professionally speaking Ellen Gannaway Lail ’84 is currently serving Cisco Systems, Inc. as Director of the Office of Strategy and Operations for the U.S. Public Sector in Atlanta.
Ashley Moore McWaters ’89
Caroline Coolidge Brown ’86 had an art showing last year at Theatre Memphis featuring works from her “Birdwatching” series and her new series entitled “Modern Beauty.” You can take a look at all of Caroline’s fabulous works on her website: www.CarolineCBrown.com.
Madeleine Latham Elmer ’74 launched Fleur de Vie, a floral design for special events business, with her sister, Anne Latham Martin ’83, in February. This is a virtual partnership since they are in two different time zones, but the internet keeps them connected.
Kim Little ’86 is an assistant professor in the Women’s and Gender Studies program at Ohio University. Her first book, You Must Be From the North: Southern White Women in the Memphis Civil Rights Movement, was published in March of 2009.
Crisler Buchignani Quick ’74 was honored with the Top Business Woman Award last year from the National Association of Women Business Owners, Long Island. Since 1975, this national organization has helped women grow their businesses by sharing resources and helping shape economic and public policy. Crisler, a CPA, saw the need for outsourced bookkeeping and accounting services and founded The Finance Department in 1993. Her business provides small businesses access to their own finance department complete with staff to process transactions, and accountants to provide guidance and advice. Crisler serves on numerous committees and boards, including the Hutchison National Alumnae Board.
Joan Rim Romph ’86 is director of marketing services for Paragon Press in Shreveport, La.
Sidney Springfield Evans ’76 serves as the Associate Dean for Student Services at the Washington and Lee University School of Law in Lexington, Va.
Ashley Moore McWaters ’89 (pictured above) has published her debut poetry collection titled Whitework. Ashley’s poems explore the concept of women’s work, particularly the creative work and the desire for freedom and artistic recognition, using the metaphor of sewing.
Laurie Murphey Thornton ’78, an attorney with Glankler Brown PLLC, received the Frank J. Glankler Jr. Pro Bono Award for the second year in a row. This annual award is presented to the recipient who best demonstrates the firm’s belief that quality legal services should be available to those who cannot afford it. During 2009, Laurie provided more that 40 hours of free legal services. Laurie is also the mother of two Hutchison alumnae—Adelaide ’08 and Taylor ’07. Ann Camp Lee ’79 works at FedEx as a senior marketing specialist in the Alliance Marketing department. She manages numerous projects, including the development of a new online tool with imagery and written content that will enable marketing professionals to create their own ads and other communications materials for little to no cost. Susan Springfield ’82 returned to Memphis last October to serve as Executive Vice President, Commercial Credit Risk Executive, for First Tennessee Bank.
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Dr. Karen Ho ’89 is the author of Liquidated: An Ethnography of Wall Street (Duke University Press), which is based on her Princeton dissertation; she is a 2003 Princeton alumna. Because Karen is an anthropologist, her book is a study of the culture of Wall Street, exploring the connection between rising share prices and increasing worker insecurity and the way in which Wall Street shaped not just the stock market, but the nature of employment and job security. Karen is currently a professor at the University of Minnesota, and she has recently been on the lecture circuit promoting her book.
Aja Evans ’96 won an Academy Award for her voice over in the short film category. Rebecca Thomason ‘00 is the Planned Events Coordinator at New Orleans Museum of Art. Annie Gerber Griffin ’02 is a fashion designer and started the Annie Griffin Collection in August 2009. After leaving Hutchison, Annie studied studio art at SMU in Dallas. She then moved to Atlanta where she worked at a highend boutique, followed by working with a well-renowned interior designer. Annie began to realize her true passion for fashion design and enrolled in the Savannah College of Art and Design in Atlanta where she was inspired and encouraged to start her own company. Her line of clothing will be carried by specialty stores and retailers throughout the southeast (Ga., Fla., Miss., Ala., Tenn.). In Memphis, you can find her clothing line at Oak Hall and Isabella, or you can check out her website: www.anniegriffincollection.com. Lindsay Caldwell ’03 works at CBS in Los Angeles in television production and is also a red-carpet correspondent for a local entertainment news show on the CW. Mary Kyle ’03 was promoted to Coordinator of Publications and Recruitment at the University of Memphis Graduate School.
Lisa Post Lawhead ‘92 recently joined the Board of Directors for the Wolf River Conservancy. She will also be president of Pegasus of Germantown in August, 2010. Pegasus is a group of women who have an annual fundraiser to raise money for charities in Shelby County.
Meredith Alston Lucas ’03 is a third-year student at the University of Memphis’ Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law, and has been named to the National Symposium Editorial Board of the Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy. This summer, Meredith is working with the staff, editing debates, panels, and speeches from the Federalist Society National Student Symposium, for publication in the winter issue of the Journal.
Katherine Wilson Blackney ’95 received her Ph.D. in counseling psychology from the University of Memphis in August 2009. She is a psychologist working at a group practice in Germantown as the clinical director.
Jennings Pitts ’05 is working in commercial and private banking as a management trainee at I-Bank. She interned with the bank last summer, and after graduation was invited back to work full-time.
Marti McFarland Mashburn ’96 has opened a new business called Bella Bridesmaid located in Sanderlin Centre in Memphis. Brides and bridesmaids can make an appointment to come in, look at samples, and pick out their dresses. She also sells informal bridal gowns. It’s also a great place to find dresses for Junior Cotillion, Cotton Carnival, or the Germantown Charity Horse Show. Check out her website: www.bellabridesmaid.com.
To be included in this section of the magazine, send your business promotions, awards, professional accomplishments, and new ventures to jcentko@hutchisonschool.org or mail to Judi Centko, Alumnae Director, Hutchison School, 1740 Ridgeway Road, Memphis, TN 38119. We reserve the right to edit submissions for length, clarity, and style. Submissions for this issue were received between June 1, 2009, and May 31, 2010.