The University of Georgia Magazine December 2012

GEORGIA The University of

December 2012 • Vol. 92, No. 1

Magazine

In the CLASSroom College of Education faculty help K-12 teachers understand and better reach their students

In this issue: • A UGA swimmer finds herself a BWOC after bringing home five Olympic medals • Political Science Professor Keith Poole and his studies on political polarization were big news this election year

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GEORGIA The University of

Cecil Bentley, BBA ’70, UGA journalism staff; Valerie Boyd, UGA journalism faculty; Bobby Byrd, ABJ ’80, Wells Real Estate Funds; Jim Cobb, AB ’69, MA ’72, PhD ’75, UGA history faculty; Richard Hyatt, Columbus Ledger-Enquirer; Brad King, MMC ’97, BVK Communications; Fran Lane, AB ’69, MEd ’71, retired director, UGA Visitors Center; Bill McDougald, ABJ ’76, MLA ’86, Southern Living; Leneva Morgan, ABJ ’88, Georgia Power; Swann Seiler, ABJ ’78, Coastal Region of Georgia Power; Robert Willett, ABJ ’66, MFA ’73, retired journalism faculty; Martha Mitchell Zoller, ABJ ’79

EX-OFFICIO MEMBERS

December 2012 • Vol. 92, No. 1

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UGA’s International Coffee Hour celebrates four decades of caffeine and conversation

Features 16 In the CLASSroom

Keith Poole’s analysis of the political polarization of American voters made him a media darling during the 2012 election season

28 Almost famous After a breakout performance that earned five medals at the London Olympics, swimmer Allison Schmitt has trouble blending in

34 Bulldogs in Britain UGA was well represented by 30 students, alumni and staff at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London

38 40 under forty The UGA Alumni Association recognized the 2012 class of 40 outstanding graduates under the age of 40

Class Notes 48 Alumni profiles and notes Fifth-year landscape architecture major Caroline Bowles of Augusta, Ga., works on a base map conceptual plan in the College of Environment and Design’s new home in the Jackson Street Building.

Photo by Andrew Davis Tucker

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Photo by Dot Paul

Closeup 14 Coffee klatch

22 Tracking the reds and blues

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Stephanie Jones, an associate professor in the College of Education, works with first-grader Emely Salud during a visit to Oakwood Elementary School in Hall County.

Campus news and events

College of Education faculty help K-12 teachers understand and better reach their students

FINE PRINT Georgia Magazine (ISSN 1085-1042) is published quarterly for alumni and friends of UGA. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: University of Georgia, 286 Oconee Street, Suite 200 North, Athens, GA 30602-5582

ON THE COVER

President Michael F. Adams on the College of Education

Around the Arch

Tom S. Landrum, AB ’72, MA ’87, Senior Vice President, ­External Affairs; Tom Jackson, AB ’73, MPA ’04, PhD ’08, VP, Public Affairs; Deborah Dietzler, ­Executive ­Director, UGA Alumni Association; Alison Huff, Director of Publications; Eric Johnson, ABJ ’86, Director of UGA Visitors Center How to advertise in GEORGIA MAGAZINE: Contact Pamela Leed: 706/542-8124 or pjleed@uga.edu Where to send story ideas, letters, Class Notes items: Georgia Magazine 286 Oconee St., Suite 200 North Athens, GA 30602-1999 E-mail: GMeditor@uga.edu Web site: www.uga.edu/gm or University of Georgia Alumni Association www.alumni.uga.edu/alumni Address changes: E-mail records@uga.edu or call 888/268-5442

In compliance with federal law, including the provisions of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Sections 503 and 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, the University of Georgia does not discriminate on the basis of race, sex, religion, color, national or ethnic origin, age, disability, or military service in its administration of educational policies, programs, or activities; its admissions policies; scholarship and loan programs; athletic or other University-administered programs; or employment. In addition, the University does not discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation consistent with the University nondiscrimination policy. Inquiries or complaints should be directed to the director of the Equal Opportunity Office, Peabody Hall, 290 South Jackson Street, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602. Telephone 706-542-7912 (V/TDD). Fax 706-542-2822.

Departments 5 Take 5 with the President

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GEORGIA MAGAZINE ADVISORY BOARD VOLUNTEER MEMBERS

Magazine

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ADMINISTRATION Michael F. Adams, President Jere Morehead, JD ’80, Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost Tom S. Landrum, AB ’72, MA ’87,

Senior Vice President for External Affairs Tim Burgess, AB ’77, Senior Vice President for Finance and Administration PUBLIC AFFAIRS Tom Jackson, AB ’73, MPA ’04, PhD ’08, Vice President Alison Huff, Director of Publications GEORGIA MAGAZINE Editor, Kelly Simmons, MPA ’10 Managing Editor, Allyson Mann, MA ’92 Art Director, Lindsay Bland Robinson, ABJ ’06, MPA ’11 Advertising Director, Pamela Leed Office Manager, Fran Burke Photographers, Paul Efland, BFA ’75, MEd ’80; Peter Frey, BFA ’94; Dorothy Kozlowski, BLA ’06, ABJ ‘10; Robert Newcomb, BFA ’81; Rick O’Quinn, ABJ ’87; Dot Paul; Andrew Davis Tucker Editorial Assistant, Chase Martin

DECEMBER 2012 • GEORGIA MAGAZINE

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TAKE

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— President Michael F. Adams on the College of Education

Q: The College of Education is one of UGA’s largest colleges or schools, producing more than 600 new graduates each year. How important is UGA’s teacher education program to the rest of the state?

A: Teacher education in the entire state of Georgia is led by the UGA College of Education.

With the largest college of education in America, it not only produces hundreds of teachers each year but many of the people who teach the teachers at many colleges and universities all over the state. The entire educational enterprise, particularly K-12 and the state universities, would grind to a halt without UGA. Q: In addition to undergraduates, UGA produces a significant number of Ph.D. students in education, many who go on to teach undergraduates at other schools, like Kennesaw State University, Georgia State University and Georgia Southern University. How does it benefit UGA to have a presence on the faculty of these other schools?

Michael F. Adams

A: We are very proud of our relationships with other system schools and with private colleges and universities throughout the state of Georgia. I daresay there are more UGA Ph.D.s on those faculties than from any other institution. The quality of what we do here raises all boats in the state, at both the K-12 and postsecondary level.

Q: A few years back, UGA partnered with the Clarke County Schools to create professional development schools (PDS) throughout the county. Through this partnership, more UGA faculty and students are in the public schools teaching programs. How does this benefit UGA students?

A: We are very committed to the improvement of public education in Clarke County. We have a wonderful and re-energized partnership with the highly regarded Superintendent Phillip Lanoue and a recommitted school board. Great progress is being made in the Clarke County School District, aided by UGA professional development programs and a shared commitment to improvement.

Q: Beyond Athens-Clarke County, College of Education outreach programs are active in some way in every one of Georgia’s 159 counties, either doing research, evaluating programs or helping to improve teacher quality. What obligation does UGA have to these other regions of the state?

A: As the state’s land-grant university, we have a major commitment to every person, not to mention every county, in the state of Georgia. There are UGA teachers in every one of the 159 counties in the state, and it would be the rare school that does not have UGA graduates in its administrative leadership. We take this obligation seriously.

Q: How important is improving K-12 education to the future of higher education?

A: While the university system has made great progress in this state in the past 40 years, the K-12 system has faced numerous challenges and become increasingly bimodal. The happy news is that 40 percent of the public and private high schools in Georgia are producing young people who can compete with young people anywhere, from China to Germany to India and back. On the other hand, about 40 percent of the schools in this state are seriously underperforming, and increasingly there is little between the two extremes. For the future economic development of the state, we simply have to redouble our efforts to raise that lower 40 percent. I believe it is the most serious social issue the state faces and it will take our best efforts, in both urban and rural areas, to be successful.

Third-grade students at Barrow Elementary School work together to solve math word problems.

DOT PAUL

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Geetu Vailoor (center) helps teach a ballroom dance class at the Oct. 7 Community Dance Celebration sponsored by the dance department. Vailoor is a broadcast journalism major from Augusta.

Cancer researchers get $4.1 million to study early detection UGA cancer researchers Karen Abbott and Michael

Dorothy Kozlowski

Let’s dance UGA’s department of dance sponsored a Community Dance Celebration Oct. 7. The afternoon of free events was aimed at

Pierce in October received two five-year grants from the

sharing the joy of dance with the Athens community and includ-

National Institutes of Health totaling more than $4.1

ed performances by UGA’s Ballet Ensemble, the CORE Concert

million to explore new methods of detecting early-stage

Dance Company, the Ballroom Performance Group and commu-

ovarian and pancreatic cancer.

nity guest performers from the East Athens Dance Center, Clas-

Both researchers are searching for ways to detect specific kinds of glycans—tiny sugar molecules found on the outside of proteins—that sometimes appear in blood and tissue during the earliest stages of cancer formation. If Abbott and Pierce can isolate these glycomarkers and detect them in blood, they may develop new, non-invasive tests that physicians could use to screen for cancer as part of a regular checkup.

Ovarian and pancreatic cancers are among the most

sic City Dance and UGA’s Swing Club. The celebration included a lecture on the technical and production aspects of dance and offered classes for adults and children on ballroom dance, creative movement, and Latin hustle and salsa. “This open house is an opportunity for dance faculty, staff and students to join with the community in fun and engaging dance-related events and build community awareness of the dance department and its offerings,” said Rebecca Enghauser, associate professor in the

deadly, not because they are impossible to cure, but because

department of dance. “With the body itself as the vehicle, dance

they are difficult to find. There are no screening tests that

has a unique and universal allure that can speak to each of us

can reliably detect their presence in early stages, and most

and fulfill us in a variety of ways. With this event, we hope to ac-

diagnoses are made after the disease has already spread to

knowledge for the Athens community that dance can be enjoyed

lymph nodes and vital organs.

as a lifelong passion.”

6 GEORGIA MAGAZINE • www.uga.edu/gm

Rx for Albany This fall, six UGA pharmacy students started their third-year courses in Albany, Ga., as the inaugural class of the College of Pharmacy’s southwest Georgia clinical campus. The students will finish their final two years of study in Albany as part of the college’s 2+2 program.

The 2+2 program allows pharmacy students to begin their pharmaceutical training with two years of study in Athens and then complete their final two years at an alternate site.

“Southwest Georgia, for a long time, has not had an adequate number of pharmacists,” said Dean Svein Øie.

“We aim to train them there in hopes they will stay in that area.”

Officially opened in April 2011, the campus was designed to promote interactions between alumni, students, residents and faculty members in South Georgia. The 1000 N. Jefferson St. location is within walking distance of Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital, the southwest Georgia clinical campus of Georgia Health Sciences University’s Medical College of Georgia and Phoebe Healthworks, a state-of-the art wellness center.

The campus is expected to eventually accommodate 50 students and five faculty members.

UGA up in rankings UGA climbed two spots this year in U.S. News & World Report’s 2013 edition of America’s Best Colleges, ranking 21st among the nation’s top public universities. The university also tied for 63rd in the category for best private and public universities.

U.S. News & World Report surveyed 1,391 ranked colleges and universities, measuring an institution’s undergraduate academic reputation, graduation and retention rates, faculty resources, student selectivity, financial resources, graduation rate performance (the difference between actual and predicted graduation rates) and alumni giving to determine rankings.

Helping UGA in its national ranking was its average freshman retention rate of 94 percent. In 2011, the university’s graduation rate was predicted to be 77 percent but was actually higher at 83 percent. In the same year, 39 percent of UGA classes had less than 20 students while only 11 percent had more than 50, and 93 percent of UGA faculty were considered full time.

To see the complete rankings, go to www.usnews.com.

Freshman welcome The UGA Alumni Association’s Student Alumni Council and the Student Government Association partnered in mid-August to welcome the incoming freshmen. More than 3,500 first-year students gathered at Sanford Stadium for welcoming words from President Michael F. Adams and Head Football Coach Mark Richt. On hand were members of the Redcoat Band, Hairy Dawg and the UGA cheerleaders. The students then filed onto the field, where they were photographed in the form of a human G.

PAUL EFLAND

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ARCH BEST IN SHOW A

UGA president gets leadership award

BARK out to

…. Distinguished Research Professor in microbiology Daniel Colley, who was awarded the 2012 Christopher Columbus Fellowship Foundation Distinguished Life Sciences Scientist Award for his research in tropical medicine and parasitology. … Daniel C. Feldman, associate dean in the Terry College of Business, who won the 2012 Scholarly Impact Award from the Journal of Management. … Entomology Professor Nancy Hinkle, who received a Lifetime Achievement Award from her peers at the annual Livestock Insect Workers’ Conference.

HINKLE

FELDMAN

... Arthur M. (Andy) Horne, College of Education dean and Distinguished Research Professor, who received a 2012 Lifetime Contributions Award from the Council of Counseling Psychology Training Programs.

… Robert L. Izlar, director of the Georgia Forestry Association and UGA’s Center for Forest Business, who received the Society of American Foresters’ Sir William Schlich Memorial Award—one of nine national awards that the Society is giving this year. … Wildlife Ecology Professor Karl V. Miller, who received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Quality Deer Management Association for helping advance white-tailed deer research and management. … Gregory H. Robinson, Franklin Professor and Distinguished Research Professor of Chemistry, who received the F. Albert Cotton Award in Synthetic Inorganic Chemistry from the American Chemical Society, the world’s largest scientific society. … Robert N. “Bob” Saveland, College of Education professor emeritus, who received the George J. Miller Award for Distinguished Service to Geographic Education, the top award presented by the National Council for Geographic Education.

8 GEORGIA MAGAZINE • www.uga.edu/gm

ROBINSON

President Michael F. Adams received the 2013 Chief Executive Leadership Award from the Council for Advancement and Support of Education District III. The award, one of the CASE III’s most prestigious honors, recognizes annually an outstanding president, chancellor, headmaster or system head of a CASE III member institution. Under Adams’ leadership, student quality has risen steadily, and UGA has been recognized by U.S. News & World Report as one of the nation’s top 20 public research universities for eight out of the past 10 years. The university began a medical partnership with Georgia Health Sciences University in 2010 and established an engineering college in July.

It is Adams’ last year as president. He will rstep down on June 30, 2013.

Private funding tops $102 million Donations to UGA totaled $102.7 million in fiscal year 2012, marking the seventh consecutive year that private giving to the university has topped $100 million. The total includes gifts and commitments from 56,184 contributors. The Georgia Fund annual giving campaign raised a record $12.3 million, an 11.5 percent increase from fiscal year 2011.

Unrestricted giving was at $1.17 million from 12,307 gifts. This is a 1.3 percent increase over last year. The average annual fund gift increased from $254 to $296.

Deferred gifts to the university increased by 58 percent with a total of $22.4 million compared to last year’s total of $14.2 million.

The Athletic Association raised $29.3 million in fiscal year 2012, of which $27.8 million came from its ticket priority program. The Terry College of Business and the College of Veterinary Medicine combined for almost $30 million as both colleges continued fundraising efforts for new facilities.

First person

No place like (a new) home

Andrew Davis Tucker

UGA’s College of Environment and Design (CED) dedicated its new building in September. Located at 285 South Jackson Street, the mid-century building previously was occupied by the School of Art but got a makeover focused on sustainability for its new occupants.

CED worked with the UGA Office of Sustainability on the building’s rehabilitation, which included installing solar panels on the roof. The panels were purchased through MAGE SOLAR USA, a Dublin-based producer of U.S.-assembled and American Recovery and Reinvestment Act-compliant solar photovoltaic-modules. The panels will provide an estimated 30,000 kilowatt hours of electricity each year, approximately enough energy to power 90 fluorescent T8 lights for 10 hours a day or 189 laptops eight hours a day for an entire year.

CED is home to one of the oldest and largest schools of landscape architecture in the U.S. and offers degrees in landscape architecture, historic preservation and environmental planning and design, as well as a certificate in environmental ethics.

The First Person Project, a new oral history series documenting the experiences of everyday Georgians, was launched in October. Created by the Richard B. Russell Library for Political Research and Studies, the project is modeled roughly on StoryCorps, a national initiative partnered with National Public Radio and the Library of Congress. The First Person Project is smaller in scale but similar in concept, providing tools to would-be oral history interviewers and interviewees, including tips on how to create questions and conduct interviews.

