave me an opportunity to get into the community and meet many different people. It wasn’t assembly-line work. Each case stood on its own facts.” He also completed Leadership Augusta and Leadership Georgia during this period, whetting his appetite for politics. “The political side of my career just kind of evolved,” he says. “My wife was initially opposed—you don’t really know how much of an intrusion into your personal life you’ll
“We always support each other.” and technically brilliant, yet not necessarily be able to communicate with the person at your grocery store. The culture shock can be challenging.”
She relishes the opportunity to ease their
transition. “I’ve been very fortunate,” she says. “I’ve had the opportunity to work with some wonderful people, to help students, faculty and staff realize their dreams and contribute to society. I won’t be the one who creates the drug that cures cancer, but I’d like to think my work has supported those kinds of efforts.”
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face until you’re in it— but we decided it was right for our family.” “I told him no,” his wife says with a laugh. “I’m from a political family; I knew what it meant. But once we committed to it, I was fine. Public service is something we have to commit to as a free society.” Tarver was elected to the Georgia General Assembly representing Senate District 22 in 2005, winning two more re-elections before President Obama came calling. Once his tenure as a U.S. Attorney is complete, he anticipates resuming his law practice or teaching law. Every stage of his life, he notes, has served as a platform for the next, and he looks forward to the future. “I enjoy what I do,” he says. His wife echoes the sentiment. “There have been things in our life that were fortuitous—things coming together at the right time—as well as things we’ve worked very hard for,” she says. “We’ve had opportunities that neither of us could have imagined when we got married. It’s one of those uniquely southern American kinds of stories, I guess.” n
Discoveries in Progress
SPRING 2013
officer was a nice gig.” But they supported their son’s dreams, and Tarver gleaned as many life lessons at the University of Georgia School of Law as he had during other phases of his
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along with many types of people from many types of backgrounds.” He considered making a career of it but instead opted for law school. “My parents were a little concerned,” concedes Tarver, who now had a family to raise. “They knew being an Army
History in the Making Echoes of the Past Hint at Vast Potential of Consolidation
GEORGIA REGENTS UNIVERSITY
A U G U S TA
By Christine Hurley DERISO
A history class on the Health Sciences Campus?
A medical club on the Summerville Campus?
A sports team with a game schedule revolving around pathology exams?
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T
he recent consolidation of Georgia Health Sciences University with Augusta State University has sparked countless meetings, committees, policies and other undertakings regarding the university’s future. But historians for both campuses note that overlapping agendas have been sprinkled liberally throughout the university’s past as well.
1783
Academy of Richmond County chartered
“There’s always been a
1827
cooperative spirit among the two campuses,” says Medical College of Georgia Historian in Residence Lois T. Ellison.
Her counterpart on the Summerville Campus agrees. “It’s really hard to pull those threads apart,”
says Dr. Lee Ann Caldwell, GRU Professor of History and Director of the Center for the Study of Georgia History.
A simple chronology offers a roadmap to the
campus’ intermingled destinies. Augusta’s Academy of Richmond County (commonly known as Richmond Academy) was chartered in 1783 as an all-male college preparatory school.
Abraham Baldwin, a signer of the U.S. Constitution
and academy trustee, wrote to a friend in 1787 that the academy’s coursework rivaled that of Baldwin’s alma mater, Yale University. Even after the University of Georgia opened in 1801, the academy continued to offer college courses at the freshman and sophomore levels. In 1925, the Richmond County Board of Education agreed to share the academy’s facilities with the newly founded Junior College of Augusta, provided the college’s operations didn’t interfere with those of the academy. The new facility would also admit women.
In 1957, the Junior College moved to the site of
the recently vacated Augusta Arsenal. In 1958, the Junior College became a part of the University System
Augusta Arsenal moves from banks of Savannah River to Summerville
1828
Medical College of Georgia founded
1925
Junior College of Augusta established
1957
Junior College moves to site of Augusta Arsenal
1958
Junior College becomes Augusta College
1996
Augusta College becomes Augusta State University
2013
Drs. Lee ann caldwell
Consolidated institution becomes Georgia Regents University
and lois ellison
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2012
University System of Georgia authorizes ASU consolidation with GHSU
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2010
Medical College of Georgia renamed Georgia Health Sciences University
of Georgia and the name was changed to Augusta College. In 1963, senior-
CLECKLEY
level courses leading to a baccalaureate degree were added to the curriculum. In 1996, the University System of Georgia Board
GEORGIA REGENTS UNIVERSITY
A U G U S TA
of Regents renamed the
of Georgia in the
institution Augusta
early 1940s. One club
State University.
member who didn’t
CHEMISTRY LAB, 1896
STEM INITIATIVE PHYSICS LAB
matriculate to MCG but
And just as the institutions
College of Georgia
made his mark on the
was founded in
college in another way
supported Augusta through
1828, it seemed at a
was S. Joseph Lewis,
thick and thin, the city
glance to inhabit a
who went on to pen
parallel universe with
invariably returned the favor.
The Medical College
a distinctly separate
of Georgia from 1829-
For instance, during several
niche from that of its
1963: Chronicle of an
critical junctures when MCG
sister university. But
Institution.
Richmond Academy
seemed destined to move to
served almost from the
small group, one
beginning as a feeder
of those members,
altogether—
institution for future
Dr. Charles Iverson
medical students. For
Bryans Jr., became
most notably
instance, “during the
Chairman of the
when Abraham
year my husband (now
MCG Department
Flexner
deceased Chief of
of Obstetrics and
Cardiothoracic Surgery
Gynecology and Dr.
delivered a
Robert G. Ellison)
Gordon Kelly became
went to Augusta
a very prominent
in 1910—the community rallied
College, he and several
surgeon in Augusta,”
classmates formed a
Ellison said.
in defense, protecting its jewels
premed club,” Ellison
says. Most of them
MCG alumnus who
ended up enrolling in
got his start at
the Medical College
Richmond Academy
When the Medical
Also, “in that very
Atlanta, Athens or be shuttered
scathing report
of higher education with the
Another notable
ferocity of a mother bear.
