University of Georgia Magazine Fall 2017 by University of Georgia Alumni Magazine

eminent possibilities Generating Innovation and Economic Growth

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tradition. Commit to the Campaign.

andrew davis tucker

Make your commitment, and make a difference today. The Commit to Georgia Campaign. 2GIVE.UGA.EDU geo rg i a mag a z i ne

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CONTENTS

Meet some of UGA's most innovative researchers. p. 28

the magazine of the university of georgia fall 2017

INSIDE 5

The Presidentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Pen

UGA to Z

34 36

President Jere W. Morehead JD â&#x20AC;&#x2122;80 on the importance of UGA faculty research.

News, accomplishments, and accolades from the UGA community.

Bulldog Bulletin News and events from the UGA Alumni Association.

On the Bulldog Beat How does your tailgate measure up?

Class Notes UGA alumni climb to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro, among other personal and professional accomplishments.

How much red and black can we pack into a single picture? Find out on p.36.

Faculty Focus Get to know Regents Professor of Entomology Michael R. Strand.

peter frey

FEATURE

ON THE COVER

18 Pronounced Linguistics

UGA researchers' study on regional Southern accents could impact voice-recognition technology.

20 The Free Textbook Example The adoption of free, online textbooks by UGA faculty saves students money and provides a blueprint for other universities to follow.

24 Empowered Advocacy

A generous donation is empowering law students to become leaders and find their voices.

28 Eminent Possibilities

There are 17 Georgia Research Alliance Scholars at UGA committed to solving some of the world's grand challenges. Meet seven of them.

Our fall cover introduces seven of UGA's Georgia Research Alliance Scholars. The work of these remarkable researchers could help people live longer, healthier lives; cure deadly diseases; improve food supplies; enhance global security; and more.

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Gratitude president jere w. morehead joined a record-breaking 750 students for the sixth annual Thank a Donor Day as they showed their appreciation for University of Georgia donors. Participants wrote “thank you” notes and crafted posters expressing their gratitude for the more than 68,000 individuals, companies, and foundations that gave to UGA during fiscal 2017. Each April, Thank a Donor Day reminds students that they all benefit from alumni and friends’ generosity. #UGAThankU

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mary logan/in a flash photography

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fall 2017

VOLUME 96

ISSUE NO. 4

georgia magazine

Editor · Eric Rangus MA ’94 Associate Editor · Aaron Hale MA ’16 Art Director · Jackie Baxter Roberts Advertising Director · Pamela Leed Office Manager · Fran Burke UGA Photographers · Peter Frey BFA ’94, Rick O’Quinn ABJ ’87, Andrew Davis Tucker, Dorothy Kozlowski BLA ’06, ABJ ’10, Chad Osburn Editorial Interns · Camren Skelton ABJ ’17, Katherine Costikyan, Rachel Floyd, Mara Weissinger Contributors · Camren Skelton, Andrew Faught, Pamela A. Keene, Krista Richmond, Paige Parvin, Leigh Raynor

marketing & communications Vice President · Karri Hobson-Pape Executive Director · Janis Gleason Brand Strategy Director · Michele Horn

administration President · Jere W. Morehead JD ’80 Senior VP for Academic Affairs & Provost · Pamela Whitten VP for Finance & Administration · Ryan Nesbit MBA ’91 VP for Development & Alumni Relations · Kelly Kerner VP for Instruction · Rahul Shrivastav VP for Research · David C. Lee Interim VP for Public Service & Outreach · Lauren Meadows EdD ’13 VP for Student Affairs · Victor Wilson BSW ’82, MEd ’87 VP for Government Relations · J. Griffin Doyle AB ’76, JD ’79 VP for Information Technology · Timothy M. Chester

Change your mailing address by contacting e: records@uga.edu or ph: 888-268-5442 Find Georgia Magazine online at ugamagazine.uga.edu Submit Class Notes or story ideas to gmeditor@uga.edu

advertise in Georgia Magazine by contacting Pamela Leed at e: pjleed@uga.edu or ph: 706-542-8124 fine print

geo rg i a mag a zi ne | fa l l 2 01 7

andrew davis tucker

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

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 administrations of educational policies, programs or activities; its admissions policies; scholarhsip 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 non-discrimination policy. Inquiries or complaints should be directed to the director of the Equal Opportunity Office 119 Homes-Hunter Academic Building, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602. Telephone 706-542-7912 (V/TDD). Fax 706-542-2822.

THE PRESIDENT’S PEN

Research Strength at UGA

Gaining Momentum as a National Leader among Research Universities

The University of Georgia’s research enterprise is growing stronger. Sponsored research expenditures—a key measure of productivity—surged again in FY17, up 14 percent over the past year, defying national trends. The success of our faculty in competing for external grants and contracts is one of the reasons for this rise. Among the recent awards, for example, was a nearly $3 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to Georgia Research Alliance (GRA) Eminent Scholar Dr. Karen Norris for her research on therapies to counter a serious respiratory complication caused by HIV. Dr. Norris is one of five GRA Eminent Scholars to join our faculty in the past two years. Other hiring initiatives have recruited extraordinary, grant-active research faculty who are tackling complex problems that span the boundaries of traditional disciplines. They join an

“With support from our alumni and friends, as well as from state leaders, the University of Georgia’s research enterprise will continue solving the grand challenges of our time.”

outstanding cadre of faculty of national and international renown. For example, Dr. Michael Strand, a Regents’ Professor in entomology and genetics, recently was elected to the National Academy of Sciences, while Dr. Greg Robinson, UGA Foundation Distinguished Professor of Chemistry, was named a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry. UGA is leading the way in commercializing faculty research as well. To date, more than 600 products based on UGA research have been introduced, and, for the third consecutive year, UGA was ranked in the top 5 among all U.S. universities for new products reaching the marketplace. UGA’s research facilities must evolve to continue meeting the pressing needs of our world. A newly constructed turfgrass research and education facility, which supports economically important research in agriculture, will be dedicated on the Griffin campus in September. The new Center for Molecular Medicine in Athens also will be dedicated in September, expanding UGA’s research capacity in human health. The university’s next initiative is an Interdisciplinary STEM Research Building to facilitate cutting-edge research in the sciences. Our thanks go to Governor Deal, the General Assembly, and the Board of Regents for providing planning and design funds as a first step in adding this facility to the Athens campus. With support from our alumni and friends, as well as from state leaders, the University of Georgia’s research enterprise will continue solving the grand challenges of our time.

Jere W. Morehead President geo rgia maga z ine | fall 2 017

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE 40 UNDER 40 CLASS OF 2017

Casey M. Bethel

Travis Butler

Eric Callahan

Mariel Clark

Andrew Dill

Amelia Dortch

Katie Dubnik

Rebecca Evans

Rebecca Filson

Matt Forshee

Nicholas Friedmann

James Gates

Christine Green

Lauren Griffeth

Destin Hill

Dominique Holloman

Katie Jacobs

Jonas Jennings

LeRoya Chester Jennings

Adam C. Johnson

Joshua Jones

Marcus Jones

Kasey Knight

Matt Koperniak

Dorian Lamis

Dan Ludlam

Gordon Maner

Maritza McClendon

Behnoosh Momin

Travis Moore

Wes Neece

Julian Price

Tim Puetz

Tucker Berta Sarkisian

Maria Taylor

Alissa Vickery

Sam Watson

Laura Whitaker

Whitney Woodward

Alex Wright

alumni.uga.edu/40u40/gm The UGA Alumni Association is proud to recognize 40 of the universityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s most successful graduates under the age of 40. Nominations for the Class of 2018 will open in early 2018.

UGA Z to

News, accomplishments, and accolades from the UGA community

GET TO IT

Congratulations Class of 2017! Don’t settle. That was the career advice from sportscaster Ernie Johnson Jr. ABJ ’78 to UGA’s Class of 2017. “I hope you will recognize the difference between get to and got to. Too many people out there have jobs they’ve got to go to, but some of us have jobs we get to go to,” said Johnson, who wished the graduates the latter. Johnson (below), host of TNT’s Inside the NBA and author of Unscripted: The Unpredictable Moments That Make Life Extraordinary, delivered the Commencement address to undergraduates at Sanford Stadium in May. More than 5,600 students were welcomed as the newest UGA alumni.

dorothy kozlowski

andrew davis tucker

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UGA to Z CORRELL HALL

PHASING IN

MOORE-ROOKER HALL

Two Down, One to Go Construction was completed this summer for Phase II of Terry College’s Business Learning Community. The new Amos, Benson, and Moore-Rooker halls include 140,000 square feet of classrooms, labs, studios, commons, conference rooms, a trading lab, and café. The naming of the buildings honors Terry alumni and their families who gave generously to help make Phase II a reality. Amos Hall, the centerpiece of Phase II, was named in honor of Daniel P. Amos BBA ’73. Benson Hall, on the east side facing Lumpkin Street, is named in honor of three generations of the Benson Family: patriarch W.H. "Howard" Benson, son H.E. "Ed" Benson BBA ’42, and grandson Larry R. Benson BBA ’74. (For more on the Bensons, see page 47.) Moore-Rooker Hall, on the west side facing Hull Street, is named in honor of the Dudley L. Moore Jr. BBA ’57 family and the John W. Rooker BSA ’60 family. A dedication for Phase II is set for Sept. 15, along with a groundbreaking for Phase III.

AMOS HALL PHASE III

PHASE III

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For Phase II of Terry College’s Business Learning Community, Correll Hall is joined by Moore-Rooker Hall, Amos Hall, and Benson Hall. The buildings’ dedication, along with the groundbreaking for Phase III, is Sept. 15.

TOP DAWG

Scholarly Pursuits Shawn Foster of Franklin, Georgia, a UGA honors student majoring in cognitive science and linguistics, was one of 20 students nationwide selected as a Beinecke Scholar. He is UGA’s first recipient of the award. The Beinecke Scholarship awards $34,000 to exceptional students planning to pursue graduate studies in the humanities, arts, or social sciences. Foster, who is the first member of his immediate family to go to college, plans to earn a doctorate in linguistics. He speaks Spanish and Russian and has been learning Arabic. This year, Foster began an independent research project with Margaret Renwick, an assistant professor of linguistics, about language variations in the South. (For more, see page 18.)

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BENSON HALL

Shawn Foster is the first University of Georgia student to receive the Beinecke Scholarship award.

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THOUGHTFUL LEADERSHIP

New Gift Focuses on Alcohol Education UGA is a leader in alcohol education and prevention on college campuses thanks to proactive programs at the university’s Fontaine Center. The latest $1.5 million gift from Jack and Nancy Fontaine of Houston, Texas, will help UGA enhance those efforts. A part of the University Health Center, the Fontaine Center provides comprehensive, evidence-based drug and alcohol prevention, early intervention, and recovery support services to promote responsible decision-making on campus and in the community. UGA established the center in 2006 following a gift from the Fontaines, who have pledged nearly $6 million to date in support of the center’s initiatives. In the spring, the Fontaine Center hosted a summit of state schools, technical colleges, and independent colleges and universities to discuss the recommendations of the University System of Georgia’s Alcohol and Substance Abuse Task Force, co-chaired by President Jere W. Morehead JD ’80.

UGA to Z LEADING THE FIELD

TRENDSET TERS

Welcome to the Academy

Connecting the Bots

University of Georgia Regents’ Professor Michael R. Strand has been elected to the National Academy of Sciences, one of the highest honors a scientist can receive (See Faculty Focus, page 56.) Strand is one of only eight UGA members of the National Academies, which include the National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, and National Academy of Medicine. New members of the academy are nominated by standing members and are elected in recognition of their distinguished and continuing achievements in original research. With work that ranges from a focus on insects that are important to agriculture to those that transmit human diseases like malaria and Zika virus, Strand’s findings have been cited at a level that places him in the top 1 percent of entomologists and among the top 5 percent of all researchers in the fields of biology and biochemistry.

dorothy kozlowski

Michael R. Strand was recently elected to the National Academy of Sciences.

DEPENDABLE FOOD SUPPLY

Flower Power Don’t be fooled by their uncomplicated beauty. Versatile sunflowers are an important source of food, and sunflower oil is a crucial global crop. Sunflowers also show promising resilience to varying environmental conditions, including drought. Tapping into sunflowers’ potential to adapt to change, UGA researchers were part of an international team that identified the first sunflower genome sequence. Their findings were published in the journal Nature in May. The research team in North America and Europe sequenced the genome of the domesticated sunflower Helianthus annuus L. The sequence will serve as a “genetic road map to pinpoint genes” related to traits like drought resistance, says study co-author John M. Burke, professor of plant biology and member of the UGA Plant Center.