“The project was inspired by the belief that everyone is an eyewitness to history and that everyone, sometimes with a little encouragement, has a story to tell,” said Craig Breaden, who initiated the program as head of the media and oral history unit in the Russell Library.

The Russell Library will archive the interviews to add to its documentation of life in post-20th century Georgia and provide participants with a free digital download of the recording and photographs.

For more information, visit www.libs. uga.edu/russell/fpp/fpp_splash.html.

Russ gets the nod After serving two terms as interim mascot for the Georgia Bulldogs, Russ got a battlefield promotion and assumed the title of Uga IX. President Michael F. Adams fastened the official collar on the English bulldog at a ceremony before the Sept. 15 Georgia-Florida Atlantic football game.

“Like many great and memorable Bulldogs, Russ has earned the opportunity to serve in this capacity,” Adams said. “I am confident that he will represent the Bulldog Nation very well and continue the grand tradition of Ugas.”

The half-brother of Uga VII, Russ served as interim mascot for a total of 23 games. Following the unexpected death of Uga VII on Nov. 19, 2009, Russ served as interim mascot the final two games of the 2009 season and the first six games of 2010. Uga VIII was introduced on Oct. 16, 2010, prior to the GeorgiaVanderbilt game. Russ was pressed back into duty prior to the 2010 Liberty Bowl and stayed on following the untimely death of Uga VIII in February 2011.

Russ roamed the sidelines at all 14 games during the 2011 season. While serving in the interim role, Russ has posted a record of 14-9, including the 2011 SEC Eastern Division championship.

The continuous line of Georgia Bulldog mascots has been owned by the family of Frank “Sonny” Seiler (BBA ’56, JD ’57) for 56 years.

DOT PAUL

DECEMBER 2012 • GEORGIA MAGAZINE

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Build your plate goes mobile UGA Food Services is now offering a to-go version of its Build Your Plate website. Designed specifically for students, the mobile website gives anyone eating on campus an easier way to navigate through menu options and calculate nutritional information.

Diners have two options for viewing nutritional information— select a single item or assemble a meal from multiple items.

The first step is to go to foodservice.uga.edu on a smartphone or tablet, select Build Your Plate and then navigate through the calendar, locations and menus to create a meal.

“Whether students want to see the menu and build their plate before entering the dining commons or review the information while in line or even after their meal, the mobile Build Your Plate feature makes it easy for students to make good meal choices,” says Jeanne Fry, executive director of Food Services.

Jack Davis work on display at GMOA An exhibition of work by artist Jack Davis (M ’52) is on display at UGA’s Georgia Museum of Art through Jan. 6.

“Beyond the Bulldog: Jack Davis” goes deeper into Davis’ career than the sports and caricature work for which he is best known, focusing on his black-and-white drawings in particular.

Perhaps best known in Georgia for his depictions of Southeastern Conference mascots tussling, Davis (b. 1924) has had a lengthy career in illustration and cartooning, with an immediately recognizable style and an influence that extends far beyond his home state. Having published his first cartoon at the age of 12, Davis studied with the artist Lamar Dodd in UGA’s art school, which he attended on the G.I. Bill, and honed his skills drawing for The Red & Black, the student newspaper, and Bullsheet, an Athens humor publication.

After graduating, he moved to New York, where he attended the Art Students League before landing work with William Gaines at EC Comics. He was one of the founding artists of Mad magazine, supplied covers for Time and TV Guide and designed numerous album art and movie posters. He created his first art for UGA’s athletics program in 1948 when he drew Head Football Coach Wally Butts for the front and back of that year’s media guide, and the relationship has lasted ever since.

The exhibit at UGA was organized by guest curator Patrick Dean, a cartoonist who sits on the board of the Jack Davis Foundation. It is funded by the W. Newton Morris Charitable Foundation and the Friends of the Georgia Museum of Art.

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Kate Ruhrold/UGA

Ossabaw’s big day A young loggerhead sea turtle named Ossabaw debuted Oct. 20 at the Skidaway Marine Science Day 2012. Found on Ossabaw Island, the Georgia Department of Natural Resources determined the turtle would not be able to survive on his own and for the past year he’s been cared for by staff, interns and volunteers at UGA’s Marine Education Center and Aquarium (MECA). Ossabaw’s debut, and this year’s Marine Science Day, marked 40 years of public service and outreach at the center. Held on Skidaway Island, Marine Science Day is an annual collaboration between the UGA Marine Extension Service’s Shellfish Research Laboratory and MECA, the Skidaway Institute of Oceanography and Gray’s Reef National Marine Sanctuary. “This day was created to give the Savannah community the opportunity to enjoy the sciences and ask questions to learn more about the marine research going on in their community,” says Karin Paquin, assistant curator at MECA. Activities included a shark dissection, reptile show, research vessel tours, marine debris activities, touch tanks and behind-the-scene peeks at the aquarium. For more information, see www.marex.uga.edu.

Just us Girls

April Sorrow

Girl Scout and UGA First Lady Mary Adams worked with College of Family and Consumer Sciences (FACS) students and faculty recently on a project to teach a local Girl Scout troop about fashion and confidence.

Now on the board of directors for Girl Scouts of Historic Georgia, Adams came to campus to work with Troop 11918 of Nicholson, Ga. Thirteen 5- to 7-year-old Brownies visited FACS to view its historic clothing collection and work with fashion design students to create their own stylish T-shirts. The group also worked with The Agency, UGA’s studentrun modeling agency, to learn the skills they needed to walk the runway. Their trip to UGA helped them prepare for their very own fashion show on Oct. 7 at Hotel Indigo, which Adams viewed from her front-row seat.

Food producers get boost with new Griffin facility A $3.5 million food product innovation and commercialization (Food PIC) facility in Griffin will help businesses launch new food products and processes. The College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences and the Griffin-Spalding County Development Authority have been seeking state funds for the project since 2005.

The university and the authority will each add $1 million to the construction fund.

The Food PIC will be built on the UGA campus and will help food companies and entrepreneurs develop new products and processes, improve their profitability and create jobs in Georgia. The Food PIC project at UGA will be the only one of its kind in the Southeast and was created in response to the high failure rate—80 percent—of new food products. The Food PIC staff includes engineers, chemists, microbiologists, consumer sensory scientists and research chefs both from within the university and private industry. For more information, go to www.caes.uga.edu/center/foodpic.

UGA recognized for atmospheric sciences UGA was elected to the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, recognition of its growing reputation in atmospheric and related science. The nonprofit consortium of North American research universities manages the National Center for Atmospheric Research on behalf of the National Science Foundation and fosters basic and applied research, outreach and education in the atmospheric, oceanic, space and related sciences. UGA is the 78th member of UCAR, which was founded in 1960. Universities invited to join UCAR must demonstrate continuing commitment to programs of study and research in atmospheric sciences as well as a commitment to active participation in UCAR activities. The UGA Atmospheric Sciences program addresses the needs of students interested in studying meteorology or climate science. Certificate programs at the graduate and undergraduate levels have been offered since 2000.

New fight song A new fight song written for the UGA football team debuted in Sanford Stadium this season.

“Go Dawgs (Sic ’em Woof Woof Woof)” was written by Athens musician Dodd Ferrelle and is available for download on iTunes and athensmusic.net. Proceeds will benefit the music business program, an interdisciplinary certificate program housed in the Terry College.

The track was produced by David Barbe, director of the music business program and a longtime member of the Athens music scene. Students in the program handled all of the song’s licensing and marketing.

“Go Dawgs” features vocals from Athens rapper S.N.I.P.A., backing vocals from Ferrelle and local band Futurebirds and a backing track by Kameon Prather. It also includes audio from legendary Bulldog announcer Larry Munson. For more about the song or to watch the video, see www.facebook. com/UgaFightSongGoDawgs. For more information about the music business program, see www.terry. uga.edu/musicbusiness/.

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GOING GREEN Costa Rica campus recognized for sustainability UGA’s Costa Rica campus was recognized by the Costa Rican Tourism Board for excellence in natural, cultural and social resource management. Through its Certification for Sustainable Tourism program, the campus in San Luis was awarded a “Four Leaves” designation for institutions operating in Costa Rica. The designation means the UGA campus scored better than 80 percent in all four categories related to sustainability: impact on the biological/physical surroundings; building and materials management; external client relations and outreach; and socioeconomic impact on the local community. In the socioeconomic component, UGA Costa Rica received a perfect score of 100 percent, indicating a high level of respect and responsibility for local employees.

The highest level awarded by the board is “Five Leaves,” which means an institution received a score above 90 in all categories. Learn more about UGA at Costa Rica at www. externalaffairs.uga.edu/costa_rica.

DOT PAUL

Bike dogs

The Office of Sustainability launched UGA’s first shared bicycle program during the fall with access to students, faculty and staff at Building 1516, an East Campus residence hall, the Odum School of Ecology and the Facilities Management Division. Called Bulldog Bikes, the program is designed to provide a safe, cost-effective and environmentally preferred transportation option at UGA. The pilot program will continue through August 2013 and possibly expand at that time to other departments. Participants must register through their department to utilize the bike program and follow program rules.

The bikes are Worksman Cycles, hand-crafted in New York City in a factory partially powered by a 15KW photovoltaic solar power array. Students must wear helmets, which are provided by the program. Bike locks also are supplied.

For more on Bulldog Bikes, go to http://sustainability.uga.edu/bulldogbikes.

Twirlers take titles

SPECIAL

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The UGA majorettes won two national titles and sophomore Nicole Jensen of Iowa City, Iowa, was named female college feature twirler champion in competitions this past summer.

A part of the university’s Redcoat Marching Band, the majorettes were named the 2012 Collegiate Halftime Show Twirl National Champions and Collegiate National Halftime Champions at the America’s Youth on Parade USA and World Twirling Championships in South Bend, Ind., in July. They also landed a third-place finish in open dance twirls for senior small and senior large. The UGA majorettes also received the WOW Award, presented to the most entertaining college majorette line.

On an individual level, Jensen had a standout performance at the competition, beating out 62 other contestants to become female college feature twirler champion.

JUST A CLICK AWAY “Jack Bauerle: Dream-Maker,” a documentary produced by WUGA-TV program coordinator Charlie McAlexander and UGA videographer Bill Evelyn, profiles UGA’s swimming coach of 34 years. In his time at UGA, Bauerle has led the women’s swim team to four national and eight SEC championships.

In 2008 he coached the U.S. Women’s Swim team in the Beijing Olympics.

The U.S. team brought home 14 medals, and swimmers included UGA’s own Kara Lynn Joyce and Allison Schmitt (see story on page 28).

View the documentary at: http://bit.ly/RW2QiZ

“The UGA Alumni Show,” airing on WUGA-TV, is a collection of interviews with UGA alumni, faculty, students and administration, hosted by UGA Alumni Association Executive Director Deborah Dietzler and WUGA-TV Program Coordinator Charlie McAlexander. Each episode also features an interview from “Goin’ Back: Remembering UGA,” an oral history of the university produced by the Office of Public Affairs in partnership with the UGA Alumni Association. WUGA-TV now is available in markets from North Carolina to Alabama on DirectTV, Dish Network, AT&T U-Verse and Comcast.

For air dates and times go to: http://bitly.com/UkmefG To view previously aired segments of the show, go to: http://bit.ly/RhYnZQ Associate Professor Stephanie Jones spearheads the College of Education’s CLASSroom Project, which helps K-12 teachers understand class-sensitive practices. Watch and learn how her efforts have helped shape the way students are learning in classrooms across the state (see story on page 16).

View the multimedia piece at: http://bit.ly/Tw9iPz

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CLOSE UP

Coffee klatch UGA’s International Coffee Hour celebrates four decades of caffeine and conversation photos by Dorothy Kozlowski

UGA’s International Coffee Hour program marked its 40th anniversary with a special reception Sept. 21.

The event included international teas, coffees and food items, student cultural displays, a global fashion show, and entertainment from around the world including a steel drum soloist, an Argentinian dance exposition and breakdancing.

For the past four decades, UGA students, faculty, staff and members of the local community have gathered on campus each Friday to celebrate international cultural diversity. As of 2011 UGA enrolled more than 2,300 students from 121 foreign countries, with the largest contingents from China (512), South Korea (391) and India (273).

International coffee hours have given the campus community an opportunity to learn about other cultures by sharing food, music, performance and conversation. Each week, a sponsoring student organization, university department or community agency highlights a different culture or nation.

“International Coffee Hour is one of the longest-running programs of its kind in the country,” said Leigh Poole, associate director of student life. “It is truly significant that for four decades, the university and local communities have come together in the same room at the same time on a weekly basis to learn and celebrate various cultures around the globe.”

Richard Reiff, former executive director of the Office of International Education at UGA, founded coffee hour in 1972. It has been held exclusively in the Memorial Hall Ballroom and has only temporarily been relocated during renovations.

GET MORE isl.uga.edu

14 GEORGIA MAGAZINE • www.uga.edu/gm

A member of UGA’s breakdance club, the Junkyard Dawgz, performs during the 40th anniversary celebration of UGA’s International Coffee Hour on Sept. 21.

Fuad Elhage, an instructor at the College of Education, and his dance partner, Frances Torres, perform a tango. The two represented the UGA Tango Club.

Food is a big part of the International Coffee Hour. Each hour highlights a different culture or nation and is sponsored by a registered student organization, university department or community agency.

Jean Arias (left), a visiting Gainesville State College student, makes a new friend. The weekly event is open to both the UGA and Athens communities as a way for people from all over the world to meet in a casual setting.

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16 GEORGIA MAGAZINE • www.uga.edu/gm

In the

CLASSroom College of Education faculty help K-12 teachers understand and better reach their students

by Kelly Simmons photos by Dot Paul

Third-graders in Jan Spurgeon’s class at Barrow Elementary School find a quiet place for their independent reading time.

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T

he third-grade classroom at Oakwood Elementary School in Hall County is quiet as the children read independently. They’re sprawled across the carpeted floor, sitting on pillows or in desk chairs following the adventures of characters like Greg Hefley in Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Lemony Snicket or Junie B. Jones.

At a table in one corner, Carly Overmyer, 9, reads passages from Something from Nothing to Stephanie Jones, an associate professor from UGA’s College of Education.

“What do you think the meaning of that title is?” Jones asks Carly in a voice barely above a whisper. “Is there a part in this text you felt you could empathize with?”

Carly says she can relate to the working-class family in the book and Joseph, the story’s main character, whose grandfather makes things for him. Carly’s grandmother makes things for Carly.

Later, Carly’s teacher tells Jones she has encouraged the 9-year-old to read more difficult texts, but Carly prefers the simpler picture books. Maybe, Jones suggests, there are no chapter books in the classroom that Carly can relate to.

“I can help you with that,” Jones says.

Down the hall, students in Amanda Ruis’ second-grade classroom are talking about the book they’re going to read.

Titled A Day’s Work, the cover features an older man and a young boy sitting next to a trash barrel.

Ruis asks them to come up with questions about the story based on the cover.

“It looks like they’re poor,” one child says.

“Are they sad? They look sad,” says Alyssa Ferrara, 7.

“Are they hurt?”

The exercise piques the students’ interest in the book and helps them think about things from a different perspective.

In Tonya Hanks’ fifth-grade classroom, students have their noses in a variety of books—Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events, The Lightning Thief and Big Nate, to name a few.

“You might have a kid that doesn’t like to read,” Hanks says. “Having the freedom to pick out a book may unlock that door.”

On this day in October, Jones will be in and out of classrooms in the elementary school just outside Gainesville, observing students and making suggestions to teachers about how they can enhance their curriculum by relating it more to the population they serve.

It’s part of the CLASSroom Project, a research and outreach program Jones launched in 2010 with colleague

Spurgeon finds that her third-graders read more if they can select books they can relate to or that interest them. Sharks has this young reader’s rapt attention.

Mark Vagle, now an associate professor at the University of Minnesota.

Through the project Jones and Vagle work with K-12 classroom teachers to identify ways to better interact with and educate students in school settings that include a range of socioeconomic classes. Suggestions as simple as including books in the classroom that appeal to minority students, kids from working-class families and children with special needs are the lessons for teachers and administrators. Beyond that, however, Jones seeks to help educators better understand how their actions and language can work to a child’s benefit or detriment.

For example, a teacher that attended one of Jones’ workshops told her that she had admonished a young student for wanting to be a waitress like her mom when she grew up.