18
THEATRE STUDENTS
was Dr. Hervey Cleckley (’29),
supported Augusta through
considerable overlap,” Caldwell
who eventually joined the MCG
thick and thin, the city invariably
says, noting for instance that
psychiatry faculty and wrote
returned the favor. For instance,
many health sciences students
seminal books in his field,
during several critical junctures
have traditionally earned
including The Mask of Sanity
when MCG seemed destined
prerequisites at the Summerville
and The Three Faces of Eve
to move to Atlanta, Athens or
Campus. And MCG has dipped
(co-authored with Dr. Corbett
be shuttered altogether—most
its toe into the liberal arts, for
H. Thigpen, MCG Class of 1945).
notably when Abraham Flexner
instance housing a Department
Cleckley also distinguished
delivered a scathing report in
of Medical History from 1938-42,
himself, improbably enough, on
1910—the community rallied in
with history courses continuing
the MCG gridiron.
defense, protecting its jewels
for several years thereafter.
of higher education with the
from the same cultural well: their
ferocity of a mother bear.
much potential for us working
host city. Augusta’s fortunes,
together,” Caldwell says, noting
follies and foibles inevitably
close community relations,”
assets including research
influenced its institutions of
Ellison says. “So many of our
collaborations and a smoother
higher learning—and vice versa.
faculty participate in community
pipeline from undergraduate to
For instance, when a yellow fever
activities.”
graduate or professional school.
epidemic raged in Augusta in
1839, MCG faculty members were
the professionals who end up
have a lot more in common than
on the front line of treatment,
teaching local students,” Caldwell
we realize. Look at what we’re
often at great personal sacrifice.
said, “as well as offer services to
gaining.”
Founding father Milton Antony
local business owners that end
made the ultimate sacrifice:
up influencing our economy, as
tempered with pragmatism.
treating those with the disease
well as produce artists who help
“Professional historians never
until he succumbed to it in
shape our community’s culture. .
predict the future,” Caldwell says.
September 1839.
.” The list, she says, goes on and
“We’ll have to wait and see what
on.
the effects will be long term.”
briefly during the Civil War,
chiefly so its faculty and students
agree, exponentially multiplies
exciting ride. “We’re producing a
could enlist. And the institutions
GRU’s potential to influence the
history video now,” she says. “It’ll
took hits as the city and state
community, state, nation and
be fun to revisit the video 10, 15
struggled economically.
world.
and 20 years from now and see
where we end up.”
And just as the institutions
“And we educate many of
Consolidation, the historians
“We’ve always had
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Added Ellison, “I think we
But their optimism is
Still, she anticipates an
n
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Both institutions also closed
“There’s no doubt we have
And now? “I think there is so
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Both institutions also drank
Alumni Weekend to Feature ABC Newsman Bob Woodruff, Wife Lee
From Terror to Triumph By Christine Hurley DERISO
T
he irony isn’t lost on Lee Woodruff that
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the day before the bottom dropped out from under her world figuratively, it had
dropped out literally. She and her four children were at Disney World in January 2006
GEORGIA REGENTS UNIVERSITY
repeatedly enjoying their favorite attraction, the Tower of Terror, featuring an elevator that drops so suddenly, “it almost sucks your diaphragm up into your throat,”
Lee writes. “Right before the drop there is a moment where you are literally suspended in air, too stunned to scream. It feels as if speed, motion, light and time literally freeze.”
20
Editor’s note: Lee and Bob Woodruff’s book, In an Instant: A Family’s Journey of
Love and Healing (Random House, 2007) is
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It was early the next morning that Lee’s life froze. She received a call in her hotel room conveying the shattering news that her husband, Bob, had been critically wounded by a roadside bomb in Iraq while covering the war for ABC News. “By almost any measure, he should have died,” Lee relates seven years later. “He had a severe brain injury and was in a coma for five weeks.” “It’s been a long road,” Bob acknowledges with a hearty dose of pragmatism but not an ounce of self-pity. He and his wife will discuss their journey as guest speakers for GRU’s Alumni Weekend Signature Event at 6 p.m. April 27 at Augusta’s Imperial Theater. The public is invited. “They will share what they learned about each other that made their relationship and their family stronger, while discussing the issue of traumatic brain injury among returning Iraq War veterans, as well as the millions of Americans who live with this often invisible but life-changing affliction,” according to Associate Vice President for Alumni Affairs and Special Events Kristina Baggott. Each case of traumatic brain injury is unique, but the Woodruffs’ story offers amazing insight into the resilience of the human brain. For instance, Bob awoke from his coma speaking Mandarin, a language he learned as an adult. He recognized wife Lee immediately (“Where’ve you been?” he asked upon seeing her, oblivious to her weeks-long bedside vigil) but didn’t recognize other
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available in bookstores and at Amazon.com.
A U G U S TA GEORGIA REGENTS UNIVERSITY
loved ones and had to relearn countless functions. “A lot of the brain reboots on its own, but there was extensive rehabilitation involved,” Lee says. “Speech therapy has been very powerful, as well as other rehabilitation techniques,” Bob says. “And exercise is major— getting oxygen flowing through the brain.” Lee attributes her husband’s near-complete recovery to his strong will to live, excellent prior health, innate intelligence (“mental exercises like crossword puzzles really are important,” she notes) and topnotch health care. They acknowledge some lingering effects—“I still have some memory loss and fatigue,” Bob says—but they are thrilled to share their story in hopes it will inspire others to succeed in the face of overwhelming odds. And not a day goes by that they don’t accentuate the positive. “Don’t put things off; do as much as you can now,” Bob says. “Life is short.” n
FRIDAY APRIL 26 7:30 a.m. Dental Hygiene Alumni Day Alumni Center (optional workshop: 2 p.m.)
35 Annual Marvin Goldstein Lectureship and Luncheon Marriott Hotel & Suites, noon lunch
9 a.m. Sixth Annual Art Hardy Memorial Golf Tournament Forest Hills Golf Club
9:15 a.m. Campus Tour Departs from Alumni Center, Health Sciences Campus
10 a.m. Allied Health Sciences Distinguished Alumnus Lecture Health Sciences Building, Room 1222
History of the Health Sciences (third in series) Robert B. Greenblatt, M.D. Library
mniweek
gru.edu/alu
College of Science & Mathematics Undergraduate Research Presentations, JSAC Ballroom
8 a.m. th
Noon s’ e Woodruff Tickets to th r n are free fo presentatio sts. $10 for gue alumni and line at Register on end.
1 p.m.
