Taking surgical sales directly into the operating suite Surgical device sales representatives are often a part of the operating team and are in the operating room during the procedures. “It was an odd concept for people to grasp that I would be there telling the surgeon, ‘That’s this and you need to put the instrument here and fire it there’ and that sort of stuff,” he said. “That’s how I started out in the industry. People would ask, ‘Are you a doctor?’ Then I’d say, ‘No, I have a degree in industrial management.’” Ethicon’s sales representatives must undergo an extensive 10week training by surgeons and an anatomist before they reach the operating room.
Fred Blatchford consults in surgery—even though he’s not a doctor
“When you’re standing in an OR and the surgeon asks, ‘what do I do next?’ . . . ‘I don’t know’ is not the answer they are looking for,” Blatchford says. “
FRED BLATCHFORD (’85) is director of sales for Ethicon—the $3 billion subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson responsible for the sales and marketing of minimally-invasive laparoscopic surgical devices and sutures. He leads the sales organization that provides clinical professional education and economic solutions to hospitals and clinicians.
Blatchford believes that successful business professionals must be willing to take on new challenges, regardless of vocation.
Blatchford started his career at Johnson & Johnson 21 years ago as an operating room sales representative. He’s overseen plenty of hemicolectomies, gall bladder removals and other laparoscopic procedures.
“The ability to flex your style and take some risks are major components of being successful in the sales world. You clearly have to be able to deal with ambiguity because there is never solid ground beneath you for very long.”
birth of his first grandchild, Russell Dennis Warren III, in 2013.
Patti Palmer Zedrow (’74, accounting) “`retired’ to a self-employed, flexible position (and a full-time mom)” in Atlanta after 22 years in public and private practice. She enjoys scuba diving and spending time at the beach or the lake. Her daughter is a senior at Auburn.
1980s Bill Allen (’80, business) serves as chief
“A year before [Ethicon] if someone had told me ‘you’re going to be standing in an OR as a medical device sales person,’ I would have said ‘There’s no way.”’
York City. He leads the company’s human resources, corporate communications, external affairs and diversity strategies and reports directly to the CEO.
Sharon Bragg Beiswenger (’80, accounting) serves as director of internal audit for Sterne Agee Group, Inc. in Birmingham. Last August, she enjoyed a “wonderful trip through England with a quick stop in Paris” with her oldest son, Erik, a student at UAB.
as CFO and general counsel for Taggart International, Ltd. in Liberty, Missouri. His daughter earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting from the Harbert College of Business in August 2014.
Kelly Banda (’85, international business)
Hartselle. Their youngest daughter, Emily, enrolled as a freshman at Auburn in August, while their oldest daughter, Anna, plans to begin working on a master’s degree at Auburn in 2015.
Cathy Browne (’83, business management)
Larry Davis (’80, business administration),
is a multi-million dollar-producing agent with Ebby Halliday Realtors in Dallas, which produced $6.4 billion in sales volume last year. “I remember taking real estate courses under Dr. Charles Edmonds, and never dreamed that I would turn out to have such a fabulous career in real estate.” Her father, Dr. Charles Snow, was a professor in the Harbert College of Business for a number of years. “He always stressed to us the importance of having a business degree, and the power of a good education in this world.”
Steven Byrd (’86, business management)
serves as human resources manager for Daehan Solution Georgia in West Point, Georgia. He and his wife adopted a sevenyear-old girl from Ecuador in April 2014. He enjoys going to the beach, playing with his children, and visiting Auburn.
Joel Chyke (’86, accounting) serves as business director for Safeguard by FISI in Nashville. He recently sold his company, FISI, to Deluxe Corporation. His son, Joel Michael Chyke Jr., recently graduated from the Harbert College of Business with an accounting degree. His daughter, Elizabeth, is a student in the College of Education. Joel’s activities include saltwater fishing and working out. Sherrill Sisler Clontz (’82, industrial manage-
ment) serves as district superintendent for the Cheaha District of the United Methodist Church.