“You can do so much better than that,” the teacher told her.

“That kind of interaction gives kids a negative impression of themselves, their families and their place in the schools,” Jones says.

A class-sensitive response, Jones told the teacher, would be

“You might have a kid that doesn’t like to read. Having the freedom to pick out a book may unlock that door.” - Tonya Hanks 18 GEORGIA MAGAZINE • www.uga.edu/gm

Jaylen Brown (left) and Addie Middleton work with Spurgeon on a mathematics word problem at Barrow Elementary School.

to say, “I’d love to hear about the work your mother does as a waitress.”

Jones’ inspiration comes from her own experience as a child in Ohio raised in a working-class family. Early on, she began noticing that people often were treated differently because they wore a certain kind of clothes or drove a certain kind of car. Things like paying for extracurricular activities, like football, band and cheerleading, and getting picked up from school on time came easily for other students.

“There was a point in my life when I became very angry about that,” she says. “How can it be that my mother is working two jobs, working her butt off, and is hardly able to pay the rent, hardly able to keep a car on the road?”

By sixth-grade she began to hate school. It got worse in high school when she moved to Panama City, Fla. “Literally, there were people who got brand-new Jaguars for their birthday and some who were struggling to keep their lights on,” she recalls.

She moved to a different school where she could attend class in the

morning and go to work in the afternoon. Her job stretching canvases in an artists’ studio introduced her to the creative side of the working world and left her even more dissatisfied with high school. She chose the vocationaltechnical route and studied accounting.

After a couple of semesters at Gulf Coast Community College she moved back to Ohio where most of her family still lived. She worked there for a year before deciding to study education at the University of Cincinnati. After earning her bachelor’s degree she taught elementary school in both urban and suburban areas. There she saw the same disparities and class-based biases she experienced as a child. One mother, she says, asked that her child not be seated next to a child who lived in an apartment.

“I was a huge advocate for any kid or family who felt like they might be an outsider,” she says. “I was determined not to let that happen in my classroom.”

She went on to earn her master’s degree from Miami of Ohio and later was introduced to a professor, Deborah

Hicks, at the University of Cincinnati who studied social class and literacy.

When she finished her doctoral program in 2004, the field of academics studying social class and literacy was relatively small. The literacy program at Columbia University was interested in her scholarly work and Jones was hired in a tenure-track position.

“Why Columbia would hire a [former] working-class girl studying class—it was fascinating to me,” she says.

In 2007, she was offered a position at UGA in the department of elementary and social studies education. The job appealed to her because the department was more interdisciplinary and she would be able to teach a range of classes, including some cross-listed with the Institute for Women’s Studies.

Three years after arriving in Athens she and Vagle began the CLASSroom Project.

Now the program is reaching administrators, teachers and students in more than two dozen Georgia counties.

In addition, through the office of outreach and engagement, which began DECEMBER 2012 • GEORGIA MAGAZINE

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Ashanti Pope (center) and her third-grade classmates at Barrow Elementary School listen intently as Spurgeon reads the book I Love My Hair!

five years ago, faculty and students from the college are doing research and evaluation programs in each of the state’s 159 counties, says Dean Arthur Horne, who retires this month.

“We take our role as a land-grant university very seriously,” Horne says.

Jan Spurgeon, a third-grade teacher at Barrow Elementary School in Athens, took one of Jones and Vagle’s workshops two years ago.

“They’re not giving you strategies on how to change kids,” Spurgeon says. “They confront you with this issue of class in the classroom.”

As soon as Spurgeon got back to the school she looked

closely at the resources in her classroom, searching for books that her students—a racially, ethnically and economically diverse group—might identify with.

“When I looked at my books they were all one dimensional,” she says. “I didn’t have books my kids could see themselves in.”

She took the book list Jones had provided at the workshop and went to Barnes and Noble, where she found a few of the recommendations, but not many. She’s slowly building her library, using her own money, buying books online and in stores where she can find them.

On a Wednesday in early October, the students sit on the rug at the front of her classroom while Spurgeon reads I Love My Hair!, a picture book by Natasha Anastasia Tarpley. The book is about an African-American girl named Kenyana whose mom combs the tangles out of her hair every night. It hurts Kenyana and as she cries, her mother talks to her about being proud of her beautiful hair and all the things she can do with it.

As Spurgeon reads, several children in the class reach up to touch their own hair.

“I see certain friends share a connection to (the story),” Spurgeon says. “I do too.”

Growing up in Greenville, S.C., Spurgeon says, she didn’t see herself in the books she read—until someone suggested she read Judy’s Blume’s Blubber. The book is about a little girl who is overweight and is teased by her schoolmates.

“I connected with that Judy Blume book because it was relevant to me,” she says. “I saw myself in that girl.”

The key to the success of the CLASSroom Project is having the teachers better understand their students by getting to know about their home lives.

At Oakwood Elementary, principal Shane Rayburn (PhD ’03) says his teachers began their work with the CLASSroom Project by taking an inventory of their own belief systems.

They took a bus tour of the school district so that each teacher could see the neighborhoods where students live. The community has changed a lot over the past decade, Rayburn says, moving from a population of mixed socioeconomic classes to one with more needs. Two-thirds of the students at the school receive free or reduced-price lunch.

“Oakwood looks like the real world,” Rayburn says. “Some middle (income), upper middle and extreme poor.”

The more the teachers know about their students, the better able they are to teach them, he says.

“We’re teaching kids, we’re not teaching programs. You’ve

“They’re not giving you strategies on how to change kids. They confront you with this issue of class in the classroom.”

- Jan Spurgeon 20 GEORGIA MAGAZINE • www.uga.edu/gm

Leslie Waldon (hand raised) a teacher at Hopkins Elementary School in Gwinnett County, participated in a recent workshop, “The Other Side of Poverty,” hosted by UGA Associate Professor Stephanie Jones at the UGA Gwinnett Campus.

got to take (students) and take the stuff they bring into school with them and work with that.”

One aspect of the project that has developed throughout the year at Oakwood is what Vagle has called classsensitive photo-storying with teachers and children. He began by sending schoolowned still- and video-capable cameras home with a handful of teachers and asked them to record in pictures some of the things that were relevant to their lives.

The teachers brought in the images and wrote stories to accompany them.

Then they turned it over to the students. Since school began in August, the students in kindergarten through fifthgrade have started to build a portfolio of photos accompanied by stories, based on people, places and things in their own lives.

“It’s bringing an aspect of the students’ everyday experiences outside the classroom into the school in a concrete way,” Vagle says.

Often when elementary school children are learning to write they are given very general topics, some of which can unintentionally privilege students from middle- and upper-middle-class backgrounds and place students from working-class and poor backgrounds in difficult situations. For example, an assignment to write about “What I did on my summer vacation” might be a great inspiration for someone who had a busy,

eventful break traveling across the country to visit extended family but non-inspiring to other kids who might not feel their break held the same luster.

“This [photo-storying] has the potential to improve student engagement and interest in their writing,” Vagle says.

“They’re the experts on that photo.”

Vagle continues to work with Oakwood and is launching a similar program in Minnesota.

Deborah Copher, a third-grade teacher at Oakwood, has taught at the school for 20 years, using prepared texts

and graphic organizers to teach her students to write. As part of the project she was encouraged by Jones to begin writing her own stories, which she shared with the students in daily lessons.

Copher’s willingness to share her family stories and listen to others’ stories, regardless of the economic conditions that produced them, expands both her and her students’ class sensitivity and helps broaden their understanding about the world around them. And all the while, children from all social class backgrounds build stronger connections with their teacher and their school.

“It’s really been pretty phenomenal what’s happened from that,” Copher says.

“They are just drawn into a lesson like I’ve never really seen before. It really seems to make a big difference in their writing.”

GET MORE See a multimedia presentation of Jones’ work with the CLASSroom Project at http://photo. alumni.uga.edu/mediapg/detail/69/classrm Want to give?

To contribute to the CLASSroom Project, contact Aldon Knight, executive director of development for the College of Education, at (706) 542-2267 or aknight@uga.edu.

Oakwood Elementary School fifth-grader Victor Aleman Anya talks through his story with Jones.

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Tracking the reds and blues Keith Poole’s analysis of the political polarization of American voters made him a media darling during the 2012 election season

by Mary Jessica Hammes (ABJ ’99) photos by Robert Newcomb

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K

eith Poole’s pioneering statistical analysis has been admired by political scientists for decades. This year, however, his notoriety moved beyond academia and into the mainstream media spotlight, and for good reason: Poole’s work not only changes the way we understand Congress and how it works, but it also raises the alarm of how Congress will address—or fail to address—an impending national economic disaster reminiscent of the Great Depression.

It was perfect election season fodder.

“We’re more famous than ever now,” says Poole, the Philip H. Alston Jr. Distinguished Chair in the School of Public and International Affairs’ Department of Political Science. “I think it’s finally broken through to the popular press because of all these bloggers, like [New York Times’] Nate Silver, [Washington Post’s] Ezra Klein. It spread and took off. Academics have known it a long time, and our work is in the textbooks starting around 2000, 2001.”

Poole poses in front of a steam locomotive from the Gainesville Midland Railroad, now on display in Jefferson, Ga. The train was built in 1907 and presented to the city of Jefferson in 1959.

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With Howard Rosenthal, politics professor at New York University, Poole in the early 1980s created NOMINATE, a statistical software package that analyzes congressional roll call votes through history—all 13 million of them cast since the first Congress in 1789. Poole and Rosenthal have developed updated versions of NOMINATE, most recently DW-NOMINATE (the DW is for “dynamic, weighted”), as technology has changed. The program (available at www. voteview.com)—which won the 2009 Statistical Software Award from the American Political Science Association, cited for being “a landmark in software development for political science”—precisely plots on a graph where legislators stand on any issue.

“To put it most simply, this data allows students of Congress to measure ideological distance between members of Congress,” says John Maltese, head of the UGA Department of Political Science. NOMINATE was “the first comprehensive, constantly updated and objective measure of the ideology of individual members of Congress.”

NOMINATE was also the first tool that explained the motivation behind the roll call voting decisions.

“This result changed political scientists’ understanding of why members of Congress vote the way they do, which was previously characterized as reflecting a chaotic mix of local interests and parochial concerns,” says Chris Hare, a Ph.D. student in political science and Poole’s graduate research assistant. “Instead, the bulk of congressional voting can be understood as an ideological struggle using the spatial model of voting.”

“Virtually everyone who studies Congress uses NOMINATE,” Maltese says.

Poole’s interest in politics began early. He was born in Newport, Ore., in 1947, to a carpenter-gunsmith father and schoolteacher mother. They moved often to pursue work, and their lifestyle was never affluent, living once without indoor plumbing and another time in a trailer behind a carpentry shop where Poole’s father worked.

He began reading the newspaper by age 7; by the eighth grade, he avidly followed the 1960 Kennedy-Nixon

One of Poole’s fall 2012 classes was an upper-level undergraduate course, “The Polarization of American Politics.”

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Since the mid-1970s, Democrats and Republicans in Congress have continued to move away from the ideological center and toward their respective liberal and conservative poles. This trend can be seen in the graph (above), which shows the mean score of the Democratic and Republican parties on the liberal-conservative dimension in the House since the end of Reconstruction. NOMINATE scores (shown on the vertical axis) range from -1 (most liberal) to +1 (most conservative), with a 0 score representing the midpoint of the extremes (the most ideologically moderate position). Because the Democratic Party was split into North and South throughout much of this period, the means of both wings are shown separately on the graph.

debates on TV. That year also marked his introduction to another lifelong passion: he got his first amateur radio license, which he has kept ever since (eventually holding the highest class of licensure, Amateur Extra Class, since 1969). He taught himself Morse code “with a telegraph key hooked up to a battery and a buzzer.”

In 1965, he began working his way through Portland State University, with unexpected results: he flunked out of classes, twice.

“I partied,” he says.

Poole decided he wasn’t college material and enlisted in the Army without his parents’ knowledge. He remembers the exact date when he went to Vietnam: April 2, 1968. He was nearly killed by Viet Cong rockets a month later. One of his good high school friends died in a separate incident near Saigon that July. From

his base southeast of Saigon he saw countless body bags on their way home.

When he returned from Vietnam in April 1969, he had a new plan: use the GI Bill, return to Portland State and maintain a 3.85 GPA. After graduating with a B.S. in Political Science in 1972, he received both his M.A. and Ph.D. in political science at the University of Rochester. Before assuming the Alston Chair in 2010, he taught at the University of California, San Diego, the University of Houston, Carnegie-Mellon University and the University of Oregon.

A discovery he made in Rochester led to the unique visual component of NOMINATE. While not the best student, Poole says, he immersed himself in cuttingedge econometrics and statistics and learned to write computer code. And then he realized something surprising.

“I can see things in my head,” he says. “I can visualize geometric things and move them around inside my head and look at them. I didn’t think I was Mr. Einstein or anything. It just finally dawned on me that I can see these things that other people can’t.”

To clarify: “I can visualize mathematical distribution and move it around, and then I put it into computer code to see if I’m right. Most of the time, it’s exactly right.”

The result is a graph that groups and color codes voters by ideology, making the ideological makeup and motivations of Congress very clear.

Voteview’s YouTube video, “Congressional Voting from 1789 to Present,” shows NOMINATE graphs in rapid chronological order, giving the impression of a living organism made up of small red and blue parts which are moving slowly around in DECEMBER 2012 • GEORGIA MAGAZINE

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Photos and a Lionel model train sit on a shelf in Poole’s Baldwin Hall office. The photo of a young Poole in military wear was taken in March 1969 shortly before he left Vietnam. The other, taken in the late 1980s, shows him standing in front of a supercomputer at Purdue University, where he was working on the NOMINATE statistical method.

an undulating cluster. But the big picture is clear: starting around the 1970s, the blues and reds separate more and more, spreading out and far away, with some of the reds meandering off into the wild. The cluster has become two disparate organisms operating independently. Congress is currently the most polarized along party lines it has ever been since the late 19th century, according to Poole.

Poole will address the effect of polarization on financial panics in his next book, co-written with Rosenthal and Nolan McCarty, politics and public affairs professor at Princeton University, Political Bubbles: Financial Crises and the Failure of American Democracy, expected to be released

by Princeton University Press in April 2013. The book compares the response of America’s political system to the current financial crisis to that of the 1920s-30s, which occurred at a low point of political polarization.

There’s no expectation that Congress will respond to 26 GEORGIA MAGAZINE • www.uga.edu/gm

the current financial crisis nearly as well, Poole says.

“The news is not good,” he warns. “They failed.”

“The problems of the U.S. are so serious that we need broad-scale compromise. With extreme polarization, it’s very difficult to get politicians to behave as statesmen—we don’t have the Harry Trumans and Dwight Eisenhowers anymore.”

Poole was an infant during Truman’s term, but he remembers Eisenhower clearly, especially the 1956 election—his parents, Roosevelt Democrats, groused when an uncle declared support for Eisenhower.

UGA’s hiring of Poole, a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a faculty member in the highly ranked political science department at the University of California, San Diego, turned heads in 2010, Maltese says. In addition to his ongoing research and stature as a public intellectual, Poole has used his endowed fund to

Poole has been fascinated by amateur radio since he was in eighth grade and has held the highest class of licensure since 1969.

He keeps his equipment set up in his Athens home.

promote the department by sponsoring a steady stream of leading political scientists to speak on campus and has funded major conferences at UGA. “This provides a vibrant intellectual atmosphere for our faculty, students and community, and it has done much to the raise the visibility of our department,” Maltese says. “The University of Georgia is a better place because of him.”

Jimmy Alston, president of the John Huland Carmical Foundation in Atlanta and son of Philip Alston, for whom Poole’s endowed chair is named, agrees.

“His specialty is how Congress votes; I can’t think of a more pertinent issue right now than that one,” Jimmy Alston says.

As for Poole, he says he likes living in the South, spending his free time with his wife and their six cats; researching and teaching about the political-economic history of railroads, another one of his abiding interests; and communicating in Morse code with longtime amateur radio

friends for hours each day. While he calls himself “crusty and unusual” while discussing the foreboding political future, he includes a glimmer of hope in a later email: “Things are bad now, but they will get better,” he writes. “Hang on and be optimistic.”

—Mary Jessica Hammes is a freelance writer living in Athens, Ga. GET MORE Check out Poole’s website at http://voteview.com. The YouTube video of increased political polarization over time can be viewed at www. youtube.com/user/voteviewuga.

