University of Georgia Magazine Winter 2018

Small Satellite,

BIG IMPACT A student-led space lab is finding new ways to keep Georgia’s coast healthy

YOUR COMMITMENT

MATCHED DOLLAR-FOR-DOLLAR Endow an undergraduate need-based scholarship through the Georgia Commitment Scholarship Program and change the life of a student forever.

A donation of $50,000; $75,000; or $100,000 will be matched by the UGA Foundation—and awarded to a deserving student pursuing their dreams at UGA.

“UGA was where I wanted to pursue my education and reach my overall goals. My scholarship is the only thing keeping me here. Without it, I wouldn’t be able to pay for my education.”

Mitzi Samano Leano, Class of 2021

MAKE YOUR GIFT BY JUNE 30 AND YOUR SCHOLARSHIP CAN BE AWARDED TO A STUDENT NEXT FALL! GIVE.UGA.EDU/GCGM

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Learn more at alumni.uga.edu/boa

CONTENTS

Take a tour of beautiful, historic North Campus. p. 38

the magazine of the university of georgia winter 2018

INSIDE 5 7

The President’s Pen President Jere W. Morehead on UGA’s increasing momentum.

Meet roaster Charlie Mustard and a few other alumni making Athens the foodie city it is today. p. 34

UGA to Z Accomplishments and accolades from across the UGA community.

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On the Bulldog Beat Take a tour of beautiful, historic North Campus.

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Bulldog Bulletin News, events, and photos from the UGA Alumni Association.

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Class Notes Dan Courtemache helped start Major League Soccer in North America. Now he’s helping grow the brand around the world.

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Faculty Focus

Get to know William Kisaalita, Distinguished Faculty Scholar and Professor of Engineering.

peter frey

FEATURE

ON THE COVER

16 Pest Control

The invasive silverleaf whitefly is devastating crops in south Georgia. UGA researchers are helping farmers fight back.

18 Chomping at the Bit

Earlier this year, the UGA equestrian team just missed winning its seventh national championship. They can’t wait for another shot.

Photo illustration by Jackie Baxter Roberts

24 Space Dawgs

Students are the driving force behind UGA’s small satellite program.

30 A Taste of Athens

UGA alumni are leading a restaurant renaissance in Athens. Take a tour … your tastebuds will thank you.

The satellites students and faculty hope to launch into orbit in the next two years aren’t much bigger than a tissue box, but the data they send back could be crucial in helping researchers keep Georgia’s coast healthy. p. 24

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Lake Herrick Renewed

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uga’s scenic lake herrick is open once again to recreational boating and paddleboarding. In 2016, the university kicked off a five-phase master plan to rehabilitate the lake and surrounding area, and on Oct. 17 the first two phases were completed.

A walking trail along the lake’s edge and additional native plants were added to the Lake Herrick shoreline. The Department of Recreational Sports manages the renovated Lake Herrick Pavilion and also provides various watercraft and other outdoor gear for rental. The watercraft seen here were launched from a new accessible dock that was built as part of the master plan.

andrew davis tucker

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winter 2018

VOLUME 98

ISSUE NO. 1

georgia magazine

Editor · Eric Rangus MA ’94 Associate Editor · Aaron Hale MA ’16 Writers · Kellyn Amodeo ABJ ’09, Leigh Beeson MA ’17 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 · Katherine Costikyan, Rachel Floyd

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

administration President · Jere W. Morehead JD ’80 Interim Senior VP for Academic Affairs & Provost · Libby Morris 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 VP for Public Service & Outreach · Jennifer Frum PhD ’09 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 news.uga.edu/georgia-magazine Submit Class Notes or story ideas to gmeditor@uga.edu

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

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

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andrew davis tucker

The University of Georgia does not discriminate on the basis of race, sex, religion, color, national or ethnic origin, age, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information, or military service in its administrations of educational policies, programs, or activities; its admissions policies; scholarship and loan programs; athletic or other University-administered programs; or employment. Inquiries or complaints should be directed to the Equal Opportunity Office 119 Holmes-Hunter Academic Building, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602. Telephone 706-542-7912 (V/TDD).

Fax 706-542-2822. https://eoo.uga.edu/

THE PRESIDENT’S PEN

Increasing Momentum

Securing a position among the nation’s top public universities

The University of Georgia is securing a position among the top public universities in the nation. This fall, U.S. News & World Report ranked UGA No. 13 among publics—our highest ranking ever. This year’s rise was thanks in part to a lower student to faculty ratio (now 17 to 1) and the increasing recognition of UGA as a top university by higher education leaders across America.

The university was ranked No. 12 on Kiplinger’s 2018 list of best values in public colleges. Among the many ways UGA strives to provide the highest quality education at an affordable price is the innovative Double Dawgs program. Launched last fall, Double Dawgs saves students time and money by enabling them to earn both their bachelor’s and master’s degrees in five years or less. The program now features more than 150 pathways to gain advanced skills and knowledge in related fields, giving our students a competitive advantage when they enter the workplace.

“Although rankings fluctuate from year to year, it is clear that the overall trend for the University of Georgia is one of increasing momentum. Indeed, this is an exciting time to be part of UGA.”

Strategic investments in research facilities and hiring initiatives to bring worldrenowned faculty to campus are among the drivers of UGA’s rise in national research and technology rankings. This past year, the National Science Foundation placed UGA 54th among all universities in the U.S. for overall research and development activities— our highest ranking ever. The Association of University Technology Managers ranked UGA second among all U.S. universities for new products reaching the market. The University also ranked 10th among all U.S. universities for the number of intellectual property licenses and options executed, and UGA was 17th among public universities for total licensing revenue.

In sports, UGA’s talented student-athletes and award-winning coaching staff, along with outstanding leadership from our Athletic Director, propelled the institution to No. 8 in the 2018 Learfield Directors’ Cup. With two NCAA titles in track and field and top 10 finishes in a number of other sports in the past year, the 21-sport athletics program at UGA has never been stronger.

Although rankings fluctuate from year to year, it is clear that the overall trend for the University of Georgia is one of increasing momentum. Indeed, this is an exciting time to be part of UGA. I appreciate everything that our faculty, staff, students, alumni, and friends are doing to make these achievements possible.

Jere W. Morehead President

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Brought to you by:

WHAT DIFFERENCE WILL YOU MAKE? The New Year is a chance to consider how you will improve yourself, your community, and your world in the coming year. Whether it’s spending more time with family, volunteering in your community, or supporting a cause important to you, it all starts with a commitment.

Make a commitment today to ensure University of Georgia students can pursue their dreams. They deserve

every

opportunity

to

grow

and

discover

on their journey to become the next generation of leaders and change-makers.

Your commitment helps remove barriers every day and opens countless doors.

WILL YOU JOIN US? GIVE.UGA.EDU/YES

UGA Z to

News, accomplishments, and accolades from the UGA community

FIRST GRADUATE

Portrait of History A portrait of Mary Frances Early MMEd ’62, EdS ’71, the first African American student to receive a degree from the University of Georgia, was unveiled in the Administration Building at a ceremony on Oct. 10.

The portrait, which is featured in the building’s Gordon Jones Gallery, was created by artist Richard Wilson. The installation is part of a series of accolades celebrating Early’s life and career.

In January 2018, Early received one of UGA’s highest honors, the President’s

Medal. In September, the documentary Mary Frances Early: The Quiet Trailblazer premiered in Atlanta. The film was directed by Maurice Daniels, dean emeritus of the School of Social Work.

“During my two years here,” Early said, referring to her time attending UGA, “I couldn’t have imagined anything like this happening in my wildest dreams. I am so delighted that a part of me will be here after I’m gone. When people see this portrait, they will know that something important happened here.”

A native of Atlanta, Early came to UGA in the summer of 1961 and became the first African American to earn a degree from the university when she graduated on Aug. 16, 1962, with a master’s degree in music education. She was a music teacher in the Atlanta Public Schools and was eventually promoted to music director of the entire system.

She retired in 1994 after working for 37 years in public schools.

andrew davis tucker

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UGA to Z

OUR LUCKY NUMBER

UGA Rises to Highest USNWR Ranking Ever The University of Georgia jumped three spots to No. 13 in the U.S. News & World Report 2019 ranking of best public national universities, the highest ranking in UGA’s history.

“I want to commend our faculty, staff, students, alumni, and friends for their hard work and dedication in making the University of Georgia, the birthplace of public higher education in America, one of the very best public universities in the nation,” says President Jere W. Morehead JD ’80.

This is the third consecutive year the university has risen in the U.S. News ranking.

A key factor in the improvement was UGA’s lower student-faculty ratio, which dropped from 18:1 to 17:1. An improvement in the subjective category of reputation, as assessed by college presidents, provosts, and admissions directors, also factored into the new ranking, as well as the quality and performance of its students.

Among undergraduate business programs, UGA claimed the top spot for insurance and risk management, and it was ranked as the third best public university for real estate.

U.S. News also ranked UGA 10th in terms of best public colleges for veterans, and the university tied for 15th in the best public colleges rankings by high school counselors.

andrew davis tucker

The Class of 2022 is brought to you by the letter G.

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Class of 2022 Sets More Records A commitment to academic excellence defines the University of Georgia’s Class of 2022, a group of students with record academic qualifications and high aspirations for the future.

The approximately 5,750 first-year students in the Class of 2022 enter UGA with an average weighted high school GPA of 4.04, the highest in university history, and an average ACT score of 30, tying last year’s record. SAT scores of incoming students were unprecedented as well, with an average of 1365 for the Class of 2022 compared to 1344 last year.

Demand for a UGA education has risen to unparalleled heights. Since 2014, the number of applications for undergraduate admission has risen by nearly 30 percent. The Class of 2022 includes students from nearly every state and 47 countries around the world.

Welcome, class of 2022

graphic by lindsay bland robinson

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NEW ADDITIONS

UGA to Z REMOVING BARRIERS AND OPENING DOORS

Georgia for All The University of Georgia has introduced a new scholarship for exceptional students from rural Georgia as part of its new ALL Georgia program.

One of President Jere W. Morehead’s JD ’80 strategic initiatives, the ALL Georgia scholarship provides financial aid for six outstanding students matriculating to UGA from rural Georgia each year. The scholarship is renewable for up to eight semesters and is part of the ALL Georgia Program, which supports all students from designated rural areas through partnerships with a variety of departments across campus.

The transition from small town to college life in Athens can be challenging. The goal of the ALL Georgia program is to ease that transition by providing guidance to the students along with a sense of community and shared experiences.

BON VOYAGE

New Faculty Tour Georgia About 40 new University of Georgia faculty members took a whirlwind tour of the state to kick off the school year, visiting 15 cities and passing through 48 counties across Georgia as part of the 2018 New Faculty Tour.

Exploring everything from state policymaking in Atlanta to show business in Senoia, from international shipping in Savannah to viticulture in Dahlonega, faculty got a comprehensive introduction to the history, diversity, and vibrancy of Georgia.

The Reluctant Autocrat Tsar Nicholas II

Georgia Museum of Art Dec. 22, 2018 through Mar. 19, 2019

Images (like those above and right), clothing, jewels, and more artifacts of the last Russian emperor and his family will be on display at the Georgia Museum of Art.

100 YEARS The 2018 New Faculty Tour included a visit to Jaemor Farms near Gainesville, where participants learned about the important role agriculture plays in the state.

Romanov collection comes to GMOA When considering the life of a monarch, does one privilege the ruler or the man? The Georgia Museum of Art is addressing this question with the upcoming exhibition The Reluctant Autocrat: Tsar Nicholas II, on display from Dec. 22, 2018, to March 17, 2019. The exhibition marks the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I, the Bolshevik Revolution, and the execution of the last Russian emperor and his family. Organized by Asen Kirin, the Parker Curator of Russian Art, the exhibition will include photographs, clothing, military artifacts, jewels, icons, and ephemera from the Romanov family. Many of the objects on display are part of a major gift of Russian objects to the museum. These heirlooms date from 1660 to 1952 and include paintings, many of which are portraits, and specific valuable and sentimental objects to the family. Many have not been on display for more than a century.

shannah shannah montgomery montgomery

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UGA to Z CAMPUS NEWS

SOLUTIONS FOR SIPPING

Hire Power

The Final Straw

Launched by President Jere W. Morehead JD ’80 in 2017, a hiring initiative meant to bring more outstanding faculty researchers to UGA received another $2 million boost in January 2018 to expand the impact of the initiative.

The funds will be matched by unit-level support to fill 26 critical faculty positions across nine schools and colleges. So far, 15 new faculty have been hired.

The startup research hiring initiative continues a series of strategic investments since July 2013 to strengthen even further the university’s world-class faculty. Past efforts have helped to reduce class sizes; expand research in key areas of strengths, such as infectious disease and informatics; and foster interdisciplinary scholarship and education on campus.

The plastic straw has been under scrutiny lately, as consumers and policymakers are becoming more aware of the environmental effects of single-use plastics.

But eco-conscious straw sippers may yet have hope.

UGA’s New Materials Institute (NMI) is working with the RWDC Environmental Stewardship Foundation to develop a fully biodegradable plastic straw.