A trending story on Twitter could mean thousands of people care about an issue. Or that some computers are simply doing their jobs. New UGA research has found that Twitter “bots” can be the driving forces behind dialogue in social movements, possibly leading to news coverage and governmental change. Bots (short for robots) are simple computer programs designed to carry out automated tasks. “When a topic trends on Twitter, chances are a lot of central or very well-connected accounts are tweeting about it and perhaps shaping how others react. We found that some of these central accounts are actually bots,” says Terry College of Business doctoral student Carolina Salge, who co-authored the research with Elena Karahanna, L. Edmund Rast Professor of Business. Their work appeared in Academy of Management Discoveries. “Once enough accounts are tweeting about the same thing, that creates buzz and organizations really respond.” Although Twitter bots have been common knowledge for years, this research marks the first time that bots’ social clout was studied in the field of information systems and management. Because of the increasing prevalence and sophistication of bots, their influence could be affecting news reports and social media research, according to Karahanna. The pair has more research on bots and their relevance to social dialogue in the works. They are studying how the strategies between the most important human and bot accounts differ and are looking into cyborg accounts that comprise both automated and humanproduced tweets. john roark

In their research, Elena Karahanna, L. Edmund Rast Professor of Business (left), and doctoral student Carolina Salge discovered that not all of Twitter’s trending topics are driven by users. Some are automated. john roark

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UGA to Z SHOWBIZ

Student Earns Starring Role

quantrell d. colbert/hbo

EYE TO 'I'

Pushing Innovation The University of Georgia has been named an Innovation Corps (I-Corps) Site by the National Science Foundation, enhancing UGA's ability to turn ideas and research discoveries into commercially viable products or services. The I-Corps award will enable UGA to serve up to 30 new startup projects a year and provide early evaluation of projects through a customer discovery process. The program adds to the university's rapidly growing entrepreneurial ecosystem and enhances its ability to help entrepreneurial projects move to the marketplace. “The hardest steps in creating a startup are at the beginning,” says Ian Biggs, senior associate director of UGA's Innovation Gateway and the program's lead. “Becoming an I-Corps Site will allow us to provide more robust services, including financial resources. We'll be able to help anyone with an entrepreneurial idea that needs testing in the marketplace.” UGA is one of about 50 I-Corps Sites, which are based at academic institutions to catalyze the engagement of multiple local teams amy ware in technology transition and innovation. Ideas or projects supported by I-Corps Sites must be focused in an area of science, technology, engineering, or mathematics but can originate from faculty research, student work, industrial projects, or ideas from the community.

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In the Emmynominated film, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, UGA sophomore Kyanna Simone Simpson played the younger version of a character portrayed as an adult by Oprah Winfrey.

special

“Becoming an I-Corps Site will allow us to provide more robust services,” says Ian Biggs, senior associate director of UGA’s Innovation Gateway.

UGA sophomore Kyanna Simone Simpson took on an exciting extracurricular activity when she landed a role in the Emmy-nominated HBO film The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, aside Oprah Winfrey and Rose Byrne in the adaptation of the best-selling novel. The film follows the true story of Deborah Lacks as she searches for answers about her mother, Henrietta Lacks, whose cancerous cells were harvested without her consent and became the first immortalized cell line. Though the Lacks family never received any compensation, the cell line has been sold to researchers worldwide and has led to countless medical breakthroughs. Simpson plays Deborah Lacks in her teenage years, while Winfrey portrays Deborah in her adult life. In August and September 2016, Simpson went to Atlanta and Baltimore for filming, and the experience is one she’ll never forget. “I got to spend so much time with Ms. Winfrey. She is my biggest inspiration,” Simpson says. “Being able to spend time with her was everything. This was a really big role for me.” Simpson, who has previously made appearances in Law and Order: SVU and Being Mary Jane, is pursuing a degree in communication studies while also pursuing acting professionally. She is slated to appear alongside Matthew McConaughey in the upcoming 2018 film White Boy Rick. According to Simpson, the best part about acting is being able to tell a story that will impact others' perspectives. “I was beyond excited for the movie premiere," she says. “The world watched this film about Henrietta Lacks and learned about her tremendous contributions to the world of science. I can't do anything but smile.”

UGA to Z ELEVATED GARDENING

SAFEGUARDING OUR WORLD

Strides for Cybersecurity Vulnerabilities in cybersecurity pose threats to individual privacy, economic vitality, and national security. UGA is positioned to become a leader in addressing these challenges through the new Institute for Cybersecurity and Privacy (ICSP). “Security and privacy vulnerabilities affect every technology we use, from wearable and portable devices such as smart watches and smart phones to national critical infrastructure, such as the power grid and air traffic control systems,” says Kang Li, professor of computer science and inaugural ICSP director. The institute, housed in the Department of Computer Science, is building collaborations with units across campus whose scholarship touches on both the technical aspects of cybersecurity and privacy as well as broader policy and ethical questions. One of the institute’s goals will be to create additional learning opportunities in cybersecurity, a field where demand for educated professionals greatly exceeds supply.

Cybersecurity is a field where demand for educated professionals greatly exceeds supply. A new UGA institute may help address that.

Committed to Sustainability A student-run garden atop UGA’s Geography-Geology Building is helping feed the local community while giving students hands-on experience with gardening and sustainability. The Green Roof garden was started by a group of faculty and students in the geography department known as the Athens Urban Food Collective. Its yield, including kale, beets, carrots, and blackberries, is donated to local families in need through UGA’s Campus Kitchen. All of the produce is grown and tended to by student volunteers, who spent a collective 180 hours at the garden last semester. The garden, which was created in 2007, contributes to the Green Roof’s initial purpose of creating a more sustainable building. “The plants buffer the building's temperature,” said Carson Dann BSA ’17, who graduated in May after serving as the urban agriculture intern for UGA’s Office of Sustainability. “They insulate in the winter and cool it in the summer, reducing energy costs and unnecessary energy waste.”

dorothy kozlowski

Carson Dann BSA '17 (above and right) served as an urban agriculture intern for the UGA Office of Sustainability. She helped maintain the Green Roof garden atop the GeographyGeology Building. dorothy kozlowski

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UGA to Z Seeking authentic sounds for their armies of non-human primates, filmmakers turned to UGA primatologist Roberta Salmi for help.

GRUNT WORK

UGA Primatologist Goes to War Recordings of gorilla sounds are extremely rare, so sounds used in the entertainment industry are generally not obtained from actual gorillas. In films, they are usually portrayed as screaming, aggressive beasts, when they are actually the opposite. For this summer's blockbuster War for the Planet of the Apes, the filmmakers worked with UGA primatologist Roberta Salmi to create a more realistic sound. Salmi, an assistant professor in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences’ anthropology department, studies primate behavior, ecology, and conversation. For her dissertation, she spent 18 months in the forest of the Republic of Congo, where she collected more than 2,000 gorilla vocalization recordings. They included everyday “chats” within the small gorilla groups. “Most of their calls are exchanged during non-aggressive contexts and comprise soft grunts and grumbles; they laugh when playing, they hum when feeding, infants whine and cry, and they call each other when separated,” she says. Salmi, who also worked with supervising sound director Douglas Murray on the previous Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, provided high-quality sound files for the filmmakers and provided feedback for actors portraying gorillas in the movie.

dorothy kozlowski

A treasure trove of recently donated artifacts has the potential to unlock new information about Georgia’s Native American and Colonial history. Mark Williams, director of the Laboratory of Archaeology, calls it, “one of the most important collections to come to the lab since its founding.”

dorothy kozlowski

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OLD DIGS

Pieces of History People have lived on St. Catherines Island, one of Georgia’s Golden Isles, for more than 4,000 years. Native Americans occupied the island for most of that time. But it also is home to the most completely excavated Spanish mission in the Southeast. Now, an extensive archaeological collection from the island’s rich history has come to UGA’s Center for Archaeological Sciences, thanks to a donation from the American Museum of Natural History. The artifacts (including ceramics, arrowheads, bone tools, and shell ear plugs) have the potential to unlock new information about Georgia’s Native American and early Colonial history. “This is one of the most important archaeological collections to come to the Laboratory of Archaeology since its founding in 1947,” says lab director Mark Williams. “It will enhance our already extensive coastal collection and allow current and future researchers to continue answering questions concerning the role that islands and coastal regions played in the development of human societies over time.”

UGA ALUMNI AFFINITY GROUPS Women of UGA

Women represent the largest alumni population, and this group is committed to helping alumnae maintain lifelong commitments to UGA by offering personal and professional development programming and opportunities for them to invest in the future of the university, its students, and alumnae.

Black Alumni

This group helps build a welcoming and supportive UGA community through recruitment, retention, engagement, financial support for the Black Alumni Scholarship Fund, and service to each other and UGA.

Young Alumni

There are more than 40,000 young alumni in Atlanta, and this group seeks to engage them following graduation and beyond through dynamic opportunities to engage with and give back to UGA. #yaUGA

alumni.uga.edu/networks/gm Not in Atlanta? Many alumni chapters in other locations host affinity-based events throughout the year!

c o m m i t t o g e o r g i a c a m pa i g n u p d at e

n July 1, 2012, the UGA community embarked on the Commit to Georgia Campaign. The tremendous support shown this year illustrates that alumni, parents, students, donors, the Athens community, and companies large and small care deeply about what is happening at the University of Georgia.

FISCAL YEAR 17 NUMBERS

227.8 30 MILLION

MILLION

from the Robert W. Woodruff Foundation marks the largest single gift in UGA history

in gifts and pledges

115

NEED-BASED SCHOLARSHIPS

CAMPAIGN TO DATE

established by the Georgia Commitment Scholarship Program

827 MILLION

7.29 390 275 10 $

SCHOLARSHIPS

MILLION

HAVE BEEN CREATED

for experiential learning opportunities for students

ENDOWED FACULTY POSITIONS

DONOR DEMOGRAPHICS

14 14

50 STATES

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YOUNGEST DONOR

established by donors this year alone

106

OLDEST DONOR

126,000 DONORS TOTAL

OVER

DONORS from all

contributed by donors

OUR COMMITMENT DOESN’T END HERE.

There are more challenges that UGA faculty and students can help overcome. A history of commitment runs deep at the University of Georgia. For more than 230 years, we’ve dedicated our hearts, our time, and our resources to

COMMIT TO

GEORGIA The Campaign for the University of Georgia

academic excellence—and we are just getting started. geo georgia rgia maga magazzine ine || fall fall 22017 017

15 15

c o m m i t t o g e o r g i a c a m pa i g n u p d at e

REMOVING BARRIERS AND OPENING DOORS There are still more students who need our support. Private giving lessens the financial burden on students and helps UGA attract the highest caliber prospective students.

“Scholarships are the reason that I’m able to go to college. My family and I were not able to afford college without the massive help that I’ve gotten through UGA. Donors are doing more than helping a student get through college. They are investing in the future.” —jaron lehman | senior | music education

ENHANCING THE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT Experiential learning opportunities, such as internships or study abroad, help students apply classroom lessons to real-world situations. New and updated facilities can foster classroom collaboration and provide new technology and lab space for improved research. Private funding expands these opportunities and helps UGA enhance the learning environment.

“Through experiential learning, I will be able to know what it is like to be in a professional setting and get firsthand experience in one of my top career choices.” —abhyjit kheepal sophomore | finance 16

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c o m m i t t o g e o r g i a c a m pa i g n u p d at e

As long as there are deadly diseases, food supply concerns, struggling

SOLVING GRAND CHALLENGES

economies, and threats to cyber and global security, there will be challenges for which UGA will seek solutions. With additional private funding, UGA's research and public service endeavors can tackle even more of society’s pressing challenges.

“I am interested in issues of poverty as they relate to the financial system. My work explores the structure of the U.S. financial system to determine whether it is alleviating or perpetuating inequality. And if the latter, how it can be fixed.” —mehrsa baradaran j. alton hosch associate professor of law

WE’RE PREPARED TO DO EVEN MORE... …and improve even more lives. Because at the University of Georgia, we embrace a challenge and are committed to bettering the world around us. In the coming year, we will increase support as we continue to pursue our goal of raising $1.2 billion.

Some call it giving back. We call it taking care of one another.