Want to give?

Contributions to the UGA Department of Political Science can be made by contacting Sarah Baines at (706) 542-9661 or at sbaines@ uga.edu.

DECEMBER 2012 • GEORGIA MAGAZINE

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Almost famous After a breakout performance that earned five medals at the London Olympics, swimmer Allison Schmitt has trouble blending in

by Allyson Mann (MA ’92) photos by Andrew Davis Tucker

“Are you Allison Schmitt?”

This is a question the UGA senior hears often because she gets recognized pretty much everywhere she goes—in class, while walking to the bus stop and even at the bowling alley. She was planning on settling back into campus life with a little less fanfare, but that’s not exactly working out.

It’s understandable, though, because less than a month before UGA’s fall semester began Schmitt won five medals—three golds, one silver and a bronze—at the London Olympics. Add those to the bronze medal she earned at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and she’s the most decorated Olympic Bulldog ever.

Lots of people watched as she made her mark in freestyle swimming. More than 219.4 million Americans tuned in to the Olympics, according to Nielsen television ratings, making the summer games the most-watched event ever in U.S. TV history. All that makes it difficult for Schmitt to fly under the radar.

“It’s something I never thought would happen,” she says, “but I’ll take it.”

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Schmitt (center, in purple) is well known for keeping practices light. “I get my work done for sure, but you can’t go two hours without having fun,” she says.

In 2009, UGA Swim Coach Jack Bauerle found Allison Schmitt sitting by herself at the NCAA championships at Texas A&M. It was the first day of the meet, typically a high-stress event for most swimmers, and she was laughing and giggling. A little concerned, Bauerle asked her what was going on.

“I’m just so happy this meet’s getting ready to start,” she told him.

That happy-go-lucky attitude is vintage Schmitt, who goes by “Schmitty” and is notorious for telling really lame jokes, offering a vast repertoire of high fives and being the consummate team player.

Her Twitter account (@arschmitty) identifies her as “a professional waver with a permanent smile… always up for a high five.” She has a theory about the best way to achieve a quality high five.

“If you both look at elbows, you both hit it always right,” she says.

Her repertoire includes a turkey, for which she pounds her open palm, fingers spread wide, against the other person’s fist, and a snail, for which she curls two fingers and bumps them against the top of the other person’s fist.

At a media session in August, she told a couple of her favorite jokes.

Schmitt: “Knock knock.”

Reporters: “Who’s there?”

Schmitt: “Interrupting cow.”

Reporters: “Interrupt— Schmitt: “MOO!” 30 GEORGIA MAGAZINE • www.uga.edu/gm

Teammate Megan Romano, Schmitt’s roommate and best friend, is accustomed to her sense of humor.

“She likes to tell jokes, and she likes to think she’s funny,” says Romano, a UGA senior. “I mean, she is a funny person, but I don’t think her jokes are funny.”

But Romano—and the rest of the team—can count on Schmitt to make a bad practice better.

“She’s just a great friend,” she says. “She’s positive like 95 percent of the time. She’s always pushing you and just wants the best for you.”

Bauerle, in his 34th year of coaching swimming at UGA, says Schmitt always takes swimmers under her wing if they’re having a rough time.

“She’s the kind of kid you always want to have on your team,” he says. “She’s great. She’s great for everybody, not just herself.

“To Schmitty’s credit, I’ve been doing this awhile, and I’m not sure I’ve seen too many people love college swimming as much as she does.”

Perhaps her love of the team dynamic stems from her childhood. Schmitt grew up in Canton, Mich., with an older brother and sister and younger twin sisters. Self described as “the loud one,” she spent her formative years playing sports like baseball and ice hockey (their dad built a rink in the backyard) before embracing soccer as her sport of choice. But Schmitt got cut from the team at age 12 and followed her older sister into the pool, where she found her niche.

Although swimming is an intense sport with a grueling schedule that can include twice-daily practices, Schmitt enjoys it.

“Racing’s fun for me, and that’s one of the best things about the sport,” she says. “It’s just fun for me, and I’m pretty lighthearted about it.”

Don’t mistake lighthearted for lackadaisical, though.

Dissatisfied with her performance at the 2008 Olympics— where she earned a bronze medal as a member of the 800-meter freestyle relay and finished ninth in the 200-meter freestyle—she redshirted last year to train with Bob Bowman at the North Baltimore Aquatic Club. She’d trained there for a year before enrolling at UGA so it was a homecoming of sorts, reuniting her with Bowman and a group of elite swimmers including Michael Phelps.

Bowman watched as the bubbly Schmitt and the more serious Phelps developed a tight bond.

“I think that Allison lightened Michael up a little bit, and he made her more serious, which they both needed,” he says.

“It worked out well.”

Schmitt gets a little teary talking about Phelps.

“He is the best swimmer ever alive, so just being able to train with him was an honor,” she says. “He is like a brother to me, and he’s really helped me get to the point where I am right now.”

Though Phelps—swimming’s bestknown athlete—retired after the London Olympics, Bowman is confident that the sport of swimming is in good hands with Schmitt, who thanked him at the end of every practice, sometimes twice a day.

“I think she’s a great example of how to work hard and make improvements and be a team leader,” he says. “I think you couldn’t get a better role model than Allison.”

Schmitt’s positive attitude was on full display when she spoke to reporters after returning to UGA. “I love swimming for whatever is on my cap, and I’m honored to come back to Georgia for my last year and swim with a G on my cap,” she told them. “I’m excited for it, and I’m excited to get back in the water with this team. I think we have great things coming for us this year, and I’m proud to be a Bulldog.”

Early in September, Schmitt is sitting in the back of an SUV, autographing photos while on the way to Rocky Branch Elementary School in Watkinsville, where she’ll meet with kindergartners and talk about goal setting.

Invitations have been pouring in, including one from the Detroit Lions, who want her to be a guest at one of their games.

“The Lions?” she says, smiling as she hears this news. “Sweet.”

Then she turns her attention back to the task at hand.

“What am I supposed to say here?” she asks.

But Schmitt—who thinks she might want to work with kids one day—is a natural and knows exactly what to do.

After signing in at the school’s main office, she meets a 5-year-old boy who’s

headed home with a tummy ache. The 6-foot-1-inch Schmitt kneels down to show him a gold medal.

“Do you wanna touch it?” she asks.

“Do you wanna hold it? Do you play sports? What’s your favorite thing to do in school?”

The boy smiles as he touches the medal and tells her that he plays football.

After posing for photos and autographing a swim cap, Schmitt faces more than 75 kindergartners that have assembled to meet her. One of the children asks how many Olympic medals she has, and Schmitt answers with a question of her own.

“Who’s 5?” she asks, and is answered with a chorus of “I’m 5! I’m 6!” before she replies. “That’s how many I have.”

When she pulls out one of the three gold medals she brought, the kids react with a collective “Ohhhhhhh.”

In September Schmitt visited Rocky Branch Elementary School in Watkinsville, where she read The Little Engine That Could and talked with kindergartners about how she trains. “You like cupcakes? I like cupcakes sometimes too, but you need to eat your greens,” she told them.

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She made this transition once before, after the 2008 Olympics, so it’s not a big deal.

“When we were in London it felt like we were in our own little world, but once we come back, it’s back to real life.”

Schmitt (left), fellow gold medalist Shannon Vreeland (center) and Swim Coach Jack Bauerle addressed the press at a UGA media event in August. This month Schmitt will travel to Istanbul, Turkey, to compete with the U.S. team at the short course world championships.

“This is what I got for going to practice every day,” she says.

Schmitt shares her daily routine and asks the kids lots of questions, emphasizing the importance of going to practice, eating healthy foods, listening to your coaches and setting goals. She brings kids up to the front to demonstrate swim strokes, answers questions about what it was like at the Olympics and reads a story—The Little Engine That Could.

After the story Schmitt brings out all three gold medals, and the kids line up to see them. One little boy puts a medal around his neck.

“Then you have to hold it up and smile,” Schmitt says, bringing an imaginary medal up near her face to demonstrate. She watches as the boy imitates her. “That’s a gold medal smile right there.”

Today’s visit is one of many appearances she’s made since the Olympics. While in London, she and Olympic roommate Elizabeth Beisel, also a swimmer, appeared on “Beat TV,” a daily entertainment show broadcast in 30 countries. The show’s other guest 32 GEORGIA MAGAZINE • www.uga.edu/gm

that day was actor Rupert Grint (Harry Potter’s Ron Weasley, for any Muggles out there), whom she immediately dubbed “Rupe Dog.” When she returned to the U.S., she appeared on NBC’s “Today” show, where 98 Degrees band member Nick Lachey asked to take a photo with her.

“I felt like I was in middle school,” she says. “I was like, this is so cool!”

Her hometown organized a ceremony to honor her when she returned for a visit before heading to Athens for fall semester. At UGA, she was part of a relay—including Vince Dooley, who gave her a quick lesson on the Heisman pose—that delivered the football onto the field for the first home game. She traveled to Washington, D.C., with Team USA to meet President Obama. And she and other UGA Olympians were honored at the Sept. 29 football game against Tennessee.

Despite the accolades, Schmitt is ready to return to a more normal life. At the media session, she told reporters that it was no problem transitioning from the glory of the Olympics to the more normal existence of a student athlete.

Not long after she returned to Athens, Schmitt spent a Friday night sitting on the couch watching TV with Romano. A little bored, they started talking about picking up Schmitt’s car, which she’d left in Baltimore.

“We looked up flights, and there was a flight in like two and a half hours, and we’re like, ‘Ok, we can make it just in time for this flight,’” Schmitt says. “So we picked up and left for the weekend.”

An impromptu road trip is something any college student might do, and when she’s not in the pool Schmitt is pretty much like any other 22 year old. She enjoys shopping—she’s a fan of the TOMS line—scrapbooking and just hanging out. Her favorite movies are comedies, but under Romano’s tutelage she’s learning to enjoy scary movies, although she won’t watch them by herself. She tries to keep her free time unscheduled, leaving room for spontaneity.

“I guess I just don’t really ever have plans,” Schmitt says, laughing. “I just like to go with the flow, play it by ear.”

Between classes and workouts, the life of a student athlete doesn’t allow for a lot of down time. When it does, she’s sometimes so sore that she can’t lift her arms.

“It’s rough. It’s hard,” she says.

“Sometimes I go home and just pass out.

I don’t even want to make dinner.”

But Schmitt appreciates the structure the coaches provide, because she has plans that include helping the UGA women’s team win an NCAA championship this year, something it hasn’t done since 2005, three years before she enrolled.

“It would be the icing on top of my

whole career here,” she says.

And after graduation she’ll keep swimming, training for the 2013 FINA World Championships in Barcelona and then the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

“Even with three gold medals I’m still not satisfied, and I still want more,” Schmitt says. “I still have more goals to accomplish.”

In the meantime, she’s concentrating on finishing her degree in psychology and fulfilling her role on the UGA team. Although the Olympics were an experience she’ll never forget, in some ways her success hasn’t quite sunk in.

“I still don’t think I realize I’m walking around with five medals,” she says.

Chances are that if she forgets, someone on campus will remind her by asking the question she hears most often these days.

“Are you Allison Schmitt?”

At UGA’s Sept. 1 football game against Buffalo, Schmitt was part of a relay that delivered the football onto the field. She and other UGA Olympians enjoyed a more formal recognition during the Sept. 29 football game against Tennessee.

Evan Stichler

Eight days, five medals, one athlete Here’s what swimmer Allison Schmitt accomplished during one extraordinary week at the London Olympics this summer.

July 28 Bronze

4x100-meter freestyle relay Schmitt swam the anchor, or final, leg of the relay that set an American record of 3:34:24.

July 29 Silver

400-meter freestyle After chasing France’s Camille Muffat to the wall in a photo finish, Schmitt claimed silver and set an American record of 4:01:77.

July 31 Gold

200-meter freestyle This time Schmitt finished nearly two seconds ahead of Muffat, lowering her own American record and setting an Olympic record with a time of 1:53:61.

Aug. 1 Gold

4x200-meter freestyle relay Schmitt swam the anchor leg of the relay that set an Olympic record of 7:42:92. UGA teammate Shannon Vreeland, who swam the third leg, also won gold.

Aug. 4 Gold

4x100-meter medley relay Tapped for this race just 37 minutes before it began, Schmitt swam the anchor leg of the relay that set a world record with a time of 3:52:05.

DECEMBER 2012 • GEORGIA MAGAZINE

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was well represented by 30 students, alumni and staff at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. In addition to students like swimmer Allison Schmitt (see page 28), athletes included alumni like tennis player John Isner (M ’07) and diver Chris Colwill (AB ’08). UGA’s Head Diving Coach Dan Laak served as assistant coach for the U.S. diving team, and former Lady Dog basketball player and five-time Olympian Theresa Edwards (BSEd ’89) served as chef de mission, or manager, for the U.S. team in London. Here’s a roundup of the medal winners and participants who made the Bulldog Nation proud!

34 GEORGIA MAGAZINE • www.uga.edu/gm

Shannon Vreeland Overland Park, Kan. Swimming UGA junior Shannon Vreeland was something of a dark horse at the 2012 London Olympics. Unlike teammate Allison Schmitt, she wasn’t expected to medal. So when Vreeland won gold as a member of the 4x200-meter freestyle relay, it was a surprise to everyone but perhaps UGA Swim Coach Jack Bauerle. Back in May, Bauerle told Vreeland that she needed to change her expectations. “You’re in the perfect situation,” he told her, “because no one thinks you’re going to do this, so no one’s going to be bothering you and telling you that you should.” Vreeland swam the third leg of the relay, followed by Schmitt’s anchor leg, that set an Olympic record of 7:42:92. “I’ve watched the Olympics forever,” she says. “I would like cry along with the people on the medal stand from home. So being able to do that myself was a dream come true.” Vreeland is majoring in economics and international affairs. She plans to attend graduate school and keep swimming, with an eye on the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. “I feel like I’m just starting to hit my stride in long-course swimming,” she says.

Amanda Weir (M ’05) Lawrenceville, Ga. Swimming Weir, who swam for UGA during her freshman year of college in 2004-05, won a bronze medal in the 400-meter freestyle relay at the 2012 Olympic Games.

During her year at UGA, Weir was on the 2005 400-meter freestyle team that won the NCAA championship. She won silver medals in the 400-meter freestyle relay and the 400-meter medley relay at the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Greece. At the 2006 nationals she set an American record by winning her third national title in the individual 100-meter freestyle event. Nicknamed “Hollywood” because she always wears sunglasses, Weir graduated from the University of Southern California in 2009 with a degree in fine art. Weir is married to Chris Davis, a coach and former swimmer at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. She is planning a career in interior design.

Reese Hoffa (BSEd ’02) Athens, Ga. Track and field The third time was the charm for shot putter Reese Hoffa (BSEd ’02), who competed in his third Olympics this summer and won his first medal—a bronze. “It was an absolutely incredible experience to get an Olympic medal, to finally earn my star in terms of representing the U.S.,” he says. After the Olympics Hoffa earned first-place finishes at meets in Poland, Switzerland, Berlin and Zagreb, Croatia—besting Olympic gold medalist Tomasz Majewski at the last two— before heading home to wife Renata Foerst (BSEd ’05) for some well-deserved rest. During the fall, he made appearances at schools and spoke at events in support of an issue close to his heart—foster care and adoption. Hoffa was adopted at the age of 4, a story that he recounted at the news conference after his Olympic win. In November he served as keynote speaker for a National Adoption Day gala in Washington, D.C. Hoffa plans to compete through 2014 while also updating his teaching certification. When he retires, he hopes to teach physical education at the high school level. “If I didn’t make it as a track and field athlete, education was the direction that I wanted to go in with my life,” he says.

DECEMBER 2012 • GEORGIA MAGAZINE

35

UGA students and alumni athletes representing the United States

Chris Colwill (AB ’08) Brandon, Fla. Diving

Teresa Edwards (BSEd ’89) Smyrna, Ga. Served as Chef de Mission, or team manager, for the U.S. Olympic team in London.

Hyleas Fountain (BSFCS ’10) Port Orange, Fla. Track and Field

36 GEORGIA MAGAZINE • www.uga.edu/gm

Andrew Gemmell Junior Wilmington, Del. Swimming

Dan Laak Head diving coach Served as assistant coach for the U.S. diving team

John Isner (M ’07) Greensboro, N.C. Tennis

Kibwe Johnson (M ’03) Carriere, Miss.