The NMI focuses on sustainable product design and the reduction of plastic waste. UGA researchers created a biodegradable plastic alternative that they will now develop into a commercially viable straw.

The next step is to create prototypes. Then, they must prove the straws can be manufactured and produced at a scale to meet global demand and are fully biodegradable in soil, fresh water, and marine water. Testing largely will be conducted in the New Materials Institute.

The UGA New Materials Institute is working to create a biodegradable plastic straw.

WELCOME HOME

Russell Hall Reopens Following a 15-month renovation, Russell Hall welcomed 1,000 new residents in August.

Originally opened in 1967 as an all-male residence hall, the building’s interior looks and feels brand new while still preserving its distinctive mid-century aesthetic, such as the original terrazzo floors in the lobby.

“We’ve taken a building with good bones and transformed it to a modern-use residence hall that will stand the test of time for another 50 years,” said Gary Thompson, director of facilities for university housing.

dorothy kozlowski

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FULBRIGHT SCHOL ARS

UGA Around the World

This renovated communal area was unveiled at the Russell Hall Rededication Ceremony.

The university once again hit double digits in the number of international travel-study grants offered to students and recent alumni through the Fulbright U.S. Student Program. With 18 students and alumni selected, this marks the fifth straight year—the ninth in the past 10 years—that UGA has received 10 or more offers.

Of the 18 recipients, 15 were able to take advantage of the opportunity. Six received academic and arts grants, and nine will be teaching English. UGA will be represented in Asia, Europe, and South America.

The Fulbright U.S. Student Program offers research, study, and teaching opportunities in more than 140 countries to recent college graduates and graduate students. As the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, it is designed to increase mutual understanding between the people of the U.S. and countries worldwide.

UGA to Z SWIMMING WITH SHARKS

Graduate Certification for Entrepreneurs The University of Georgia introduced a new graduate certificate in entrepreneurship this fall. The program provides students with skills to launch and grow businesses and social enterprises.

Consisting of 12 credit hours, the program requires students to choose two of three core entrepreneurship classes, along with two electives. Housed in the Terry College of Business, the new graduate program is open to students from all disciplines and follows the Undergraduate Certificate in Entrepreneurship that was introduced in 2016.

“Economic development is central to the university’s mission, and a key component of our commitment to support economic growth is teaching and refining the entrepreneurial mindset in students who have that interest and ambition,” says Terry College Dean Benjamin C. Ayers.

The program features include live competitions during which teams pitch their ideas to a panel of judges, an eight week “boot camp” for business development, and a speaker series that brings successful entrepreneurs to campus.

andrew davis tucker

HEED THIS

Committed to an Inclusive Community

IMPROVING PUBLIC HEALTH

Hitting the Road

AU-UGA Medical Partnership students and staff tend to patients at a free Mobile Health Clinic.

The Augusta University-UGA Medical Partnership is bringing free health care to underserved communities in Athens to help people get the health care they need, despite financial and other obstacles they may face.

Since March 2018, clinic volunteers have traveled to neighborhoods around town, setting up tables and tents in the heart of the communities. The Mobile Health Clinic’s goal is to reach both uninsured and underinsured patients who have trouble accessing health care through traditional outlets because of transportation issues, untraditional work schedules, or other barriers. As part of a yearlong pilot program, the clinic is providing health screenings and prevention programs, and primary care is delivered to people all ages with acute and chronic conditions.

Over the past year, University of Georgia students, faculty, and staff fanned across the state to recruit historically underrepresented and first-generation college students. On campus, new programs were launched to promote the academic success of students from rural areas and to broaden the pipeline of students pursuing advanced STEM degrees.

These efforts, among many others, have been recognized at a national level through the 2018 INSIGHT Into Diversity Higher Education Excellence in Diversity Award. The HEED Award is the only national recognition honoring colleges and universities that exhibit outstanding efforts and success in the area of diversity and inclusion, and 2018 marks the fifth consecutive year UGA has been honored.

“A diverse and welcoming environment strengthens a university in innumerable ways,” says President Jere W. Morehead JD ’80.

“I am grateful to our faculty, staff, and students for their ongoing commitment to fostering a more inclusive community.”

chad osburn

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UGA to Z PL ASTIC PROBLEM

Saving the Sea Turtles Young sea turtles are ingesting degrading ocean plastics that cause life-threatening blockages and nutritional deficiencies, according to new research from the University of Georgia and the Loggerhead Marinelife Center.

This puts the survival of all sea turtle populations at risk, as nutrient-deficient sea turtles may take decades to become sexually mature and procreate.

The researchers collected 96 post-hatchling sea turtles that had washed back onto the beaches along a stretch of Florida’s Atlantic coastline. Nearly half of the 96 recovered turtles were rehabilitated and released back into the ocean. During their time in rehabilitation, all passed some amount of plastic. The remaining turtles died, and, upon inspection, many had plastic in their digestive systems.

Globally, at least 690 marine species, including sea turtles, seabirds, seals, sea lions, whales, fish, and invertebrates, have reportedly become ill or died following entanglement in or ingestion of marine plastics.

andrew davis tucker

UGA and the Loggerhead Marinelife Center are teaming up to protect almost 700 species, including the Loggerhead sea turtle, from the effects of plastic pollution.

LONGER, HEALTHIER LIVES

Regenerating Recovery Researchers at the University of Georgia’s Regenerative Bioscience Center have succeeded in reproducing the effects of traumatic brain injury and stimulating recovery in neuron cells grown in a petri dish.

This makes them the first known scientific team in the country to do so using stem cell-derived neurons. The procedure, detailed in a new paper in Nature Scientific Reports, has significant implications for the study and treatment of such injuries.

Unlike other cells in the body, most neurons in the central nervous system cannot repair or renew themselves.

Traumatic brain injuries produce a synchronized pattern of neural activity; the researchers used electric stimulation to disrupt those signals. With their findings, they hope to find industry partners to develop devices that can help veterans and other victims of traumatic brain injuries recover.

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justin sharma

Lohitash Karumbaiah (center), assistant professor in the College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences Department of Animal & Dairy Science, and members of his laboratory successfully reproduced the effects of traumatic brain injury and stimulating recovery in a petri dish.

IT STARTS HERE

UGA Commits to Creating an On-Campus Innovation Hub The Innovation District Task Force delivered a final report to President Jere W. Morehead JD ’80 this fall. The report outlines a strategic vision and corresponding steps to create a hub—or district—on campus to foster innovation, entrepreneurship, creativity, and industry collaboration.

Morehead endorsed the task force report and assigned a launch team to oversee the initial stages of the innovation district project.

“The future success of this institution—and of all public land-grant universities, for that matter—lies in its ability to find solutions to pressing challenges; to develop new ways of thinking and doing; and to support the jobs, companies, and industries of the 21st century,” Morehead said. “Those are the top-line objectives of this important university initiative, and I am excited to get the project underway.”

The launch team includes representatives from key units across campus, and its early work is focused on developing a master plan for the district that contemplates programming, business operations and governance, and shortand long-term facilities needs.

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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

REMOVING BARRIERS AND OPENING DOORS FOR STUDENTS

scholarships open doors and change lives.

A

t the university of georgia, we are committed to improving lives through research, scholarship support, and enhancements to the student experience. In 2017, UGA President Jere W. Morehead JD ’80 announced the Georgia Commitment Scholarship Program, an initiative to grow the number of need-based scholarships awarded to UGA students. Through this program, the UGA Foundation is matching any gift in the amount of $50,000; $75,000; or $100,000 to endow need-based scholarships at the university. With the potential to create as many as 400 to 600 new scholarships, this program continues to help eliminate the financial obstacles many students face.

Nearly two years later, the UGA family has answered the call: 200 donors have endowed more than 306 Georgia Commitment Scholarships. This $20 million in gifts will remove barriers and open doors for students from every region of the state.

Once on campus, these students—many of whom are first-generation collegians—receive unparalleled support to successfully transition from high school to college. They receive academic support such as tutoring, access to success workshops on various topics, and academic coaching.

Students are also encouraged to grow their professional network and prepare for life after graduation by connecting with the UGA Career Center and participating in networking opportunities with alumni, faculty, and partner companies.

The Georgia Commitment Scholarship Program is a crucial element of the Commit to Georgia Campaign, and we thank those alumni, friends, and companies that are making it a success.

SOME CALL IT GIVING BACK. WE CALL IT BEING A GEORGIA BULLDOG.

iii: removing barriers and opening doors for students

MITZI SAMANO LEANO FIRST GENERATION COLLEGE STUDENT | ERNESTO AND JAMIE PEREZ SCHOLARSHIP

“UGA was academically and socially where I wanted to pursue my education and reach my overall goals. My scholarship is the only thing keeping me here.

Without it, I wouldn’t be able to pay for my education.”

Leano is the first in her family to pursue a college degree. When her family received her scholarship notification, she read the letter out loud and the “whole house erupted in joy.” Before this happy news, Leano was considering universities closer to her Atlanta home to save on housing expenses, but those schools did not offer graduate degree programs in dietetics, her major. That was a huge obstacle for Leano, who dreams of eventually owning her own clinical practice. Now, because of her scholarship, Leano is in her second year at UGA and is excelling. She’s involved in Speak Up for Species and the Hispanic Student Association, and she is planning an internship for the summer that will give her real-world experience in her intended career field of dietetics.

edwin hammond

Establish a Georgia Commitment Scholarship by June 30 and another student like Mitzi Samano Leano can be awarded a life-changing scholarship for the fall 2019 semester. GIVE.UGA.EDU/GCGM.

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Last year, silverleaf whiteflies devastated the squash crop at Lewis Taylor Farms, run by Bill Brim.

He’s hoping UGA researchers can help avoid another such disaster.

UGA is working with Georgia farmers to tackle a costly pest problem written by clint thompson abj ’02 and aaron hale ma ’16 photographs by peter frey bfa ’94

W

hen it comes to farming, major problems can come in small packages.

Last year, the tiny silverleaf whitefly decimated vulnerable crops throughout south Georgia, ruining nearly 80 percent of the state’s snap beans and 30 to 50 percent of its squash and cucumbers. By one estimate, the whitefly problem cost farmers $80 million to $100 million over the course of the 2016 and 2017 fall seasons.

The silver whitefly, which can be as small as 1/12-inch (about the thickness of a dime), actually isn’t a fly at all. This invasive species is related to aphids and mealy bugs. Their destructive power begins when they cluster on the undersides of crop leaves. That’s where they lay eggs and feast on plant sap. As their population grows, they weaken their hosts and leave behind debilitating diseases.

Left unchecked, whiteflies threaten to wreak havoc on the profitability of the state’s top industry—agriculture.

Tifton County farmer Bill Brim was one of the producers hit hard by the pest. Most of the squash crop was ruined at Brim’s Lewis Taylor Farms, an 80-year-old family-run farm. His crews packed only 88,000 boxes of squash compared to the more than 380,000 they’d done two years before. It was a devasting financial blow.

“We’ve got to do something to corral these whiteflies,” Brim says. “If we don’t, our vegetable industry is going to be gone.”

Over the years, Brim has worked closely with the University of Georgia and Cooperative Extension

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agents to manage similar threats to his crops and the farm’s bottom line. Now, he and other farmers are counting on the university to provide new solutions to minimize the whitefly problem.

Determined to prevent another devastating season, UGA formed a team of researchers and Cooperative Extension specialists to tackle the challenge. The team, which includes entomologists, horticulturists, and plant pathologists with the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, is attacking the threat on multiple fronts. While some are tracking whitefly populations to determine the pests’ ideal environment, others are helping farmers mitigate the damage infestations will have to their crops.

Toews are particularly interested in whether growing certain crops—especially whitefly-preferred hosts like squash and cotton—near each other is compounding the problem. Ultimately, they hope their findings will inform new strategies for crop configurations to make fields as inhospitable as possible to the bugs.

finding integrated solutions While Toews and Barman track the insects’ population, other UGA scientists are looking to lessen the bugs’ impact.

Vegetable pathologist Bhabesh Dutta and vegetable specialist Tim Coolong are working

DID YOU KNOW? In addition to crop damage, the whitefly’s voracious appetite also threatens to spoil home gardens, as they feed on over 250 plants. tracking whitefly movements Whitefly infestations are tough to manage, even with pesticides, as Brim can attest.

“We sprayed and sprayed and sprayed,” he said, “but we couldn’t control them.”

That’s because whiteflies have a prolific reproductive cycle. A female can lay between 150 and 200 eggs over the course of its weeks-long lifespan. And it only takes those offspring two to four weeks to mature into adults and begin reproducing themselves. So, when a population takes hold, even pesticides can’t always eliminate the problem.

The key is preventing an infestation in the first place.

To stop the next mass infestation, In 2016 and 2017, researchers have to whiteflies like these understand what condicaused up to $100 tions are rife for whitefly million in damage to propagation. That, it turns Georgia crops. out, requires a lot of driving.

Apurba Barman, a postdoctoral researcher, and other colleagues cover 800 miles of roadway each week. They are counting the whiteflies caught in traps set up every 5 miles from Dothan, Alabama, to Vidalia, Georgia, to learn where populations are growing.