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PRONOUNCED LINGUISTICS

˜ u ga re sea r c her s’ study on re gi o nal s o u ther n acc ents could impact vo i ce - re cognition tec hnology by Eric Rangus MA ’94

oice-recognition technology can help you turn on a light, find your favorite TV show, or navigate your way out of a traffic jam. In just a few years, the technology has moved from the exotic to the mainstream, and it continues expanding into every aspect of our lives with the laudable goal of making them easier. Except, right now, voice recognition technology doesn’t always understand the South. “I sat next to a man on an airplane,” recalls Margaret Renwick, assistant professor of linguistics in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences. Upon learning of her vocation, he admitted to a certain language-related aggravation. “My wife is from Mississippi,” he told Renwick, “and her phone doesn’t understand her at all.” Voice-recognition technology can struggle with Southern accents. It’s not uncommon for speakers with Southern accents to be kicked out of the phone trees used by banks and airlines because the automated voice-recognition systems don’t recognize their pronunciation. Fortunately, the Southern accent issue may be fixable with help from UGA linguistics researchers. With the aid of a three-year grant from

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the National Science Foundation, UGA researchers are isolating and documenting the specific variations in speech that define a Southern “accent.” Once complete, the findings will shine a welcome light on the South’s remarkable diversity of language while also producing a massive database of word pronunciations for industrial and technological use. William Kretzschmar, Harry and Jane Willson Professor in the Humanities in the Department of English, and Renwick are co-principal investigators on the study. While Kretzschmar, Renwick, and their team won’t be building better phone trees, tutoring Siri, or developing new voice recognition software, they believe the results of their study will help provide a basis for industry to do so. The researchers are using innovative methods of computer analysis to study Southern speech. They’re studying 64 interviews with speakers from Georgia, Florida, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, and Texas recorded between 1968 and 1983. With an emphasis on tracking vowel sounds, which are the most distinctive parts of American dialects, Kretzschmar and Ren-

wick will create a highly detailed map of the way Southerners actually use language. The final results will be posted to the Linguistic Atlas Project (www.lap.uga.edu), which Kretzschmar leads. “As humans, we have no problem hearing a vowel as it’s intended even though there is so much variation in how it sounds,” Kretzschmar says. “But a computer has to be trained to do that.” One common misperception about the South is that the region is monolithic, historically and culturally. It’s not true—not about Southerners’ loyalty to college football teams or barbecue, and it’s definitely not true about language. A man from Georgia doesn’t sound like a woman from Louisiana. That’s easy to hear. But North Georgians sound subtly different from those in the central part of the state. And if you listen closely enough, a Macon suburbanite’s accent isn’t the same as someone from downtown. “You can draw a big picture,” Kretzschmar says, “but there are all sorts of small ones underneath it.” It’s those small pictures that he and Renwick will illustrate. “A vowel is like a chord on a guitar or a piano in that it con-

William Kretzschmar and Margaret Renwick are using innovative, computer-based techniques to identify a host of subtle, yet significant, shifts in Southern speech patterns through the years. Variables include geography, race, age, and income level.

tains several frequencies at any one time,” Kretzschmar continues. “We pick out two of those frequencies in people’s voices, plot them on x- and y-axes, and create a picture of what people say.” (See below.) Where previous linguistics studies treated a vowel sound as one point, Kretzschmar and Renwick’s project will map hundreds of points for each interviewee’s vowel sounds to create more detailed pictures. These differences are difficult to categorize by ear but the computer-aided analyses will pick new patterns out. “In addition to picking out geographic patterns, we may also uncover patterns across other social groupings,” Renwick says. “Our youngest speaker was a 15-yearold from Atlanta and our oldest was in their 90s, so we can see how speech varies across time, across education levels, ethnicities, gender, and much more.” To obtain data points, the 64 interviews need to be transcribed, and that requires coding 372 hours of audio. Vowel pronunciations will be extracted from a list of 78 words that were targeted in the interviews (far, wood, head, and ear, among them), plus additional words that frequently occurred— many of them uncommon, like davenport

and polecat—up to a total of 300. In all, some 1.5 million measurements will be taken, allowing the team to say a great deal about speech in the South and how it works. It’s a monumental undertaking made easier by the work of 44 undergraduates recruited through linguistics courses. Funding from the National Science Foundation’s Research Experience for Undergraduates program supports the students. The students can also participate in UGA’s Center for Undergraduate Research Opportunities (CURO) program. Olivia Haas AB ’17, who graduated in May with a double-major in international affairs and history, is one of the students who participated in the new project. Haas worked in the linguistics lab for three years. During her senior year, she focused primarily on the Southern speech project. She says it will help her graduate work in international affairs at Columbia. “Knowing how people use language can help make your policies more effective,” she says. “Within the United States, understanding the specifics of the way people talk in their region is respectful.” And it just might help industry to build better voice recognition technology, too. GM

vowel space of two generations of caucasian-american women An example of the project's thousands of measurements. The word "fleece" (in red) sounds the same as it has for 100 years, but since WWII, the "o" sound in "goat" has subtly changed from a Minnesota-like "gOHat" to a California-like "gEH-OWt." In the right pane, the shift is indicated by the blue cloud's slight move to the left.

learn more about the linguistic atlas project and support the linguistics fund. WWW.LAP.UGA.EDU | GIVE.UGA.EDU/LINGUISTICS geo rgia maga z ine | fall 2 017

peter frey

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e e fr

THE

TEXTBOOK EXAMPLE

The adoption of free, online textbooks by UGA faculty saves students money and has provided a blueprint for other universities to follow. 1 7 8 5

BY AARON HALE MA ’16

$0.00

adison Christian was expecting to shell out at least $100 for a textbook when she enrolled in her molecular biology course last spring. Textbooks for introductory science courses can be big and expensive—as much as $300 for a single course. So, the fourth-year scientific illustration student was thrilled to learn the course’s online textbook was free. She wasn’t the only one. The class of 180 students erupted in applause when instructor Jason Lang shared the news. In other large-enrollment courses at UGA, faculty are opting for free, online textbooks to help students save money and to improve teaching. The University System of Georgia (USG) has been a nationwide leader in using free online textbooks, and UGA has been at the forefront of those efforts, helping its students save more than $2.5 million since 2013. The bulk of that effort has come through a partnership with nonprofit publisher OpenStax. Last year, OpenStax named USG the No. 1 system nationwide at saving students money through adoption of its free digital college textbooks.

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OpenStax textbooks are focused on, general education courses. That way, they can help reach large numbers of students, thereby maximizing cost savings.

“We hold up the University of Georgia and the University System of Georgia as exemplars that the rest of the country should follow.”—David Harris, OpenStax editor-in-chief

The inclination to use free information to help students learn is noble but not easy to pull off. With the Internet awash with free but dubious information, it’s no wonder “free” is often synonymous with low quality. Meanwhile, traditionally published textbooks are expensive for a reason: They require expertise and time. Good textbooks cover a breadth of complicated material and translate it into something digestible. Once written, they are rigorously reviewed by other experts in the field to root out any errors. OpenStax, based at Rice University, uses this same process to produce its textbooks. But with funding from philanthropic organizations like the Gates Foundation and

e c n i S 3

1 0 2

Hewlett Foundation, OpenStax can cover the cost of writing and reviewing material and then offer it to the public for free. So far, OpenStax’s subjects range from biology to American history, sociology to anatomy. UGA was an early adopter of these free textbooks and pioneered how large institutions can focus their implementation on scale and improving learning outcomes. “We hold up the University of Georgia and the University System of Georgia as exemplars that the rest of the country should follow,” says David Harris, OpenStax’s editor-in-chief. In terms of scalability, UGA has focused this effort around maximizing student savings. “When we're thinking about how to save

students the most money, it's a simple equation: Which courses have the highest enrollment and use an expensive textbook?” asked Eddie Watson, the former director of UGA’s Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) and now an associate vice president for the Association of American Colleges and Universities. In practice, that means focusing on general education courses that can seat hundreds of students at time. To date, more than 24,000 students have benefitted from that change. The real challenge, though, is to lower costs for students while continuing to raise the standard of education.

WHEN THE UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA PARTNERED WITH OPENSTAX

$2.5 MILLION AND

has been saved

the number of students that have benefited from this partnership has reached

24,000 22

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dorothy kozlowski

Peggy Brickman, professor of plant biology (above), and her colleagues teach nearly 2,000 students a year. Online textbooks have transformed the experience.

“It has saved hundreds of thousands of dollars for students, and the course is much better after we redesigned it.” —Peggy Brickman, professor of plant biology

Changing textbooks is like giving a syllabus a makeover. Instructors have to realign lessons and lectures with the layout of the new book. So, UGA has treated this transition as an opportunity to improve how a class is taught. When faculty elect to adopt these free textbooks, CTL works with faculty to inject evidenced-based teaching practices into the syllabus. Peggy Brickman, a professor of plant biology, and her colleagues teach general education biology courses taken by nearly 2,000 students a year. When she adopted an OpenStax textbook in 2013, CTL used a grant to fund a graduate assistant who

worked with Brickman to redesign her course. It was an opportunity for Brickman to rethink how to best teach the course, and students have been thanking her ever since. “It has saved hundreds of thousands of dollars for students,” Brickman said, “and the course is much better after we redesigned it.” The commitment of Brickman and other faculty members to pilot the use of these textbooks has not only benefitted UGA students; it’s also paving the way for other institutions across the nation to follow. Jim Coverdill, Meigs Distinguished Teaching Professor of Sociology, is partner-

ing with OpenStax to test the effectiveness of free supplementary software. The software, which includes interactive quizzes students take while they’re reading, is designed to help students retain what they’re learning. So far, Coverdill says, it’s working remarkably well. “Students totally rock on this stuff in a way that surprises me,” he says. “By the end of the course, they grasp the textbook material extraordinarily well.” Cost savings and better learning outcomes— that’s something everyone can applaud. GM

Commit to removing barriers and opening doors for students who face financial challenges while attending college.

GIVE.UGA.EDU/REMOVING-BARRIERS geo rgia maga z ine | fall 2 017

advocacy A generous donation is empowering law students to become leaders and elevating the UGA School of Law. by aaron hale ma ’16

hink of an electric bill after a scorching July in Athens, Georgia. Now think of a January heating bill for an old home in Buffalo, New York. That’s the kind of financial burden Kate Howard AB ’05, JD ’17 was helping ease for low-income Buffalonians a few years ago. Through the nonprofit PUSH Buffalo program, Howard helped economically distressed communities find grants to weatherize their homes—retrofitting older buildings to become more energy efficient and to lower heating bills. Before that, she was recruiting volunteers to advocate for people with developmental disabilities through Citizen Advocacy Athens-Clarke. Simply put, Howard is committed to helping society’s most vulnerable overcome tough challenges. That spirit brought Howard back to UGA in 2014 to attend the UGA School of Law, where she focused on indigent criminal defense. The self-described “softie” gets tough when it comes to championing the cause of the vulnerable facing the powerful criminal justice system. “I kind of like standing up and fighting,” she says. “In my personal life, I tend to be soft-spoken and polite. Challenging authority doesn’t seem like something I would like. But in the public defense world, that’s just doing your job.” In May, Howard graduated at the top of her law school class and was the first Alston Distinguished Law Fellow to receive her degree. Howard and two current law school students, Taryn Winston and Lindsey Bunting, were the inaugural Fellows for the program, which was established in 2016 through a $2 million gift from The John N. Goddard Foundation. In its first year, the program offered three law school students a full-tuition scholarship plus a stipend for professional development experiences and opportunities to meet distinguished alumni and some of the

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nation’s top legal leaders. As it grows and reaches more students, the program will boost recruiting for “academically excellent” students and elevate the national reputation of the law school, says Peter B. “Bo” Rutledge, dean of the law school. The Distinguished Law Fellows program is modeled after the university's prestigious Foundation Fellows program for undergraduate students, and Rutledge envisions it will have a similar impact on the law school.

“Challenging authority doesn’t seem like something I would like. But in the public defense world, that’s just doing your job.” —Kate Howard “Just as the Foundation Fellows program for undergraduates has helped attract many of our nation's most outstanding college-bound students to UGA, this gift from the Goddard Foundation is transformational for the law school in terms of its ability to attract the kind of student who will go on to have an impact on society and will be an ambassador for the law school.” Already Howard has become such an ambassador. After taking the bar exam this summer, she began clerking for Judge Jill A. Pryor, a federal judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, where Howard is learning the intricacies of appellate court.

A $2 million gift from The John N. Goddard Foundation is giving the inaugural class of Alston Distinguished Law Fellows (clockwise from top left): Lindsey Bunting'AB '16, Kate Howard AB '05, JD '17, and Taryn Winston AB, ABJ '15 unmatched opportunities to explore how they can use the law to make a difference in others' lives.

terry allen photography

“This gift from the Goddard Foundation is transformational for the law school in terms of its ability to attract the kind of student who will go on to have an impact on society and will be an ambassador for the law school.” —Peter B. "Bo" Rutledge, dean of the law school

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peter frey

terry allen photography

learning the ropes Lindsey Bunting AB ’16 was keeping her options open. While finishing her undergraduate degree, double-majoring in criminology and social justice, she applied to 14 different law schools. “Georgia had been my goal when I decided to go to law school,” she says. “I was advised to cast a wide net and to see what happened with scholarships.” She was considering an offer from Harvard Law School and others in April 2016 when Dean Rutledge told her she would be named an Alston Distinguished Law Fellow. She canceled plans to visit other campuses, declined outstanding offers, and committed to UGA. Starting the program, though, she had not decided on an area of study. The variety of fields a law school student can take is overwhelming. That’s where the fellowship has been particularly helpful for Bunting. “Coming in, I didn’t know the finer

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“Coming in, I didn’t know the finer details of law school or becoming a lawyer. The fellowship offers extra help, support, and advice.” —Lindsey Bunting details of law school or becoming a lawyer,” she says. “The fellowship offers extra help, support, and advice.” As a Fellow, Bunting has found the ear of the dean, the Alston family, and a U.S. Supreme Court justice. Last fall, Howard, Winston, and Bunting sat down for coffee with Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas for a

conversation that was supposed to last 15-30 minutes—but the justice decided to stay a while, and he talked with them for more than an hour and a half. This was in the first few weeks of Bunting’s law school career, and Thomas’ advice about remaining an independent thinker made an impression. “That was my favorite experience so far,” Bunting says. “He has so much wisdom, and he’s very funny. Spending time with him was amazing.” Over the summer, Bunting interned at the Wilbanks Child Endangerment and Sexual Exploitation (CEASE) Clinic, which is housed in the law school. The clinic represents survivors of child sexual abuse. For Bunting, the experience was a meaningful way to spend her summer, but she likely couldn’t have taken the unpaid position without the professional development stipend offered by the fellowship.

finding her voice Third-year law student Taryn Winston AB, ABJ '15 has all the qualities to become a leader in her profession. With an attention to detail, she’s an outstanding student and involved in law school activities. She’s a Dean’s Ambassador and is the executive online editor for the Georgia Law Review. But before law school, she was uncomfortable speaking in front of groups.