Track and Field

UGA students and alumni athletes representing other countries

Brittany Rogers Freshman Port Coquitlan, British Columbia, Canada Gymnastics

KUWAIT Yousef Alaskari Freshman Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Swimming

ARGENTINA Jenny Dahlgren (AB ’08) Spring, Texas Track and Field

CROATIA Andras Haklits (AB ’03) Allentown, Pa. Track and Field

POLAND Aleksandra Putra (AB ’10) Chassagny, France Swimming

BAHAMAS Debbie FergusonMcKenzie (BS ’00) Clermont, Fla. Track and Field Shaunae Miller Freshman Nassau, Bahamas Track and Field

Kara Lynn Joyce (M ’11) Ann Arbor, Mich.

Swimming

Jarryd Wallace Sophomore Athens, Ga. Track and Field (Paralympics)

CANADA Sultana Frizell (M ’07) Perth, Ontario, Canada Track and Field Brittany MacLean Freshman Etobicoke, Ontario, Canada Swimming

Martin Maric (M ’08) Split, Croatia Track and Field FINLAND Matias Koski Freshman Duluth, Ga. Swimming

SOUTH AFRICA Troyden Prinsloo (BSFCS ’11) Durban, South Africa Swimming Wendy Trott (AB ’12) Cape Town, South Africa Swimming

GERMANY Sarah Poewe (AB ’09) Cape Town, South Africa Swimming

ST. LUCIA Levern Spencer (BSHP ’08) Castries, St. Lucia Track and Field

GREAT BRITAIN Elizabeth Reid (M ’12) London, England Volleyball

TURKEY Ediz Yildirimer Freshman The Woodlands, Texas Swimming

DECEMBER 2012 • GEORGIA MAGAZINE

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38 GEORGIA MAGAZINE • www.uga.edu/gm

40 under forty

The UGA Alumni Association The UGA Alumni Association in September recognized the 2012 class of 40 outstanding graduates under the age of 40.

Honorees were selected by a committee of UGA administrators and faculty, members of the UGA Foundation and the Alumni Association, based on the impact they have made in business, leadership, community, education and/or philanthropy; their demonstrated dedication to UGA; and how well they uphold the pillars of the Arch—wisdom, justice and moderation. They were feted at a luncheon at the Georgia Aquarium on Sept. 20.

DECEMBER 2012 • GEORGIA MAGAZINE

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40 under forty 1994

1995

Camille Kesler (BSFCS ’94) College of Family and Consumer Sciences

Lisa Blanco (BBA ’95, JD ’98) Terry College of Business, School of Law

Executive assistant to the CEO, Calysto Communications Atlanta, Ga.

General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer at Energy Technology Ventures, LLC Atlanta, Ga.

Kesler is president of the board of directors for the Junior League of Atlanta, one of the largest Junior League chapters in the world, and is the first minority president in the chapter’s 96-year history. She serves on the boards of the Atlanta Children’s Shelter, the Atlanta Speech School Guild and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra.

Blanco was one of the first female partners on the corporate team at King & Spalding, where she worked following law school. She is president of the board of directors for All About Developmental Disabilities, a nonprofit in Atlanta that provides support services to families living with disabilities.

She is a member of the IT advisory board of Georgia Tech’s Economic Development Institute.

April Hembree Crow (BSEH ’95) College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Global Sustainability Director for Packaging, The Coca-Cola Company Atlanta, Ga. Crow created community-focused recycling initiatives resulting in thousands of bins placed in communities around the world. She worked with Delta Airlines on a program that has led to the recycling of millions of pounds of materials. She is on the Georgia 4-H Foundation Board of Trustees and is a member of the Keep Georgia Beautiful Foundation board.

Scott Jones (BSFR ’95) Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources CEO, Forest Landowners Association Atlanta, Ga. Jones was appointed

by U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns to the Forest Research Advisory Council in 2005. In 2011 he chaired the Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources Alumni Steering Committee.

As CEO for the Forest Landowners Association he has worked on policy issues that protect forests for future generations. In his personal life he has lobbied for extended benefits for children with autism.

“Success is contributing to something that advances the greater good and knowing at the end of each day I have given my very best self to whatever I am trying to accomplish.”

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—April Crow (BS ’95)

Amy Loggins (BSEd ’95, JD ’99) College of Education, School of Law Assistant Vice President and Corporate Counsel, Crawford & Company Marietta, Ga. Loggins handles all labor and employment issues for Crawford, the world’s largest independent provider of claims and management solutions. She chaired the company’s social media task force and implemented its social media policy and training program.

In 2010 she received the Jonathan A. Silber Outstanding Committee Member of the Year Award from the Association of Corporate Counsel, an association that promotes and supports in-house counsel at private businesses and organizations.

The UGA Alumni Association

1996

Mike Martin (ABJ ’95) Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication Owner and Creative Director, Skylab-B Dunwoody, Ga. In 2011 Martin produced the UGA public service announcement, featuring the Chapel bell and R.E.M.’s song, “Oh My Heart,” in partnership with several other alumni.

His advertising clients include Harley Davidson, the Dallas Mavericks, Toyota and the Atlanta Braves. Martin was instrumental in building the Truth Campaign, billed by Adweek magazine as one of the most effective anti-tobacco advertising campaigns ever produced. His work has been recognized with some of the highest industry awards.

Cabell Sweeney (BSEd ’95) College of Education

Andy Lipman (BBA ’96) Terry College of Business

Co-owner and Designer, Cabell’s Designs Rome, Ga.

Director of Purchasing, DiversiTech Norcross, Ga.

Cabell’s Designs holds collegiate licenses to produce tailgating products for more than 60 schools including UGA. The company donates 10 percent of its net income to U.S. and international charities. Sweeney has volunteered with Young Life, a Christian-based organization for children, for more than 20 years and serves on the board of Karama Gifts, a microfinance nonprofit that assists in financing, designing and marketing handcrafted Africanmade products in the U.S.

Lipman is the founder of the Wish for Wendy Softball Challenge, started in memory of his sister, which has raised over $1.25 million for cystic fibrosis research.

Lipman, who also has CF, has written three books and is a motivational speaker.

A 12-year veteran of the Peachtree Road Race, he was chosen to run with the Olympic Torch in 2001. He is on the boards of the Terry College of Business and the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

Larry Lykins Jr. (BSA ’96, MS ’98, EdS ’01) College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, College of Education Owner and Operator, Cartecay Vineyards Ellijay, Ga. A four-year letterman in swimming at UGA, Lykins co-founded and co-chairs the Gilmer Relief and Service Project, an organization through which youth in the county help disadvantaged residents. He founded and serves as head coach of a swim team for the youth in Gilmer County. His business, Cartecay Vineyards, was the first commercial vineyard to open in Gilmer County and has helped promote tourism in the north Georgia region.

Kristen Manion Taylor (ABJ ’96, MBA ’97) Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication, Terry College of Business Managing Director of Worldwide Marketing Communications and Ancillary Revenue, Delta Airlines, Inc. Atlanta, Ga. After the merger with Northwest Airlines, Taylor led Delta’s new brand campaign, “The Truth Well Told.” She also helped launch the 2010 “Keep Climbing” campaign, which resulted in the company’s highest ad awareness and recognition scores since Delta began tracking this measure.

She shares her expertise with the New Media Institute providing opportunities for UGA students to partner with Delta on social media projects.

“Success is defined by personal happiness. When you are happy and at peace with yourself, that is when you have achieved success.”

—Larry Lykins Jr. (BSA ’96, MS ’98, EdS ’01) DECEMBER 2012 • GEORGIA MAGAZINE

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40 under forty 1997

Robert Teilhet (AB ’96, JD ’00) Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, School of Law

Lee Zell (AB ’96) Franklin College of Arts and Sciences Account Executive, Turner Broadcasting, Inc. Atlanta, Ga.

Executive Director, Georgia Conservation Voters Smyrna, Ga. Teilhet leads a statewide, nonprofit organization dedicated to making conservation a state priority. He served four terms in the Georgia House of Representatives.

In 2010, he was appointed director of the Georgia Public Defender Standards Council by then-Gov. Sonny Perdue. Teilhet is a strong supporter of environmental conservation and the protection of indigent defendants’ rights. As a law school student, he served as president of the class of 2000.

Zell represents Turner Sports as the marketing arm of TBS, TNT and NBA-TV and is responsible for national advertising sales for many major league sports. She co-chairs the Shepherd Center Society, which under her leadership has raised more than $100,000 for the SHARE Initiative, a comprehensive rehabilitation program for service men and women who sustained a traumatic brain or spinal injury in Afghanistan or Iraq.

Jennifer L. Chapman (BBA ’97, MAcc ’98, JD ’02) Terry College of Business, School of Law

Keysha Lee (ABJ ’97) Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication

Brian Robinson (ABJ ’97) Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication

Assistant Professor of Legal Studies and Accounting, Georgia Gwinnett College Adjunct Professor of Tax Law, UGA Athens, Ga.

Host and Executive Producer of “Lessons with Mrs. Lee,” KLee Productions Chamblee, Ga.

Deputy Chief of Staff for Communications, Office of the Governor Atlanta, Ga.

Chapman worked as a tax consultant and tax attorney before joining the faculty at Georgia Gwinnett College in 2008. She has served on the board of directors for the UGA Alumni Association since 2006. She also has served on the boards of the Morton Theater, Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic, the Georgia Children’s Chorus and the Athens Justice Project, all in Athens.

“Success comes from within. If you do what you love and share your talents and achievements with others, success will follow. It cannot be measured by financial success or public accolades. Rather, it flows from self-respect and the knowledge that you have done your best.”

— Jennifer Chapman (BBA ’97, MAcc ’98, JD ’02)

42 GEORGIA MAGAZINE • www.uga.edu/gm

Lee was a television news reporter in three markets before joining the Academy of Mass Communication for DeKalb County Schools. She created “Lessons with Mrs. Lee,” a studentproduced, centered and led television series on DeKalb County’s educational access channel (PDSTV 24) that features successful professionals giving advice and sharing life lessons with students. Lee was recognized by Scholastic Crimestoppers for her leadership in using video production to promote student advocacy against bullying.

As communications director for Nathan Deal’s 2010 campaign for governor, Robinson served as chief spokesman for the candidate, wrote his speeches and helped develop the campaign message.

As communications chief for the governor, he manages the communications staff, serves as an adviser to and chief spokesman for Deal and works with other state offices to coordinate a common message. Prior to working for Deal, Robinson handled communications for U.S. Rep. Lynn Westmoreland and U.S. Rep. Phil Gingrey.

The UGA Alumni Association

1998

John W. Stephenson Jr. (BS ’97, JD ’00) Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, School of Law Partner, Troutman Sanders Interim CEO, Atlanta Hall Management Atlanta, Ga. Through his work at Atlanta Hall Management, Stephenson was instrumental in bringing the College Football Hall of Fame to Atlanta. He has been involved with the UGA Honors Program Alumni Board and Advisory Board since 2002. Stephenson was selected as a ”Rising Star” by Georgia Super Lawyers, a state-bystate lawyer rating service and magazine, and Atlanta Magazine each year from 2005 to 2011. He serves on the Emory University Board of Visitors and the Chick-fil-A Bowl Selection and Marketing Committee.

Dr. Drew Wade (AB/BS ’97) Franklin College of Arts and Sciences

Andrew (Andy) Childers (JD ’98) School of Law

Lorraine Riffle Hawley (ABJ ’98) Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication

Partner of Radiology, SouthCoast Medical Group Savannah, Ga.

Founding Partner, Childers, Schlueter & Smith, LLP Atlanta, Ga.

Wade is one of the founders of the Savannah Bicycling Campaign and serves as president of Georgia Bikes!, an organization that works to improve bicycling conditions and promote bicycling throughout the state.

The group’s work has resulted in an increase in safe biking trails, lanes, regular community rides and awareness events.

Wade graduated cum laude from the Emory University Medical School.

Childers concentrates his practice on representing people harmed by pharmaceuticals, food and defective products.

His trial advocacy has resulted in more than $250 million in verdicts and settlements.

Childers was named a “Rising Star” three times by Georgia Super Lawyers, a state-bystate lawyer rating service and magazine.

As a law student, Childers was a national champion in the 1997 ATLA Student Trial Advocacy Competition.

Director of International Government Relations, Archer Daniels Midland Company Arlington, Va. Hawley manages ADMC’s government relations strategy in more than 100 countries.

Prior to ADMC, Hawley was the government affairs representative for Chevron in Europe, Africa and Asia. In 2009, she was selected as a Franklin Fellow for the U.S. Department of State, serving as a foreign affairs officer. She represents ADMC as vice chair of the U.S.-Poland Business Council, as vice chair and founding board member of the U.S.-Romania Business Council and as chair of the U.S.-Mexico Leadership Initiative Agricultural Working Group.

Christy Seyfert (BSA ’98) College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Vice President, Michael Torrey Associates, LLP Alexandria, Va. Now vice president for a government relations firm, Seyfert has worked on Capitol Hill for 13 years— six with U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss— developing legislative policy and working with regulatory agencies to benefit Georgia agriculture.

For three years she served on the board of directors for the Senate Employees’ Child Care Center. In 2011 she received a Young Alumni Achievement Award from the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.

“I measure success by how positive an impact my work has on the lives of my clients and

their families, no matter how big or how small their cases may be.”

—Andy Childers (JD ’98) DECEMBER 2012 • GEORGIA MAGAZINE

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40 under forty 1999

Peter Dale (ABJ ’99) Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication Executive Chef, The National Athens, Ga. Through his work, Dale supports many philanthropies and serves as a board member for the BoyButante Aids Foundation, which raised more than $35,000 last year. This year he received the “People’s Choice Best New Chef for the Southeast” by Food and Wine Magazine.

After graduating, Dale worked as a legislative aide for then U.S. Rep. Nathan Deal.

Dale is affiliated with a number of sustainable food organizations, including Georgia Organics, P.L.A.C.E. (Promoting Local Agriculture & Cultural Experience), Slow Food and Southern Foodway Alliance.

2000

Paton (Paul) Faletti Jr. (BBA ’99) Terry College of Business President and CEO, NCM Associates Atlanta, Ga. Faletti began his career in automotive retail at BMW in Munich, Germany.

From there he climbed the corporate ladder with positions at Rolls Royce, Maserati and Jaguar. When he was named to head the retail automotive consulting business NCM, Faletti was the company’s youngest president and CEO in NCM’s 64-year history.

A summa cum laude graduate with highest honors from the UGA Honors Program, Faletti actively supports the Red Cross of North America, the Susan G. Komen Foundation and the United Way.

Kelly Kautz (AB ’99, JD ’02) Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, School of Law Mayor, City of Snellville Attorney, Law Office of Kelly D. Kautz Snellville, Ga. Kautz serves as mayor of Snellville, with a population of 18,000 and an annual budget of $18 million. She was the first female elected mayor of Snellville.

She previously served as assistant district attorney for the Alcovy Circuit in Monroe, Ga. She is president of the Gwinnett Criminal Defense Bar Association. Kautz has been an adjunct professor at Georgia Gwinnett College, teaching undergraduate courses about the legal environment of business.

Greg Skowronski (BBA ’99) Terry College of Business Senior Financial Analyst, Habitat for Humanity International Atlanta, Ga. After working in finance for seven years on Wall Street, Skowronski moved to South Africa as the national director of microcredit for Paradigm Shift, a nonprofit organization that works with churches to empower the poor in their communities. In 2011 he went to work for Habitat for Humanity International, building homes around the world for disadvantaged people.

Skowronski serves on the alumni board for the UGA Honors Program.

Dr. Dhruti Contractor (AB ’00, MA ’01) Franklin College of Arts and Sciences Captain and Orthopedic Surgeon, U.S. Army Grovetown, Ga. Contractor is the first female orthopedic resident at Eisenhower Army Medical Center in Augusta, Ga. She is actively involved in the Indian-American community, serving as chair of the Georgia Indian-American Political Action Committee and city coordinator for the National Gandhi Day of Service in Atlanta and Athens. While a medical student at George Washington University, she organized the first-ever policy session between med students and members of Congress to create awareness of issues affecting the future of physicians.

“Success is giving your all in any situation. Even if your ultimate goal is not reached, working hard toward that goal is success. If you work hard, you can always be proud and consider yourself a success.”