They compare population data in an area with environmental factors, such as crop configurations.

Barman and entomology professor Michael

to help producers find varieties of squash, snap beans, and zucchini that are less susceptible to whitefly-transmitted diseases.

Babu Srinivasan, an entomologist, is studying long-term management of whiteflies. His research at UGA’s Tifton and Griffin campuses focuses on identifying weak links in the virus transmission cycle and developing strategies for efficiently dealing with both whiteflies and the viruses they spread.

managing pest presence Compared to last year, 2018 doesn’t look so bad.

Freezing temperatures in January 2018 killed some of the weeds that host whiteflies and allow them to survive from one season to the next.

The bad news is that whiteflies are here to stay.

Georgia farmers can expect to encounter them every year, Toews says, but the severity each season will vary.

“Last year, nothing went in our direction. We didn’t have a lot of freezing weather to kill host plants,” Toews says. “And we had abnormally high temperatures during the winter and spring, which allowed for an additional generation of whiteflies to develop.”

That perfect storm of conditions made for a devastating season. UGA researchers are determined to not let history repeat itself.

“Where there’s a challenge, there’s an opportunity,” Dutta says. “This is an opportunity for us to solve this issue. That’s our motivation.”

With the stakes so high—both for individual farmers like Brim and the Georgia economy as a whole—UGA researchers won’t quit until the silver whitefly is under control. GM

Learn more about UGA’s impact on Georgia at ITSTARTSWITH.UGA.EDU/RURAL.

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Chomping at th e bit A Look at UGA Equestrian In and Out of the Arena written by leigh beeson ma ’17 photographs by peter frey bfa ’94

Danielle Walawender (from left) finishes braiding Fiona’s mane, and Stella Martin holds Carson’s bridle while Grace Bridges ties up his braids.

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I

t’s 6 a.m. on a fall saturday south of Athens.

It’s pitch dark. Crickets chirp, breaking the morning silence. Barely anyone is on the road.

The barn is a different story. The lights are bright; ’80s music ranging from Stevie Nicks’ “Edge of Seventeen” to Prince’s “1999” blares from the speakers throughout the 24-stall barn, mixing with the whinnies of the horses inside. The farm staff have already been up and working for over an hour.

One of those early risers, Regan Rivas, has served as the barn manager for the University of Georgia equestrian facility for the past four years. It’s a job she lives and breathes— literally. Rivas lives in the apartment on the second floor of the barn. Usually, the horses get fed at 7 a.m., but today is different. It’s scrimmage day, the annual Red and Black scrimmage to be exact, so the horses are getting an early start on breakfast. They have a big day ahead.

The riders start to filter in about half an hour later, checking the giant whiteboards on the wall in the middle of the barn to see where their assigned horses are. Some are lucky; the horses they’re supposed to prepare for competition are securely locked in their barn stalls. Others, like junior Grace Bridges, aren’t so fortunate.

She heads out to B-5, the fenced-in pasture that’s the farthest away from the barn, to wrangle Carson, a 17-year-old Oldenburg gelding with a glossy brown coat and white stripe down his nose. He’s competing in both of the English-style events today. Carson’s not interested at first, tossing his head up so she can’t get ahold of him. So Bridges tricks him into thinking she has a treat for him—it’s actually only grass—and gets him ready to go.

She does, however, apologize profusely to him about her deception.

It’ll take Bridges about an hour to finish braiding Carson’s mane. “You want to get here early so you get the good braiding supplies,” Bridges says. Those supplies look a lot like what typically clutter women’s bathroom countertops: TRESemmé hairspray to add some grit and hold to the horses’ manes, clear hair clips to section off chunks of hair, and purple shampoo to bring out the white in some of the horses’ coats. Grooming is an important part of preparation. In competition, a horse’s appearance is part of the scoring.

It’s Carson’s first meet day. Like all of UGA’s 62 horses, he was donated, arriving at the end of the Spring 2018 season. Trainers and riders from all over the country donate horses to UGA; some even come from alumni.

Most of the other competition horses are in the barn getting groomed by 7 a.m. Braids

Carter Anderson leads Fiona to the competition ring.

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Head Coach Meghan Boenig (center) leads the team in a chant before the scrimmage begins.

Cassidy Scott, one of the Western competitors, shows off the riding jacket and cowboy hat Western riders wear during competitions.

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are pulled up into little buns for the English competitors, banded mini-ponytails for the Western horses to help their hair lie flat. Some of the horses even get hair extensions for their tails. At around 7:30 a.m., Carson and many of the other horses get a quick hose-down before heading to the outdoor pavilion where the competitors gather for a group breakfast (eggs, fruit, and biscuits for the riders; grass for the horses) and team meeting prior to starting warm-ups.

Head Coach Meghan Boenig is at the center of it all.

She’s been with UGA since the Bulldogs’ equestrian program debuted in 2001 and is the force behind the team’s six national titles—a success rate at UGA second only to gymnastics. The equestrian team also has earned three SEC titles (including back-to-back wins in 2017 and 2018) and countless other awards and accolades under Boenig’s leadership.

When Boenig first arrived at UGA to establish the university’s 21st varsity sport (12th for women), she knew she’d be building the program from the ground up. At the time, equestrian was an emerging NCAA Division 1 sport for women; now, three other SEC schools boast teams, along with 13 others nationally, and UGA was and continues to be a leader. UGA’s inaugural season saw Boenig and the team capture their first national championship title, followed by another the following year.

Her commitment to the team—in and out of the competition ring—hasn’t gone unnoticed. Boenig has been named the SEC Coach of the Year award four times, including 2018, and coached numerous riders to SEC Rider of the Year, National Collegiate Equestrian Association Rider of the Year, and All-America titles, among other awards.

But for Coach M, as the athletes call her, it’s not all about winning titles.

Paris fuels up on grass before her event, Equitation Over Fences.

“My hope going into every season is that we find success in all that we do, whether that be in the arena, whether that be in building relationships with each other,” Boenig says. “This sport and this team are much bigger than just the results of a meet or a championship.”

That emphasis on building a sense of community within the equestrian roster of more than 60 riders has created a family-like atmosphere.

“Equestrian is turned into such an individual sport when you’re competing in high school or in the junior championships— it’s just you and your horse competing against everyone else,” Bridges says. “At Georgia, you’re not only riding for yourself; you’re riding for your best friends, and your roommates, and your school. The support system is unlike any other area of equestrian that’s out there.”

With riders from 24 states and one from Ontario, Canada, that closeness goes a long way in making Georgia feel like home.

“I was a walk-on and didn’t know what to expect, but what I found is 65 other girls who were raised the same way I was and have the same passion for these horses and doing what we love,” says senior and New Jersey native Emma Mandarino, who’s pursuing a Double Dawg degree in finance and accounting. “There’s a camaraderie that you can’t really find anywhere else.”

It’s that sense of belonging that brought Sara Parr AB ’15, a former All-SEC rider on the 2014 NCEA National Championship and 2015 SEC Championship team, back after graduating. She wasn’t quite sure what she wanted to do with her life, but she was sure of two things.

“I knew that I liked horses, and I knew that I loved Georgia,” Parr says. Ultimately, the horses, the team, and Coach M brought Parr back to her alma mater as assistant coach for Western events, her expertise in college.

“Georgia breeds excellence, whether it’s academics or athletics,” Parr says. “It sets us apart. Being part of a team that is bigger than yourself as a competitor—winning championships is great and all— but it’s those relationships you build that prepare you for your future and give you lifelong friends.”

During the team meeting before the scrimmage, Boenig tells the team that she expects the riders to be in the stands cheering on their teammates as they compete. But they’d probably be there anyway.

Boenig reminds the athletes that there’s “nothing finer than putting on the red and black.” Then the competing athletes head back to the barn area to get dressed: crisp white button-downs with black riding jackets and helmets for the English riders, cowboy boots and hats with big belts and chaps for the Western.

At 9:30 a.m., the team gathers at the G in front of the competition rings for a group cheer. Standing arm-in-arm in the center of the circle formed by their teammates, the four captains—Mandarino,

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Graysen Stroud, Alexis Mougalian, and Annabeth Payne—lead a chant, yelling lines like “There’s nothing finer in the land than a UGA equestrian. Go Dawgs!” with their teammates shouting back every line. The enthusiasm is infectious.

Then the competition begins. One English- and one Western-style event take place simultaneously in separate arenas, with spectators sandwiched in between.

First up are Equitation Over Fences, where riders maneuver the horses through a course set with fences to jump over, and Horsemanship, which focuses on the rider’s ability to seamlessly execute precise patterns using only subtle cues to the horse. Freshman Natalie Stoyko, of team Black, posts an impressive 85 on horse Aragorn, winning Stoyko Most Outstanding Player (MOP) for fences. Freshman Miller Lantis takes the honor for horsemanship, riding Otto to a score of 71½.

After halftime, the final two events begin: Equitation on the Flat, which involves an English routine performed on a flat, fenced-in arena, and Reining, the other Western event that sees the riders take the horses through a series of fast and A rider proudly wears the 2018 SEC Championship ring at the Red and Black Scrimmage.

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slow circles and abrupt stops. MOPs for those events were junior Stella Martin (on Manny) with a 94 and sophomore Taylor Staton (on Peeko) with a 70½.

“One misconception about equestrian is it’s often perceived as the horse doing all the work,” Boenig says. “What we really see is an incredible group of hard-working women who put everything they can into this sport. These riders are taking an animal who, I promise, does not want to jump over that fence or volunteer to do any of the things they do in competition, and they’re moving literally 1,000 pounds in patterns that appear seemingly simply.

That grace and that ability make them incredible athletes.”

When it’s all said and done a couple of hours later, Black beats Red, 13-9. But it’s a promising showing for the future of the UGA team, as many of the riders are only freshmen.

Then it’s back to the barn to hose off the horses; take out their braids; and get them fed, watered, and turned out to the field or back into their barn stall. Both the horses and the riders have earned some time off.

That is, at least, until Monday’s practice.

GM

Sam Gastelum guides Aragorn in a jump during Equitation Over Fences.

Julia Spreng brings Peppy to a stop during the Reining event.

Like their riders, horses need warming up before competition. Here, Emma Mandarino readies George for the arena.

CATCH A MEET Feb. 9 versus Texas A&M Mar. 2 versus South Carolina

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SPAC

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CE DAWGS by aaron hale ma ’16

THE SMALL SATELLITE RESEARCH LAB IS LAUNCHING UGA INTO SPACE. MADE UP OF STUDENTS AND FACULTY, THIS TEAM IS DESIGNING AND BUILDING SPACECRAFT TO MONITOR THE HEALTH OF GEORGIA’S COAST. IF ALL GOES ACCORDING TO PLAN, TWO STUDENT-BUILT SMALL SATELLITES WILL BE IN SPACE BY 2020.

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his story begins with a bold but simple challenge: to send something into space.

That’s what a handful of entrepreneurial, tech-savvy University of Georgia students set out to do three years ago, and their work has launched a campus initiative to push the boundaries of space systems development.

Self-described “geeks” Caleb Adams BS ’18 and Hollis Neel BS ’17 were two of the handful of friends drawn together by their knack for tackling tech and software conundrums.

“I was looking for the most difficult thing I could find and throwing myself at it,” Neel says. “That’s a theme you’ll find with a lot of us: We really enjoy a challenge.”

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Caleb Adams and Graham Grable, two of the founders of the Small Satellites Research Lab, at work.

Now a graduate student, lab founder Hollis Neel works on repairing equipment while David Cotten, co-principal investigator and lab manager looks on.

dorothy kozlowski

“The lab is set up to help highly motivated students who want to put something into space—because who doesn’t want to put something into space?—they may not initially know how to do it, but they will work hard to figure it out.”—David Cotten, lab supervisor dorothy kozlowski

Four of the students had recently created a user-friendly, smartphone-controlled telescope and launched a company to sell their product. When they were done with that, they decided that instead of just looking up into outer space, they wanted to send a gadget into it.

They found an opportunity with cube satellites, or CubeSats, a class of miniature spacecraft shaping the next stage of space technology. CubeSats are compact and fairly inexpensive, at least compared

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to large communications and research satellites. Because they’re small and cheap, and because there have been huge strides in fitting high-powered computers into tiny devices, CubeSats are tissue boxsized vessels for innovation.

Captivated by the possibility, Adams— sometimes referred to as “the ringleader” of the group—wanted to build one. He remembers thinking, “How hard can it be?”

Maybe it’s for the best that they had no idea what they were getting into. Compe-

tition for CubeSats is fierce, with many universities vying for the limited approval and academic funding available to send a small satellite into space. And despite their small size—arguably because of it—they’re hugely complex to build and operate. But the students had the necessary ingredients to get the project started: a big idea plus the drive and brainpower to see it through. What they lacked was the guidance and expertise to bring it all together.

FINDING A PURPOSE

WHAT ARE

CUBESATS

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CubeSats are a class of miniature satellites comprising 10-cm cubed units, each about the size of a tissue box. The satellites, which must weigh less than 3 pounds, are powered by solar panels and protected by a frame that can endure excess stress during launch and heat in orbit.