Fellows are destined for great things, which in time will reward the law school and its benefactors for their investment. “Think of them as trailblazers who advance the national reputation of the institution,” Rutledge says. As these highly qualified and deeply connected Fellows graduate and enter the workforce, they raise Georgia Law’s

“My advocacy experiences have been my favorite parts of law school. They pushed me in ways I didn’t expect, and I realized it’s something that I’m really passionate about.”—Taryn Winston “I had ruled out a career in litigation because of my fear of public speaking,” she says. Georgia Law helped Winston find her voice. Last year, Winston joined moot court, which gives law students experience drafting briefs and presenting oral arguments for hypothetical cases in front of federal and state judges in local, regional, and national competitions. In time, that fear of public speaking gave way to the thrill of competition in advocacy. “My advocacy experiences have been my favorite parts of law school. They pushed me in ways I didn’t expect, and I realized it’s something that I’m really passionate about.” Over the summer, Winston interned with two law firms: Covington & Burling LLP in Washington, D.C., which focuses on government and regulatory work, and Bondurant Mixson & Elmore, a boutique litigation firm in Atlanta. Through her Fellowship, she begins a constitutional law research project this fall. After Winston graduates in May, she plans to clerk for U.S. District Judge Steve Jones JD ’88 for two years and then possibly work for a large law firm. Regardless of where she lands, Dean Rutledge believes Winston and the other

reputation among employers, coworkers, and clients. “That will enhance their impression of the kind of student this law school produces, which will enhance the likelihood they will come back to the law school when hiring,” the dean says. That impact will only multiply as the list of Distinguished Law Fellows grows. The law school named Sam Hatcher, a graduate of Dartmouth College, the incoming Alston Distinguished Law Fellow. In an early indication of the catalytic effect of The John N. Goddard Foundation gift, Elizabeth Wilmot AB '17 will become the inaugural Russell Distinguished Law Fellow this fall, thanks to a generous donation from the Richard B. Russell Foundation. Beyond boosting the law school’s reputation, the fellowship program is opening doors for students. With its focus on professional development, the fellowship is offering an advanced phase of legal education so highly qualified students can explore different areas of the law. And it’s helping Howard fight for the underprivileged, Bunting explore her passions, and Winston become a formidable advocate. GM

Help fund scholarships for more law students. GIVE.UGA.EDU/LAWFUNDGM geo rgia maga z ine | fall 2 017

eminent possibilities by aaron hale ma ’16 and kellyn amodeo abj ’09 design and photo illustrations by maggie baxter and jackie baxter roberts

There are 17 GRA Scholars at UGA who are committed to solving some of the world’s grand challenges. Here’s a look at what seven of those scholars are doing.

roundbreaking scientific research not only tackles grand challenges facing the world, it also has the potential to create jobs. These two goals fuel the work of the 17 Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholars at UGA. Since 1990, the nonprofit Georgia Research Alliance (GRA) has partnered with the state's research universities to recruit world-class scientists who foster science- and technology-based economic development. At UGA, these scholars have enhanced the university’s research capabilities and impact. For Georgia to create “high-value, knowledge-based jobs,” the state’s leading universities must produce the kind of research outcomes that can develop new industry, says C. Michael Cassidy, GRA president and CEO. “We’re building the pipeline of pre-eminent research to generate ideas that can be launched

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into new companies, create jobs, and build the economy for the state,” Cassidy says. GRA faculty bring expertise in subjects ranging from bioinformatics and crop genomics to vaccines and viral immunity, and they establish major programs like the Center for Molecular Medicine, led by Stephen Dalton, GRA Eminent Scholar of Molecular Cell Biology. Since 2015, UGA has recruited five GRA Eminent Scholars; such rapid growth has contributed to an astounding 33 percent cumulative increase in research expenditures during that period. While finding discoveries that can create new jobs is the priority of the GRA program, there is an added benefit for students. Eminent Scholars’ labs create high-caliber learning environments where students get hands-on research experience to help them become the next generation’s leaders in science.

c.j. tsai

GRA Eminent Scholar in Molecular Biology GLOBAL SECURITY

think trees are the most complex and amazing organisms on Earth,” says C.J.

Tsai, former director of the UGA Plant

Center. “They are immobile yet resilient, and their longevity means that they can be unwavering while also highly adaptable to a changing environment.” Much of Tsai’s work centers on the question, “What makes a tree a tree?” She uses genomics and bioinformatics to study how trees work at the genetic and molecular levels. In practice, her research can lead to breakthroughs, such as making plants more economically viable sources of fuel.

“I think trees are the most complex and amazing organisms on Earth. They are immobile yet resilient, and their longevity means that they can be unwavering while also highly adaptable to a changing environment.”—C.J. Tsai

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scott jackson

GRA Eminent Scholar in Plant Functional Genomics

DEPENDABLE FOOD SUPPLY ow do you make a better peanut? Jackson, director of the Center for Applied Genetic

Technologies, works at the intersection of modern genetics and agriculture to do just that. He led an international research team that completed the peanut genome se-

quence in 2014. That team is now using the sequence to identify genetic markers that could make the crop more drought tolerant or disease resistant. Georgia—the nation’s top peanut-producing state—stands to benefit from these findings, which could improve the sustainability and profitability of peanut farming and create a better quality of life for farmers.

stephen dalton

GRA Eminent Scholar in Molecular Biology

LONGER, HEALTHIER LIVES tephen Dalton is a leader in UGA’s emergence into the frontiers of biomedical research. He studies how stem cells can be used to cure degenerative diseases, such as heart disease, or repair brain and spinal cord injuries. Dalton is also

the founding director of the Center for Molecular Medicine. The center’s new facility,

which will open later this year, will host teams of researchers exploring diseases at the molecular level to understand the effects of drugs and genes. “The emphasis is on translating this information into something practical and useful that can impact the health of people in Georgia and beyond,” Dalton says.

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dennis kyle

GRA Eminent Scholar in Antiparasitic Drug Discovery

SOLUTIONS FOR DEADLY DISEASES rriving in January, Dennis Kyle is UGA's newest Eminent Scholar and the new director of the Center for Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases. Kyle, one of the nationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s leading infectious disease researchers, focuses on

the mechanisms of antimalarial drug resistance and drug discovery. He was part of international research teams that identified the new antimalarial

drugs ELQ-300 and SJ733. ELQ-300 not only treats the disease but also blocks the transmission of malaria from mosquitoes to humans. SJ733 works to eliminate the malaria parasite when it infects blood cells and is currently in Phase II clinical trials.

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karen norris

GRA Eminent Scholar in Immunology and Translational Biomedical Research

SOLUTIONS FOR DEADLY DISEASES

aren Norris is working with a team of scientists to move a promising vaccine that treats pulmonary disease from the lab to clinical trialsâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;a critical step toward improving health and saving lives.

As a member of the Center for Vaccines and Immunology, Norris' research focuses

on infectious and chronic diseases, including HIV, inflammatory diseases, and diabetes. She has developed a number of disease models, which help researchers learn about, prevent, and develop treatments for diseases.

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arthur s. edison GRA Eminent Scholar in NMR Spectroscopy

LONGER, HEALTHIER LIVES ometimes there’s a lot to be gained by sweating the small stuff. Arthur S. Edison uses powerful nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, which non-invasively generates images at the atomic level, to study

chemical reactions in cells. These pictures of miniscule biological processes may one day provide a snapshot of a person’s health. Edison’s lab is developing improved techniques using one of the

world's most powerful NMR tools at UGA’s Complex Carbohydrate Research Center. His work enables interdisciplinary collaborations exploring topics ranging from the nature of biological clocks to the mechanisms underlying myeloid leukemia.

ted ross GRA Eminent Scholar in Infectious Diseases

SOLUTIONS FOR DEADLY DISEASES

here is one season everyone dreads: flu season. Ted Ross, the director of UGA’s Center for Vaccines and Immunology, and

other UGA researchers have partnered with Sanofi

Pasteur to develop a vaccine that protects against multiple strains of both seasonal and pandemic influenza using animal models. “One of the problems with current influenza vaccines is that we have to make predictions about which virus strains will be most prevalent every year and build our vaccines around those predictions,” Ross says. “What we have developed is a vaccine that protects against multiple different strains of influenza viruses at once, so we might be able to one day replace the current standard of care with this more broadly cross-protective vaccine.” Ross is collaborating with Moderna Therapeutics to create and test

Help fund groundbreaking research by these and other UGA researchers.

GIVE.UGA.EDU/RESEARCHGM

a vaccine to prevent infections of the Zika and Dengue viruses.

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THE NATION

news and events

Home Is Where the Arch Is

Homecoming is the perfect time to return to Athens to reunite with old friends and professors, and celebrate all things red and black! This year’s Homecoming Weekend is Oct. 13-15. Events for alumni will be held throughout the weekend, such as the UGA Black Alumni Homecoming Tailgate. This event, hosted by the UGA Black Alumni Affinity Group, will be held on Myers Quad. Learn more at alumni.uga.edu/calendar/gm. Details about all events hosted by schools, colleges, and other areas of campus can also be found at www.ugahomecoming.com.

from the uga alumni association

Get Your Football On!

The 2017 football season is under way—time to break out your red and black and practice your Dawg bark! UGA alumni chapters across the country are planning weekly gamewatching parties for anyone who cheers for the Boys in the Silver Britches. These events are free to attend, but everyone is responsible for their own food and beverages. To view the complete listing of game watching parties, visit your local chapter’s Facebook page or alumni.uga.edu/gamewatching/gm.

Presenting: The 40 Under 40 Class of 2017

The 40 Under 40 Class of 2017 was announced over the summer, and the UGA community will celebrate these outstanding young alumni during a luncheon in Atlanta, on Sept. 14 at the Grand Hyatt Buckhead. This year’s list includes alumni from around the country who work in a variety of fields and are committed to the University of Georgia. View the complete list at alumni.uga.edu/40u40/gm.

A BULLDOG BARK TO ...

jason tucker photography

(Left to right) Trey Broome PharmD ’02, Betsy Broome, Amber Morris, and Josh Morris PharmD ’04 gathered with fellow alumni and friends at Richland Country Club in Nashville in May for a Champions for Scholars event to celebrate support for scholarships at the university.

mike mixon photography bs ’03, mit ’07

Kenneth J. White (right), assistant professor of financial planning, housing and consumer economics, and Mohamed Massaquoi BS ’08 spoke to more than 65 alumni during “Brunch and Learn: A Discussion of Finance and Wealth” in March hosted by the UGA Alumni Association Black Alumni Affinity group.

carole kaboya ab ’10

Anne Beckwith BBA ’90 (left) and Quanza BrooksGriffin ABJ ’01 attended a Women of UGA alumnae event in Atlanta in March that raised funds for the Women of UGA Scholarship Fund. The event was held at Bulldog 100 business Vino Venue. During the event, it was announced that more than 425 donations helped fully fund the Women of UGA Scholarship Fund, which will provide its first scholarship for a qualified student in Fall 2018.

contact us: Have you moved? Changed your name? Keep your record up to date at alumni.uga.edu/myinfo. For more information: (800) 606-8786 | alumni.uga.edu

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DON’T MISS OUT FALL 2017

Football Game-Watching Parties

UGA alumni chapters across the country will host game-watching parties for local alumni and friends. Learn more at alumni.uga.edu/gamewatching/gm.

SOCIAL MEDIA

Stay connected with @ugaalumniassoc on Twitter and Instagram. In late April, the Colorado Alumni Chapter gathered with other SEC alumni for a ski day in the Arapahoe Bason Ski Area.

THURSDAY, SEPT. 14

40 Under 40 Awards Luncheon

Join UGA alumni and friends to recognize and celebrate 40 of the university’s most outstanding young alumni. This annual luncheon in Atlanta will be held at the Grand Hyatt in Buckhead and is open to the public. To view this year’s honorees or to register to attend, visit alumni.uga.edu/40u40/gm.