—Stacey Evans (AB ’00, JD ’03)

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The UGA Alumni Association

2001

Jehan Y. El-Jourbagy (ABJ/AB ’00, JD ’03) Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication, School of Public and International Affairs, School of Law Executive Director, Jasper County Mentor Program Monticello, Ga. As director of the mentor program, El-Jourbagy in two years increased the number of mentors in the county from 50 to 100. She is a part-time practicing attorney with Heygood, Lynch, Harris, Melton and Watson, LLP, where she once was partner.

In 2008, El-Jourbagy was awarded a Justice Robert Benham Award for Community Services, presented annually by the State Bar of Georgia. A former member of the Recoat Band, she founded the Monticello Community Band.

Stacey Evans (AB ’00, JD ’03) Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, School of Law Partner, Wood, Hernacki & Evans, LLC Smyrna, Ga. The first in her family to graduate from college, Evans was elected to the Georgia House of Representatives in 2010. She serves on the boards of Communities in Schools in Cobb County and the Cobb County Library Foundation. She previously served as statewide president for the Georgia Young Democrats. In 2008 she was one of 10 people selected by Outstanding Atlanta, an organization that recognizes young adults who contribute to the betterment of the city.

Vivian Greentree (ABJ ’00, AB ’01) Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication, School of Public and International Affairs

Patrick Millsaps (JD ’00) School of Law

Director of Research and Policy, Blue Star Families Chesapeake, Va.

Millsaps’ law practice, begun in 2007, merged with Hall Booth Smith & Slover. He served as chief of staff for Newt Gingrich’s 2012 presidential campaign.

He is the attorney to the Bibb County Board of Education.

Millsaps was appointed

by Gov. Nathan Deal to chair the Georgia Government Transparency and Campaign Finance Commission in 2011.

He is a member of the Georgia State Ethics Commission and the Georgia Superior Court Clerks Cooperative Authority.

After serving in the U.S. Navy, Greentree assisted in founding Blue Star Families, a national military family support organization, which has grown from seven women to more than 35,000 members. She led the organization’s 2010 Military Family Lifestyle Survey research team, which presented its results to the House and Senate military family caucuses. She is a member of the board of directors for USO Central Virginia, the First Lady of Virginia’s Advisory Committee on Military Affairs and a founding member of the Old Dominion University Military Alliance.

Partner, Hall Booth Smith & Slover, P.C. Camilla, Ga.

Kyle Wingfield (ABJ ’01) Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication Opinion columnist, The Atlanta JournalConstitution Atlanta, Ga. Wingfield writes semiweekly columns and daily blog items and represents the AJC at public forums and speaking engagements.

Wingfield previously worked for the Associated Press and the Wall Street Journal. In 2006, he received the John E. Drewry Young Alumnus Award from the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication.

“Success for me is learning something

new today that I didn’t know yesterday and using my knowledge to help others.

And, some days, getting everyone out of the house with their homework done and shoes on.”

—Vivian Greentree (ABJ ’00, AB ’01) DECEMBER 2012 • GEORGIA MAGAZINE

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40 under forty 2002

2003

Maj. Brian Dodson (BBA ’02) Terry College of Business

Cmdr. Milton Troy III (MBA ’02) Terry College of Business

Chief, 62nd Airlift Wing Exercises and Evaluations, U.S. Air Force Tacoma, Wa.

Supply Corps Officer, U.S. Navy Virginia Beach, Va.

As a pilot, Dodson has supported senior leadership and peers during four combat deployments to Southwest Asia in support of Operations Enduring Freedom, Iraqi Freedom, New Dawn and Horn of Africa. He is one of 38 Antarctic instructor pilots that provide support and supplies to personnel on the continent. Dodson’s passengers have included the U.S. vice president, secretary of state, secretary of defense and the Air Force chief of staff.

Troy manages serviceoriented supply and logistics policy for the Atlantic naval forces at U.S. Fleet Forces Command in Virginia.

He provided combat logistics support during Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom. He received the Outstanding Military Volunteer Service Medal presented by the U.S. Navy for his work with Drug Education for Youth. He has received numerous other commendations from inside and outside the military, including the Meritorious Service Medal twice and the Founders Award from the Phi Gamma Gamma Chapter in Kuwait of the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Inc.

46 GEORGIA MAGAZINE • www.uga.edu/gm

Heather Kaney Burge (BSFCS ’03) College of Family and Consumer Sciences

Jennifer Doobrow (BS ’03) Franklin College of Arts and Sciences

Owner, BleuBelle Boutique Savannah, Ga.

Owner and Periodontist, Periodontal and Implant Associates, Inc. Birmingham, Ala.

At age 21, Burge opened BleuBelle Boutique, Inc., which has two stores in Savannah and has been recognized as one of Savannah’s best bridal boutiques. In 2007, Burge received the Small Business of the Year Award from the Savannah Area Chamber of Commerce. In 2012, Burge’s business participated in “Dress for Success,” an annual event that helps disadvantaged women with career development, clothing and mentoring. She is a member of the board of Dress for Success Savannah.

Doobrow took over her father’s three dental practices, as well as a number of other businesses, when he passed away. In 2012 she was selected to be a member of the North American Society of Periodontists. She is a leadership council member for the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Dentistry and has been a volunteer with Special Olympics and The Free Dental Clinic in Charleston, S.C.

Corey Dortch (BSA ’03, MEd ’05, PhD ’11) College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, College of Education Senior Associate Director, MBA Program, Goizueta Business School, Emory University Mableton, Ga. Dortch co-founded Dawgs for Dance Marathon, now known as the UGA Miracle Alumni Connection, which keeps alumni connected to the annual student dance marathon that raises money for Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta.

He was a member of the Arch Society Legacy Campaign Steering Committee and helped raise over $100,000 for the Arch Society Endowment Fund.

“Success is selflessness. It is lying in bed at night completely

content with life. It is waking up, looking in the mirror and being proud of who you are.”

—Brian Dodson (BBA ’02)

The UGA Alumni Association

2004

2005

Caree Joli Jackson (MS ’04, PhD ’08) College of Family and Consumer Sciences

Christy Overall (BBA ’05) Terry College of Business

Researcher and Oak Ridge Institute for Science Education Fellow, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Mableton, Ga. At the CDC, Jackson is part of a team charged with implementing first lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move child care initiative.

Jackson also co-leads a federal interagency workgroup focused on healthy weight in early childhood and oversees the CDC’s technicalassistance activities to states and communities that are pursuing obesity-prevention efforts in early child care and educational settings. In 2012 she received a Pacesetter Award from the UGA College of Family and Consumer Sciences.

Senior Information Technology Consultant, Technisource Buford, Ga. A former member of the Terry College of Business Alumni Board, Overall now serves as the sponsorship chair for the Terry Professional Women’s Conference and is on the Alumni Association’s Women of UGA Steering Committee. Through her work at the Technisource Internet technology consulting firm, she mentors women in the IT field through “Girls Get I.T.” In 2012 she was named the Sigma Kappa Alpha Alumnus of the Year.

Joby Young (AB ’05, JD ’09) Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, School of Law Chief of Staff, U.S. Rep. Austin Scott, 8th District Villa Rica, Ga. Young is one of the youngest chiefs of staff to serve a congressman in Washington, D.C., after overseeing Austin Scott’s 2010 campaign.

Prior to that he worked for the office of the lieutenant governor of Georgia as legislative counsel. He is a member of the Atlanta Bar Association, The Federalist Society and the Republican National Lawyers Association.

2007

2010

Thomas J. (T.J.) Callaway IV (BBA ’07) Terry College of Business

Christie Haynes (AB/AB ’10) Franklin College of Arts and Sciences

Co-founder and CEO, FiveMile.com Athens, Ga.

President, Dawson County Chamber of Commerce and Convention & Visitors Bureau Cumming, Ga.

Callaway’s retail store, Fivemile. com, is dedicated to the outdoor sportsman. Callaway is a former chair of the Terry Young Alumni Board and is a past recipient of the Outstanding Citizen’s Award given by the Georgia secretary of state. Callaway’s entrepreneurial interests began early.

At age 16, he began the Callaway Lawn Service, which he continued until his junior year at UGA. He is a member of the Rotary Club of Athens.

As the former executive director of the BlakelyEarly County Chamber of Commerce, Haynes established a youth leadership program to benefit underprivileged kids. In 2009 and 2010, Haynes served as deputy political director for Secretary of State Brian Kemp.

She is on the board of directors for the School of Public and International Affairs Young Alumni Group and past president of the Southwest Georgia chapter of the UGA Alumni Association.

“Success is a self-established state of mind that comes from hard work, learning

from mistakes and accomplishments, and most importantly achieving an inner peace of mind. By approaching each day as a unique opportunity to grow and learn, success can be attained continuously.”

—Milton Troy (MBA ’02) DECEMBER 2012 • GEORGIA MAGAZINE

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NOTES CLASS

Burr on exhibit Through January, approximately 50 items from Brian Hardison’s extensive collection of materials once owned by or relating to Aaron Burr are on display in the Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library Gallery in UGA’s Richard B. Russell Building Special Collections Libraries. On loan from Hardison (AB ’81) are materials from Burr’s military career, letters detailing his participation in several notable trials including his own trial for treason, miniature portraits of Burr and his daughter, Theodosia Burr Alston, correspondence from Alexander Hamilton, Burr’s pocket watch, and other manuscripts, pamphlets and letters. Hardison’s collection, recently exhibited at The Grolier Club in New York, is the subject of his new book, Burriana. After starting his law career 20 years ago, Hardison began collecting memorabilia of Burr, a former vice president who is best known for killing former treasury secretary Alexander Hamilton in a duel. For exhibit hours and other information, go to www.libs.uga.edu/hargrett/index.shtml.

CLASS NOTES

Compiled by Chase Martin 1955-1959 James C. Wilkinson (DVM ’57) of Chilhowie, Va., and family were named Farm Family of the Year.

1960-1964 Pat Dye (BSEd ’62) of Notasulga, Ala., was inducted into the Academy of Richmond County Hall of Fame. Charlayne HunterGault (ABJ ’63) of Johannesburg, South Africa, was named winner of the 2012 Walter Cronkite Award.

Hunter-Gault was one of the first two African-American students to enroll at UGA in 1961. James T. McIntyre Jr. (AB ’63, JD ’63) 48

GEORGIA MAGAZINE • www.uga.edu/gm

of Clifton, Va., received the 2012 Distinguished Alumni Award for Lifetime Career Achievement

by Young Harris College. Joe Scarborough (BSF ’63) of Fortson was inducted into the Jordan High Athletic Hall of Fame. George Watts (ABJ ’63) of Alexandria, Va., was named secretary general of the International Poultry Council.

Eloise Sutton Pino (BSHE ’64) of Marietta received her Certified Teacher and Certified Artist honors from the International Porcelain Artists and Teachers Inc. 1965-1969 Sheryle Bolton (AB ’68, MA ’75) of Oakland, Calif., was named CEO of Sally Ride Science.

Stephen C. Watson (BBA ’68) of Lakeland, Fla., was named in The Best Lawyers in America.

1970-1974 William Miller (BSFR ’70) of Fernandina Beach, Fla., was inducted into the Georgia Foresters Hall of Fame. Mike Lisenby (AB ’71, JD ’74) of Swainsboro was awarded the OurTown Hero Award. Mary Virginia Taylor (AB ’72) of Columbia, S.C., became the first woman bishop of the Holston Conference of the United Methodist Church. Earl Barrs (BSFR ’74) of Macon was inducted into the Georgia Foresters Hall of Fame. Doug Hahn (AB ’74) of Columbus was elected bishop of the

ALUMNI PROFILE

Storming the (Alabama) state house A Georgia alumnus found his calling in Alabama politics

by Kelly Simmons

When Mike Hubbard was a young boy growing up in Hartwell, his class went on a field trip to the local radio station. It made such an impression on the then-13-yearold that he went back and asked for a job.

Next thing he knew he was on the air.

“I knew that’s what I wanted to do,” Hubbard (ABJ ’84) says.

Now speaker of the Alabama House of Representatives, Hubbard made a career behind—and later in front of—the camera. President of Auburn Network Inc. in Auburn, Ala., Hubbard oversees radio stations, a magazine, an audio production company and a media consulting business.

And he’s considering a run for Alabama governor in 2018.

“It’s challenging; I’m very competitive,” he says of his political career. “It also provides a lot of opportunity to do a lot of good.”

As a Georgia student, Hubbard didn’t anticipate the role he would eventually play in Alabama politics. He entered UGA the same year as running back Herschel Walker and earned a quarterly stipend working for the UGA Athletics Association. Hubbard lived with the football players in McWhorter Hall.

“It gave us someone who could follow through on inperson interviews at the dorm or phone call interviews when players were asked to call a media rep after practice,” says UGA Senior Associate Athletic Director Claude Felton, then sports information director.

Hubbard was part of Walker’s successful campaign for the Heisman Trophy in 1982. Hubbard also worked with the department to promote his roommate, defensive back Terry Hoage, for the award. Though defensive players are rarely in serious contention for the award, Hoage came in 5th in the voting in 1983.

He and Hoage remain good friends. Hoage, who owns a winery in Paso Robles, Calif., named his 2010 Syrah Cuvee “The Hub” after his former roommate.

Hubbard’s work at UGA is what led him to Auburn University in 1984, right after graduation. As a member of the sports information office there, Hubbard helped Auburn secure the 1985 Heisman for running back Bo Jackson.

“I thought I’d be here two years and I’ve been here ever since,” he says.

His work at Auburn led to his media empire. As a 21-year-old he took oversight of the Auburn coach’s show,

Mike Hubbard

Special

handling production, ad sales and syndication. The show realized a $35,000 profit the year before he began doing it, $100,000 the year after, he says.

He left Auburn University in 1990 to head Auburn’s radio and television sports network. In 1994, he created the Auburn Network.

In 1996 he was introduced to Bob Riley, who at the time was running for Congress.

“It changed my life,” Hubbard says of that meeting. “I liked Bob Riley a lot. I came home that night and told my wife, ‘I’m going to get involved in his campaign.’”

Riley was elected and soon suggested that Hubbard ought to run for office as well. In 1998, Hubbard won the District 79 seat, representing part of Auburn and Opelika.

The first Republican to represent that district, he was re-elected in 2002 and 2006. Elected chairman of the Alabama GOP in 2007 by the executive committee of the Alabama Republican Party, Hubbard was Riley’s minority floor leader and put together the successful plan to elect a Republican majority to the state house in 2010.

Hubbard says he wants to serve another term as house speaker before considering a run for governor in 2018.

Beyond that?

“I really have no desire to go to D.C.,” Hubbard says.

“We are really doing some extraordinary things. We are changing Alabama fundamentally.”

GET MORE Learn more about Mike Hubbard in his book, Storming the State House: The campaign that liberated Alabama from 136 years of Democratic Rule, New South Books (2012).

DECEMBER 2012 • GEORGIA MAGAZINE

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CLASSNOTES

®

It is great to be a Georgia Bulldog! As we head into 2013, the excellence of UGA alumni makes all of us very proud.

Evidence of the quality of our graduates will be on display on Jan. 26, when we celebrate the fourth annual Bulldog 100 at the Marriott Marquis in Atlanta.

The successes of the Bulldog 100 honorees continue to impress. It is amazing to behold the leadership, ingenuity and entrepreneurship of our graduates. As we look forward to a growing and strengthening economy, I am extremely pleased to see UGA graduates leading the way. Other UGA students and graduates leading the way are our 2012 London Olympics participants. I want to congratulate and commend you all on Steve Jones outstanding performances. You made us very proud!

It is important to note that in January 2013, we will celebrate the 228th anniversary of UGA’s founding as the nation’s first state-chartered university, highlighted by the 11th Annual Founders Day Lecture at the UGA Chapel on Jan. 30. Our Student Alumni Council members will also host several events during the month that will focus on wishing UGA a happy birthday. We as alumni stand on centuries of storied tradition.

I look forward to joining with you to ensure UGA’s continued success for centuries to come.

The UGA Alumni Association will welcome valued alumni chapter volunteers back to campus on Feb. 22-24 for the Alumni Leadership Assembly. This fun and informative weekend is a wonderful opportunity for chapter leaders to connect with each other and with the University. Chapters will learn how they can best reach more than 275,000 alumni and friends around the globe. The Office of Alumni Relations will present chapter of the year and volunteer of the year awards to hard-working chapter leaders at the awards dinner. Regional chapters are the backbone of our programming and we are very grateful to the volunteers, who work tirelessly to bring UGA back to their communities.