2 p.m. College of Nursing Distinguished Alumnus Lecture, Dr. Jane Swanson, Health Sciences Building, room 1222
3 p.m. Dr. Delos Cosgrove Lecture Lee Auditorium
5:30 p.m. Pamplin College of Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences Alumni Reception University Hall, Room 334 College of Education Alumni Reception & Retiring Faculty Celebration University Hall, Room 334 Medical College of Georgia Dean’s Reception Legends Club
6 p.m. College of Dental Medicine Alumni Association Banquet Legends Club
12:15 p.m. College of Graduate Studies Distinguished Alumnus Seminar and Luncheon featuring Dr. Ramni Ramchandran, Research and Education Building, room 2730
6:30 p.m. Hull College of Business Beta Gamma Sigma Initiation Ceremony University Hall, Room 170 Medical College of Georgia Alumni Association Banquet Legends Club
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Schedule of Events
ADDITIONAL SPONSORS: Augusta Office Solutions, Regions Bank, Law Office of Stuart Oberman, Cudos, RANCO and Augusta Coca-Cola Bottling Company
8:30 a.m. Golf outing, River Club Golf Course
9:30 a.m. Campus Tour Departs from Alumni Center, Health Sciences Campus College of Nursing Dean’s Brunch Health Sciences Building
10:30 a.m. Hull College of Business Pre-Cookout Alumni Reception Allgood Hall & lawn
10:30 a.m. Medical College of Georgia Alumni Association Memorial Service Alumni Center
SATURDAY APRIL 27 Noon President’s Cookout D. Douglas Barnard Jr. Amphitheatre Pamplin College of Arts, Humanities, & Social Sciences Mad Potter’s Sale D. Douglas Barnard Jr. Amphitheatre
2 p.m. Medical Laboratory, Imaging and Radiologic Sciences Honors Program Lee Auditorium Pamplin College of Arts, Humanities, & Social Sciences Arsenal Guardhouse Museum Tour Leaving from President’s Cookout
7:30 p.m. College of Allied Health Sciences Alumni Association Banquet Partridge Inn, Ballroom College of Nursing Alumni Association Banquet Pinnacle Club, Crystal Room Medical College of Georgia Reunion Dinners various locations ASU Alumni Association Board Member Reunion Partridge Inn, Penthouse
9:30 p.m.
6 p.m. Alumni Weekend Signature Event featuring Bob and Lee Woodruff, Imperial Theater
Alumni After Hours Partridge Inn, Veranda
SUNDAY APRIL 28 11:30 a.m. Emeritus Club Luncheon Alumni Center
1 p.m. Baseball: Jaguars vs. UNC Pembroke $5, Jaguar Field, Christenberry Fieldhouse
MORE INFO? Alumni Office 706-737-1759 or alumni@gru.edu
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Dental Continuing Education with Faculty College of Dental Medicine, room 5002
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8 a.m.
Georgia Regents University will recognize
Distinguished Alumni during Alumni Weekend April 26-28.
GEORGIA REGENTS UNIVERSITY
A U G U S TA
Summer Finley Bell Bell, a senior accountant at Serotta Maddocks Evans, CPAs, will receive the ASU Alumni Association’s Young Alumna Award. Bell earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in business administration from Augusta State University (now GRU) in 2006 and 2008, respectively. In 2012, Georgia Trend named Bell to its 40 Under 40 list of the state’s best and brightest. Drs. Murray A. and Sandra Freedman The couple will receive the Medical College of Georgia Distinguished Alumnae for Loyalty Awards. Murray Freedman earned his medical degree in 1967 and completed an obstetrics/gynecology residency at GRU in 1972. He is an Associate Clinical Professor at GRU and works in private practice in Augusta. Sandra Freedman, who earned her medical degree in 1968, is a radiologist and former President of the MCG Alumni Association. Maj. Gen. Jimmie O. Kennan The Commanding General of the U.S. Army Public Health Command at Aberdeen Proving Ground and Chief of the Army’s Nurse Corps, will receive the College of Nursing’s Phoebe Kandel Rohrer Distinguished Alumnus Award. She earned her master’s degree in nursing in 1989.
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Dr. Harvey Levy Levy, Professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School and Director of the Maternal Phenylketonuria Program at Children’s Hospital of Boston, will receive the Medical College of Georgia Distinguished Alumnus Award for Professional Achievement. Levy earned his medical degree from MCG in 1960. Dr. Robert Mullins Mullins will receive the College of Allied Health Sciences Distinguished Alumnus Award for Professional Achievement. Mullins, a 1991 graduate of the college’s physician assistant program and 1996 Medical College of Georgia graduate, is Medical Director and President of the Joseph M. Still Burn Center at Doctors Hospital and Chairman of the Joseph M. Still Research Foundation. Shannon K. Nix Nix, a counselor in the GRU Counseling Center, will receive the ASU Alumni Association’s Town and Gown Award, recognizing an individual who connects the university with the community it serves. Nix educates the community about sexual and domestic violence and has hosted several community events on campus, including the annual Take Back the Night rally. She co-chairs the university’s Sexual Assault Month Committee and helps train volunteers for SafeHomes of Augusta Inc. Nix earned her master’s degree in psychology from Augusta State University (now GRU) in 2001.
Distinguished Alumni
Roxanne Padgett
Dr. Ramani Ramchandran The Director of the Developmental Vascular Biology Program and Professor of
Ronnie Strength The former Augusta Richmond County Sheriff will be honored as the ASU Alumni Association’s Distinguished Alumnus. A 1969 graduate, he retired from the Sheriff’s Department last year with more than 36 years of service, including time as a road patrol deputy and a criminal investigator. He had served as Sheriff since 2000, supervising the department’s 752 employees and managing a $55 million annual budget. Dr. Jane Westmoreland Swanson The Director of the Geri and Richard Brawerman Nursing Institute for Professional Nursing Development at CedarsSinai Medical Center in Los Angeles will receive the College of Nursing’s E. Louise Grant Distinguished Alumnus Award. Swanson, a 1972 graduate, retired from the U.S. Navy in 1998 as Director of Inpatient and Outpatient Maternal Child Nursing
25
and the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland. Stacy Tallent Tallent, the President of Health Center Credit Union, will receive the ASU Alumni Association’s Golden Key Award. Tallent earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in business administration from Augusta State University (now GRU) in 1991 and 2007, respectively, and serves on the ASU Foundation Board of Trustees. He serves on the Board of Directors of the Georgia Credit Union League and is a member of the Augusta Credit Union Chapter and Augusta Rotary Club. Dr. Janet Bush Tankersley The GRU Assistant Professor of Physical Therapy will receive the College of Allied Health Sciences’ Distinguished Alumnus Award for Loyalty. Tankersley received her associate degree as a physical therapist assistant in 1990 and her bachelor’s degree in physical therapy in 1996. She earned a doctorate in physical therapy in 2005 from the A.T. Still University of Health Sciences in Mesa, Arizona. n
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Dr. Michael E. Pruett The College of Dental Medicine will honor the Director of the college’s General Practice Residency and a private practitioner in Americus and Cordele. Pruett earned his dental degree in 1992 and completed a general practice residency at the University of Virginia Health Sciences Center in Charlottesville. He is former President of the college’s Dental Foundation and Chairman of the Dental Implant Committee.
Pediatrics at the Medical College of Wisconsin will be honored by the College of Graduate Studies. Ramchandran earned his Ph.D. in biochemistry and molecular biology in 1997. He is a charter member of the National Institutes of Health’s Vascular Cell and Molecular Biology Study Section.