FRIDAY-SUNDAY, OCT. 13-15

2017 Homecoming Weekend

Return to Athens for a weekend filled with spirited activities for students and alumni, including the annual parade Friday evening, tailgates hosted by UGA’s schools and colleges, and the football game against the University of Missouri. Learn more at www.ugahomecoming.com.

SATURDAY, OCT. 14

Black Alumni Homecoming Tailgate

The UGA Black Alumni Affinity Group will host a homecoming tailgate on Myers Quad prior to the UGA-Missouri football game. All alumni, friends, and their families are invited to participate. The group will also host a football block in Sanford Stadium during the game. Learn more at alumni.uga.edu/calendar/gm.

SATURDAY, JAN. 27

2018 Bulldog 100 Celebration

The UGA Alumni Association will proudly host the 2018 Bulldog 100 Celebration at the Atlanta Hyatt Regency to recognize the fastest-growing businesses owned or operated by UGA alumni. The list of businesses will be announced—in unranked order—in November, and the event in January is open to the public. Learn more at alumni.uga.edu/b100/gm.

For more events, visit alumni.uga.edu/calendar.

@codawgs Lee Chapman AB ’86 (far right) tweeted about his family’s impressive legacy at UGA. Featured with him: (Left to right) Micah Shue BSed ’13, BBA ’16; Haley Chapman Shue ABJ ’14; Sam Chapman BSF ’64; Martha Chapman BSHE ’62; Hayden Chapman AB ’17; and Karen Chapman BSed ’87.

@LeeChapman34 UGA Alumni Association Board Member Yvette Daniels AB ’86, JD ’89 (center) takes a selfie with Family and Consumer Sciences students who participated in a career exploration trip to Atlanta in March. The students visited Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, the Georgia Department of Public Health and the Shepherd Center.

@ugacareercenter Alumni Chapter Leader Geoff Bell (far left) BSFCS ’07 enjoyed an afternoon at Topgolf Atlanta in May. The chapter hosted an event to raise funds for student scholarships at UGA.

@G_BeezyATL

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ON THE BULLDOG BEAT

1 Dress up your tailgate spot with all things red and blackâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;flags, pennants, jerseys, even a Bulldog statue! Get your gear at the UGA Bookstore. (Items pictured available from the UGA Bookstore include pillow, blanket, foam finger, pennant, pot holder, spatula, cornhole board, jersey, clear bag, and sun hat.)

2 A tailgate isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t complete without an awesome spread of food. From dips to sweets to grilling football favorites, a wide variety of snacks is a must.

3 In an effort to keep all of our students, players, and fans safe, Georgia has implemented the SEC Clear Bag Policy. The bag pictured is an example of acceptable bags and is available at the UGA Bookstore. Visit georgiadogs.com for the full policy.

3 4

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We asked our social media followers what makes a great tailgate and were flooded with responses. With your help, along with some great UGA Bookstore swag, we think we’ve built the perfect setup! written by kellyn amodeo abj ’09 photo by peter frey

4 Georgia weather is always unpredictable, so pack blankets in case of a sudden cold snap and umbrellas in case of a rain shower. Remember, umbrellas are only for tailgates and are not allowed in Sanford Stadium.

5 Get your competitive spirit ready to cheer on the Dawgs with a game of cornhole, or just bring a football or Frisbee to toss around your tailgate spot.

6 Be sure to bring garbage and recycling bags or cans to keep our campus beautiful!

Here are a few more responses from our social media followers that are not pictured, but are true necessities: • Boiled peanuts • Pimento cheese (the only orange in sight, of course) • Tents for shade • Great music • Plenty of friends and Bulldog fans

The best thing about a UGA tailgate is a crowd of fans calling the Dawgs and getting ready for the game. This season, be sure to share shots of your tailgates with us on our social accounts! Follow our main accounts and our Alumni Association accounts: @universityofga @ugaalumniassoc

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class notes Compiled by Camren Skelton, Mara Weissinger, Katherine Costikyan, and Rachel Floyd.

1950-1954 Kay Hind BSHE ’51 of Albany retired as executive director of the Southwest Georgia Council on Aging after 49 years of leading the organization. Georgia First Lady Sandra Deal recognized Hind’s years of service with the Servant’s Heart Award. 1955-1959 Frank Seiler BBA ’56, JD ’57 was recognized with a resolution of commendation by the Judicial Council of Georgia for his work practicing law in Savannah for almost 60 years. Franklin Shumake BSEd ’56, MEd ’59, EdD ’64 received a Lifetime Achievement Award from UGA’s College of Education. John Little BSF ’58 received a Gold Membership Certificate from the Appalachian Society of American Foresters. 1960-1964 David Tyre BSF ’60 of Jesup was inducted into the Wayne County Sports Hall of Fame in April. John Cathey BSF ’62 received a Gold Membership Certificate from the Appalachian Society of American Foresters.

1965-1969 C. Charles Maynard BSF ’65 of Havana, Florida, was inducted into the Florida Society of American Foresters Hall of Fame in January. John M. Tatum AB ’65, LLB ’68 was recognized by the Daily Report, a news source about the law profession and Georgia courts, as the recipient of a 2017 Lifetime Achievement Award. Ander Crenshaw AB ’66 joined King & Spalding as senior counsel in the Government Advocacy and Public Policy practice in the Washington, D.C. office. Lee Epting BBA ’67 was inducted into the 2017 Phi Delta Theta Georgia Alumni Hall of Fame. Epting is the founder of Epting Events in Athens. Jackie Saylor AB ’68 of Atlanta was recognized with the 2016 Outstanding Woman in the Profession Award from the Atlanta Bar Association’s Women in the Profession Section. She was also named a 2017 Estate Planning & Probate Super Lawyer. Ruthi Postow Birch BSEd ’69 is the author of How To Build a Piano Bench: Lessons for Success From a Red Dirt Road in Alabama (River Grove Books, 2017).

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HIP-HOP COLL ABORATION

So Why Not Us? UGA students and alumni are making a difference through music. Last spring, UGA student organization Music Only partnered with French teacher Kelli Bivins AB ’97, MEd ’02, EdS ’11 and her students at Clarke Central High School to produce a French hip-hop music video Alors Pourquoi Pas Nous?, which means “so why not us?” Last year, Music Only won second place in the France on Campus national contest and received funding from the French Consulate in Atlanta. With that funding, UGA students Kelsey Reddick and Akhil Pendalwar and alumni Justin Scott-Wesley AB ’15 and Bo Chambliss AB ’16, along with videographer Nigel Kim, produced and edited the video starring Clarke Central students.

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APPLAUSE FOR ALUMNI

UGA students and alumni recently collaborated with alumna Kelli Bivins and students in her Clarke Central High French class to produce an awardwinning hip-hop music video.

The book tells Birch’s story of growing up in a small town in Alabama and how she rose to build a leading staffing firm in Washington, D.C. 1970-1974 John C. McGoogan III BBA ’71 was inducted into the 2017 Phi Delta Theta Georgia Alumni Hall of Fame. McGoogan is president of the Prestwick Capital Group in Atlanta. John Bloodworth BSEd ’72, MA ’75 is a full-time lecturer in the communications department at the University of West Florida in Pensacola.

Judy Jaeger ABJ ’72, MA ’75 is the emergency management program chair at Central Georgia Technical College in Macon. Gale Nemec BSEd ’73, MEd ’74 received a Professional Achievement Award from UGA’s College of Education. Nemec, the CEO of Nemec Productions LLC in the Washington metro area, has taken on multiple professional roles, including actor and voice talent, author, producer, singer, artist, and teacher. Richard Patterson BS ’74, MEd ’79 was named the Most Positive Girls Coach Athlete in East Atlanta by the Positive Athlete Georgia program for his work as a coach for the Athens Academy girls’ track and field team. 1975-1979 Bill Lockwood BLA ’75 received the 2017 Jack L. Wood Excellence in Service Award from Barge, Waggoner, Sumner, and Cannon Inc. for his work throughout his 40-year career with the firm. Omar Najjar BS ’75 was named a “Top Doc” by Atlanta Magazine for the seventh consecutive year for his work as a family practicioner at Dekalb Medical Center. Tony Barnhart M ’76 received the Distinguished Achievement in Broadcasting and Cable Award from DiGamma Kappa, the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication’s national broadcast society. William Bryan BMus ’76, MEd ’91 was named the Georgia High School German Teacher of the Year by the American Associ-

CLASS NOTES

National Leader

ormer Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue DVM ’71 became the first University of Georgia alumnus to be named to the White House Cabinet since Reconstruction. In April, Perdue was commissioned as the secretary for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the $150 billion agency responsible for our country’s farm policy and food and nutrition programs. The USDA is the funding authority for land-grant university research and extension programs in agriculture, family and consumer science, and forestry. "Because of his Former Georgia experience and Gov. Sonny Perdue his lifelong compictured with mitment to agUga VI. riculture, we are pleased to have former Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue as the new secretary of agriculture," said Sam Pardue, dean of the UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. "Not only does Secrerick o'quinn tary Perdue know firsthand the intricacies of providing, protecting, and promoting the U.S. food system, he has long been a strong supporter of the landgrant mission in public universities across the country and our role in keeping U.S. agriculture growing and leading in sustainable food production." Perdue attended undergraduate classes at UGA and earned a doctorate in veterinary medicine in 1971. After graduating, he served in the U.S. Air Force and was honorably discharged in 1974 with the rank of captain. He then practiced veterinary medicine in Raleigh, North Carolina, before returning to Bonaire, Georgia, to start businesses in grain trading and trucking. Perdue was elected to the state legislature in 1990 and became the state's first Republican governor since Reconstruction in 2003. Under his tenure, Georgia added new food safety regulations after a salmonella outbreak was traced to peanut butter made in the state. He oversaw the state's decades-long water dispute with Alabama and Florida as well as a historic drought that prompted Perdue to call for strict water restrictions. He also championed UGA projects such as the Richard B. Russell Building Special Collections Libraries, the Medical Partnership, and the new College of Veterinary Medicine hospital. "Secretary Perdue is a distinguished alumnus of the University of Georgia, and we are grateful for the tremendous support he has demonstrated for his alma mater over the years," said UGA President Jere W. Morehead JD ’80. "We look forward to the important contributions he will make to the nation's vital agricultural industry in this new role." written by david bill

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CLASS NOTES APPLAUSE FOR ALUMNI

Finding Serendipity

Mai-Lise Nguyen, shown here in Basel, Switzerland, on the Rhine River, is using servant-leadership skills she learned at UGA in her global-facing job. special

iverse and unexpected opportunities were hallmarks of Mai-Lise Nguyen’s time at UGA. Her willingness to pursue those experiences put her on a path toward promoting leadership, service, and innovation in Europe. Nguyen BBA ’05 is senior operations manager for corporate donations and philanthropy at Roche, a Fortune Global 500 biotech company. Based in Switzerland, Nguyen is responsible for the strategic operations of Roche’s global philanthropic endeavors, which include projects with international nonprofit organizations that address science education, humanitarian, disaster relief, and cultural programs. One of Nguyen’s many tasks is to coordinate content for Roche Continents, an annual summit in Salzburg, Austria, that aims to inspire and spark innovation among Europe’s talented arts and science students. Nguyen credits a little serendipity at UGA for nudging her down this career path. As a student serving on the University Judiciary, an upperclassman suggested she look into the Terry College’s Leonard Leadership Pro-

written by mara weissinger

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gram, which promotes a servant-leadership philosophy. In 2003, the program was still new. “I had not heard of it, and I applied after some quick reading,” she says. “It has certainly led me on a seemingly unimaginable path from Georgia to New York City and now Europe.” The program had a lasting impact. Now, she encourages students to consider how opportunities can come from anywhere—from a side conversation to an advertisement on a bulletin board. The opportunities Nguyen found at UGA inspired her to give back, and her involvement continues to pay dividends through the Terry students she has mentored and the guest lectures she has given. She also served on the Terry College young alumni board for seven years; she was one of its founding members and chair. “UGA definitely cultivated my curiosity. There are many opportunities for students. You just have to look and be willing to try something new. I also think a diversity of opportunities are available for alumni.”

ation of Teachers of German’s Georgia chapter. He was also named a 2017 Star Teacher at Sandy Creek High School in Tyrone. Keith Lloyd BBA ’77 of Houston, Texas, is a senior associate at Marcus & Millichap. Spencer Brewer III BSFR ’78, MFR ’80 of Rome is the owner and operator of Lavender Mountain Hardware and Garden. Susan Klumpp Williams BLA ’79 was elected to HOK’s executive committee by the firm’s board of directors. HOK is a global design, architecture, engineering, and planning firm. 1980-1984 Ann Baumgarten BSEd ’80, MA ’85 of Charlotte, North Carolina, is the director of human relations for Moishe House. Bob Blalock Jr. BSA ’80 is the owner of Uncle Bob’s Sauces LLC and Uncle Bob’s BBQ on the Lake in Willis, Texas. Jack Scott BSFR ’80 retired after 13 years with the Board of Public Utilities in Cheyenne, Wyoming. Hal J. Bashein BSA ’81 completed his 25th year practicing urologic surgery and merged his practice with 21st Century Oncology in West Palm Beach, Florida. Mark B. Chandler BBA ’81 was inducted into the 2017 Phi Delta Theta Georgia Alumni Hall of Fame. Chandler is the founder and president of Habersham Properties in Atlanta. Frank Etheridge AB ’82 was named the first county administrator for Long County. Bobbie Miller BSEd ’83 is doing contract work for the Captain