WEIGH LESS THAN 3 POUNDS

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3lbs. tu

The students dove in and began creating a Kickstarter fund to build their CubeSat. But they soon learned it’s not easy to get money to build a spacecraft just for the heck of it.

They needed a purpose, a mission, for their satellite. Adams started emailing faculty across campus looking for help. At another university—say one with an aeronautics program—this story might have taken a different direction. But instead of finding someone to tell them how to build a spacecraft, they found faculty who could give them a reason to build one.

Adams connected with former NASA researcher Marshall Shepherd, now the UGA Athletic Association Distinguished Professor of Geography and Atmospheric Sciences. As it turned out, faculty in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences geography department had already been exploring CubeSats to improve research capabilities.

Enter associate professor Deepak Mishra and research scientist David Cotten. Mishra and Cotten are monitoring the coastal water quality and wetland health around Georgia’s Sapelo Island. They are tracking algae blooms, sediment, and organic matter in the water are all vital indicators of coastal and wetland health.

In addition to gathering data on the ground, the researchers verify their findings with visual information gleaned from large research satellites operated by NASA and the European Space Agency. While that sounds impressive, it comes with limitations, Mishra says. Those satellites have set overpass times, usually going over Sapelo Island between 10 a.m. and noon just a few times a month.

“That’s a big data gap,” Mishra says.

Plus, large satellite sensors are intended for broad regional mapping. “Their bandwidth is fixed. So they don’t work

Satellite illustration by UGA graphic design student Paul Hwang.

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ew

vi s da

POWERED BY THE SUN Deepak Mishra (top) is the lab’s principal investigator. Marshall Shepherd is the mission operations team mentor.

PROTECTED BY A FRAME on certain applications.” Applications such as identifying bacteria in water, which indicate dangerous algae blooms.

He hopes a new satellite, specifically designed and deployed for their research, could give them a clearer picture of coastal health.

The faculty had a science mission but needed someone to build a satellite. The students wanted to build a CubeSat but needed a mission. It was a perfect match.

Their true value is in the payload, which is the instrument to collect scientific data. (Every mission has a different payload.)

Because they are much cheaper than the large satellites run by NASA, CubeSats promote innovation in space system development and offer a window for university students to get involved in aeronautics.

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dorothy kozlowski

Fueled by their Jittery Joe’s coffee maker, students can be found working in the lab, located on the bottom floor of the Physics Building, at all hours of the day and night.

dorothy kozlowski

THE LAB The collaboration gave rise to the Small Satellite Research Laboratory, aimed to make UGA a leader in small spacecraft-driven research and development. The lab is staffed by about 50 students, ranging from STEM majors to those in business and the arts. They’re guided by an interdisciplinary team of faculty in geography, engineering, math, physics, chemistry, and oceanography.

To get going, the team needed more than big ideas. They needed funding and a way to launch the CubeSat into space.

So they got to work, applying to NASA’s Undergraduate Student Instrument Project.

UGA alumnus Roger Hunter BS ’78, who was the program manager for NASA’s Kepler Mission to explore the galaxy for other Earth-like planets, now

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manages the Small Spacecraft Technology Program at NASA’s Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley. The program wants to empower college students to push the boundaries of space technology.

“NASA depends on innovation that gets spurred in academia as well as commercial industry,” Hunter explains.

“That’s how you get some great ideas.”

To write their proposal, UGA faculty focused on the scientific mission (monitoring coastal health), and the students threw themselves into designing the satellites and payload.

The students relied on long nights of work, complete with video game breaks, gallons of coffee, and calls seeking technical advice from aeronautics and optics experts at NASA and universities as far off as Norway and the Netherlands.

Cotten, who became the faculty lab manager, says the students have an unconventional work style. One that includes naming their lab’s computers after Taco Bell menu items (Gordita Supreme and Nacho Chicken Chalupa, for instance) and holding strategy sessions while playing Super Nintendo. But their process yields results and the kind of creativity that generates innovation.

“They think outside the box,” Cotten says. “Our job is corralling them to be focused on the task at hand and to not go too far outside that box.”

They sent a proposal to NASA for a SPOC (SPectral Ocean Color) Satellite.

The payload would have optics capable of zooming in on coastal areas and then splitting the light on the water or wetland surface to determine dominant colors. Those colors reveal the chemical and molecular makeup of the ocean and wetland surface and signs of coastal health. Best of all, this satellite could be navigated by a mission control station built on campus.

The proposal won funding to build SPOC and secured a place on a rocket to launch it.

THE NEXT CHALLENGE With that first funding victory under their belt, the students entered a second, highly competitive grant program, the Air Force Research Laboratory’s University Nanosatellite Program. Now, the lab was aiming to push the boundaries and build an even more complex satellite. To get approval, they would go up against some of the nation’s top established aerospace programs.

Their second satellite design was for MOCI (pronounced mo-chee), which stands for Multi-view Onboard Computational Imager. MOCI is designed to take images from low-orbit and then compute data before sending it back to ground control. It’s an innovative approach; typically, NASA missions send raw data back to Earth to be processed.

But Hunter says the space agency is looking at this satellite’s approach for future missions.

During the grant approval process, the Air Force lay down tight deadlines and reviews for the lab to make sure progress

was made. According to students Neel and Adams, even the Air Force researchers lived up to the military’s reputation for rigor. At an early review, they found flaw after flaw in the lab’s satellite design.

“They ripped it apart,” Adams says. So, the students resolved to dig in and work even more meticulously. From then on, the lab hit their marks, and last January the team was one of only 1o national finalists for the grant.

They had put in two years of work to get to this point and were competing against the likes of MIT and the U.S. Naval Academy. UGA was the only finalist to come from a school without an aerospace program or previous satellite capabilities. It was one of those times when just making it to the finals would have been a victory.

Instead, the lab was one of two programs, along with the University of Colorado, selected by the Air Force to build and launch their satellites.

They won.

positions. Only 5 percent were selected.

And the lab’s leadership is beginning to think about their next idea for a satellite (possibly using artificial intelligence to enhance spacecraft functionality in low orbit) and hoping to help UGA researchers tackle the next grand challenge with data from a small satellite.

Mishra, the project’s principal investigator, says research could go beyond coastal health and geography. What’s important is using CubeSats to innovate scientific research.

“We need to figure out a way to sustain this momentum, to bring in bigger projects, to compete nationwide, and to be known as a center that produces good satellites for strong scientific applications,” he says.

While some of the lab’s founders have graduated and moved on to tech and aeronautics jobs, Neel and Adams

chose to stay behind to see the first two satellites through to completion. Both are working on advanced degrees at UGA, Neel in geography and Adams in computer science.

The lab is working on building the engineering model for SPOC before they begin to put together the real thing in February. It will be a slow and arduous process. The failure rate for small satellites is 67 percent. Adams and Neel have no interest in being part of that statistic.

“We’ve done so much planning and design, I’m looking forward to the implementation,” says Adams.

The goal has become bigger than just sending “something” into space. Adams says the students are inspired by the possibilities this work can support.

“At the end of the day,” Adams says, “our goal is to support our faculty and create tools that help them do science.” GM

NOW WHAT SPOC and MOCI are slated for launch in late-2019 and 2020. In just three years, UGA’s involvement with space-systems development has transformed from big idea into reality. Even the experts are impressed.

“These students are getting a lot of attention,” says NASA’s Hunter, who as a member of the Franklin College Advisory Board has visited the lab several times. “I’m astonished by how far and how fast they’ve come in a short amount of time. The key will be: what comes next.”

The next two challenges will be the successful deployment of their first satellites, then generating new ideas to keep the lab going.

With the promise of an unparalleled experience, the lab continues to attract new talent on campus. This fall, hundreds of students applied for 10 open

While grants from NASA and the Air Force Research Lab are enabling the Small Satellite Research Lab to launch two CubeSats into orbit, private donations help the lab buy equipment, advance new research projects, and fund students. Give to the lab at GIVE.UGA.EDU/UGASMALLSATELLITE . geo rgia maga z ine | winter 2 018

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Taste ofAthens written by eric rangus ma ’94

More than most cities its size, Athens is a playground for food lovers. Discover how to enjoy every meal of the day—plus some snacks—without ever leaving the shadow of campus. And you’ll be supporting UGA alumni every step of the way.

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Zombie Coffee & Donuts 350 E. BROAD ST. Tony Raffa BBA ’16

special

Tony Raffa is frequently found behind the counter at Zombie Coffee & Donuts. Since opening the Athens location in 2016, he’s added a second in Columbia, S.C.

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offee and donuts: the true breakfast of champions.

Tony Raffa BBA ’16 opened Zombie in May 2016. A month before, he had competed in Terry’s Next Top Entrepreneur Contest. Raffa didn’t win, but the experience introduced him to investors who helped him bring Zombie to life just days after he graduated with a degree in business management from UGA. While in college, Raffa had experimented with pop-up coffee shops inside frozen yogurt stores around Washington, D.C.,

where he grew up. But it wasn’t until he invested in a donut-making machine that business really took off.

“I never thought I’d be in coffee and donuts,” Raffa says. “I just saw an opportunity and seized it.” Zombie’s location in Athens was Raffa’s first standalone store.

In October 2017, Raffa opened a second store in Columbia, South Carolina.

Zombie’s topped-to-order cake donuts include offerings ranging from reliable standbys (vanilla, chocolate) to quirky (Fruity Pebbles) to inspired (a maple

Breakfast

pecan donut with pecan halves).

Zombie donuts are also served up with a side of social awareness. Each month, the restaurant partners with the School of Social Work to feature three local nonprofits on one wall. Customers are given a token to vote for their favorite, and at month’s end, the winner receives 5 percent of Zombie’s gross profits from that month.

Raffa’s recommended donut: The maple bacon.

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Jittery Joe’s 297 E. BROAD ST.

Jittery Joe’s Roaster 425 BARBER ST.

Charlie Mustard MS ’97

On an average day, Charlie Mustard roasts enough coffee beans to fill 80,000 cups. He also has a talent for creating distinctive blends for clients around town and local legends (see customized coffee cans below).

peter frey

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ittery joe’s coffee has been fueling Athenians since 1994, and Charlie Mustard MS ’97 is the steady hand responsible for every fresh-brewed cup.

Mustard’s first visits to the downtown Jittery Joe’s were as a customer. It was a great place to concentrate on his master’s classwork in UGA’s Department of Foods and Nutrition. One day, he struck up a conversation with the founders, who said they wanted to start roasting their own beans. Mustard offered to do it—for free—as long as he could have all the coffee he could drink. That was in 1994, and Mustard never left.

Every serving of Jittery Joe’s coffee originates with Mustard at the metal-roofed roastery on Barber Street about a mile northwest of downtown.

Roasting coffee beans is both an art and a science.

It appears simple on the surface but requires a deft touch and a sensitive nose. From bag to can, roasting a batch of beans only takes about 15 minutes, but Mustard is constantly checking the appearance of the beans, making sure the color is right and that the aroma is progressing properly. Sometimes there are fruity notes, sometimes a touch of baking bread.

Coffee

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Once the beans emerge from the roaster, they cool for about 7-10 minutes before they’re loaded into bins and then canned or bagged for shipment. On an average day, he roasts enough beans to fill 80,000 cups of coffee.

Mustard admits that he never expected to be a coffee roaster, much less one for more than two decades, but his vocation is a natural progression from his time at UGA. When he was a master’s student in the College of Family and Consumer Sciences, he worked in the energy metabolism lab, learning how what we eat or drink turns into energy. A move to coffee wasn’t a big jump.

Plus, he’s able to bring a love of experimentation to coffee roasting, particularly when he’s making specialized blends for clients ranging from the UGA athletic department to Mama’s Boy’s Alicia Segars and Cooper Hudson (next page) to the band Widespread Panic.

“First, we talk with people to find out what tastes they like,” Mustard says. “Then we’ll create different blends based on the characteristics they wanted— maybe one is more acidic; another has more of a chocolate taste. Then we’ll do a taste test, and their favorite becomes the blend. It’s like being in a lab.”

Mustard’s recommended cup: A medium roast, like Guatemala Huehue Tango. “It’s a baseline.” he says.

“That way, for your second cup, you can try something lighter or darker based on your taste.”

peter frey

Mama’s Boy 197 OAK ST.

Alicia Segars AB ’93 Cooper Hudson ABJ ’98

Alicia Segars (left) and Cooper Hudson’s popular breakfast and brunch restaurant derives its name from a loving nickname given to Segars’ father. He died a year before they opened. peter frey

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walking tour of town might be the easiest way to visit Mama’s Boy. There is rarely any available parking. And if you go on a weekend morning for brunch, get comfortable. The wait for a table is frequently 30 minutes minimum.

When Alicia Segars AB ’93 and Cooper Hudson ABJ ’98 opened Mama’s Boy 12 years ago, they envisioned a three-meal restaurant.

When dinner crowds turned out to be disappointing, they quickly realized their niche.