Linda Hogue Cook (’81, business adminis-
tration) recently celebrated her 10-year anniversary with Sonic Drive-Ins in New Orleans, where she works as the company’s market leader. Her interests include gardening and cooking.
Patrick Baggette II (’80, accounting) serves
serves as international benefits manager human resources officer for Macy’s in New for American Airlines Group in Dallas.
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Kelly’s hobbies include baking, travel and volunteer work at an animal rescue shelter.
a group of salons in the Austin, Texas, area. Steve recently made his fifth trip to Tanzania for volunteer work and has also taken trips to South Africa, Malawi and Swaziland.
Steve Bixler (’89, marketing) serves as director of global strategic alliances for Dell in Round Rock, Texas. He and his wife, Peggy [’89, accounting] also own and operate
Brent Craig (’85, business economics) completed his first six-year term as Morgan County (Alabama) district judge. He ran unopposed in his bid for re-election in 2014. He and his wife, Angela, live in
director of supply chain for Cobalt Boats, LLC became a grandfather in March 2014. Larry’s hobbies include fishing and following Auburn University athletics.
Andy Eden (’88, finance) coaches varsity
boys’ basketball and serves as an assistant football coach at Ragland High School in Ragland, Alabama. He has guided the basketball team to the state’s Elite Eight in each of the last three seasons, including a Final Four berth in 2013. When he’s not coaching, he enjoys watching his daughters, Cate and Laney, play soccer. Cate plays for Faulkner University, while Laney is a senior in high school.
Jonathan Andrew Gannon (’82, finance) recently celebrated his 27th wedding anniversary with his wife, Kayla. Their son, Jake, graduated from the Harbert College of Business in 2012, while their daughter, Cameron, is a junior at Auburn studying apparel merchandising.
Joe Hart (’83, finance) is president of J. Hart Enterprises, Inc. in Waycross, Georgia. He and his wife, Pam, have two sons.
gan, Thomas and Rusk. His various hobbies include outdoor sports, golf, fishing and travel.
Stephen P. Jones (’86, industrial operations)
recently earned a promotion to director of human resources for the Jack Daniel Distillery in Lynchburg, Tennessee. He is also pursuing his juris doctorate.
Lisa Boggs Justus (’81, accounting) is presi-
dent of Benchmark Homes and Vinings Designers in Atlanta. Her daughter, Lauren, recently graduated from Auburn, while her son, Charles, will soon graduate from the Harbert College of Business with a degree in supply chain management. Lisa’s hobbies include tennis, water skiing, reading, and travel.
Angie Johnson Keller (’88, human resources management) launched Sophic Partners, LLC, a human capital advisory services firm based in Atlanta, and serves as its CEO and managing partner. She was featured in Workspan Journal in a June 2013 article, “A Look Beyond the Numbers.” She and her husband, John, have a seven-year-old daughter, Meghan. Michael Kirkpatrick (’81, industrial management) is president of DESE Research in Huntsville, Alabama, and was selected as a member of the 2014 class of Leadership Alabama, a statewide invitational program developed to “create a network of relationships and provide a structure to seek understanding of problems and priorities for Alabama’s future.”
Sidney Mays (’82, marketing) serves as vice president of ment) is the summer school coordinator at marketing support services the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. for Vulcan Materials ComHe previously worked for SACS Commispany. He enjoys running sion on Colleges before moving to Tennesmarathons, fishing, boating, see in January 2014. He stays busy away and spending time with his two grandchilfrom the office following his son’s youth dren, ages two and four. baseball team, serving as president of the Jefferson Middle School PTO, and riding Charlotte Miller (’81, accounting) is a CPA his BMW dual sport motorcycle. with Bartlett, Gunter & Yeager, CPAs, P.C. in Opelika. She is also a writer and Patrick Henry (’85, economics) serves as novelist who has three books in print—Bepresident of Daniel Corporation. He and hold, This Dreamer, There is a River, and his wife, Patti, have three children—MeaThrough a Glass, Darkly. Heather (Snow) Gibbons Hartman (’89, manage-
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