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The ASU Alumni Association’s Distinguished Service Award will go to the former Associate Director of Financial Aid. The award honors a non-alumnus who has significantly contributed to the university’s goals and mission. With over 34 years of experience in higher education, Padgett supervised and managed all aspects of the university’s scholarship program and served as a financial-aid liaison for special-needs students. Padgett retired in 2012.
AHS DM E GS N SM AHSS B MCG
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College of Allied Health Sciences
Katherine Reese Pamplin College of Arts, Humanities, & Social Sciences James M. Hull College of Business College of Dental Medicine
GEORGIA REGENTS UNIVERSITY
College of Education
College of Graduate Studies Medical College of Georgia College of Nursing
College of Science & Mathematics
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College of Allied Health Sciences New student enrollment in the college grew 11 percent from 2011 to 2012, including a 19 percent increase in undergraduates. Grant applications grew nearly 80 percent in the same period, and philanthropy has increased 70 percent since 2011. Enrollment in the Master of Public Health Program doubled. Other points of pride: the Physician Assistant Department received Health Resources and Service Administration funding to cultivate recruitment of military veterans; the Department of Occupational Therapy’s Low Vision Rehabilitation Center has overseen multidisciplinary efforts to enhance research and treatment; the Center for Functional Assessment is now available to researchers campuswide; the Department of Respiratory Therapy continues its annual summer day camp for children with asthma; and the college designed a Health Sciences Leadership Program to support faculty development.
College
Catch-Up
Katherine Reese Pamplin College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences The college recently produced grantsupported programs in four areas, attracting wide community involvement: the National Endowment for the Humanities’ Pride and Passion: The African-American Baseball Experience exhibit on loan from the National Baseball Hall of Fame; the National Endowment for the Humanities grant featuring a talk from witnesses of the 1970s Augusta riot; the Georgia Teacher Quality grant enabling the creation of a video game that can teach children to read better; and the Georgia Humanities Council grant, Linking Local Resources to World History, a collaboration with the Morris Museum of Art to encourage the study of humanities in the area. Examples of student-centered activities include sending students to the Mock Georgia Court in Athens and sponsoring a juried student art show and reception in the Mary S. Byrd Gallery on the Summerville campus.
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Since 2008, The Princeton Review has continuously ranked GRU’s Hull College of Business among the best 294 business schools in the nation. With both undergraduate and master’s degree programs, the business school maintains accreditation with the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business, a hallmark of excellence in business education earned by fewer than 5 percent of the world’s business schools.
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James M. Hull College of Business
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A U G U S TA GEORGIA REGENTS UNIVERSITY
College of Dental Medicine
College of Graduate Studies
The college will soon supplement its state-of-the-art College of Dental Medicine Building with the J. Harold Harrison, M.D. Education Commons. The building, which will be shared with the Medical College of Georgia, will foster interprofessional education and smallgroup learning while providing close proximity to the clinical facility. The college’s Health Resources and Services Administration grant has been renewed for the third time, funding expanded outreach/rotation opportunities for students, loan repayment for alumni practicing in underserved areas of the state and support for Dentists for Della, a program enabling students to serve Georgia War Veterans Nursing Home residents. The college recently launched its Translational and Clinical Research Center and received a $250,000 gift from the Hinman Dental Society to endow the Thomas P. Hinman Center for Lifelong Learning and additional scholarship funding.
The college’s offerings—graduate programs in education, business, biomedical science, biostatistics, allied health science, nursing, psychology, and public administration—provide education, hands-on training, cutting-edge research opportunities, outstanding clinical experiences and more. The STAR (Student Training And Research) Program ensures a ready pipeline to undergraduates interested in biomedical research. GRU graduate students excel academically, with students receiving prestigious awards and fellowships including the American Medical Association Foundation’s Leadership Award.
Medical College of Georgia The Medical College of Georgia celebrates its 185th anniversary with unprecedented interest from potential students, including an 18 percent increase in applicants for fall 2013 on the heels of a 10 percent increase for fall 2012. The increases correspond to national average increases of 2.6 and 7 percent, respectively. MCG is fully operationalizing its third clinical campus this year. With its Rome-based Northwest Campus, Savannah- and Brunswickbased Southeast Campus, Albany-based Southwest Campus and a four-year University of Georgia partnership campus in Athens, Georgia’s only public medical school will have a major presence in every area of the state. MCG recently filled key leadership posts in psychiatry, obstetrics/ gynecology, cellular biology/anatomy and vascular biology and embarked on a strategic and inclusive planning process that will ensure continued success in the coming years.
College of Education The National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education recently recognized the GRU College of Education as a national model of excellence. The college has over 650 students enrolled in graduate programs, offers free tutoring to the community at the GRU Literacy Center and partners with 52 schools in six counties in a Professional Development School Network to provide real-world school experience to future teachers.
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College
Catch-Up
The college launched collaborative and enthusiastic consolidation efforts in January when the Health Sciences Campus in January welcomed nursing students, 13 faculty and two staff associates transitioning from the former Augusta State University Bachelor of Science in Nursing program. Alumni of both programs are combining a mosaic organization that celebrates the history and contributions of all. New uniforms, college seal and nursing pins will be unveiled this spring. A new B.S.N. curriculum was developed, and student recruitment began in January. Administrative units are being restructured to meet the needs of a larger staff and student body.
The college houses the largest number of undergraduate majors at GRU and offers preprofessional programs in fields including dental hygiene, pre-pharmacy and pre-environmental sciences. The college also offers courses in psychology, military science, mathematics, nuclear science and chemistry forensics. The ROTC cadets and cadre in the college’s Military Science Program were ranked first in the nation last year, and the research conducted by the college’s faculty has garnered numerous grants and scholarship opportunities for students. The college continues to be a leading voice in the region’s nuclear workforce initiative as a result of a Memorandum of Understanding with the U.S. Department of Energy and Savannah River Site Community Reuse Organization.
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College of Science and Mathematics
www.gru.edu
College of Nursing
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5-StepOptimizes Plan Social Media Networking By Melissa Hudson HALL
GEORGIA REGENTS UNIVERSITY
A U G U S TA
STEP: 1 COMPLETE an effective professional profile.
In a flattened and competitive economy, alumni are looking for the right tools to promote their skills in a challenging job market. Here are five steps to help you connect with recruiters and hiring managers:
STEP: 2 Social media can be an
Start by connecting to colleagues, classmates, fellow professional organization members and professors you know. Ask connections who have worked with you on projects for recommendations on LinkedIn. Recommendations are attached to specific jobs in your profile, apprising hiring managers of your value to other professionals. If you are employed and do not want your employer to know you are looking for a new job, share your job search offline with friends and colleagues you trust. Build good will and credibility within your network by providing recommendations, introductions and best practices when asked. Once you build your network, schedule meetings and activities with professional contacts. Cultivate relationships with those working in companies or industries you wish to pursue.