“We thought breakfast was kind of played out,” says Segars. “We were wrong.” So they closed Mama’s Boy for dinner and leaned into breakfast, serving it all day. Soon, the restaurant became one of Athens’ most popular brunch destinations.

“It’s just really exciting to see all the people,” says Segars. “To know that so many people hold you in such high regard is gratifying.”

Since the summer of 2017, a lot more people have been enjoying Mama’s Boy. That’s when Segars and Hudson opened a second location in the Falls of the Oconee shopping center on Macon Highway, just across the Athens-Clarke County line. The new location is about three times the size of the downtown spot, which

Brunch

peter frey

allows for events, and it includes two full kitchens, one of which is exclusively for catering.

“The expansion is great; I have to make eggs for 300 people tomorrow,” Hudson laughs.

Two locations means a lot of extra work for the pair, but they don’t mind. Still, their ambitions have a limit.

“We’ve been asked if we want to grow beyond Athens, but that isn’t the plan,” Hudson says. “If we wanted to be in Atlanta or Macon, we could, but we are happy right here.”

Mama’s Boy’s best brunch: The Mill Town Plate— two eggs, cheese grits, thick-cut bacon and a massive biscuit—is simplicity perfected.

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Saucehouse

830 W. BROAD ST.

Chris Belk AB ’05, MBA ’13

peter frey

Saucehouse, co-founded by Chris Belk (above) is all about the flavor. The restaurant’s sauces are the survivors of a years-long taste-testing process that included more than 100 contenders.

Lunch

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aucehouse co-founder chris belk AB ’05, MBA ’13 likes taking chances. It’s an essential element for good barbecue.

Cook this batch of ribs a little longer. Add a new flavor or two. You never know what you’ll come up with.

“We have a culture where it’s OK to try something new. We’re not competing against other restaurants,” says Belk, quite sincerely stating the mantra of most every eating establishment across the Athens scene. “We’re competing against ourselves.”

It’s a good thing Belk embraces experimentation because Saucehouse was born from it.

Belk wrote the business plan for Saucehouse as part of his MBA coursework at Terry, but he didn’t open the restaurant right away. Instead, Saucehouse started as a catering business specializing in barbecue, and Belk spent more than two years testing out sauces at various events. The nine on the restaurant’s current menu represent the survivors of a process that involved the creation of more than 100 sauces.

The catering side has been a runaway success and still accounts for half of Saucehouse’s business. In fact, Saucehouse’s recent expansion to Atlanta is following the Athens template—catering first, followed by a restaurant sometime down the road.

When the restaurant (along with an adjacent bar and large courtyard with outdoor seating) opened on Broad Street in 2015, it quickly became a staple of Athens’ food culture.

Saucehouse’s menu includes the pork, chicken, brisket, and ribs that should be familiar to all barbecue connoisseurs, as well as tofu, which probably isn’t. Belk and his staff’s creativity comes in with the “vessels” that contain the barbecue. There are buns and rolls, of course, but Saucehouse also offers baked potatoes, nachos, salad, tacos, and rice—that last choice being added to the menu following a barbecue-themed road trip Belk and several co-workers took up the east coast, where they saw rice peter frey as a common side.

Saucehouse’s success has not gone unnoticed. In January, the restaurant placed No. 1 in the 2018 Bulldog 100, the university’s annual honor for the fastest growing business owned or operated by Georgia alumni.

“It’s the most unexpected award I’ve ever received and certainly the most prestigious,” Belk says. “The amount of support the university has shown is just amazing. There is this feeling that the people who love Georgia want to see Georgia alumni succeed.”

Belk’s recommended lunch: Brisket on a baked potato covered in cheese sauce.

F

or more than 25 years, the last resort Grill has been the go-to restaurant for students to take their parents when they come to visit. And its founder, Athens-native Melissa Clegg BBA ’88, is at least as much of an institution as her long-lasting creation.

“I am in awe every day that the community has supported us and embraced us,” Clegg says. The Last Resort opened in 1992 in a space that used to be a music club, also called the Last Resort. Clegg used to watch her mom perform there.

The room’s history is not lost on her. “Maybe you had your first date at a certain table or you saw a band play where the grill is. The walls speak to us all the time,” she says.

Last Resort’s menu holds tradition close as well. New, creative menu items pop up all the time, but three dishes— praline chicken, salmon and grits, and fried green tomatoes—have been offered since day one.

Clegg has been part of the Athens restaurant community since she began washing dishes at Sparky’s (located where the Classic Center is now) when she was 12. Clegg entered UGA majoring in sculpture but eventually moved to Terry, where she picked up the management skills she now uses every day.

At times, Clegg has been a flying instructor, a professional photographer, and she’s run a cooking school, but restaurants are her true love.

While she’s owned and operated (and sold) a variety of them in Athens, she’s never left the Last Resort, which has always remained a driving force. In fact, one of Clegg’s newest ventures is an offshoot of the Last Resort, LRG Provisions, which she co-owns with fellow UGA alumna Jeneane McGuire AB ’02.

LRG Provisions has become a catch-all for catering, events, and dining. “At Last Resort, we are so confined by space that it’s tough to do events or special-occasion dinners,” McGuire says. “Provisions is such a beautiful space, and Five Points has become so vibrant that this seemed like the perfect time to expand.”

Immediately before launching Provisions, McGuire was general manager at Last Resort. Her graduation from that job to her new one is the latest example of how the Last Resort serves as an elite farm system for the rest of the Athens culinary community: Alicia Segars and Cooper Hudson met there as employees before launching Mama’s Boy. Charlie Mustard has supplied coffee to the Last Resort for years, and Chris Belk provided other coffee and tea products to the restaurant when he was in the food sales business before Saucehouse. And, most notably, Clegg and renowned chef Hugh Acheson, who was head chef at Last Resort, opened Athens’ highly regarded Five & Ten restaurant in 2000. Seven years later, Acheson and one of Five & Ten’s chefs, Peter Dale, opened The National.

“So much of our success has been because of the amazing people we’ve worked with. Especially Jeneane,” says Clegg, smiling the smile of a proud mentor. “Jeneane is a star.”

Dinner

174-184 W. CLAYTON ST. Melissa Clegg BBA ’88 Jeneane McGuire AB ’02

peter frey

Last Resort’s recommended dinner: Pork shoulder stuffed with chorizo and spices.

Last Resort Grill

Melissa Clegg (left), the founder of the Last Resort Grill, has been a fixture on the Athens restaurant scene for a generation. Many of the city’s most creative and talented culinary leaders have worked at the popular restaurant, including LRG Provisions’ Jeneane McGuire (right).

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Condor Chocolates 1658 S. LUMPKIN ST. Peter Dale ABJ ’99 Nick Dale BS ’04

Peter (left) and Nick Dale’s inviting Five Points shop uses chocolate sourced exclusively in Ecuador.

Their bean-to-bar process is illustrated on the wall behind them.

peter frey

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or brothers nick and peter Dale, Condor Chocolates is a labor of love. Or, more accurately, a love letter to their family.

Their mother, Beatriz, is from Ecuador, and when the Dales decided to open their craft chocolate shop in Five Points, it only made sense to use Ecuadorean cacao, a product that’s as essential to the nation’s identity as the peach is to Georgia.

Named for the national bird of Ecuador, Condor is a bean-to-bar shop. Every step in the process is managed by the chocolate maker. For instance, during the Dales’ frequent trips to Ecuador, they mix family time with visits to the farmers who grow their beans. For the super-curious, the entire bean to bar process is illustrated on the shop’s wall. It’s a more expensive process that leads to a higher quality product.

peter frey

“There aren’t a lot of places that can support a bean-to-bar café,” Peter says. “But the Athens community has been wonderful.

With bean-to-bar, the chocolate is delicious, and it supports the farmers too.”

The Dales originally made all their chocolate at the café, but the 2016 open-

Dessert

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ing of their factory on Chase Street changed everything. “The factory lets us grow a bit more,” Nick says. Previously, it was not uncommon for the Dales to store more than a ton of cacao beans in the corner of their Five Points store. “It also gives us the freedom to do some small batch, limited edition

Peter Dale’s Athens restaurants The National

jackie baxter roberts peter frey

232 W. HANCOCK ST. In 2012, Dale was named People’s Best New Chef of the Southeast by Food & Wine magazine, and his work at The National was a big part of that. Two years later, the restaurant, which is co-owned by Dale and fellow superstar chef Hugh Acheson, earned a Silver Spoon Award as one of the top 10 restaurants in Georgia, and its Mediterranean-inspired menu brings a classy, delicious vibe to downtown’s north side.

Maepole products.” One of their more recent creations was a dark chocolate bar flavored with cayenne pepper.

The Dales grew up on the UGA campus. Their father, Nicholas, was a professor in the Department of Poultry Science before he retired. Peter ABJ ’99 graduated from Grady, where he learned how to challenge himself. It’s an important quality that’s helped him build one of the most impressive restaurant portfolios in the Southeast (see box). Condor represents Peter’s first partnership with his brother, and the mix of their personalities and interests makes for an ideal twosome.

Nick BS ’04, who handles Condor’s day-today operations, earned a degree in agricultural economics from the College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences. He loves tinkering with machinery and has developed some highly sensitive taste buds over the years.

“It’s always fun to see what restaurants or breweries do with our product,” he says, adding that Condor supplies cocoa nibs and other products for a variety of Athens-made products ranging from desserts to chocolate stouts. “I’m always seeing if I can taste the flavor notes of the chocolate they are using. I’m in the 1 percent of chocolate tasters who are really nerdy about it,” he laughs. GM

The Dales’ recommended dessert: The sipping chocolate. “It’s based on a Spanish hot cocoa recipe.” Nick says. “It’s thick and served in an espresso cup with housemade marshmallows on top. Perfect on a cool night.”

1021 CHASE ST. Dale’s newest restaurant, the fastcasual Maepole, opened in 2018 and serves Southern staples with flavor inspirations from around the world. jackie baxter roberts

Seabear Oyster Bar

297 PRINCE AVE., SUITE 10 Located in the Bottleworks, just northwest of downtown, Seabear—as the name implies—is best known for its oysters, but you can also catch a variety of other dishes from land and sea. jackie baxter roberts

Chain Reaction W

hile UGA alumni are the driving forces behind many of Athens’ restaurants, both downtown and beyond, alumni have also made their mark leading regional and national chains. The ”Zax” half of Athens-based chicken franchise Zaxby’s belongs to co-founder Zach McLeroy BSA ’88. Another fast-casual chain based in Athens is the made-to-order pizza place Your Pie. It was founded by Terry grad Drew French BBA ’05. Finally, Atlanta-based Chick-fil-A is one of the nation’s fastest growing restaurant chains, and in November, it expanded to downtown Athens for the first time. Shane Todd BBA ’93 is the franchise location owner.

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THE ARCH

ON THE BULLDOG BEAT

TERRELL HALL

HOLMES-HUNTER

CHA

an illustrated tour of

NORTH CAMPUS

written by kellyn amodeo abj ’09 illustrations by lauren j. watt abj ’18 and jackie baxter roberts

One of the most picturesque locations in the Southeast, UGA’s North Campus is much more than a collection of pretty buildings. Each tells a chapter of the university’s story.

THE ARCH

The most recognizable symbol of the university, the Arch stands at the entrance to North Campus.

The 160-year-old Arch was likely forged at the Athens Foundry when an iron gate was erected to keep grazing cattle off the North Campus lawn. The Arch is modeled after the Georgia state seal, featuring the three pillars of wisdom, justice, and moderation.

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HOLMES-HUNTER BUILDING

The Holmes-Hunter Academic Building is the result of a clever scheme of engineering professor Charles Strahan, who decided to join two of the older structures on campus, the Ivy Building (built in 1831) and the Old Library (built in 1862). Once connected, what then became known as the Academic Building was home to the university’s first female staff member, Sarah Frierson, who was hired in 1888 as an assistant librarian. In 2001, the building

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was renamed to honor the late physician Hamilton Holmes AB ’63 and award-winning journalist Charlayne Hunter-Gault ABJ ’63, the first African American students admitted to UGA.

THE CHAPEL AND CHAPEL BELL

One of the first Greek Revival structures in Athens, the Chapel is widely considered one of the most beautiful buildings on campus. After it opened in 1832, the Chapel was the center

of campus activity, including required religious services.

Behind the Chapel stands the legendary Chapel Bell, which is rung to celebrate personal victories for students, alumni, visitors, and athletic teams.

HERTY FIELD

What started as a weed-infested hill ultimately became the site of the state’s first intercollegiate football game. Charles Herty, an 1886 graduate and former UGA baseball player, returned

N O I T A R T S I N I M AD BUILDING ELL CHAPEL B

APEL

to Georgia as a professor and became the catalyst for creating the university’s football program.

In 1892, as coach he led the Bulldogs to their first victory on the field that would be named for him four years later, defeating Mercer 50-0. In 1938, the field was paved over to become a parking lot. It stayed that way until 1999, when the university adopted an environmentfocused master plan and converted the lot back to the greenspace it is today.

