class notes A lumni S potli g ht Mary-Jean O’Doherty ’05 won first prize in the Paris Opera Awards Competition in January, an honor that identifies her as one of the world’s best young coloratura sopranos. The American operatic baritone Sherrill Milnes chaired the jury. O’Doherty performed arias from Delibes’ Lakmé and Strauss’ Ariadne auf Naxos. Born in Houston, Texas, and reared in Greenville, O’Doherty, who is the daughter of ECU Associate Professor of Accounting Brian O’Doherty, holds U.S., Greek and Australian citizenship. She is now understudying the title role in Berg’s Lulu for the Welsh National Opera. She came to East Carolina after attending the N.C. School of the Arts. Her big break came in 2008 when she was the winner of the Australian International Opera Award, which provided a scholarship to study in Wales at Cardiff University’s International Academy of Voice. Soon after completing that program, in March 2011 she performed the title role in the Prague State Opera’s production of Lucia di Lammermoor. A relative newcomer to opera, O’Doherty is an accomplished ballet dancer and flutist who made her professional operatic debut in 2009 season while still studying in Wales. She is the recipient of the 2009 Robert and Betty Salzer Award and was a finalist in the 2007 Marianne Mathy Award, which included a finals concert performance in which she sang with the Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra. RSVP Events owner Sharon Heath-Riley ’80 of Chapel Hill is a pro at staging large events, but one recent job became a unique challenge. Her company was hired to stage a post-inaugural reception at the Raleigh Convention Center for North Carolina’s new first couple, Gov. Pat and Ann McCrory, and 1,500 of the state’s social and political elites. Just days before the Jan. 12 event, however, “we got a call that the guest list had grown some— to 2,800 people. So, that made things pretty interesting,” Heath-Riley said. But she wasn’t flustered because adjusting to a client’s changing needs is routine business to her. “No matter how many plans you put in place, there’s going to be one small something that’s going to throw it off just a little bit,” she said. For the big event her staff transformed the convention center into a mini-N.C. “We use elevation changes, scenery changes and large iconic images to create these different scenes and senses,” Heath-Riley explains. Guests could wander past the Blue Ridge Mountains while listening to bluegrass music, then descend to the Piedmont, where they sampled barbecue. In the distance, the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse guided guests to crab cakes and the sweet sounds of the Chairmen of the Board. Heath-Riley said it would take seven hours of furious activity to install the structures, props and scenery. After the event, her crews will work all night so that by 8 a.m., “you couldn’t tell we were there.”
Feather: A Marriage of Art, Myth and Ornithology.” She is an art instructor at Southeastern Community College, Whiteville, and a fi ber artist and printmaker. MEGAN LEE MCLAIN wed BENJAMIN KEITH CROKE on June 23 at Memorial United Methodist Church, Thomasville. Amy Millard ’09 was one of the bridesmaids. She teaches first grade at Thomasville Primary School, and he works with the Winston-Salem Police Department. EMILY ELIZABETH NASH ’10 ’12 wed Andrew Jordan Peele on June 23 at Sawyers Creek Baptist Church, Camden. The wedding party included Satori Gatling ’10 ’12, Brittany Owens ’11 and John Pridgen ’09. She is a speech therapist with Tri Therapy East, Greenville. MELISSA ANN REID wed Aaron Stephen Szabo on July 14 at Pullen Farm, Whitakers. The wedding party included Meghan Rhodes. BLAKE LANIER SMITH wed EMILY LAUREN HUGHES, a current ECU student, on Sept. 22 on the South Lawn of Tryon Palace, New Bern. He is the assistant director of informatics at ECU’s School of Dental Medicine, and she is pursuing a degree in early childhood intervention and is employed at ECU’s Child Development Lab. ASHLEY ELIZABETH WEAVER wed JORDAN THOMAS BASS ’08 on June 16 at Momeyer Baptist Church, Rocky Mount. The wedding party included Leigh Anna Tyson ’12 and Amanda Adams ’08. They both work in the Nash-Rocky Mount Schools. 2009 DONNA JANE AYERS wed Britt Michael Boyd on July 7 at Yankee Hall Plantation, Greenville. The wedding party included Amelia June Byrd ’11, Shannon Marylee Houston ’10, William Midyette Tankard ’96, Laura Kristina Whitfield ’10 and Joanne Krystina Wroblewski ’10. She is obtaining her B.S. in nursing at ECU. VIVIAN BRAKE is superintendent at Fountain Correctional Center for Women, Rocky Mount. She was assistant superintendent for programs. LANNY S. INABNIT is director of operations for ValleySim Hospital, Hickory. 2008 ERIN ACREE is development director of the Ronald McDonald House of Eastern North Carolina, Greenville. She was marketing director for the house. BRETT HARTIS is the N.C. Extension agent for Lake Gaston. He is in the final year of the doctoral program in fisheries, wildlife and conservation biology at N.C. State. MELONIE HUNTER was named the Nash-Rocky Mount Schools Middle School Teacher of the Year. She was nominated while at Parker Middle School and is now teaching at Southern Nash Middle School. She is pursuing a doctorate in higher education and adult learning at Walden University. JESSICA LANE KLENKE ’08 ’09 wed JESSE DAVID DORADUS PACCHIONE ’05 on July 21 at Rock Springs Center, Greenville. The wedding party included Tim Cunningham ’06, Katie Geohagan, Meredith McHattie and Kendrick Hopkins ’05. She is a member of Alpha Phi Sorority and teaches third