CLASS NOTES Planet Foundation of Atlanta after retiring from her 30-year teaching career in Cobb County. W. Franklin Evans BS ’84 is president of Voorhees College in Denmark, South Carolina. 1985-1989 Robert G. Miller M ’86 was inducted into the 2017 Phi Delta Theta Georgia Alumni Hall of Fame. Miller is a co-founder of Miller Brothers Ltd., a men’s clothing store in Atlanta. Charles Blackburn ABJ ’87 is the vice president of business development for corporate operations at Legacy Navigator in Richmond, Virginia. Nancy Brandon BSEd ’88, PhD ’00 penned Show Me A Kindness (Lake Union Publishing, 2017), a novel about a woman living with multiple personalities in Depression-era Georgia. Laura Boswell BSEd ’89, MEd ’00 of Maysville is the workbased learning coordinator for Jackson County Schools and president elect of the Work Based Learning State Advisory Board. Boswell is also the education chair for the Jackson County Chamber of Commerce and a recipient of the Piedmont College 2016 Excellence in Education Award. Rodney F. Swanson BBA ’89 is the principal of Arabia Mountain High School in the Dekalb County school district. 1990-1994 Mike Abramowitz ABJ ’90 of North Palm Beach, Florida, is a member of the Grady Alumni Board and serves on the board of directors for Kayla Cares 4 Kids, a nonprofit charity found-

ed by his daughter, Kayla. Deron Hicks BFA ’90 is the author of The Van Gogh Deception (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Books for Young Readers, 2017), a digitally interactive mystery thriller that follows a boy as he tries to stop one of the greatest art frauds ever attempted. Alex Levy BLA ’90 is the senior ecologist at VHB’s Atlanta office. Stacey Marable AB ’90 is the inventory control and raw materials planner at Buckman, a specialty chemical company. Tim Worley M ’90, former UGA running back, is a certified professional speaker and life skills consultant. Ginger Carney BS ’91, PhD ’98 was named dean of the University of Idaho’s College of Science and is a full professor of biology. Stephen Copeland AB ’91 is the senior director of customer service at Reliance Partners in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Tim Harding BS ’93 was promoted to scientist 1 at Ignyta Inc. in San Diego, California, studying biotechnology for cancer research. Travis Miller BBA ’93 was named president of the board of directors for the Georgia Construction Aggregate Association. Scott Minter AB ’94, JD ’97 of Chatsworth was elected superior court judge of the Conasauga Judicial Circuit Court. 1995-1999 Amy Cole BSEd ’95 is involved with United Way’s Young Leaders Society.

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CLASS NOTES APPLAUSE FOR ALUMNI

Flying High

he first time mark montgomery BSA ’01 visited a Georgia high school as a member of the Blue Angels, the U.S. Navy’s legendary flight demonstration squadron, he was a little nervous. It’s a surprising response for a Marine who has been deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. “There are all these high-school kids,” Montgomery recalls, “and the team says, ‘See you in an hour. Go get ’em.’” He quickly learned all those young people need is his honesty. “Some are interested in the military, some in aviation, and some just want to get out of first-period math,” he says. “What I tell them is, ‘We are not here to recruit but to inspire. If you wake up in the morning and want to be the best version of yourself, that will be a good thing for everyone.’” Montgomery began to find his own best version at UGA. As a sophomore studying agribusiness, Montgomery wasn’t sure about his career goals. He approached a Marine recruiter and scored well on an aviation aptitude test and physical exam. He then spent a summer at the 10-week Officer Candidate School program in Quantico, Virginia. But going into his final semester in fall 2001, Montgomery had not fully committed. That changed on Sept. 11. “I didn’t see much of a choice after that,” he says. Montgomery completed flight school and was selected to fly KC-130 tanker aircraft. He would be deployed to Iraq in 2006, 2008, and again in 2013 with a KC-130 squadron. In 2010, he was deployed to Afghanistan for eight months with an infantry battalion. “That really opened my eyes,” he says. “We lost 17 people out of an 800- or 900-man battalion that summer. It was tough.” He returned to the U.S. to spend a year training in Quantico. Some friends who were flying the Blue Angels’ C-130, spotted his potential and suggested he apply. “It’s an honor to get selected,” he says. “We represent all those Marines who are deployed right now, away from their families and sleeping in the mud. And we go places where people don’t see the military a lot.” The Blue Angels’ mission is to show the best parts of the military, Montgomery says. “For me, it’s an honor to be able to do that.”

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For Mark Montgomery, being a Blue Angel is ‘the best version of himself’. special

written by paige parvin

Dorian Murry AB ’95, JD ’98 has been the managing partner of The Murry Law Group since it was founded in 2010 in Stone Mountain. John Brown BLA ’96 was a recipient of the 2017 Dan Barge Jr. Award of Merit at the firm Barge, Waggoner, Sumner and

Cannon Inc., for his work as lead designer on the Tennessee Riverwalk in Chattanooga. Dana Gunn BS ’96 of Walkersville, Maryland, is a software engineer with Leidos. He is the author of Murder at the North Pole (D. Gunn, 2016).

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Ray Lee AB ’96 exhibited a display of his artwork at Athens Academy in April. Michael Kissel BS ’97 is chairman of New London Anesthesia & Pain Consultants in Gwinett County. Charlie Bethel BBA ’98, JD ’01 is involved with United Way’s

Young Leaders Society. Toby P. Bradberry ABJ ’98 was elected mayor of North High Shoals. Daniel T. Lindsey BS ’98 received the NOAA-David Johnson Award for his work translating data from National Oceanic and Atmospheric

CLASS NOTES Administration satellites to imagery and products that help weather forecasters. Patrick Page AB ’98 is president and chief operating officer of Page International Inc. of Atlanta. KC Trommer AB ’98 was included in the New York’s Five Borough Song Book, Volume II for her poem “The Cyclone,” which was set to music by Grammy Award-winning composer Herschel Garfein. Christie Nally Viola BBA ’98 of Atlanta is a senior loan officer at Fairway Independent Mortgage Corporation. April M. Shiflett BS ’99 and her husband, Jason Hall, welcomed their first child, Nathaniel Seals Hall, on Jan. 24. 2000-2004 Jeff Buice BBA ’00 is the co-founder of GENCapital, a wealth management firm in Atlanta. Alicia Loadholt BSA ’00 and her husband, Justin, welcomed their son, John William, on October 14, 2015. Benjamin Jones BSEH ’01 was named to the Georgia Construction Aggregate Association’s board of directors. Jones is the sales and transportation director for the Georgia and Florida group of Aggregates USA. Adam Joseph Shellhorse AB ’01, MA ’03 of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is the author of Anti-Literature: The Politics and Limits of Representation in Modern Brazil and Argentina (University of Pittsburgh Press, Illuminations, 2017). Nick Law AB ’02 received a doctorate in international studies from Old Dominion University

in December 2016. Cindy Quinlan BBA ’02, MEd ’03, EdS ’09 received an Outstanding Educator Award from the College of Education. Quinlan is a marketing education teacher at Brookwood High School in Gwinnett County. Jessica Reece Fagan ABJ ’03 was listed as a Georgia Rising Star in Atlanta Magazine’s Super Lawyers list. Jacob Lindsey BLA ’03 is director of the Charleston Civic Design Center in South Carolina. Cameron Schwabenton BSFCS ’03 is the principal of Cameron Stewart, an interior design and historic preservation firm in Charleston, South Carolina. Heather Summerville ABJ ’03 co-wrote Surf Shack: Laid-Back Living by the Water (Clarkson Potter, 2017) with interior designer Nina Freudenberer. The

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CLASS NOTES book’s photos and stories allow the reader to step inside the homes and laid-back lifestyles of surfers. Reagan H. BBA ’03 and Julia Burdell Wolfe AB ’03 welcomed their second daughter, Mary Estelle, in April. Reagan was also selected as

one of NAIFA Atlanta’s Top Advisors under 40 for the fourth consecutive year. Will BBA ’04 and Ellen Beasley AB, BSEd ’09 opened the first Primrose School of Athens, part of a national early childhood education and development franchise.

Will Conoly BBA ’04 was promoted to senior lender at United Bank. Jessica Davis BSFCS ’04 of Lawrenceville married Brad Davis in November 2016. Joe Tillman BS ’04 was appointed the principal research lead, supply chain management of

American Productivity & Quality Center (APQC). He was also named a 2017 Pro to Know by Supply & Demand Chain Executive magazine. 2005-2009 Haley Harrigan AB, ABJ ’05 wrote her debut novel, Secrets

APPLAUSE FOR ALUMNI

Limitless Opportunities

oy peltier knew what she wanted out of her college experience long before she arrived at UGA. She knew she wanted to conduct research, study abroad, and hone her foreign language skills along the way. She also knew that in order to achieve all of this, she would need financial assistance. As a recipient of the university’s foremost undergraduate scholarship, the Foundation Fellowship, Peltier AB, MA ’17 was given the freedom to pursue all of her academic ambitions. Thanks to that opportunity plus Peltier’s hard work and academic excellence, she graduated from UGA in May with bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Romance languages as well as a resume that stands apart from the competition. Peltier began conducting faculty-led research during her freshman year at UGA and was inspired to test her own ideas. With the support of the fellowship, which she began as a sophomore, Peltier led her own project focused on the French and Spanish languages, an undertaking she expanded into a master’s thesis. “Every step of the way, this university was behind me,” Peltier says. “I am very, very thankful to the donors that make the fellowship possible.” Peltier’s academic career has been marked by flexibility; through hard work and a genuine love for learning, she has forged her own path and gained the experiences she needs to one day be a professor. Opportunities like studying abroad in France, where written by leigh raynor

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tyler daniels

The Foundation Fellowship provided opportunities for Joy Peltier to conduct faculty-led research as a freshman and study abroad in France, where she worked at a health clinic. Peltier’s hard work paid off, and she is now realizing her dream of pursuing a doctorate.

she served as a live-in tutor to a host family, and working in the patient advocacy office at the CarePlace, a free health care clinic, have allowed her to gain practical work experience while honing her teaching and language skills. Her passion for learning did not end at graduation. Now, she is pursuing her doctoral degree in linguistics at the University of Michigan. She was named a Rackham Merit Fellow, an honor that funds her five-

year program. She credits her opportunities at UGA for helping her get this far, and the experiences she gained will continue to guide her toward her dreams of becoming an educator. “As a Fellow, you are pushed to find the thing you are passionate about, and once you identify that thing, there are resources there to help you do it,” Peltier says. “The skills I’ve developed are going to be very important to my future career.”

CLASS NOTES of Southern Girls (Sourcebooks Landmark, 2017). The book tells the story of a woman who is confronted by her past when she is asked to revisit the death of her best friend. Adam Herndon AB ’05 of Chicago, Illinois, is the office manager in customer relations at ABUS Mobile Security. Meeky Hirst AB ’05 opened her business, Meeky Hirst State Farm Agency, located in Atlanta, in May. J. Ashley Sawyer AB ’05 was listed as a Georgia Rising Star in Atlanta Magazine’s Super Lawyers list. Heath Ward AB ’05, MPA ’08 and his wife, Lisa Ward, welcomed son Grady Hampton on Feb. 16. Cassie Hawkins BFA ’06 of Athens is an event coordinator and photography instructor for the University of Georgia Center for Continuing Education. Mandy Williams BSFCS ’06 was named the 2016-17 Teacher of the Year at Memorial Drive Elementary School in Ware County. Portia Johnson AB ’07 of Smyrna is a full-time licensed professional Realtor at Atlanta Communities Real Estate Brokerage. Lindsay Marko BBA ’07 and Emily Slater BS ’07 co-founded A Signature Welcome, a company in Charleston, South Carolina, focused on creative gift-giving. Collin BLA ’08 and Jenni O’Berry BLA ’10 created and launched Pilot Cove, a mountain getaway in the Pisgah National Forest near Brevard, North Carolina. Ben Colley AB, BBA ’08 is the vice president of technology banking at Square 1 Bank.