Remember that your local alumni chapter offers a multitude of ways to plug in to UGA. For example, you can assist current students through admissions and Freshmen Send Off events and network with fellow graduates at Bulldogs After Business Hours and lunch gatherings.

Lastly, I want to congratulate the new fall semester 2012 graduates and welcome them as the newest members of the Alumni Association. I encourage you to become involved with your local chapter.

Your Alumni Association wishes you a wonderful holiday season. Thank you for all you do for the University of Georgia and for making 2012 another great year. Your relationship with the University is very important to us, and we look forward to growing it with you in 2013.

Go Dogs!

—Steve Jones (BBA ’78, JD ’87), president

UGA Alumni Association

UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA ALUMNI ASSOCIATION Deborah Dietzler, Executive Director ALUMNI ASSOCIATION OFFICERS Steve Jones BBA ’78, JD ’87 President, Atlanta Tim Keadle BBA ’78 Treasurer, Statham Ruth Bartlett BBA ’76 Asst. Treasurer, Atlanta Harriette Bohannon BSHE ’74 Secretary, Augusta Vic Sullivan BBA ’80 Immediate Past President, Albany ALUMNI ASSOCIATION WEBSITE www.alumni.uga.edu

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GEORGIA MAGAZINE • www.uga.edu/gm

800/606-8786 or 706/542-2251 To receive a monthly e-newsletter, enroll at: www.uga.edu/alumni ADDRESS CHANGES E-mail records@uga.edu or call 888/268-5442

Episcopal Diocese of Lexington, Ky. Miles “Andy” Stone (BSFR ’74) of Fargo was inducted into the Georgia Foresters Hall of Fame.

1975-1979 Thomas Clarence Bobbitt III (AB ’75) of Dublin received the Frost Ward Lifetime Achievement Award from the Council of Municipal Court Judges of Georgia. Clara Byrd Davis (ABJ ’77) was named principal of Britt David Magnet Academy in Columbus. Warren Manley (BSPh ’78) of Fitzgerald was appointed to serve on the board of directors for Wiregrass Georgia Technical College as a representative of the Ben Hill community. Stuart K. Mathis (BBA ’78) of San Diego, Calif., has been president of UPS for 10 years. Before working with UPS Mathis held positions with Domino’s Pizza and Six Flags.

Bartley Hildreth (DPA ’79) of Atlanta was appointed to the board of directors for the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board.

1980-1984 Gregory Borland (AB ’80, MPA ’85) of Hoover, Ala., retired after 25 years with the Drug Enforcement Agency. He now works as a special investigator for Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange. Rev. Jonathan Holston (AB ’80) of Smyrna was elected bishop in the United Methodist Church. Jennifer Whitener (ABJ ’81) of Lookout Mountain was elected to the board of trustees of RSA-US, an affiliate of the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce.

Kickoff Friday 2012 UGA alumni and fans gather on campus the Friday before the first home game to celebrate the upcoming season.

Among the events, sponsored by the Alumni Association: a breakfast featuring Head Football Coach Mark Richt and a luncheon for the Women of UGA. For more photos go to the Kickoff Friday Web page at www.alumni.uga.edu.

(Above) MeriLogan Nix, 13, and Taylor Karvonen, 15, guests of Jonathan Cabe (BBA ’85), all of Nashville, Ga., cozy up to Hairy Dawg during the Kickoff Friday breakfast at the Georgia Center.

(Left) On hand for the kickoff breakfast and Coach Mark Richt’s speech were, from left: Heather Nix (Pharm.D ’12) and James Nix, of Travelers Rest, S.C.; Jody Cabe (BBA ’85) of Nashville, Ga.; Debbie Crowe (ABJ ’82), Bill Crowe and Mandy Crowe, of Athens, Ga. (Bottom) Kickoff Friday featured a panel discussion with wives of UGA coaches. The event, part of the Women of UGA series, was moderated by Chuck Dowdle, retired sports director and anchor for WSB-TV in Atlanta.

From left: Sheryl McGarity, married to Director of Athletics Greg McGarity; Dowdle; Cindy Fox, married to Head Men’s Basketball Coach Mark Fox; Pam Landers, married to Head Women’s Basketball Coach Andy Landers; Ashley Pearson, married to Assistant Men’s Basketball Coach Phillip Pearson; Paige Grantham, married to Football Defensive Coordinator Todd Grantham; Lainie Bobo, married to Football Offensive Coordinator Mike Bobo; and Katharyn Richt, married to Head Football Coach Mark Richt.

For more information: alumni@uga.edu (800) 606-8786 www.alumni.uga.edu

DECEMBER 2012 • GEORGIA MAGAZINE

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CLASSNOTES

I

WHY give “When I first started at the School of Social Work, a professor asked, ‘Why are you here?’ and some people said for religious reasons, some people said because it feels good and they’re motivated to do it. The professor said, ‘It’s because we are all damaged and there’s this subconscious idea that if somehow we get to where we can fix other people we can fix ourselves. That has stuck with me. To me, I’ve been fixing myself out here for the last 20 years while helping my kids and tenants start their own businesses. What is better than that?”

Special King Shaw

— King Shaw (BBA ’74, MSW ’91), on why he is an Annual Fund donor, giving $1,000 each to the Dean Charles Stewart Scholarship Fund and the School of Social Work Discretionary Fund.

When King Shaw completed his undergraduate degree at UGA in 1974 he was poised to take over the family business, the King Plow farm implement manufacturing company, founded in 1902. However, the farm crisis of the 1980s forced the company to shut down in 1986. Shaw reluctantly sold the family business and eventually sought a new career path by earning a master of social work degree at UGA in 1991. While in the program, the new owner of King Plow defaulted on his loan. A savvy businessman, Plow’s agreement to sell had included a provision that would return the property to him should the buyer default.

“I got it back, now what am I going to do with it?” Shaw says he thought at the time.

He decided to make the space available for free to local groups raising money for AIDS awareness and other charities. Later he allowed artists to set up shows in his event spaces in order to give them exposure and produce a creative tone for events. With mounting interest from potential tenants and support from the Atlanta Arts Blueprint for Action, which outlined the needs of the arts community in Atlanta, Shaw devised a master plan for the property to rent and eventually sell space to artists and businesses for residential and commercial use.

Today the King Plow Arts Center on West Marietta Street accommodates 600-700 people in 230,000 square feet of space on 12.5 acres. Businesses and organizations housed there include the Paul Mitchell Cosmetology School, the Actors Express Theatre and Georgia Lawyers for the Arts.

Want to give? Go to www.externalaffairs.uga/os/makegift.

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GEORGIA MAGAZINE • www.uga.edu/gm

Pam Walter Fountain (ABJ ’82) of Tallulah Falls was named assistant director of development at Brenau University in Gainesville, Ga. Phil Bettendorf (AB ’83, MMC ’91) of Athens was named president of the Rotary Club of Athens. R. William Lee III (BBA ’83) of Marietta joined Sheffield Investment Management, overseeing operations and marketing functions. Tim Mersmann (BSFR ’84) of Snellville was named district ranger at Conecuh National Forest.

1985-1989 Mike Craft (BSEd ’85, MEd ’88) of Ringgold was named head wrestling coach at Heritage High School. William “Billy” Ray II (BBA ’85, MBA ’86, JD ’90) of Lawrenceville was appointed to the Georgia Court of Appeals. James Martinez (ABJ ’86) was named Associated Press news editor for New York state. Patty Sellers Veazey (AB ’86) of Tifton was appointed by Gov. Nathan Deal as a new member of the Judicial Nominating System for the state of Georgia. Todd McGhee (BSEd ’87, MEd ’93, EdD ’98) of Jefferson was named superintendent of the Social Circle Board of Education.

Paul Dubsky (BBA ’88) of Atlanta was promoted to director at Bennett Thrasher PC. Janet Parham (AB ’88) of Bogart was named CEO of the Coalition of Athens Area Physicians. Robert L. Downs (BSEd ’89) of Kennesaw was named principal of Pope High School.

1990-1994 David Blanchard (AB ’90) of Atlanta was named deputy

Design star When asked to submit a tree house design for Nashville’s Cheekwood Botanical Gardens, Anne Daigh thought outside of the tree. Her vision: a 30-feetlong, 15-feet-wide kid-friendly conch shell.

“We (the architects) had to design a tree house inspired by a literary work of art. I chose the conch shell from Lord of the Flies,” Daigh (BLA ’02) says.

After a couple of weeks of construction, her vision came to life and was placed next to a sandbox to tie in the theme.

“We had 1,800 people come out on opening day,” Daigh says. “The kids truly loved it, and they knew exactly what it was, which is the coolest part.”

Her work resonated through the SPECIAL gardens, literally.

“At the end of the conch shell there was a horn for the kids to blow,” Daigh says. “Whoever got to it first would become the leader of the tribe.”

Daigh already was a hit in Nashville, having won Best in Show at the Cheekwood Antiques & Garden show in February.

Held annually, the show benefits the gardens and allows artists to show off their designs. Daigh created an ocean-themed planter box, using pink and purple for a sunset scene over the ocean, complete with specially chosen flowers and papiermâché dolphin mobiles.

—Chase Martin

Out of Control?

The University of Georgia Psychology Clinic is now offering treatment for addictive behavior. This includes drug use (alcohol, tobacco, or illegal drugs), but also gambling, eating and sexual behavior. Our smoking program includes free nicotine patches. All treatment is strictly confidential and our affordable rates are on a sliding scale. Call 706-542-1173 for more information.

DECEMBER 2012 • GEORGIA MAGAZINE

53

CLASSNOTES ALUMNI PROFILE

A voice for nature Alumna heads Florida division of The Nature Conservancy

by Chase Martin

The first degree was a tossup between English and science. But after three UGA diplomas it was quite clear Shelly Lakly chose science.

“I’ve always been inspired by being outdoors,” Lakly says. “It’s how I find solace.”

That inspiration drove Lakly (BS ’92, MS ’94, PhD ’99) to become executive director of the The Nature Conservancy in Florida. The road to the Sunshine State, however, wasn’t a direct route. She spent seven years working for Zoo Atlanta and Peter Frey Lakly with husband Daniel Lakly (BSEd ’91, Med traveled the world working as an ’95, EdS ’98) and twin sons Jake and Connor. ecologist and conservationist.

“I did panda research in China, of Mexico since the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. worked in Mongolia and worked with the Masai The Nature Conservancy is receiving $15 billion tribe in Kenya,” Lakly says. After these journeys, to $25 billion from last year’s RESTORE Act, she worked for the Georgia chapter of The Nature legislation that seeks to restore Gulf Coast natural Conservancy for four years and a year ago made resources and economies through fines assessed the move to Florida to head the chapter there. to BP and other responsible companies.

The Nature Conservancy is the nation’s largest “This money will be the biggest amount to hit nonprofit conservation agency. the Gulf of Mexico in my lifetime,” Lakly says.

And one year has given Lakly plenty of time With these funds, the Gulf states can prove to speak up for nature. One success was the purchase of a tract of land to help the near-extinct the vitality of the ecosystem, such as restoring oyster populations and mangroves that could Florida panther populate the area north of the Caloosahatchee River in the southwest part of the potentially be used as a buffer for future state. The project was 10 years in the making and hurricanes and other natural disasters.

“We really do long-lasting stuff,” she says. “We required about $6.5 million in public and private are the trusted voice in conservation the business contributions, Lakly says. community sits down with.”

The Conservancy also has undergone an Lakly says that it is necessary to move people extensive coastal mapping project, aiming to on the continuum of caring about conservation. locate fundamental marine ecosystem hotspots.

“We must manage conservation to include Through this project, Lakly was able to save the needs of humans,” she says. “We need to critically endangered North Atlantic Right Whales save the stage for the actors, whether they be from collisions with ships, just by adding a mere animals or ourselves. Being able to protect the 10-minute reroute to a busy shipping lane in the environment and ensure the natural world for Atlantic Ocean. future generations is a dream job.”

“Our work falls into two categories: restoration The only downside? Florida is ridden with and protection,” Lakly says. In order to achieve its gators. The blue and orange kind. goals, the conservancy aspires to change the way “We had to join a Florida Bulldawgs club,” the economy values the ecosystem.

Lakly says. “Gators are everywhere.”

That is crucial to the restoration of the Gulf

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GEORGIA MAGAZINE • www.uga.edu/gm

assistant commissioner for Atlanta’s Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities. LaShawn McMillan (AB ’92, MSW ’97) of Dacula was named principal of Ashford Park Elementary School. Gerald E. Thomas (BSEd ’92, MEd ’94), a professor at Springfield College, authored a chapter titled “Facilitating Learning with Adult Students in the Transcultural Classroom” in the text Transcultural Blended Learning and Teaching in Postsecondary Education. Mark Spain (BBA ’93) of Cumming and his team were named one of America’s top real estate teams

by The Wall Street Journal and REAL Trends, ranking number 20 nationally for most transaction sides with 512 closings.

GO DAWGS

Shop the uga Bookstore for the best selection of apparel and gifts

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1995-1999 Ross Cohen (AB ’95) of New York, N.Y., was named senior vice president of digital inventory strategy for Viacom Media Networks. Keith Blackwell (AB ’96, JD ’99) succeeded George Carley as a Georgia Supreme Court justice. Michael L. Benner (BBA ’97) of Atlanta was named producer and client advocate at the Human Capital Practice of Willis Insurance Services of Georgia.

Steven Flynn (MMC ’97) of Alpharetta was named the global general manager for NeuroFocus, a consumer neuroscience laboratory in Atlanta. Jeff Wood (BBA ’97) of Alpharetta was named vice president of product management for Navicure. Jim Chasteen (BBA ’98) and Charlie Thompson (AB ’99, JD ’03, MBA ’03) are the founders and sole owners

DECEMBER 2012 • GEORGIA MAGAZINE

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CLASSNOTES

NEWBOOKS

56

A Boy Named Zelton Deeds Publishing (2012)

By Phyllis Conner Free (BFA ’69) This memoir composed of a narrative compilation of humorous and inspiring stories chronicles the boyhood life of the late Okefenokee Swamp storyteller Zelton Conner.

Secrets of Shakespeare’s Grave Houghton Mifflin (2012)

By Deron Hicks (BFA ’90) In this pre-teen novel, 12-year-old Colophon Letterford investigates the link between her family’s literary legacy and Shakespeare’s tomb, embarking on a journey of literary and historical mystery.

Why Men Get Married CreateSpace (2012)

By Nikki Farrin (BBA ’99) Using 20 years of discovery through dialog with men, the author delivers a hardhitting, candid and revealing narrative about the way men really feel about marriage.

Dunaway’s Crossing Lloyd and Aspinwald (2012)

By Nancy Brandon (BSEd ’88, PhD ’00) This work of historical fiction, set in Savannah and middle Georgia in 1918 during the Spanish influenza pandemic, follows newlywed Bea Dot Ferguson as she struggles against her brutal husband and the deadly virus.

Images of America: Madison Arcadia Publishing (2012)

By Marcia Brooks (MPA ’02) and Kittie Mayfield This photographic biography of a city tells the story of Madison, Ga., through images dating from the early 1900s to today.

Atomic Assistance Cornell University Press (2012)

By Matthew Fuhrmann (AB ’02, PhD ’08) Part of the Cornell Studies in Security Affairs series, Fuhrmann’s essay examines historical precedents and argues that providing peaceful nuclear assistance helps the spread of nuclear weapons.

Everything You Need to Survive the Apocalypse Simon Pulse (2012)

By Lucas Klauss (AB ’05) In this novel, 15-year-old Phillip Flowers wrestles with questions about love, loss, faith and the end of the world.

I Love Georgia/I Hate Florida Triumph Books (2012)

By Patrick Garbin (BBA ’98) In Garbin’s fifth book on UGA football, the Bulldog Nation is provided with a 320-page manual as to why it should love its Georgia Bulldogs and hate the despised Florida Gators. Foreword by former UGA All-American tailback Tim Worley.

The Red and Black Breed Red House Books (2012)

By Molly Read Woo (ABJ ’84) This novel combines murder mystery with a memoir, set in Athens and featuring many local landmarks.