BUILD your network.
invaluable networking tool; 98 percent of recruiters used LinkedIn, according to Hiring-Hub.com. Basic membership is free, and you can create an effective profile in minutes. Choose a profile picture that exudes confidence and professionalism. Create a headline that describes your talent, expertise or current job. Use resume or CV highlights for your profile. Make your experience synopsis wellorganized and result-oriented. Include bullet points of your skills. Update your information regularly, citing ongoing professional activities and accomplishments, but reserve your activity broadcasts only for important announcements to avoid overwhelming your connections with edits.
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Alumni Career Services
STEP: 3 Broaden your connections by joining professional LinkedIn groups. Select professional associations and organizations that you are a member of off line, then expand your group memberships to include similar interest groups labeled ‘active’ and ‘very active’ that hold dozens of discussions each month and numerous job postings. To understand the culture and priorities of each group you join, ‘listen’ to discussion topics offered by members before joining in. Once you understand the group, contribute carefully by posting questions, relevant articles and comments. ‘Follow’ successful members whose interests align with yours, including hiring managers and recruiters.
JOIN groups.
STEP: 4 The jobs tab provides three ways to search for jobs: type key words into the search field; follow LinkedIn job suggestions based on your experiences and skills; and/ or search a list of jobs posted by your contacts. If the list of job openings doesn’t interest you, search by field of interest, geographic area and/or company. Increase your search results by requesting email alerts. Enhance your chances of getting an interview by asking your LinkedIn connections for recommendations.
CLICK the jobs tab.
STEP: 5 Target organizations on LinkedIn and “follow” their organization pages to keep abreast of insider news and updates. Decide what companies interest you and focus on posted hiring needs. Make sure your profile accurately reflects the desired skills and experiences of the jobs you seek. Don’t apply for jobs for which you are under-qualified, and don’t apply for every job you find, which signals desperation and lack of focus. Focus and careful maintenance of your profile will optimize your results.
FOCUS your job search.
Need a Hand Up the Career Ladder? Alumni can use Career Services free for a year after graduation, and for $60 thereafter ($50 for Alumni Association members). Free consultations are
n Guidance in career transitions and access to assessment resources n Access to web-based job listings of professional openings n Ability to post your resume in our Web Resume Book n Participation in GRU career fairs and campus recruiting events n Critiques and resources on cover letters and resumes n Computer lab with Internet access and a fax machine
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For more information, contact GRU Career Services Director Julie Goley at jgoley@gru.edu.
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n Appointments with a career advisor to help map out your job search plans
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available, and the fee covers six months of access. Services include:
JAGUAR Pride
Baseball Men’s Basketball Women’s Basketball Men’s Cross Country Women’s Cross Country Men’s Golf Women’s Golf Men’s Outdoor Track and Field Women’s Outdoor Track and Field Softball Men’s Tennis Women’s Tennis Volleyball
By Joey WARREN Athletic Media Relations Director
A U G U S TA
The Augusta State Department of Intercollegiate Athletics* continues to grow and prosper even as the Jaguars transition into a new university, a new name and a new mission. Now sponsoring 13 sports, ASU Athletics fields teams in volleyball, men’s and women’s cross country, men’s and women’s basketball, softball, baseball, men’s and women’s outdoor track and field, men’s and women’s tennis and men’s and women’s golf. The men’s and women’s golf programs compete at the Division I level as independents while the other 11 sports compete at the Division II level and are members of the Peach Belt Conference, one of the nation’s top Division II conferences. In 2012-13, the Jaguars have appeared in the region rankings in three sports; have been nationally ranked in men’s and women’s basketball; and have enjoyed one of the best seasons in school history in men’s cross country, volleyball and women’s basketball.
GEORGIA REGENTS UNIVERSITY
The volleyball squad completed its fourth season under Head Coach Sharon Bonaventure and enjoyed the fifth-winningest season in school history. The Jags netted 19 victories and advanced to the Peach Belt Conference Tournament semifinals while junior Jenna Keller earned all-conference honors.
*The department will retain ASU’s name for the remainder of the season, then launch the 2013-14 school year as the Georgia Regents University Athletics.
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Athletics
Update
The men’s basketball squad under Head Coach Dip Metress enjoyed a 6-0 start after being picked to finish second in the Peach Belt Conference in the preseason. The Jags were ranked as high as No. 12 in the country in December and Metress earned his 200th win on the ASU sidelines in late January. The newest sports to be sponsored as a varsity sport by ASU Athletics are men’s and women’s outdoor track and field. Introduced in June 2012, both programs commenced their inaugural seasons this spring. Current ASU Cross Country Head Coach Adam Ward will serve as head coach of the Jaguar men’s and women’s track programs. In his first eight seasons, Ward has earned Peach Belt Conference Coach of the Year honors six times. He led the men’s squad to the 2011 PBC title in just the second year of the program since it was reinstated following a 10-year hiatus.
The ASU men’s golf program gained more notoriety in December when former Jaguar Golf All-Americans Henrik Norlander and Patrick Reed earned their PGA Tour cards by virtue of their finish in the PGA Tour’s Qualifying Tournament, better known as “Q School.” A three-time All-American from Sweden, Norlander now calls Augusta home. Former Jaguar men’s golf coach Josh Gregory served as Norlander’s caddie through all three stages of Q School. Reed was a twotime All-American for the Jaguars in 2010 and 2011 and earned a half dozen
starts on the PGA Tour in 2012 through Monday qualifiers. Norlander, 25, and Reed, 22, were stalwarts for the Jaguars during their back-to-back victories at the NCAA Championships in 2010 and 2011. The duo combined for a 10-2 match play record in 2010 in Chattanooga, Tenn., and in Stillwater, Okla., in 2011, with Reed registering a perfect 6-0 mark. In the classroom, the Jags’ approximately 175 student-athletes enjoyed another banner semester last fall. The second-highest total of student-athletes (97) were named to the Athletic Director’s Honor Roll. Fourteen recorded a perfect 4.0 grade point average; the women’s golf team and men’s tennis team each had three student-athletes with a 4.0 GPA; the men’s outdoor track and field team posted the top average GPA (3.76); and the average GPA of all studentathletes was 2.94. n
A Message from Clint Bryant D I R E C T O R
O F
AT H L E T I C S
The Jaguar Club has played a major role in the success of our athletics program. Many of our student-athletes would be unable to attend college without the club’s assistance. We sincerely appreciate your past gifts and hope you will continue to help prepare our exceptionally talented young student-athletes for a competitive world. We are the Jaguar Nation! Take pride in it, embrace it and by all means join me in supporting it.
To join the Jaguar Club, call 706-737-1626.