OLD COLLEGE

The university’s first building, the oldest in Athens, and one of the oldest in Northeast Georgia, Old College opened in 1801. It was modeled after

OWENS PLAZA

OLD COLLEGE HERTY FIELD

a building at Yale, the alma mater of UGA’s president at the time, Josiah Meigs. Because the administration was not sure which way campus would grow, Old College is identical on its north and south walls.

museum expanded to fill the entire building until it moved to its current home in 1996. The building was then restored and reopened as administrative offices in 2000.

ADMINISTRATION BUILDING

Hubert B. Owens is the father of landscape architecture at UGA. He played an instrumental role in developing the look of North Campus and was the creative force behind the Founders Garden. In the 1940s, Owens proposed a garden with a water feature on the east side of North Campus, but there was only enough funding for a small plaza.

In 1989, the deteriorating area was rebuilt and Owens’ dream was realized when the first

Home to the university president and other senior leaders, the Administration Building first opened as the university’s library.

It contained 60,000 volumes and was expanded to house UGA’s ever-growing collection, which exceeded 200,000 volumes when the library was relocated. From 1945 until 1952, the basement was home to the Georgia Museum of Art; once the library relocated, the

HUBERT BOND OWENS PLAZA

fountain was installed on his namesake plaza.

TERRELL HALL

Charles Strahan made another contribution to North Campus with Terrell Hall. Terrell was the first building erected in the 20th century on North Campus and reflected a more modern Romanesque style with arched entrances and a pitched roof. It was built on the remains of Science Hall, which was destroyed by a fire in 1903.

Terrell was originally home to the chemistry department and pharmacy school, as well as the Air Force ROTC program; today, it’s home to the Office of Undergraduate Admissions and the Graduate Schoool.

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THE NATION

news and events

from the uga alumni association

2019 Bulldog 100 Celebration

For 10 years, the UGA Alumni Association has recognized the fastest growing businesses owned or operated by UGA alumni through the Bulldog 100 program.

On Jan. 26, alumni and friends are invited to gather in Atlanta to celebrate a decade of entrepreneurial Bulldogs who are leading their businesses, large and small, to great success. Learn more about 2018’s No. 1 business, Saucehouse, on page 34. While 2019’s rankings will be unveiled during the event, the unranked list of 100 companies and registration details are available at alumni.uga.edu/b100/gm.

No Dawgs Bark Alone

For details on football postseason events or travel packages being offered to UGA alumni and friends, visit alumni.uga.edu/athletics/gm.

Women of UGA Mentorship Mondays

Women of UGA will host six bimonthly events in 2019 that will focus on women in the workplace. The series will feature successful alumnae sharing their advice and tips on how to navigate a variety of professional challenges and opportunities. They’ll also share insights into their own careers and how they found success. Women represent the largest segment of the alumni population, and Women of UGA is committed to helping them maintain lifelong connections to UGA by offering personal and professional development. More at alumni.uga.edu/womenofuga/gm.

A BULLDOG BARK TO ...

raccoon photography

Congratulations to the 40 Under 40 Class of 2018, who were recognized on Sept. 13 at the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta. To see who made this year’s list, visit alumni.uga.edu/40u40/gm.

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DON’T MISS OUT SATURDAY, JANUARY 26 2019 Bulldog 100 Celebration For the 10th year, UGA alumni and friends will gather in Atlanta to recognize the fastest growing businesses owned or operated by UGA alumni. To see this year’s honorees or to register to attend, visit alumni.uga.edu/b100/gm.

SOCIAL MEDIA

Stay connected with @ugaalumniassoc on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

The Boston Alumni Chapter hosted a Welcome to the City event featuring faculty from the School of Public and International Affairs.

MONDAY, JANUARY 28 Nominations Open for Bulldog 100 and 40 Under 40 Nominate outstanding young alumni for 40 Under 40 and Bulldog-owned or -operated businesses for Bulldog 100. Learn more at alumni.uga.edu/40u40/gm and alumni.uga.edu/b100/gm.

@ugaboston

Alumni and friends gathered at McCamish Pavilion in Atlanta in August to cheer on the WNBA’s Atlanta Dream.

THURSDAY-SATURDAY, MARCH 21-23 UGA Alumni Weekend Join fellow alumni and friends for the first ever Alumni Weekend on campus. Visit alumni.uga.edu/alumniweekend/gm to reserve a spot for you, your friends, and family members.

The weekend will be filled with exciting classes, experiences, and tours that will have you feeling like a student again.

@womenofuga

FRIDAY, MARCH 22 TEDxUGA Hear from some of UGA’s leading thinkers and doers as they share their passions, stories, and “ideas worth spreading.” Learn more at tedxuga.com.

FRIDAY, APRIL 5

Actor and comedian Dax Shepard’s podcast “Armchair Expert” was co-created and produced

by UGA alumna Monica Padman AB ’09, ABJ ’09 (far right).

82nd Annual Alumni Awards Luncheon Each year, the UGA Alumni Association is proud to celebrate the achievements of distinguished alumni, faculty, and friends of UGA. Learn more at alumni.uga.edu/alumniawards/gm.

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

contact us: Have you moved?

Changed your name?

Keep your record up to date at alumni.uga.edu/myinfo.

@mlpadman

In August, chapters across the country hosted Welcome to the City events to introduce new local alumni to the chapter and to each other. The St. Louis Chapter hosted its event at Ballpark Village on Aug. 10.

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

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class notes Compiled by Rachel Floyd and Katherine Costikyan.

1955-1959 Janet Wright AB ’59 retired from her position as director of the Talking Book Center at the Athens-Clarke County Regional Library.

1960-1964 Frank Bowers BSF ’64, MS ’67 retired from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Wick Searcy AB ’64, JD ’67 was elected chairman of the board of trustees of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force in Savannah. Wick also serves as chairman of the Stars & Stripes Golf Tournament supporting the Folds of Honor Foundation.

1965-1969 T. Wayne Bloodworth BSPH ’68 founded the nation’s first nonprofit surgical center for the treatment of victims of female genital mutilation. The Surgical Center for FGM is located in Atlanta and is currently seeing patients from across the U.S. and Africa.

1970-1974 Joe Kinard III BBA ’71 retired from the City of Dublin after 30 years as the city clerk and finance director.

Carol Keavney ABJ ’72 is president of the Democratic

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Women’s Council of the Conejo Valley in California.

Gerry Leach BBA ’72 retired from his position as president and CEO of Old Republic Surety Company.

Janie Lasik AB ’73 is part owner and president of CrystalTek, an environmental industrial chemical company in Alpharetta.

Martha Weeks AB ’73 published Tidewater Hit, the second novel of her Tidewater series, in November 2017.

John Granrose M ’74 is an emeritus professor from the Department of Philosophy in the UGA Franklin College of Arts and Sciences.

Doug Mills ABJ ’74 is owner of an Atlanta-based company, Pro Source, which specializes in contract leasing of DOT-qualified truck drivers to other companies, along with providing safety and compliance and payroll, benefits, and insurance services.

1975-1979 Kyle Young BFA ’75 produces and sells artwork through her online studio website, Kyle Young Art + Life/Design.

1980-1984 Angi Case ABJ ’81 is founder and owner of Organized Case

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WILD WEST

Old Tale Gets New Telling The tale of Wyatt Earp, legendary lawman and gunfighter of the American West, has been told many times. Mark Warren BS ’69 brings his own new and refreshing spin through his richly detailed trilogy of historical fiction, Wyatt Earp: An American Odyssey.

After years of research, Warren published his first book on Earp, Adobe Moon, in 2017. It follows Earp’s early life from his boyhood home in Iowa to Ellsworth, Kansas. The second book in the trilogy, Born to the Badge, published in November, special picks up where Adobe Moon leaves off; the final installation, Promised Land, is forthcoming in 2019.

This is Warren’s only series focusing specifically on Earp, Warren is no novice to the literary world. His memoir, Two Winters in a Tipi, was published in 2012, and he has since published a four-volume series of books on nature and survival titled Secrets of the Forest. He studies, writes, and teaches extensively about the natural world, drawing from a lifelong love for the wilderness.

CLASS NOTES APPLAUSE FOR ALUMNI

by Case, a home organizing service in Charleston, South Carolina. Case was previously a broadcast journalist at CNN for 21 years.

Lori Muggridge BBA ’81 is executive director of Ocmulgee Court Appointed Special Advocates in Milledgeville.

Steve Nicholas BBA ’81 was selected as the president of the Alabama Association for Justice.

Nicholas is a partner at Cunningham Bounds law firm in Mobile.

Kurt Preston BSA ’83 is the program manager for the Strategic Environmental Research and Development program and the Resource Conservation and Resiliency program within the Department of Defense.

James Rollins Jr. BFA ’82 of the law firm Schwartz Rollins in Atlanta, was named the 2018 Small Firm Best Mentor by the Fulton Daily Report.

Chris Sumner BSEd ’83, MEd ’84 retired from his position as school psychologist in the Lee County school system.

Jennie Voyles BSEd ’84 retired from 34 years of teaching at Douglas County Schools.

1985-1989 Eric Dodd ABJ ’85 is a writer-producer at HLN’s Morning Express with Robin Meade at Turner Broadcasting.

Kip Wright AB ’85, MHP ’92 is a contractor for the Federal Emergency Management Agency in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Steve Ike BS ’86 is a managing partner at GreyHawk Partners in Atlanta, leading its business transformation and sales enablement practice.

Peggy Kohlmeyer BSHE ’86 published Lifelines, which follows her story of growing up in Athens

Serving Sustainably

B special

efore betsy fretwell AB ’89, MPA ’91 became the city manager of Las Vegas, she served as city manager of Greenville, South Carolina—for a day. As part of her high school’s Government for a Day program, Fretwell fatefully pulled the position of city manager from a hat. After a day spent in a position she had never even heard of, playing pretend for her city government, a seed was planted in her mind.

Fretwell didn’t always intend to join the public service arena. Entering UGA as a chemistry major with an interest in sports medicine, it wasn’t until Fretwell took a political science class that she fell in love with the field.

She promptly changed majors, and went on to receive not only a degree in political science from the university but continued on to receive a master’s in public administration from the School of Public and International Affairs.

“We had really incredible professors and advisors in the public administration program in SPIA who encouraged us as students to dream big and go after it,” says Fretwell. “We were encouraged to think big, gain a comprehensive knowledge base and build strong relationships. I feel like that helped me throughout my career.”

Fretwell’s dreams of public service took her from Clarke County, Georgia, to Clark County, Nevada, where she found a management internship with the government immediately

Betsy Fretwell AB ’89, MPA ’91

upon graduation. From there she worked her way up, finding subsequent positions in the cities of Henderson and ultimately, Las Vegas, where she served as city manager for eight of her 17-year-long tenure. Under her leadership, Las Vegas achieved a 4-star community sustainability ranking, transitioned to 100% renewable energy for all city facilities, completed construction of a new city hall and performing arts facility, and improved the city’s equality index score to 100—all accomplished in the midst of recovering from the Great Recession.

Today, Fretwell has found a way to connect her love of public service with her experience relying on technology deployment and sustainability. In 2017 she joined Switch, one of the largest technology infrastructure company in the world, where she serves as senior vice president of Switch CITIES. Her work at Switch focuses on bringing technology infrastructure to cities nationwide. In her role, Fretwell still works closely with local governments, including Las Vegas, helping to provide the technology and development necessary to create truly ‘smart’ cities around the globe. The fact that Switch is so strongly committed to sustainably running the internet and powers all of its data center ecosystems with 100 percent clean energy aligns with Fretwell’s own values.

“I get the best of both public and private sector worlds in this position. We bring to local governments something they might not be able to accomplish on their own, and we can help them as they grow and develop their own technologies to serve their citizens. And to do that with such a strong focus on sustainability truly is a win-win-win opportunity.”

special

written by katherine costikyan

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CLASS NOTES APPLAUSE FOR ALUMNI

Foundation of Leadership

Rodney Bullard MBA ’12

special

R

mac photography

odney bullard’s list of accolades is lengthy. After earning a degree from the Air Force Academy, where he also played football, he received a law degree from Duke University and then an MBA at the Terry College of Business. He also completed the Harvard Business School’s advanced management program. He was selected as a White House Fellow and placed at NASA working directly for the NASA administrator. Bullard also served at the Pentagon as a congressional legislative liaison in the Office of the Secretary of the Air Force.

And he did all of that before helping create the Chick-fil-A Foundation.

But what’s really impressive isn’t Bullard’s long list of accolades; it’s his attitude.

For Bullard MBA ’12, none of these accomplishments are about himself. They are about the people he helps along the way.

This mindset traces its beginnings to a childhood conversation with a family written by kellyn amodeo ABJ ’09

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friend, Benjamin Mays, then-president of Morehouse College and a mentor to Martin Luther King Jr. during the civil rights leader’s student days. When Bullard was 6 or 7 years old, Mays told him, “You should get as much education and experience as you can, but you have to understand that the education and experience is not for you.

It’s so you can give back to others.”

With that advice in mind, Bullard has spent his life giving back.