The First Apartment Book: Cool Design for Small Spaces Clarkson Potter (2012)

By Kyle Schuneman and Heather Summerville (ABJ ’03) This guide offers bold ideas for achieving big style in small places on any budget, with photo examples.

GEORGIA MAGAZINE • www.uga.edu/gm

South Carolina Curiosities Globe Pequot Press (2011)

By Lee Davis Perry (ABJ ’76) and J. Michael McLaughlin Part of a series of state-specific books, this book highlights the most outlandish places, characters, events and wonders found within South Carolina’s borders.

ONLINE Find more books by UGA graduates at www.uga.edu/gm SUBMISSIONS Submit new books written by UGA alumni to gmeditor@uga.edu. Please include a brief description of the book and a hi-res pdf or tiff of its cover.

of American Spirit Whiskey.

Catherine Rowan-Collier (DVM ’98) of Destin, Fla., started Caring Hands Mobile Veterinary Hospital, serving the Emerald Coast of Florida. Chad Warner (ABJ ’98) of Rome was promoted to senior associate athletic director at Shorter University.

Ulmer Zeke Bridges III (AB ’99) and Grace Bolles Bridges of Cary, N.C., welcomed daughter Liliana Olivia Bridges July 9. Beth Anne Trombetta (BSFCS ’99) of Valdosta was named executive director of the Valdosta City Schools Foundation.

2000-2004 Jennifer Duvall (BSFCS ’00) is founder of JennySueMakeup. com and is a freelance makeup artist and beauty blogger. Hunter Hopkins (BBA ’00) of Atlanta is executive director of the Georgia Petroleum Council. Tiffany Hutchens (MEd ’00) of Suwanee was named principal of Medlock Bridge Elementary School. Haley Rice (AB ’00) of Columbus was named artistic director of Colquitt/ Miller Arts Council. Tituss Burgess (AB ’01) has starred in various Broadway productions and will be featured in XL Nightclub’s show “Curtains Up.” C. Pierce Campbell (BBA ’01) of Florence, S.C., was elected as a shareholder of his law firm, Turner Padget Graham & Laney P.A. Jeff Carter (MMC ’01) of Hughesville, Md., is now director of communications for the undersecretary of management at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Ben Dukes (BBA ’01) of Los Angeles, Calif., and his band made

One special

agent John Longmire (BBA ’01), a special agent in the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Washington Field Office, received a 2012 Attorney General’s Award for Distinguished Service, the second highest award for employee performance given by the Department of Justice.

Longmire was part of a team of FBI agents and federal prosecutors recognized for their exceptional contributions in connection with the investigation and prosecution of former congressman William J. Jefferson of Louisiana and his coSPECIAL conspirators.

John and Julie Longmire The investigation, which began in March 2005 while Jefferson was a sitting member of the U.S. House of Representatives, resulted in the prosecution and conviction of Jefferson for 11 counts of bribery, honest services fraud, conspiracy, money laundering and Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) violations. Jefferson used his position as an elected official to corruptly demand that hundreds of thousands of dollars be paid to himself and his family members from business executives in exchange for his official assistance in winning businesses contracts in Western Africa.

In November 2009, Jefferson was sentenced to 13 years in prison, the longest sentence ever imposed for a current or former member of Congress.

Jefferson was also ordered to forfeit more than $470,000.

Longmire grew up in Athens but currently lives in Clifton, Va., just outside Washington, D.C., with his wife, Julie.

their television debut on “The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson,” playing his song “Down in Flames.” Joseph Goodroe (BSEd ’01, MEd ’02, EdD ’10) of Trenton was named principal of Banks County High School. Kristin Paul Hunt (ABJ ’01) and Samuel Hunt (ABJ ’02) of Woodstock welcomed son Davin Alexander Hunt July 1.

Jabaris Swain (BS ’01) of Boston, Mass., will spend a year in Rwanda working with a group called Team

Heart, helping to screen and provide cardiac surgery care to patients with critical rheumatic heart disease. Todd Bruce (AB ’02) is the rector of Trinity Episcopal Church in Folsom, Calif. Tamlin Hall (BSA ’02) of Los Angeles, Calif., was named a finalist for the 38th Annual HUMANITAS Prize, which honors television and film writers. Derrick Maxwell (BS ’02) of Athens was named principal of Whit Davis Elementary School.

DECEMBER 2012 • GEORGIA MAGAZINE

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CLASSNOTES

ALUMNI PROFILE

School of rock Elementary school counselor incorporates music into his lessons

by Chase Martin

Banging on drums and rapping in front of a classroom full of fifth-graders wasn’t exactly what David Young had gone to college to do. But when a passion for music and a desire to teach collide, the sound is bound to be unique.

Young (EdS ’04) earned his bachelor’s degree from Berklee College of Music in Boston, Mass., David Young and then worked at the Art Institute of Atlanta for eight years before completing his doctorate in education at UGA. While at the Art Institute, a new passion for counseling was kindled.

“I worked with kids a lot at the art institute,” Young says. “I really wanted to help kids and work as a high school counselor.”

Young soon learned that the demand was high for elementary-level male counselors, so he took his interest there and started with an 18-month unpaid internship.

Now, he’s into his third year at Mountain Park Elementary in Lilburn, and the beat lives on in the classroom.

“I always tried to imagine myself as the fifth-grader sitting there,” says Young, remembering how boring counseling was when he was a kid.

“I started writing little raps and skits on the topics to fill the time, and kids started enjoying them.”

Since then, Young has published Skits and Raps for the School Counselor, is working on another book and even wrote a CD of counseling songs with the help of friends and family.

He uses the material to convey the meaning and importance behind his lessons in sharing, tolerance, bullying and more. He has even started a drum circle, another creative outlet for his students.

“Kids really enjoy getting up and acting in front of other kids,” he says.

Not only are the kids having fun, but their grades and behavior have improved.

“If kids are bored they’re not learning,” Young says. “There were no elementary school counselors when I was growing up. Hopefully kids can apply these lessons later on and flashback on these things that I teach them.”

Young’s music inspirations don’t end in the classroom. When he’s not singing in the school, Young can be found rocking with his son in their band, the Amazing Mongooses.

But it’s not just fun; it’s a part of his life. He remembers Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones preparing for a tour, saying that he was working hard but it was not hard work.

“I thought that was such a great line,” he says. “To get paid to do something you enjoy is just, wow.”

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Dorothy Kozlowski

Stacey Hinton Tuneski (ABJ ’02, MPA ’04) of Washington, D.C., married Alexander Tuneski June 23. Richard Wellborn (BSEd ’02) of Monroe was named a 2012 Georgia Master Teacher. Cameron Schwabenton (BSFCS ’03) of Charleston, S.C., of Cameron Stewart Ltd. Co., has partnered with By Others Ltd. Co. to design a new luxury brand hotel in Charleston, S.C. 2005-2009 Jeremy Wilson (BBA ’05, MAcc ’06) of Macon has joined Draffin & Tucker LLP as a supervisor in the tax department. Brooke Casey (BBA ’06) of Mount Pleasant, S.C., joined Trio Solutions Inc. Tara Currier (ABJ ’06) of Cartersville was named executive director of the Cartersville Downtown Development Authority. Andrew Dill (BBA ’06, AB ’07) of Washington, D.C., was named the new director of federal relations for UGA. Andrew Floyd (BSFR ’06) of Bush, La., is now student

Air Force

Principal of the

Year

Health Professions

Scholarship

Laurie Barron (BSEd ’96), of Coweta County’s Smokey Road Middle School, is the 2012 MetLife/ National Association of Secondary School Principals National Middle Level Principal of the Year.

An educator for more than 17 years, Barron taught English at Newnan High School for six years before becoming an assistant principal at Arnall Middle School and then moving to the helm of Smokey Road. She was Newnan High School’s Teacher of the Year in 1999 and STAR SPECIAL Lauri Barron Teacher in 2000 and 2001.

Barron received her master’s degree in administration and supervision from the University of West Georgia and her specialist and doctorate degrees in educational leadership from the University of Sarasota. She is the fifth school leader from Georgia to receive recognition as national principal of the year since 2008.

The award, given in September, comes with a $5,000 grant to be used to improve learning.

minister at Red Bank Baptist Church. Lindsey Karavites (BSA ’06) of Camilla began her residency in general surgery at Mt. Sinai Hospital in Chicago, Ill. Katie Connell Miller (AB ’06, ABJ ’06) of Atlanta was appointed to the Board of Public Health. Haley Chura (BBA ’07) of Atlanta was promoted to manager at Bennett Thrasher PC. Matt Robbins (BSFCS ’07) of Calhoun was named assistant vice president at Greater Community Bank of Calhoun.

2010Lance Fendley (BSEd ’10) of Athens was named the new offensive coordinator at Bethlehem Christian Academy. Lauren S. Leighton (ABJ ’10) of New York City, N.Y., is working as executive assistant to the publisher of Oprah

Magazine and as an executive advertising assistant for the magazine. Drake Bernstein (BSEd ’11) of Tuscaloosa, Ala., was named assistant women’s tennis coach at UGA. Harris English (BSFCS ’11) of Thomasville shot a 10-under-par 60 at a British Open qualifier in Texas. Leslie Flowers (AB ’11, BSEd ’11) of Savannah is now in her second year of teaching Latin to elementary school students at Jacob G. Smith School.

Karie Hayden (ABJ ’11) of Lilburn was promoted to assistant account executive at the Atlanta office of the Dalton Agency, an advertising and public relations firm. Brittany Miller (BSFCS ’11) of McDonough joined Teach for America and is teaching in San Antonio, Texas.

Megan L. Wilkeson (BSEd ’11) and Colton P. Jones (BSEd ’11) married Nov. 24.

2- and 3-year scholarships are available for those enrolled in a graduate program. If selected, the Air Force will pay full tuition, and provide a monthly stipend of approximately $2,122. After completing the degree you will enter the Air Force as a 1st Lieutenant or Captain for a 3-year commitment.

Contact: Technical Sergeant LaTerance Dyson Air Force Health Professions Representative 2400 Lake Park Drive Suite 260 Smyrna GA 30080 www.AirForce.com/healthcare LaTerance.Dyson@us.af.mil (770) 432-1872

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DECEMBER 2012 • GEORGIA MAGAZINE

59

CLASSNOTES

Alumnus recognized for revolutionizing food production

Daniel Hillel (BSA ’50) was awarded the 2012 World Food Prize, which distinguishes individuals who have advanced human development through improvements in food-related issues. He was recognized for his conception and implementation of micro-irrigation, a radical new method of bringing water to crops in arid and dry areas. Hillel’s new mode of irrigation applies water in small but constant amounts directly to the plant roots, helping plants grow while conserving water. His interest in agriculture began while growing up in a desert region of Israel, where he realized the critical need for water in arid regions. Over the past five decades, Hillel has revolutionized food production in Israel, the Middle East and other areas across the globe through his work with various international organizations. The World Food Prize, which carries a $250,000 award, was established in 1987 by Nobel Peace Prize winner Norman Borlaug.

Daniel Hillel

SPECIAL

GRAD NOTES THE UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA®

Arts & Sciences Elizabeth F. Beckemeyer (MS ’77) of Greensboro was named an honorary member of the Entomological Society of America. Stephen Miss (MA ’96) of Belmont, N.C., was named athletic director at Belmont Abbey.

Theodore McCarthy III (PhD ’98) was honored with the Compton Crook Award for his science-fiction novel Germline, the first in a trilogy followed by Exogene and Chimera.

Julia Elliott (PhD ’01) of Cayce, S.C., received one of six 2012 Rona Jaffe Foundation Writer’s Awards.

Kelly Carolyn Gordon (PhD ’01) of Brevard, N.C., was honored with the Vera Mowry Roberts Award for Research and Publication for her essay “Class Act(resses): How Depression-Era Stage Actresses Utilized Conflicting Gender Ideals to Benefit Their Community.” Dug Schwalls (M ’02) of Moultrie was named to the 40-Under-40 list by Produce Business Magazine. James E. Giesen (PhD ’04) of Starkville,

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Veterinary Teaching Hospital

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Miss., received the first Deep South Book Prize for Boll Weevil Blues: Cotton, Myth and Power in the American South. Jonathan Penland (PhD ’04) was named dean of the School of Christian Ministries at Toccoa Falls College.

Tara Vogelien (MS ’04) of Kannapolis, N.C., received the Award for Excellence from North Carolina State University’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.

Jason Ogg (MM ’07) now heads Central Wyoming College’s instrumental music program.

Business Beth Reese (MAcc ’92) of Naperville, Ill., was named president of Nicor Gas, AGL Resources’ largest natural gas utility. Raygan Evans (MAcc ’03) of Atlanta was promoted to senior manager at Bennett Thrasher PC. Education L. Paul Sands (EdD ’68) of Jackson, Tenn., was honored with a bridge dedication ceremony for his work in helping deserving students obtain scholarships for college. Diane Smathers (EdD ’80) of Westminster, S.C., was elected president of the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi. Melody Hall (MEd ’83) of Deland, Fla., was elected president for the 201213 term of My Florida Regional MLS. Sharon Horne (MEd ’94, PhD ’98) of Auburndale, Mass., received the $25,000 Beckman Award for teaching. Suzanne Miller (MEd ’96) of Suwanee was named principal of Oconee County Middle School. Michael Nixon (MEd ’00) of Woodstock was named state coordinator for

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DECEMBER 2012 • GEORGIA MAGAZINE

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CLASSNOTES

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Advertise in Georgia Magazine.

Published quarterly and mailed to the household, your advertising message reaches your audience directly, giving you one of the strongest demographic buys in the region.

For information on advertising in the award-winning Georgia Magazine, contact Pamela Leed at 706/542-8124 or pjleed@uga.edu.

the Georgia High School Mock Trial Competition. Eric Wearne (MA ’02) of Suwanee was elected board chair of the Latin Academy Charter School in Atlanta. David T. Kendrick (MEd ’04, EdS ’09) was named Teacher of the Year for Madison County. Jee Hae Lee (MEd ’04, PhD ’10) became a citizen of the United States of America May 1, 2010.

Sue Henderson (PhD ’08) of Fresh Meadows, N.Y., was named president of New Jersey City University.

Law Carl E. Sanders (JD ’48) of Atlanta was inducted into the Academy of Richmond County Hall of Fame. Charles B. Mikell Jr. (JD ’76) of Savannah retired Aug. 31 from his career as a Georgia Court of Appeals judge.

Tim Pape (JD ’77) of Rome resigned after more than 30 years as Floyd County juvenile court judge. Kevin Gough (JD ’87) of Brunswick became public defender of the five-county Brunswick Judicial Circuit. Jadun McCarthy (JD ’05) was named the 2012 Georgia Teacher of the Year. John Templeton (JD ’11) of Atlanta joined the law firm of Patrick, Beard, Schulman & Jacoway P.C.

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Public and International Affairs Steve Blades (MPA ’81) of Brentwood, Tenn., was named interim chief executive officer for the Louisiana Heart Hospital.

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BULLDOG 100

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Celebrate With Us Congratulations to the 2013 Fastest Growing Bulldog Businesses! UGA alumni and friends will celebrate this year’s honorees on January 26 at an awards banquet at the Atlanta Marriott Marquis. Keynote speaker, A.D. “Pete” Correll ’63, chairman of Atlanta Equity and chairman emeritus of the Georgia-Pacific Corporation, will lead attendees to the highlight of the evening—the countdown of the 2013 Bulldog 100.

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“I started looking at this whole notion of community policing and how, in theory, it seemed to be a viable option to address some problems facing local law enforcement. But then I reflected upon my personal experience, my background being African-American and I started thinking about, well, to bring that theory into practice what might be some of the challenges?

And when you think about civil rights and policing and [negative encounters with] the African American community you kind of really see some of the challenges. I saw that as an opportunity to serve as a bridge builder, to use my research to inform [and connect] public organizations, i.e. local law enforcement, [and] communities. Both are major entities involved in the co-production of public safety and public order.”

—Brian Williams on how he became interested in research on community policing, racial profiling and issues facing minority officers in law enforcement.

Brian Williams Associate professor of public administration in the School of Public and International Affairs A.B., political science, University of Georgia M.P.A., University of Georgia Ph.D., public administration, University of Georgia Photo shot by Andrew Davis Tucker at the UGA Police Department, with assistance from UGA and AthensClarke County police.

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