33
SPRING 2013
The Lady Jaguar women’s basketball squad registered the best start in school history and earned its first national ranking in nine seasons in late January. In their third season under Head Coach Nate Teymer, the Lady Jags have already posted their most victories in five seasons and as of press time had reached No. 23 in the national rankings.
Ward has guided the Lady Jaguar runners to five NCAA Regional appearances in the last six seasons and the men’s squad to three straight regional trips in 2010, 2011 and 2012. Outdoor track and field is classified as a spring sport by the NCAA and conducts its championship in late May.
GRavity
The men’s cross country squad finished runner-up in the Jaguar Invitational and also at the PBC Championships. Five runners were named all-PBC selections, three were named to the All-Southeast Region squad and the Jags placed fifth at the NCAA Southeast Regional in Charlotte, N.C.
1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s Where we are, what we’re doing...
70s
1970s
Dr. Howard M. Maziar (MCG, ’72), Atlanta, served as
GEORGIA REGENTS UNIVERSITY
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President of the Georgia Psychiatric Physicians Association from 2011-12. The association represents more than 650 Georgia psychiatrists and is affiliated with the American Psychiatric Association. Maziar completed his psychiatric residency at the University of Maryland Medical Center. He completed the Medical Association of Georgia’s Physicians Leadership Academy in 2008 and serves on the Board of Directors of the Physicians Institute for Excellence in Medicine. He serves on the Medical Association of Georgia’s Council on Legislation and the Electronic Healthcare Committee.
Dr. Lane Price (MCG, ’74) is Medical Director at Wilson Hospice House in Albany, Ga., and serves on the Dougherty County School Board. William Staak, Jr. (Chemistry, ’74) received an award from Innocentive. com for solving its Chemistry challenge: Natural Gas Conversion to Chemicals, which involved finding a new way to make methanol from methane.
Dr. Sharon Holcombe Pappas (Nursing, ’75), Chief Nurse Executive for Centura Health and Chief Nursing Officer of Porter Adventist Hospital in Denver, has been elected to the American Organization of Nurse Executives Board. She earned her Ph.D. at the University of Colorado Health Science Center. She has served on the Colorado Board of Nursing and the Governor’s Task Force for Nurse Staffing. She serves on the board of the Colorado Center for Nursing Excellence and the American Organization of Nurse Executives. She speaks and writes extensively about the role nurses and the nursing environment play in patient safety and hospital costs.
Dr. Frank Farmer (MCG, ’76) served as Surgeon General/ Secretary of Health for the state of Florida until his retirement in 2012. He also has served as President of the Florida Medical Association and Chairman of the Florida Board of Medicine. He served as a bioterrorism consultant in the U.S. Air Force, retiring as a Colonel.
Randy Walworth (History, ’77)
1980s
and Chief of Staff. He previously served on the Georgia Medical Care Foundation and presently serves on the Bainbridge City Council. The author of The Millionaire Nurse, a financial-planning guide for nurses, he and wife Thea have two grown children.
Dr. J. Steven Johnson (MCG, ’83) and several former classmates
Chip Matson (B.A. in Political Science, ’78, and M.B.A., ’91) is
are commercially marketing their invention, Sunsect, the world’s only combination sunscreen/DEET repellent that is water-applicable. The product was developed from original research conducted in cooperation with the U.S. military and Walter Reed Army Institute for Research and was published in Lancet. Since then, the military has used it extensively with high satisfaction ratings and decreased arthropod-borne illnesses. Their related product, Iguana Sunscreen, targets military use in insect-infested areas. For more information about their company, Iguana, LLC, visit iguanallc.com.
Interim Associate Vice President of Information Technology Operations for GRU.
Lillian Wan (Art, ’84, and Criminal Justice, ’90) was named
was recently recognized in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution for his ministry through Collins Memorial United Methodist Church in Atlanta.
Brooks Keel (Biology, ’78 and Graduate Studies, ’82) is President of Georgia Southern University and was featured in a publication by the Medical College of Georgia, Medicine on their Legacy of Leadership: A look at some of our alumni, faculty and administrators and their leadership contributions to medicine.
The Hon. Louisa Abbot (History, ’79), Judge of Superior Court of Chatham County, Eastern Judicial Circuit, is President-Elect of the Council of Superior Court Judges.
Patricia Burau (Education, ’79 and ’83) has received a Women of Distinction in Education Award from the Girl Scouts of America.
80s
1980s
Dr. Dean Burke (MCG, ’81), Bainbridge, Ga., has been appointed to the Georgia Board for Physician Workforce by Gov. Nathan Deal. Burke practices gynecology and is on the medical staff of Bainbridge Memorial Hospital. Previously, he served as a hospital board member
34
top platelet donor for 2011 by Augusta’s Shepeard Community Blood Center. She has surpassed the 32-gallon mark in donations.
Doug Duncan (Marketing ’85) has been named Vice Chair of Georgia’s State Workforce Investment Board. Duncan, Vice President of Management, Analysis and Utilization Inc. in Augusta, serves on the Columbia County Development Authority, the GRU Planning and Development Committee, the Columbia County Chamber of Commerce Government Affairs Committee and the Augusta Young Life Board. He and wife Jean live in Martinez, Ga. Together, they have three children.
Dr. Douglas J. Pearce (MCG, ’85) has been appointed Chief of Cardiac Services at Saint Thomas Hospital in Nashville, Tenn.
Dr. Debra D. Hatmaker (M.S.N., ’86, and Ph.D., ’93) has been named Chief Professional Practice Officer of the American Nurses Association. She will implement the association’s strategy and advance its policy, advocacy and national communications agenda. Hatmaker, who served on the GRU faculty for 16 years, is an expert in governance, credentialing, education, health policy and program management.
Dr. Mark Williams (MCG, ’86) is Surgeon in Chief for Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital in Memphis, Tenn. In this newly created position, he represents surgical interests and participates in the hospital’s strategic planning. He also serves on the UT Le Bonheur Pediatric Specialists Board’s Executive Committee. Williams, a pediatric urologist, performs more than 13,000 surgeries a year. He also serves as Associate Professor in the University of Tennessee Health Science Center Department of Pediatrics.
Dr. Reid Blackwelder (MCG, ’87) has been named President-Elect of the American Academy of Family Physicians.
Heather Metress (B.A. in Marketing, ’89 and M.B.A., ’96), GRU Registrar, received a 2012 Women of Distinction in Professions Award from the Girl Scouts of America.
2010s
Class
Notes
90s
1990s
Cher Best (Sociology, ’90) has received a Women of Distinction in Community Service Award from the Girl Scouts of America. Dr. Charleston Cone (MCG, ’90) is Medical Director of Pathways Home Health & Hospice in Sunnyvale, Calif. He is board certified in internal medicine and hospice/palliative medicine.
