Scott Levy (2004 BACH MCOM and H&SS, 2010 JD), an attorney with Adams and Reese was named chair for the Baton Rouge Bar Association Young Lawyers Section Council (YLS), an organization for young and recently admitted lawyers. He served in a number of YLS roles, including chair-elect, secretary, and member-at-large. Levy was a law clerk for the Hon. Timothy E. Kelley in the Nineteenth Judicial District Court and in the Office of the Governor’s executive counsel’s office. He was an administrative aide with the Office of the Lieutenant Governor in Baton Rouge and has experience at the federal level with the U.S. Department of Education. Levy was named to Greater Baton Rouge Business Report’s Top 40 Under 40 list in 2014. He is an alumnus of Leadership LSU Class of 2004 and while in law school was the LSU Law Center Student representative on the 2009 “Belly Up With The Bar” Committee.
Yvette Cooper Morlier (2003 BACH HS&E, 2004 MAST HS&E), of Covington, La., served as Queen Tchefuncte, reigning over the Krewe of Tchefuncte’s 2015 festivities, the theme of which was “The Krewe of Tchefuncte Gets a Reality Check.” She was a former member of the Covington High School Lady Lions volleyball and softball teams, a member of Kappa Delta Epsilon education fraternity at LSU, and a community 4-H sponsor. She is a recipient of the Cains Fellowship Award and former Teacher of the Year and is employed by the St. Tammany Parish School Board. Morlier and her husband, Paul, have two daughters, Chloe and Bella.
Michael McCracken (2014 PHD SVM) received a research associateship award at the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command by the National Research Council (NRC) of the National Academies. His proposal was “Characterization of immune environment and viral kinetics in sites of dengue virus establishment as modulated by route of entry and vector exposure in a non-human primate model of dengue virus infection.” When McCracken first presented his work in 2011, there had been only three publications related to vertebrate responses to mosquito saliva and arboviruses. Since that time, the field has exploded, with McCracken at the forefront. He will continue to investigate the question of how immune responses relate to transmission with the Virology Division of the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research in collaboration with GlaxoSmithKline in work that is related to the development of a dengue vaccine.
Charles Willis (2004 BACH ENGR), Beth Willis, and Craig Ceccanti (2003 BACH BUS, 2003 BACH SCI), cofounders of Pinot’s Palette, recently announced that the paint-and-sip franchise awarded its hundredth franchise agreement. Pinot’s Palette currently has locations in thirty-one states and is expanding internationally with the signing of a master license agreement for as many as eight studios in Toronto and the Niagara Region over the next six years. The company’s honors include Franchise Business Review’s Top 50 Satisfaction Award (#1 in category), Entrepreneur’s 500 List Ranked, FastestGrowing Franchise List (#1 in Category), Top-New Franchise List, and Top Service Franchise List. (See the Spring 2013 issue of LSU Alumni Magazine at http:// lsualumni.org/alumni-magazine.)
Lacey Schexnayder Pyle (20025 BACH HS&S) writes: “Since graduating in 2005, I went on to earn another degree in graphic design. I live in north Atlanta with my husband and serve as “head cheerleader” (marketing director) of Jekyll Brewing, a craft brewery. Armed with the psychology degree I earned from LSU, I analyze consumer behavior, plan events that resonate with our market, and study patterns in our consumers’ spending habits. Since assuming this position in February, Jekyll’s tap room has seen record sales.” Nicholas J. Rauber (2003 BACH SCI), of Baton Rouge, received the 2015 New Dentist Award from the Louisiana Dental Association (LDA) in April. The award is presented annually to one LDA member who has practiced for less than ten years, and who has contributed to the betterment of mankind through civic involvement, public service, and unselfish devotion to the dental profession.
2010s
Marco Barker (2010 PHD HS&E), senior director for education, operations, and initiatives in Diversity and Multicultural Affairs and clinical assistant professor in the School of Education at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, was recently appointed to the National Advisory Council for the National Conference on Race and Ethnicity (NCORE) in Higher Education. NCORE constitutes the leading and most comprehensive national forum on issues of race and ethnicity in American higher education.
LSU Alumni Magazine | Summer 2015
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