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CLASS NOTES Philip Young BSED ’08 received an Outstanding Young Alumni Award from the College of Education. Young is the assistant director of sports medicine and head football athletic trainer at Kennesaw State University. Chris Anthony ABJ ’09 of Opelika, Alabama, earned a master’s degree in higher education administration from Auburn University in May. Ellen AB, BSEd ’09 and Will Beasley BBA ’04 opened the first Primrose School of Athens, part of a national early childhood education and development franchise. Justin Davidson ABJ ’09 is

the marketing manager of JE Dunn Construction in Nashville, Tennessee. William Kent BBA ’09 joined the law firm of Bass, Berry & Sims PLC in Nashville, Tennessee, as an associate in the Corporate & Securities practice group. 2010-2014 Melody Harris BSCFS ’10 is working as a child life specialist at Nemours Children’s Hospital in Orlando, Florida. Adam Kaufman BS ’10 of Atlanta married Antonia Ivete Alves de Matos on March 6. Lauren Sophia Leighton ABJ ’10 of Denver, Colorado, married Matthew Brittsan

on Sept. 4, 2016. Jenni BLA ’10 and Collin O’Berry BLA ’08 created and launched Pilot Cove, a mountain getaway in the Pisgah National Forest near Brevard, North Carolina. Justin Erwin BBA ’11 is a captain in the U.S. Army and has taken command of a company in Fort Shafter, Hawaii. Ryan Mandrell BBA ’11 is the vice president for JLL Atlanta. Erin O’Brien BBA ’11 is a benefits manager at Carter’s | OshKosh B’Gosh in Atlanta. Robert Shepard AB ’11 is a graduate student in the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University.

Diana Zito ABJ, AB ’11 is the executive producer for WRBL, the CBS affiliate in Columbus, Georgia. John Ashley Jr. AB ’12, MIP ’15 of Rockville, Maryland, is the 2017 Nuclear Security Fellow for Young Professionals in Foreign Policy. Marni Bronstein BSFCS ’12 is the alumni coordinator at the Epstein School in Sandy Springs. Rossie White BBA ’12 is a Farmers Insurance agent in Buford. Sloane Brakeville BBA ’14 is a member of the IBM Blockchain Labs and is working on the use of distributed

MOVIE THEATER MAKEOVER

Home from Hollywood Before retiring, Beverly Wood MS ’80 spent 35 years in the film industry making sure movies had “the look” cinematographers and directors like Conrad Hall, Roger Deakins, Quentin Tarantino, and the Coen brothers wanted. Now she’s focusing on a different aesthetic: the run-down Mecca Theater in her hometown. Wood grew up in Chase City, Virginia, where Friday nights meant movies at the Mecca. But like many historic theaters in small town America, the Mecca appears to be past its prime. Wood has plans to change that, in part because the Mecca introduced her to the field that would eventually become her career. She put her advanced chemistry degree to work at prestigious film labs like Eastman Kodak’s Motion Picture Division, legendary studio special MGM, and Deluxe Laboratories. She also ran digital lab EFILM. Wood went on to work on the Academy Award-winning films The Hours, Monster’s Ball, Inglourious Bastards, and Selma. A member of the Motion Picture Academy, Wood received the Bud Stone Award of Distinction from the American Society of Cinematographers in 2013.

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Beverly Wood is going home to Chase City, Virginia. Her goal is to rehabilitate Chase City’s historic Mecca Theater, which she credits as inspiring her to begin a career in the film industry.

CLASS NOTES

our georgia commitment dedicated to uga and the athens community

Three generations of the Benson family are recognizing their 100-year relationship with Athens and the University of Georgia by making a transformational gift to the Terry College of Business.

ne of Athens’ most community-minded families contributed significant support for the second and largest phase of the Terry College Business Learning Community at the corner of Lumpkin and Baxter streets. Benson Hall is one of three buildings that will be dedicated Sept. 15. It is named for patriarch W. H. “Howard” Benson, son H.E. “Ed” Benson BBA ’42, and grandson Larry R. Benson BBA ’74. Howard, who passed away in 1971, founded Benson’s Bakery in 1918. Today, Benson’s Inc. is the parent company of Benson’s Bakery, which distributes cake products to retailers across the country, and Benson’s Hospitality Group, which operates four—soon to be five—hotels in the Athens area. Howard’s son, Ed, graduated from UGA in 1942 and is now chairman emeritus. Under Ed’s leadership, Benson’s grew its Old Home Kitchens cake line by hiring UGA students to drive to each state during summers to sell fruit cakes as fundraising opportunities. “During our 15-year partnership, UGA students would literally cover the country selling Benson’s Old Home Fruit Cakes to civic clubs, church groups and other nonprofits,” Ed says. “During our peak years, we sold to over 7,000 organizations for the holiday season.” Well-known UGA alumni, including former U.S. Senator Saxby Chambliss BBA ’66, are among those who participated in the sales experience as students. It was Ed’s keen interest in management and logistics that ultimately led him to diversify the company into the hospitality

GIVE.UGA.EDU

business. Larry, Ed’s son, graduated from UGA in 1974 and is now chairman and CEO. His business acumen and financial expertise has grown the family business to unprecedented levels, including an expansion of the baking facility and the construction of new hotels. He has also continued his family’s matt hardy photography strong town and gown Larry R. Benson (left) and his father, H.E. “Ed” Benson. relationships. The Bensons’ latest contribution to UGA will leave a lasting landmark on campus that reflects the connection between the family’s Athens-based company and the university. Larry and Ed’s decision to support UGA is in recognition of the symbiotic relationship from which Benson’s Inc. has benefited over the past century— and in recognition of the future of that relationship. “My dad and I received a wonderful special education from Terry, which rewarded Benson's Bakery in downtown Athens. us with the opportunity to build our Athens-based business. Hundreds of UGA and beyond.” As Benson’s Inc. celebrates its censtudents and graduates have become valued associates of Benson’s Inc.,” tennial in 2018, the company hopes to Larry says. “On behalf of my grandfather, locate former students in the Benson’s father, and more than 600 associates and Bakery Summer Old Home Fruit Cake their families, we are pleased to honor sales program. If you played a role our 100-year relationship with UGA. We in the bakery’s success, please email are especially pleased that Benson Hall summerstudentcakesales@bensonsbakery.com. will play a prominent role in educating business leaders for the next 100 years

Follow in the Bensons’ footsteps by making a gift to the Terry College of Business at give.uga.edu/terry. geo rgia maga z ine | fall 2 017

CLASS NOTES APPLAUSE FOR ALUMNI

Behind the Voice

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You may not know Bobby Ellerbee’s face, but more than four decades of radio, commercial, and animated series work have made his voice famous. He recently returned to UGA to complete a degree he began working toward in the 1970s.

t took bobby ellerbee nearly 40 years to finish his degree, but it wasn’t because of any obstacle. At 66 years old, Ellerbee ABJ ’16 has lived the illustrious career any student would strive for. His path to get there was anything but ordinary. “My next-door neighbor owned a radio station, and at age 16, I got my start in broadcasting,” he says. This year, he celebrates

50 years in radio and television. When he started at UGA in 1971, Ellerbee worked for the top local station, where he honed his jokester persona. That humor, combined with his deep, recognizable voice, led him to deviate from the college path and take jobs in the Atlanta, Dallas, San Francisco, and Miami markets as an afternoon on-air personality.

On his radio shows, he interviewed countless musical greats. “I’ve met pretty much every major star there is—except Elvis. I missed him somehow.” By 1990 he left live radio to become a pro voice talent. Ellerbee was the international voice of Johnnie Walker scotch; he also voiced and produced commercials for Dick Clark. Thanks to a perk in Georgia state law that waives tuition for residents 62 and older, Ellerbee was able to return to UGA to complete his degree in 2016—four decades after he began. “My dad graduated from UGA in 1949 and he always wanted me to graduate,” he says. For the last 11 years, Ellerbee has provided the voice of the sheriff on Squidbillies, a popular and edgy cartoon that follows a family of squid in the mountains of northern Georgia. The iconic role has caused Ellerbee to turn more than a few heads, both on campus and around town. Over that same period, Ellerbee became a TV historian. His website, Eyes Of A Generation (eyesofageneration.com), tells television’s story through a considerable archive of narratives, photos, and videos. “Everybody wants a legacy of some sort,” he says. “I had a great run in radio and I did a lot of voice work, but it’s my work as the sheriff on Squidbillies and in creating Eyes Of A Generation that I would count as my legacy.”

written by camren skelton ABJ '17

ledger technology. Matthew Efird BBA ’14 is the small groups pastor at Oconee Heights Baptist Church in Athens as well as the vice president of client development at PharmD on Demand. Savannah Levins AB, ABJ ’14 is an award-winning reporter

for NBC Charlotte in North Carolina. Taylor Tanner ABJ ’14 of Atlanta is an external communications and social media specialist at The Home Depot Store Support Center. Cal Thomas AB ’14 is a passport specialist at the Western Pass-

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port Center in Tucson, Arizona. Deanna Waller BSEd ’14 is an assistant athletic trainer for men & women’s tennis and spirit squads at the University of Arkansas. 2015-2017 Rachel Hamil ABJ, AB ’15 of

Columbus, Ohio, is the marketing and communications specialist for Delta Gamma Fraternity Executive Offices. Erik Krumins BBA ’15 is an advanced advertising analyst for Discovery Communications. Sravani Anumolu BBA ’16 is a digital product analyst for the

CLASS NOTES BULLDOGS ABROAD

Peak Performance

chad osburn

special

Taylor Rawlins BBA ’10 brought Georgia pride to new heights when she reached the top of Mount Kilimanjaro in January. Rawlins, alongside her father, sister, and friends, summited the 19,341-foot mountain after six-and-a-half days of strenuous climbing. “When the climb got difficult, our motto became, ‘low on oxygen, high on attitude,” says Rawlins. “It put into perspective a lot of little things.” The group was allotted only a short time among the peak’s staggering altitude, but Rawlins made sure to pull out her Georgia Bulldogs flag for a photo.

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CLASS NOTES APPLAUSE FOR ALUMNI

Disease Detective While conducting research in the Amazon, Asher Rosinger learned the importance—and difficulty— of finding clean water.

special

s a ph.d. candidate in anthropology at UGA, Asher Rosinger MPH ’12 PhD ’15 was conducting a long-term health study in the muggy Amazon rainforest with Susan Tanner, associate professor of anthropology and director of the Laboratory of Health and Human Biology, when he noticed something: He was usually the only one carrying a water bottle. “You didn’t see people drinking much water,” Rosinger says. “I thought it was a perfect opportunity to study how people meet their water needs in an area without access to clean water.” The rural Bolivian villages being studied were built along a main river, but there were no faucets or taps. And when Rosinger analyzed the river water quality, he found it was loaded with E. coli bacteria. Instead of drinking exclusively from the polluted river, the villagers got about half of their hydration through food. In comparison, those in the U.S. get about 20 percent of their hydration through food. “I would ask them, ‘What do you do when you’re thirsty?’ And they would say, ‘Eat a papaya’ or ‘Suck on a grapefruit,’” he says. “They know some foods are very water-rich.” Still, half of the villagers written by paige parvin

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were dehydrated, putting them at risk for urinary tract infections and kidney stones among other health issues. Rosinger’s international research on water intake moved to the back burner when he was selected as a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention disease detective. He’s one of only two medical anthropologists in the 2015 class of Epidemic Intelligence Service Officers, an elite group of 70 to 80 doctoral-level fellows who serve a two-year term with the CDC. When Rosinger joined the team, he was deployed to Puerto Rico for nearly four months to study Zika. “As the population increases and we come into closer contact with animals and livestock, we live in an increasingly interconnected world,” Rosinger says. “Zika is the quintessential example of this type of vector-borne disease. The training I received at UGA taught me to analyze data so I could understand disease transmission, differences in pathogens—the whole range. It set me up in a way that led me to success at the CDC.” This fall, Rosinger joins the faculty at Pennsylvania State University, where he’ll dive back in to his work on hydration and health.