David “Deke” Copenhaver (Political Science, ’91) is Mayor of Augusta, Ga., and was included among Georgia Trend’s 2012 list of Most Influential Georgians.
Dr. William S. Bohlke (MCG, ’92), President of the Medical Association of Georgia, has been honored by the Diabetes Recognition Program for providing quality care to his diabetes patients. The recognition, which is valid for three years, is based on performance that meets the program’s key diabetes care measures, which lessen the risk of complications such as heart attacks, stroke, blindness, kidney disease and amputations.
Dr. Michelle Berrey (MCG, ’93) has been named Chief Medical Officer of Chimerix Inc., a biotechnology company developing orally available antiviral therapeutics. Berrey previously served as Chief Medical Officer at Pharmassett Inc., which developed nucleotide analogs to treat hepatitis C from 1997 until its acquisition by Gilead Sciences Inc. in 2012. Her experience includes the design, early development,
35
medical governance, clinical strategy and product life cycle management of antiviral products. She also previously served as Vice President of Viral Diseases, Clinical Pharmacology & Discovery Medicine at GlaxoSmithKline, where she oversaw early development of compounds to treat HIV, hepatitis viruses and hepatic fibrosis. She earned a master’s degree in public health from Emory University and completed an internship and residency in internal medicine at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
Dr. Douglas Lundy (MCG, ’93) of Resurgens Orthopaedics in Canton, Ga., is included in Atlanta Magazine’s 2012 list of top doctors. He completed his residency at Georgia Baptist Medical Center and is certified by the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgeons. He was a member of the Leadership Atlanta Class of 2010.
Shannon Stephens (Psychology, ’94) received the Georgia College Counseling Association’s 2012 Advocacy for College Counseling Award.
Jennifer Barnes (’96) is a Senior Accounts Payable Specialist at Eagle Construction.
Ben McCorkle (B.A. in English ’96) was recently featured in an article by The Ohio State University at Marion for his work as a Professor and his research into the history of human interaction and its relationship to communication technologies.
SPRING 2013
2000s
GRavity
1990s
GEORGIA REGENTS UNIVERSITY
A U G U S TA
Dr. Samuel J. Angulo (M.S. in Oral Biology, ’97) has a private practice, El Paso Endodontics, in El Paso, Texas. He began the practice after retiring from the U.S. Army in 2004 with a Legion of Merit award and induction into the order of Military Medical Merit. He was recently elected the 92nd President of the 200-member El Paso District Dental Society. He regularly volunteers for the local Healthy Smiles Program for economically disadvantaged community members and continues his lifelong involvement with youth sports and church work. He earned his doctorate of dental surgery from the University of California at San Francisco in 1981 and completed his endodontics training at Fort Gordon concurrent with his graduate work at GRU. His wife, Sue, expertly manages his office. They have three adult children.
Chris Gay (Communications, ’97) has published his first book, Mize’s Miracle: Faith, Fortune and the 1987 Masters. On the 25th anniversary of Mize’s historic win, the book details the Augusta native’s life and how faith helped him overcome several setbacks in his career. Contact Gay at chris. gay@augustachronicle.com to obtain a copy.
B. Todd Glover (Master of Public Administration, ’98) serves as Augusta’s City Administrator. He previously served as assistant Aiken County administrator and has lived in North Augusta for nine years.
00s
2000s
Alesia E. Brown (Education, ’00) is Director of Human
Resources at Piedmont Technical College in Greenwood, S.C.
Dr. Natalie Burger (MCG, ’00) has been named a partner in the Texas Fertility Center. She is boardcertified in obstetrics/gynecology and reproductive endocrinology/ infertility. Burger specializes in diagnosing and treating infertility, focusing on recurrent pregnancy loss, in vitro fertilization, complicated endoscopic surgery, PCS and ovulation induction with intrauterine insemination.
Lisa M. Gasque (Psychology, ’00) is a Major in the U.S. Army, serving as the rear detachment Battalion Commander for a military police unit in Washington State. She has four combat tours to Iraq. She has two adopted children, Jacob and Brianna.
Brian S. Coursey (Business, ’01) practices law in Columbia, S.C., primarily in the areas of taxation, estate planning, probate, business and corporate law.
Dr. John C. Keel (MCG, ’01) has joined the medical staff of New England Baptist Hospital in Boston. His clinical interests include spine disorders, musculoskeletal and sports medicine, neuromuscular disorders, rehabilitation and disability. He is an instructor in orthopedic surgery at Harvard Medical School and previously served in the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center Department of Orthopedics. He completed an internship and residency at Emory University School of Medicine and a fellowship in pain management at Massachusetts General Hospital.
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Shane Pangle (Business, ’03) is a 2012 graduate of Leadership Columbia County.
Monica Kim Vasquez (Communications, ’03) married Jeffrey William Slay on Sept. 17, 2011.
Katie West (Biology, ’03), Augusta, was been named the Academy of Richmond County’s 2012 Teacher of the Year.
Tamiko Scott (Nursing, ’04) is a nursing supervisor at Walton Rehabilitation Health System.
Scott Webster (Biology, ’04) was recently featured in an article by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution for his research on Alzheimer’s disease and vaccinations.
Dr. Richard L. Williams (M.S., Oral Biology, ’05) has been inducted as a Fellow of both the American College of Dentists and the International College of Dentists. Williams, a Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Army Dental Corps, is Deputy Commander for Dental Trauma Research and Chief of the Biofilm-Impaired Healing Program at the U.S. Army Institute of Surgical Research in Fort Sam Houston, Texas. He serves on the research faculties for both Air Force and Army Comprehensive Dentistry Residency Programs and was recently appointed Professor of Periodontics in the Postgraduate Dental College of the Uniformed
Class
Notes
memorium
Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Md. He holds the Army Surgeon General’s “A” Designator for professional excellence and is a member of the Order of Military Medical Merit.
In Memorium
Mary Elena Aceves (Political Science, ’07), is licensed to
Dr. Ernest F. Daniel Jr. (MCG, ’43)
Dr. Joseph L. Parker Jr. (MCG, ’42)
Dr. Walter G. Watson (MCG, ’43) Dr. H. Calvin Jackson (MCG, ’45) Dr. Floyd Jarrell (MCG, ’46)
married Islen Elizabeth Price on June 11, 2011.
Dr. Avery B. Brinkley (MCG, ’49)
10s
2010s
Brett Gunn (Kinesiology, ’10) received an Excellence in Research Award during GRU’s 2012 Graduate Research Day.
Mary Amanda Middlebrooks (M.Ed., ’10) married Shawn Thomas Williams Feb. 11, 2012.