Bullard was hired by Chick-fil-A in 2011 to serve as the vice president of community affairs and to help create the Chick-fil-A Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the company. Under Bullard’s leadership, the foundation has grown to provide innovative programming, camps, scholarships, and educational opportunities for thousands of kids across the country.

“I had every hope and aspiration when starting the foundation but no idea it would be this big,” Bullard says.

Foundation programs serve youth of all ages, starting early with literacy programs and continuing through middle and high school, with focuses like leadership development. There are also opportunities for college students with the foundation’s new fellows program.

“We hope to be a thought leader, a

catalyst as it is related to economic empowerment,” he says. “Economic empowerment is an underlying problem in many of the social issues we have.”

To continue the theme of helping others, Bullard decided to put pen to paper with his first book, Heroes Wanted: Why the World Needs You to Live Your Heart Out, published earlier this year.

“I wanted to write a book to encourage each of us to become each other’s heroes,” he says. “I’ve seen what it looks like when communities don’t have heroes, when children don’t have someone invested in them and when they do.”

An avid Bulldog fan, Bullard comes from a long line of UGA graduates, including his father, who earned a degree from the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication, and his mother, who graduated from the College of Education. His dedication to leadership started at home.

“My parents really instilled in me that leadership is about giving back and helping others,” Bullard says. “This idea that service is at the core of leadership and that leadership is my responsibility and my role really has been, I think, the thread throughout my career.”

CLASS NOTES and surviving a head-on collision with a drunk driver on the day she finished her undergraduate degree at UGA. Mark Elam BFA ’88 is director of development at Piedmont College in Demorest and Athens.

1990-1994 Maurice Anderson BBA ’90, MBA ’91 is chief business strategist and managing partner at Lead:ME Global Consulting in Atlanta.

Lee Langub BSEd ’91 was elected as international president for the Gamma Alpha chapter of the Foundation and Fraternity Housing Corporation for the 2018-2020 biennium.

Charles Walden Jr. AB ’91 is the pastor at Jackson Woods Presbyterian Church in Corpus Christi, Texas.

Anna Jones AB ’92 is a clinical counselor with the United States Marine Corps in Bridgeport, California.

Scott Howard BBA ’93 was named a 2018 Forbes Best in State for the state of Georgia.

Howard is a wealth management advisor at Merrill Lynch with offices on Skidaway Island, Georgia, and in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina.

Shaun Pittman BBA ’93 was named vice president of sales and business development for Ozobot, which develops coding robots.

Donna Smith ABJ ’93 was selected as one of Library Journal’s 2017 Reviewers of the Year.

Sean Taylor BBA ’93 will assume the role of managing partner at Smith & Howard CPA firm in Atlanta.

Holly Gardner BBA ’94 is owner and esthetician at Glow Well-

ness Studio, a skincare spa in Mobile, Alabama.

Rob Hays BBA ’94 is a controller for Hennessy Automobile Company.

Stephanie Powell BSEd ’94, MEd ’97, EdS ’99 received Zeta Tau Alpha’s Vivian Ulmer Smith Award, which honors a member who had the most impact on increasing membership in the fraternity during the biennium.

1995-1999 Amanda Gilchrist ABJ ’95 was promoted to director of public affairs at CoreCivic in Nashville, Tennessee.

Paul Smith BSEd ’95 is a PE/ health teacher in the Forsyth County School System, where he has worked for 19 years.

Jason Gillespie BSAE ’98 is senior vice president, food and agribusiness relationship manager at SunTrust Banks.

Sean Kirk BA ’99 was nominated

for Best of the Bar, Litigation, and Dispute Resolution through the Nashville Business Journal.

Wes Rogers BBA ’99, MBA ’04 is president and CEO of Landmark Properties, which was recently named one of the fastest growing 5,000 companies in the United States by Inc. Magazine.

2000-2004 Erica Gwyn BSEd ’00 was named to the 34th Class of Leadership Gwinett, a community leadership

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CLASS NOTES APPLAUSE FOR ALUMNI

Words of Wisdom

D

special

avid rosenthal, vice president, controller, and principal accounting officer at ExxonMobil, knows a thing or two about success. So when he speaks to recent graduates, they tend to listen.

His advice is simple.

David Rosenthal BBA ’78, MBA ’79

“Find something you enjoy, work hard at it, be yourself, but maintain that work-life balance,” says Rosenthal BBA ’78, MBA ’79.

In that sense, Rosenthal considers himself lucky. He found something he enjoyed early in his career. After earning two degrees from the Terry College of Business, he got a job in Houston, Texas, as a financial analyst at Exxon.

He thrived in the environment and enjoyed the advantages of working for a multinational corporation, like traveling the world. He even lived in Santiago, Chile, for a few years. He also found kindred spirits in his coworkers.

“The people here are just the best in the world,” he says. “The company works quite hard to get just the right people.”

To work his way up the ladder, he followed his own advice: committing his best to the job but keeping a sense of himself and finding other passions.

He made it a priority to spend time away from the office, relaxing outdoors—on the lake or a ski slope—and with his wife Debbie BSEd ’78, MEd ’79 and two children, Joseph and Sarah (now adults).

Nearly 40 years after he started, he enjoys the success of being a top executive at one of the world’s most successful

businesses. ExxonMobil is No. 13 on Forbes Global 2000. And he can look back at his time at UGA, and see how his work philosophy came together in Athens.

Rosenthal met his future wife at Valdosta State College (now Valdosta State University) before they transferred to UGA. David came to Terry; Debbie studied in the College of Education.

“The two things I remember most were the quality of the Terry College professors that I had in both my undergraduate and graduate programs,” he says, which is why he’s a generous supporter of the business college, “and then just that friendliness and camaraderie of all the students, regardless of what school people went to and where they were from.”

He recalls hanging out after class with the other married couples who lived in family housing.

At UGA, he found a place he loved. He worked hard on his coursework, and was able to enjoy the pleasures of college with his wife.

“Even though we had no money,” he says, “it was probably the best three years of our lives.”

written by aaron hale MA ’16

program for business, civic, and community leaders.

Ryan Sarks BBA ’00 is human resources/risk management/fleet & safety manager at Cherokee County Water and Sewerage Authority.

Sarah Miller BFA ’01 is senior director of material design for performance footwear at Nike

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in Beaverton, Oregon.

Jon Ostenson BBA ’02, MBA ’06 is co-founder and CEO of 10Xfive, which promotes accelerated growth for clients through teams in areas such as digital marketing, media buying, and others.

Jonathan Harwell-Dye BFA ’03 is program manager of the Arts & Business Council of Greater

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Nashville.

Jonathan Tonge AB ’03, JD ’16 is an associate at Butler Wooten & Peak in Atlanta.

2005-2009 Richard Donofrio BLA ’05 is manager of planning and area development design for Universal Parks & Resorts and is working

on the Universal Beijing Resort theme park project.

William Liles BBA ’05 was recognized as a Power Leader in Finance by The Nashville Business Journal and as one of America’s Top Next-Gen Advisors by Forbes. Liles is a financial advisor with The Liles Group at Baird Private Wealth

CLASS NOTES Management. He and his wife, Bethany, welcomed their second daughter, Elizabeth “Townsend” Liles, in July.

Alison Thigpen BMus ’05 was named director of game day operations at the University of Notre Dame.

Augusto Trujillo AB ’05, ABJ ’05 received his MBA from the Goizueta Business School at Emory University.

Brinkley Warren ABJ ’05, MA ’12 is the host and co-founder of Token Fest, one of the largest blockchain and cryptocurrency events in the U.S. Carlos Young BSEd ’05, BBA ’07 is a telesales representative for Comcast.

Melanie Carlson AB ’06, MSW ’12 is pursuing a doctoral degree in the School of Social Work at Michigan State University.

Donta’ Carter BSFCS ’06 is an NCAA men’s basketball official and owns a Subway franchise in Sandy Springs.

Charlie Darragh BS ’07 practices dermatology at Colina Dermatology of Greenville in South Carolina.

Morgan Glenn AB ’07, MBA ’11 was named to Boating Industry Magazine’s 40 under 40.

Bert Hummel IV AB ’07 was installed as treasurer of the State Bar of Georgia Young Lawyers Division.

Hoss Sooudi AB ’07 is general manager of EngagedMedia in Atlanta.

Elissa Haynes AB ’08 was elected as the secretary of the State Bar of Georgia Young Lawyers Division.

Corey Moll BBA ’08 is an associate with Porteous, Hainkel & Johnson law firm in New Orleans, Louisiana, specializing in insurance defense litigation.

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CLASS NOTES APPLAUSE FOR ALUMNI

Past Meets Present

W

trevor tondro photography

hen cameron schwabenton walked into the centuries-old former kitchen house in Charleston, the first thing she saw was how much work was needed. But beneath all the plaster and paint—she was certain—was something beautiful.

Schwabenton BSFCS ’03 was recruited to lead the renovation project because of her expertise in interior design and historic preservation. The task at hand: Bring this former kitchen house to life as a luxurious guest house for one of Charleston’s top real estate moguls.

“The structure had a story to tell and was deserving of a conservative approach,” says Schwabenton, principal designer at Cameron Stewart design firm. “The goal was to written by leigh beeson MA '17

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Cameron Schwabenton BSFCS ’03

mike ledford photography

expose the historic fabric, preserve it, and design a space both beautiful and comfortable while highlighting the building’s unique character.”

Named a 2017 New Trad, Rising Star of Design by Traditional Home Magazine, Schwabenton’s work has been published in leading interior design magazines, including House Beautiful, Interior Design, and Traditional Home. With expertise in 1700s building materials, she understood how to design a historically respectful but thoroughly modern and comfortable space.

“During the renovation, layer upon layer of various 20th century wall materials were removed to expose the original 18th century brick and plaster walls beyond,” she says.

“All of the brick walls were repointed using

a historically appropriate mix of sand, lime, and cement. Where new materials were required, they were kept modest rather than assuming historically specific details.”

Schwabenton, who also studied at Parsons School of Design in Paris and earned a master’s in historic preservation at Clemson University, credits her time at UGA for helping her build confidence in her abilities and discovering her aesthetic.

“My time at UGA has a special place in my heart. With equal parts support and freedom, Georgia was an incredible environment to learn and grow.” she says.

As for that old kitchen house, the results, like all Schwabenton designs, are a beautiful marriage of old meets new, past meets present.

CLASS NOTES

special

NEW INDUCTEE

Hall of Fame Career Former All-American offensive lineman Matt Stinchcomb BBA ’98 is no stranger to the spotlight, earning multiple honors and awards during his time at UGA, and being chosen in the first round of the 1999 NFL Draft.

To top it all off, Stinchomb was recently named to the 2018 College Football Hall of Fame Class by the National Football Foundation.

Stinchcomb will be the 14th former Bulldog player to be inducted into the Hall of Fame and the 18th selection overall, including former coaches.

The official induction ceremony wil take place on Dec. 4, at the annual NFF awards dinner at the Hilton Midtown Hotel in New York City.

“Any time one player is singled out, it’s a de facto team recognition,” Stinchcomb said following the announcement of his induction this past January. “I view that as the most-important element, because it’s representative of the teams I got to play on.

After spending four seasons at UGA from 1995-1998, Stinchomb played five seasons with the Oakland Raiders and two with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He began his broadcasting career in 2007 with Comcast Sports Southeast as a pregame analyst and commentator for Fox Sports South and CBS, in addition to being a co-host for Georgia Bulldog Radio Network AM 750’s postgame show Dawg Talk in Athens.

Stinchomb is now working with ESPN as a college football analyst, a play-by-play commentator for afternoon games on SEC Network, and is also the host of SEC Film Room.

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CLASS NOTES 2010-2014 Jennifer Peterson ABJ ’10, BS ’10 is continuing her career in advertising at 22squared agency in Atlanta.

Katie Barlow AB ’11, ABJ ’11 developed a news site called Circuit Breaker, which covers the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

Laci Fortenberry BSFCS ’11 is an account executive at Tuxedo Central in Atlanta.

Phillip Mote AB ’11, BS ’11 is a pediatrician at Family Health Centers of Southwest Florida in Fort Myers.

Phong Nguyen BSFR ’11, MS ’13 is a research scientist at Smith-Root in Vancouver, Washington. Nguyen works with other researchers and engineers to develop technologies for aquatic resources conservation.

Amy Mitchell AB ’12 joined HunterMaclean as an associate in the firm’s employment and business litigation groups.

Caitlin Saltonstall BBA ’12 graduated from the Johnson Graduate School of Management at Cornell with a master’s in business administration. Saltonstall is a corporate development associate for IBM in the New York City area.

Michelle Hutchings BFA ’14 is a realtor for Berkshire Hathaway HomeService, Parks & Weisberg in Louisville, Kentucky.

Devin Pritchett BSFCS ’14 is assistant to the dean of the School of Counseling and the dean of students at Richmont Graduate University in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

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my georgia commitment

CLASS NOTES

providing scholarship support for involved students on campus Andre Mackey balanced classwork, jobs, and campus activities while attending UGA. He wants to ensure future students are able to do the same.

edwin hammond

A

ndre mackey only had eyes for UGA when applying to college. Once he received his early acceptance letter, he didn’t apply anywhere else. When he arrived in Athens, the university surpassed his already high expectations.