Cox Media Group in Atlanta. Jackson Bentley BBA ’16 is an account executive at Little & Smith Inc. in Atlanta. Mallory Blount ABJ ’16 is the coordinator of digital response for the Office of Presidential Correspondence in the White House. Ashley Jones BBA ’16 is an employee benefits specialist at Brown & Brown Insurance. Jamie McBurney BSA ’16 is a graduate student at Georgia State University studying secondary science education. Paige Muma BSEd ’16 is pursuing her master’s degree in occupational therapy at Georgia State University. Jebril Reeves AB ’16 is studying at the Duke University School of Law. Evan Sather BBA ’16 is serving as a U.S. Army chemical officer (second lieutenant) with the 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment stationed in Fort Lewis, Washington. Abby Scott AB ’16 is a graduate student in the University College London’s global migration program. Manisha Banga AB ’17 is pursuing a Master of Arts in the Humanities at the University of Chicago. Ian Boatman BS ’17 is pursuing a master’s in geography from the University of Georgia and will be conducting research with professor Andrew Grundstein. Meghan Gilmartin BBA, BSEd ’17 is a sales consultant for the Cincinnati Bengals football team. Nakasi Herbert AB ’17 is working at the Dream Success Center at California State

University, Long Beach. Mimi Rahman BSHP ’17 is attending graduate school at Emory University. Kevin Victory BBA ’17 is an incoming asset management group associate at PNC.

gradnotes arts & sciences George McCauley III MFA ’78 retired after 50 years in real estate. R. W. Haynes PhD ’91 received the 2016 SCMLA Poetry Prize at the SCMLA conference in Dallas, Texas. Jamie Cuticchia Jr. PhD ’92 was named to Super Lawyers’ 2017 North Carolina Rising Stars list. Lori Holyfield PhD ’95 received

the 2016 Dr. John and Mrs. Lois Imhof Award for Outstanding Teaching and Student Mentorship from the Teaching Academy of the University of Arkansas, where Holyfield is a professor in the department of sociology and criminal justice. Karen Ewing MPA ’01 of Braselton is the community relations representative for Jackson EMC and was elected to the Peace Place Inc. board of directors.

business Ken Van Meter MBA ’79 of Cumming is a client partner with Capgemini America in its natural resources and chemicals sector. Thomas Harris MA ’87 retired from the Office of the Com-

mandant at The Citadel in Charleston, South Carolina. Yvonne Riner MBA ’03 is the vice president of sales for the Long Beach Convention & Visitors Bureau in Long Beach, California. Amber Guyton MBA ’14 of San Antonio, Texas, was promoted to product management director at USAA Federal Savings Bank.

education Stan Carpenter PhD ’79 received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the UGA College of Education. Carpenter is the dean of the College of Education at Texas State University. Chandra Loretta Stephens MEd ’84 is the author of For Your Inspiration: Poems on Hope to Encourage and Enlighten

(CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2017). Mary Marlino EdD ’89 received a Professional Achievement Award from the College of Education. Marlino is the director of the National Center for Atmospheric Research Library in Boulder, Colorado. Kevin Rome MEd ’91 became the 16th president of Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee. Sheila Kahr EdD ’92 received an Outstanding Educator Award from the College of Education. Kahr is the associate director for the Georgia Association of Secondary School Principals. David Lorenzi MA ’98 is director of the special needs activity program at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, where he is an assistant

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CLASS NOTES APPLAUSE FOR ALUMNI

Just in Time

att Lanter’s day job lets him rub elbows with some pretty significant figures. He has walked with Abraham Lincoln, battled Santa Anna at the Alamo, shared a car with Bonnie and Clyde, and been saved by the great Harry Houdini. Or at least he has on TV. As the lead in NBC’s science fiction series Timeless, Lanter M ’05 plays a time-traveling U.S. Delta Force operative. When a mysterious criminal steals an experimental time machine, he and two other unlikely heroes must leap around yesteryear to capture the culprit before he destroys American history and the fate of the country as we know it. “Time travel is always exciting. It’s got this mystique to it, just like flying or superpowers,” he says. “But I think what Timeless has been able to do is capture that fun factor and bring an adventurous spirit to the screen.” While there are some liberties taken to tell an entertaining story, the majority of the show’s events are historically accurate. “We have a historian in the writers’ room at all times to make sure that happens,” he says. “We really try to get everything correct, and I think people appreciate that.” Lanter has also starred in the CW’s revival of 90210, voiced Anakin Skywalker in the animated Star Wars: The Clone Wars, and in April wrapped production on Pitch Perfect 3. It’s an extensive resume made even more impressive by Lanter’s relatively late start. It wasn’t until college that he decided to pursue acting as a full-time career. “I went to Atlanta to be an extra in a film,

In his NBC show, Timeless, Matt Lanter and two companions travel through history chasing a villain who is trying to change it for the worse. gabriel goldberg

and I think that’s where I got bit by the bug,” he says. “I’d always been a huge fan of movies and TV, but experiencing the magic of them firsthand was eye-opening.” Although he now calls California home, the former batboy for the Atlanta Braves still

clings to his Georgia roots. “I’m a huge fan of the Braves, the Falcons, and, of course, UGA,” he says. “I hope I can go back and spend some time there again. I would love to be home.”

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professor. He was also appointed the executive director of Phi Epsilon Kappa fraternity. Jason Reagin MEd ’98 of Atlanta is a teacher at the Suzhou Singapore International School in Suzhou, China. Dionne Cross Francis PhD ’07 received an Outstanding

Young Alumni Award from the College of Education. Cross Francis is an associate professor of mathematics education at Indiana University. Michael Krolak MEd ’09, EdD ’13 of Sugar Hill is a teacher at the Suzhou Singapore International School in Suzhou, China.

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Thomas Lacy PhD ’11 co-founded Lindsey & Lacy PC in Peachtree City. Melissa Shivers PhD ’11 is the vice president for student life at the University of Iowa.

environment and design Katie Pigott MLA ’12 is a landscape designer at Planners and Engineers Collaborative Inc. in Peachtree Corners.

CLASS NOTES forestry and natural resources Mike Bozzo MFR ’83 is the South Carolina division chair for the Appalachian Society of American Foresters. He is also the Piedmont Regional Forester

in charge of all forest management and wildfire suppression and prevention efforts.

journalism & mass communication Bill Highlander MA ’72 was

inducted into the United States Army Public Affairs Hall of Fame. Franca Pavani MA ’84 is the research director and a founding partner at Feedback, a communications company in Chile.

John D. Head MMC ’88 was named vice president of enrollment management at Loyola University New Orleans. Monica Pearson MA ’14 is a host of the GPB TV show A Seat at the Table, in which she

APPLAUSE FOR ALUMNI

Healthier Food Served Seeking change after a family tragedy, Melissa Hayes (left) moved from Atlanta to Charlotte, North Carolina, where she partnered with her friend Amber Lewis and founded a food delivery service that specializes in healthy meals.

LunahZon photography

elissa Hayes thinks eating healthy and ethically shouldn’t take so much time and effort, so she’s using her degree to help make people’s meal planning easier. Hayes BSFCS ’96 is the co-founder and president of The Good Kitchen, an antibiotic-, GMO-, and hormone-free meal delivery service based out of Charlotte, North Carolina. She says she always knew she was interested in nutrition. But it wasn’t until she signed up for an elective in the subject at UGA that she realized nutrition could be more than just a passion; it could be her career. Hayes’ first business, BTB Fitness, started out as a popular boot camp-style fitness training company and under her direction grew to include one of the Atlanta-area’s

first CrossFit gyms. But about three weeks after signing the lease for BTB’s first brickand-mortar location, Hayes received some devastating news: Her husband, Jeff BBA ’94, had cancer. “It was hard on our family and our fitness community as well because everyone saw us as these very fit, very healthy people,” she says. “And for someone so young—he was 37 at the time—to be diagnosed shocked a lot of people. It certainly scared us.” Jeff beat it and the couple went on to have a daughter, but eventually the cancer came back and his body rejected the bone marrow transplant that was supposed to save his life. She needed a major life change after Jeff passed, so after selling her gyms, Hayes

packed up her daughter and moved to Charlotte, where her close friend Amber Lewis ran meal delivery service modPALEO. Lewis had shipped Hayes meals during Jeff’s treatment. Knowing firsthand the value of a healthy, fully prepared meal that just had to be popped in the microwave, Hayes jumped on board to help rebrand the company into The Good Kitchen. “Our goal is to save people time,” Hayes says. “We’re focused on clean, wellsourced, healthy food. It’s about going back to the way people used to eat generations ago. My hope is that we can educate people and give them some time back so they don’t feel so overwhelmed.”

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CLASS NOTES and the other hosts discuss the diverse experiences, perspectives, and challenges of African-American women. Cesar Toledo MA ’14 is the managing editor of Bipper Media in Athens. He is also a freelance sports reporter for the Perry Chief newspaper.

APPLAUSE FOR ALUMNI

Enduring Spirit

law William J. Stembler JD ’71 received the Distinguished Service Scroll Award from the UGA School of Law. Ertharin Cousin JD ’82 received the Distinguished Service Scroll Award from the UGA School of Law. William C. Carr Jr. JD ’86 joined Geoff McDonald & Associates, located in Richmond, Virginia, as an associate. Audrey Boone Tillman JD ’89 received the Distinguished Service Scroll Award from the UGA School of Law. Yasmine Murray JD ’14 was promoted to general counsel and corporate secretary at H.J. Russell & Company in Atlanta.

pharmacy Mary Charles Pfister PharmD ’11 of Golden, Colorado, was named Clinical Caregiver of the Year for her work as Lead Outpatient Pharmacist at St. Anthony Hospital in Lakewood, Colorado.

public & international affairs Paul Carlsen PhD ’12 was named president of Lakeshore Technical College in Cleveland, Wisconsin. Anthony Michael Kreis PhD ’16 is a visiting assistant professor

The red and black will always look great on former UGA cheerleader and business education professor Bonnie Bellamy Howard. dorothy kozlowski

onnie bellamy howard’s school spirit has lasted more than 70 years. “I was 16, and some of the other students were going to Georgia,” she says, “so I decided I wanted to go to Georgia, too. It was really that simple.” She enrolled as a freshman in 1944, and the University of Georgia continues to be part of her life. Howard BBA ’47, MBA ’50 put herself through school by working part time as a cashier in the dining hall, and her extracurricular activities included becoming a UGA cheerleader her senior year. Last year, she celebrated her 70th anniversary of joining the squad, making her one of the oldest cheerleading alumni. And she’s been back for as many Homecoming games as possible. After graduating at 19, she worked as a secretary. Eventually, she decided she wanted more and earned her MBA. While working on that degree, Howard taught secretarial science classes in what is now the Terry College of Business. Howard was teaching at South Georgia College when she met her husband, Daniel Howard, an FBI agent. They moved to California and started a family that now includes five children: Dana, Richard, Camille, Gregory, and written by krista richmond

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Jody; 10 grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren. She continued to teach part time while raising her family. After several other posts, the Howards moved back to Georgia. Bonnie Howard decided to continue her education, graduating with her doctorate from Georgia State University in her early 50s. But UGA remained in their lives—Dana AB ’73, Richard BFA ’81, and Camille BS ’77, MS ’80 all went on to receive degrees from the university. “I like Athens,” she says. “I like the fact that it’s a small town.” After Daniel died, she went back to teaching full time and applied for a position at UGA. She taught classes in what was then the College of Business Education until she retired 22 years ago, earning Teacher of the Year honors several times. “I’ve been involved in so many ways,” Howard said. “I just enjoy being on campus. There’s so much you can do at the University of Georgia.” In the 73 years since Howard enrolled at UGA, she’s experienced a lot of changes—both joys and heartbreaks—but that old affection for her alma mater remains constant enough for her to don her cheerleading uniform year after year.

CLASS NOTES of law at the Illinois Institute of Technology’s Chicago-Kent College of Law.

public health Erica Parks MPH ’11 is the installation health promotion officer at the United States Army Training Center and Fort and also serves as the president of the Professional Mentorship Network Female Forum.

veterinary medicine Charles E. Hamner Jr. DVM ’60, MS ’62, PhD ’64 was named to the WRAL TechWire Hall of Fame in April with a lifetime achievement award in life sciences. Philip Latourette DVM ’17 is pursuing a three-year residency training program in laboratory animal medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.

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send us your notes Help UGA and your classmates keep up with what’s happening in your life—both personally and professionally—by sending Class Notes items to one of the addresses listed below. And please include your hometown to help us keep our alumni database up to date. If you send a photo, please make sure it is a resolution of 300 dpi. Class Notes is the first section we work on, so keep these deadlines in mind: for the Spring (March) issue, submit by December 1; for Summer (June), submit by March 1; for Fall (September), submit by June 1; for Winter (December), submit by September 1.

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FACULTY FOCUS

Michael R. Strand Regents Professor of Entomology Member, National Academy of Sciences

A leader in the field of entomology, Regents Professor Michael Strand appreciates the powerful connection between research and teaching as he works to solve global health challenges. Strand leads a team of research assistants and students to explore how parasites interact with their insect hosts. His work has profound implications for the control of agricultural pests and insect-borne diseases such as malaria and Zika. His research contributions recently earned him membership into the National Academy of Sciences, making him UGA’s eighth professor to be elected.

“Research and teaching are completely intertwined. Everything taught in the sciences derives from knowledge gained from the combined research of many individuals, usually over a long period. Reciprocally, teaching is one of the most important ways knowledge gained from research is applied. As a society, teaching is how we invest in the future, preparing individuals for careers in different fields and becoming productive citizens. Thus, for me, the inspiration in teaching is to do the best I can to present information clearly but also to show how to approach problems in science to generate new knowledge. In other words, a big part of teaching for me is helping individuals understand how scientific research is conducted, results are analyzed, and conclusions are reported.”

Endowed chairs, positions that receive supplemental support generated from private donations, are essential to recruiting and retaining leading faculty who are committed to world-changing research and preparing the next generation of problem-solvers, pioneers, and leaders. Learn more about supporting UGA’s leading faculty at give.uga.edu.

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dorothy kozlowski

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