Lauren Renee Faulk (Education, ’11) and Stephen Ferguson Martin (Business, ’11) married June 2, 2012.
Brittany Henderson (Business, ’11) is an Accounting Specialist with Savannah River Banking Company.
Tony Martin (M.B.A., ’11) is Chief Operating Officer for Visix Inc.
Rodney L. Clifton (Management, ’75) Dr. William J. Hammond (MCG, ’76) Alvin B. Metts (Accounting, ’80) Kelly L. Dye (Allied Health Sciences, ’83)
Dr. Julian J. Sizemore (MCG, ’54) Dr. Royce Van Jackson (MCG, ’58) Dr. Joseph A. Mulherin Jr. (MCG, ’58) Dr. Rebecca G. Daneman (MCG, ’59) Dr. Jack L. Palmer (MCG, ’60)
Lisa A. Volpitto (Nursing, ’89) Carol C. Boswell (Nursing, ’90) Dr. Lisa P. Roziel (MCG, ’90) Linda W. Evans (Allied Health Sciences, ’95) Stacy L. Rainey (Nursing, ’02)
FACULTY:
Dr. Irwin G. Schwarz (MCG, ’60) Dr. William C. Collins (MCG, ’62) Dr. Brunson N. Salley (MCG, ’64)
Dr. Victor E. Della-Giustina, cofounder of the College of Dental Medicine, died March 9 at age 94. Dr. Benjamin E. Nicholson (MCG), lead physician at the
Dr. Stanley T. Shapiro (MCG, ’64) Dr. Philip Fredrick James Macon (MCG, ’66)
Michael Parnell (Education, ’11) recently published a children’s book for UGA fans titled Suga about an orphaned bulldog who sets out on a journey to find a loving family. For more information visit www.sugathebulldog.com.
Helen T. Cranford (Nursing, ’73)
Edgefield Medical Clinic in Edgefield S.C. and Clinical Professor in the MCG Department of Family Medicine since 1984, died in December.
We’d like to hear from you. Have news to share? Changed addresses? Contact: Samantha Mellinger Alumni Affairs Coordinator
smellinger@gru.edu
37
SPRING 2013
Richard Zeigler Craig III (B.S. in Mathematics, ’07 and Ed.S. in Teaching and Learning, ’11)
Dr. Robert A. Boudet (Graduate Studies, ’70)
GRavity
practice law in Maryland after receiving her Juris Doctorate from the University of Maryland with a concentration in business law.
ALUMNI:
Leilee Ault A Fierce Student Advocate When Leilee Ault found out that one
Pennsylvania, served on her alma
of her nursing students planned to
joining GRU.
mater’s faculty for six years before
drop out due to lack of tuition money,
Tasevski, who was born that
Ault went quietly to the Registrar.
demands of helping oversee a
same year, recalls the extensive nascent nursing college. “My
GEORGIA REGENTS UNIVERSITY
A U G U S TA
mother did a lot of traveling and administrative work,” she recalls,
“but her real love was teaching.
“She said, ‘Please call the student and tell
her the money came in. Don’t tell her where
She loved her interactions with students and
it came from,’” recalls Ault’s daughter, Leilee
worked hard to help them succeed.”
Tasevski.
Dr. Linda Ellis, who had Ault as a teacher then
Ault slipped the Registrar the tuition
“She was just absolutely fantastic,” recalls
money. The student, never the wiser about her
served with her on the GRU faculty for several
benefactor, went on to earn her degree.
years. “She instilled in her students that there
was nothing we couldn’t do.”
Ault, a founding College of Nursing faculty
member, died Oct. 19 but leaves a legacy as
rich and diverse as her personality.
Tasevski recalls with a laugh, “When Mom was
Acting Dean, a faculty member asked [then-
“She was very important to the nursing
And she never hesitated to speak her mind.
school,” says Medical Historian in Residence
President William H.] Moretz why nursing
Lois T. Ellison, noting that the college was
faculty salaries were so low. He said, ‘I’m
transferred from the University of Georgia to
waiting for Lee Ault to come raise ‘h’ about
GRU when Talmadge Hospital (now Georgia
it.’ Well, Mom showed up on his doorstep and
Regents Medical Center) opened in 1956. “We
said, ‘I’m here to raise ‘h’ about the salaries.’
worked a lot together in those early days. She
And the nurses got their raise.”
was very dedicated to the university and just a
wonderful person. We were good friends and I
her strong suits. “The lady knew Robert’s Rules
always appreciated her.”
of Order. She could run a meeting and keep it
on track.” The skills came in handy, Ellis noted,
Ault, who earned bachelor’s and master’s
Efficiency, Ellis says with a laugh, was one of
on projects including curricular development
degree in nursing from the University of
38
A Look
Back
“Never give up, never give in.” and policy codification. “Lee wrote almost all of the nursing policies and procedures for the hospital when it opened. You’d see her initials, LPA, and the date on countless documents that were very useful in compiling the history of the College of Nursing.”
Ault’s philosophy, Tasevski said, was, ‘If
not here, where? If not you, who? If not now, when?’
A colleague, Loree Roberts, described her
as “a happy, uplifting soul.”
Echoes Dr. Melissa T. Williams, a GRU
Assistant Professor of Nursing and former colleague, “Leilee was always smiling and always had a word to lift you up. One day, I told her I should have done something. She
MEMORIALS
stopped me mid-sentence and said, ‘Should never does any good. You did what you
To honor her dedication to the
thought best at that moment in time. Leave it
nursing profession, memorials
and go on. The day is not over yet.’ I miss her “One of her mottoes, ‘Never give up, never
give in,’ was evident to the very last day of her
Leilee P. Ault
full life,” her obituary reads. n
College of Nursing Alumni Scholarship Award Fund FI-1038 Georgia Regents University Augusta, GA 30912
39
GRavity
SPRING 2013
may be made to:
warm smile.”
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Mobile
GRU Mobile provides our students and faculty with the services and content they require — delivered when they want, where they want it and how they want it.
iPhone & iPod Touch
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Services such as a map, directory, events, course listing and other features keep you connected to the university whether you are on campus or a world away using your mobile device.
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The future of GRU Mobile is the ability to deliver instruction and relevant content using mobile devices. The iSCOPE application provides a glimpse into the future of multimedia-rich content we will build upon to create a vast repository of instructional materials and references for our students. n
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What does the rest of the world know that you don’t? People from all over the world come to Augusta for comprehensive spine care. They come here for everything from the common to the complex. For specialized neuroimaging. For minimally invasive procedures and highly sophisticated surgeries performed by an internationally recognized team of neurosurgeons and orthopedic spine surgeons. Learn more about what makes Georgia Regents Spine Center a worldwide destination for the care and treatment of the human spine at gru.edu/spine. And, like the rest of the world, come here.
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