“Everyone was welcoming and accepting,” he says. He joined two fraternities, one in undergrad and another while in pharmacy school. He made lifelong

GIVE.UGA.EDU

friends through his activities on and off campus.

“I love Athens. It’s a great college town, even outside of the school,” says Mackey BSPH ’88. “Athens just started to feel like home.” He enjoyed life in the Classic City so much that, after his freshman year, Mackey stayed in Athens year-round to take classes and work.

He worked in Bolton and Snelling dining halls and in an off-campus depart-

ment store. He worked to pay for school but also to afford to participate in extracurricular activities.

“Looking back, I would not have done it any other way,” Mackey says. “It helped shape who I am.” Now, when the CVS pharmacist meets alumni who did more than just study while in school, he finds them to be well-rounded individuals. He sees great value in college students participating in opportunities outside of the classroom.

Mackey’s experience on the UGA Pharmacy Alumni Council introduced him to the financial burdens that face some students on campus. “It gave me a whole new outlook on giving back,” Mackey says.

“UGA is a great school and the pharmacy program in particular is strong; I wanted to do my part to help.”

Mackey elected to help by establishing the Andre Mackey Scholarship Fund, which provides financial assistance to a pharmacy student who is also involved in extracurricular activities. Learning to balance work and school was a defining experience for Mackey, making it an important qualification for his scholarship.

“Every time I received even a little help through a scholarship, I appreciated it.

Every little penny helped,” he explains.

Mackey not only endowed a scholarship to help current students, he’s committed to helping future Bulldogs. By making a bequest in his will through UGA’s Office of Gift & Estate Planning, Mackey will leave a legacy at UGA that will further enable students to pursue their career dreams.

During a campus event in the past year, Mackey ran into the brother of the recipient of his scholarship.

“It really hit home when their brother recognized me,” Mackey recalls. “You anticipate the beneficiary of the scholarship will be impacted, but you don’t always consider the effect it could have on the family as well. It was encouraging to get to see that firsthand. It’s truly an honor to be able to give.”

You can join Andre in funding student scholarships by making an annual gift of any size to the Georgia Fund. GIVE.UGA.EDU/COMMIT

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CLASS NOTES 2015-2018 Emily Beckham BBA ’15 is a risk manager for PURE Insurance, a personal insurance company.

Abbey Golden ABJ ’15 is the Dominican Republic co-director with One Vision International, which works in four impoverished areas of the world to meet immediate physical needs and provides a resource to local residents looking to serve other people.

Arthur Machado BS ’15 is a geologist for Langan Engineering in Oakland, California.

Chandler Sharp BSFR ’15 studied coral reef ecology and the conservation of marine systems along the Great Barrier Reef in Australia as part of Miami University’s Earth Expeditions global field course.

Sharp is also a conservation corps crew member at American Conservation Experience.

Byron Stufken BBA ’15 is a risk manager at Fox Entertainment Group.

Troupe Tabb BSAE ’16 is pursuing a master of science in mechanical engineering at Auburn University.

Savannah Wilson ABJ ’16 is lead production assistant at the NFL Network in Los Angeles, California.

Ethan Wright BS ’16 is pursuing an advanced degree in genetics at the University of Colorado Colorado Springs.

Brinkley Bray AB ’17, BS ’17 is a medical student at Mercer University School of Medicine in Savannah.

Danielle Profita AB ’17, ABJ ’17 is engaged to Alexander Briner and will be married at the Chapel on North Campus at UGA in the fall of 2019.

Maureen Sheeran AB ’17 is an

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APPLAUSE FOR ALUMNI

Got Your Back

special

T

im marlow knew what career he wanted to pursue from an early age.

While growing up, he helped care for his grandmother, who suffered from severe arthritis.

“I looked at medicine and nursing and everything else, but at the time my older sister was a school teacher teaching multiple special needs children,” Marlow says. “I went

Tim Marlow BSEd ’85

to her classroom and observed the physical therapist, and in my junior year of high school I said, This is my calling.”

Marlow BSEd ’85 earned his bachelor’s degree in exercise science from UGA and went on to graduate from the physical therapy program at the Medical College of Georgia. Years after starting as a physical therapist at the Northeast Georgia Medical Center, Marlow opened a medical staffing firm. It led him to SpineCenterAtlanta, where he was named CEO in 2017.

Marlow originally arrived at the center to temporarily fill a vacant physical therapist position. “I came to SpineCenterAtlanta to stay a week, and, 13 years later, I’m still here.”

Since 2005, SpineCenterAtlanta has grown from one location to seven throughout the state, and the company has a goal to be within a one and a half to two-hour drive of every citizen in Georgia who may need to seek care for spine conditions, which affect more people than you might think.

“Eighty percent of the population will experience a significant episode of back pain at some point in their life,” Marlow says.

Marlow says his job at SpineCenterAtlanta is to keep the company growing and meeting the needs of the patient population. “At my age, I’m now at the pinnacle of my career, which is exactly where I’d hoped to be one day, leading a health care organization that is positively impacting patients’ lives on a daily basis.”

written by rachel floyd

assistant producer at KGTV Channel 10 News in San Diego, California.

Austin Stone BS ’17 is a senior communications fellow with the NASA DEVELOP National Program.

Tanner Davis BSEd ’18 is a health and physical education

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teacher in the Fannin County School District and is assistant coach for the varsity football and basketball teams at Fannin County High School.

Megan Fern BSA ’18 is an agriculture teacher at Burke County Middle School in Waynesboro.

Brittany Hayes BSEd ’18 is

an intern with the University of Minnesota Athletic Association on the event management team.

Annie Jorgensen AB ’18 was crowned Miss Georgia 2018 and competed in the Miss America pageant.

Joe Milley BBA ’18 is pursuing a

CLASS NOTES master’s degree at the University of Texas at Austin.

Anna Myers BBA ’18 is a generalist and administrative assistant at the Kraft Heinz Company.

gradnotes agricultural & environmental sciences Deanna Bullins MAL ’14 married Joshua Bullins in September 2017.

education Sonja Fields MEd ’67 retired from the Bartow County Board of Education.

Judy Lanfrey EdD ’75 received the Teaching Excellence award from Blinn College in Brenham, Texas.

Lanfrey is a part-time literacy professor.

Kim Osborne PhD ’06 was awarded a Fulbright grant to develop and deliver communication and leadership training for the Relief and Resettlement Department

of Myanmar’s Ministry of Social Welfare.

Jamie Atkinson MEd ’08, PhD ’18 is an assistant professor at Missouri State University in the College of Education Department of Reading, Foundations, and Technology.

Gloria Cole-Avent PhD ’08 is associate vice president of student life at California State University San Marcos.

Eliza Belle PhD ’09 is the director of psychology and behavioral

sciences for the Alabama Department of Mental Health. She is also a board member of the Alabama Board of Examiners in Psychology.

Cara Ray PhD ’09 was named assistant vice president for student affairs at Kennesaw State University.

Caleb Keith MEd ’10, PhD ’17 is assistant provost for institutional effectiveness and strategic priorities at the University of the Ozarks in Clarksville, Arkansas.

arts & sciences Dennis Pfennig PhD ’75 was elected to a two-year term as president of the Virginia Education Association.

Mark Bradbury MPA ’97, PhD ’04 was promoted to associate dean of the College of Arts & Sciences at Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina.

Daniel Guyton MFA ’04 penned Three Ladies of Orpington, which was nominated for 12 Metropolitan Atlanta Theater awards and won seven.

Rob Brice MA ’08 published The Wrenchtown Architects Vol. 1, an e-book set 100 years in the future that follows teenager Flynn, his mother, and the brilliant young girl they take in before Flynn goes off to war.

business Aditi Kardekar MBA ’18 is a tax management consultant with Deloitte Atlanta.

ecology William Yackinous PhD ’10 published Understanding Complex Ecosystem Dynamics: A Systems and Engineering Perspective.

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CLASS NOTES APPLAUSE FOR ALUMNI

Kick Start

J

ust after halftime at the major League Soccer All-Star Game on Aug. 1, Dan Courtemanche BBA ’90 stood on the third-deck walkway of Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta surveying the action below.

During a short break, the announced attendance boomed out over the PA and flashed on the circular scoreboard above: 72,317. It was a new MLS All-Star Game record and the second largest crowd to see any all-star game among the five major sports in North America. The roar of those 72,317 fans quickly drowned out whatever announcement followed.

“When I started at Major League Soccer in November 1995, not in my wildest dreams could I have envisioned this,” says Courtemanche, the league’s executive vice president for communications.

Hired as MLS’s vice president for communications, Courtemanche was the then-fledgling league’s 32nd employee.

One person worked for him. He now leads an office of 19. The league employs nearly written by eric rangus MA '94

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Dan Courtemanche BBA ’90

dorothy kozlowski

340 staff in full, and Courtemanche is one of three employees who were there at the beginning.

And that beginning was quite humble.

Back in 1995, only two MLS employees had email addresses. These days, Courtemanche’s staff includes social media professionals whose full-time job is monitoring the league’s presence and contributing to the conversation on more than a half-dozen interactive platforms.

In the early years, finding an MLS game on TV wasn’t always easy. In 2018, Courtemanche’s staff issued more than 600 media credentials for the MLS All-Star Game—Super Bowl-level numbers. The game was broadcast in more than 170 countries. These days, MLS isn’t just a continental success. The league is being lauded on an international stage. MLS is already the world’s most diverse (its players hail from some 72 countries), and its scope continues to broaden. In many ways, that growth is tied to the innovative work by Courtemanche and his team.

“In 2000, MLS Commissioner Don Garber and I sat down and came up with a vision for the league: Major League Soccer is the league for a new America, an America that is young, diverse, and digitally savvy.”

Courtemanche says. “We were maybe a little ahead of our time when we came up with that narrative, but fast forward 18 years later and it is 100 percent true.”

Courtemanche grew up playing soccer in the 1970s, years before the game became widely popular in the U.S. A lot of the sport’s current leaders came of age at the same time, he adds, and their passion is evident in the game’s current success. When he plays now, it’s usually with the group of 7-yearolds (including his son) he coaches.

Courtemanche’s dedication for growing the game is fueled, in part, by the skills he developed as a marketing major at UGA’s Terry College of Business. “In almost anything in life, you are using sales skills or the power of persuasion,” he says. “You’re also using insights about consumer behavior.

And I learned all of that at Terry.”

CLASS NOTES Brett Strahm MS ’10 is an assistant director of the UNC Charlotte Center for Academic Excellence.

David Squires MEd ’13, PhD ’17 is an assistant professor in the Instructional Design and Educational Technology program within the College of Education and Human Development at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi.

Chris Rodek MS ’15 is an account executive in the Texas Rangers’ special events department.

law Richard Greenberg JD ’83 was sworn in as president of the Florida Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. Greenberg is a partner with Rumberger, Kirk & Caldwell in Tallahassee.

pharmacy David Kirkus PHARMd ’02 is director of pharmacy administration at Publix Super Markets.

public health

environment and design Maomi Braff MEPd ’17 is a Planner I with Nassau County, Florida.

Fan Xiong MPH ’15 is an advanced epidemiologist for the Kansas Board of Pharmacy, working in its K-TRACS program, the state’s drug monitoring program.

journalism & mass communication

public & international affairs

Margaret Porter MA ’83 published Beautiful Invention: A Novel of Hedy Lamarr.

Catherine Strickland MPA ’09 is the applied research contracts coordinator for Virginia Tech’s Transportation institute.

want to reach the bulldog nation? advertise in Georgia Magazine Published quarterly and mailed to the household, your advertising message reaches your audience directly, giving you one of the strongest demographic buys in the region. For information on advertising in the award-winning Georgia Magazine, contact gmsales@uga.edu or 706-542-8124.

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.

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FACULTY FOCUS

William Kisaalita Distinguished Faculty Scholar and Professor of Engineering College of Engineering

“In my mind, the goal is to build devices that solve grand challenges.

They’re meant to help a developing world by contributing to labor reduction, raising income levels, and improving well-being among poor women and children. The struggle is building something people will use that will make their lives a little bit easier. Through the work conducted over the years with my students, we think we have a better understanding of how to do that.

William Kisaalita, a native of Uganda, uses his extensive engineering knowledge to improve global health. In addition to his work in pre-clinical drug discovery, Kisaalita and his team of researchers developed a milk cooler that can be used to refrigerate dairy products without electricity in rural sub-Saharan Africa. Using the Evakuula, dairy farmers can safely store milk collected in the evenings to sell the following morning, almost doubling their income and helping secure a brighter future for rural Africans.

GREAT COMMITMENTS

A DEPENDABLE FOOD SUPPLY

andrew davis tucker

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/gm.

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COMMITTED TO EXCELLENCE and affordability A University of Georgia investment has an outstanding return.

Experts agree: UGA is the No. 12 “best value” public university according to Kiplinger’s and No. 13 best public university according to U.S. News & World Report.

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