CLASS NOTES
1960s John K. Haynes ’64, the David Packard Professor of Science at Morehouse, has been elected to the executive council of the American Society of Cell Biology, where he will represent faculty of small teaching colleges. Haynes has served as a research scientist, professor and administrator at Morehouse for more than 36 year. He has led numerous efforts to enrich the curriculum and to provide engaging extracurricular experiences for STEM students, as well as increase the number of STEM graduates of the College. Haynes will begin his term on Jan. 1, 2016, and serve for three years.
1970s Ronald L. Carter ’71, president of Johnson C. Smith University, was presented the 2014 Luminary Award by the Charlotte Post Foundation. Judge Alford Dempsey Jr. ’72 has recently been inducted into the 2015 Hall of Fame of the Gate City Bar Association. Gate City, established in 1948, is the oldest African American bar association in Georgia and is an affiliate of the National MOREHOUSE MAGAZINE
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Bar Association. The Hall of Fame is the group’s highest honor for lawyers who have made significant contributions to the African American community. C. David Moody Jr. ’78, a member of the College’s Board of Trustees, will be among those featured in “Breaking the Silence,” a one-hour documentary chronicling the stories of survivors of childhood sexual abuse. Moody, founder of the C.D. Moody Construction Company, harbored his painful secret for 45 years. Now he counsels at-risk youth. The documentary, which aired Aug. 30, 2015, on TLC, highlights the difficult journey faced by those affected by childhood sexual abuse. John Silvanus Wilson Jr. ’79, Morehouse College’s 11th president, has been named to the Board of Overseers for Harvard University. Wilson, a graduate of both Harvard Graduate School of Education and Harvard Divinity School, is one of five members of the Board chosen to help direct the governance of Harvard University over a six-year term.
1980s James H. Sills III ’80 has been named president and CEO of Mechanics and Farmers Bank. Sills, a veteran banker and technology expert, most recently was the state of Delaware’s chief information officer and secretary of the Department of Technology. Emmett D. Carson ’81, CEO and president of Silicon Valley Community Foundation (SVCF) and nationally recognized philanthropy leader, has been selected the first person to serve in the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation Chair on Community Foundations at the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy. He will be appointed visiting holder for the new chair, which is dedicated to understanding and strengthening community foundations. Carson will continue to serve as CEO and president of SVCF during his appointment. James Abbington ’83 was named a Fellow of The Hymn Society in the United States and Canada (The HSUSC) at its annual conference in New Orleans, La., in July 2015. This
award, the highest honor given by the organization, was conferred because of Abbington’s work as a scholar, editor and practitioner of church music with a particular emphasis on African American congregational songs. He is currently associate professor of church music and worship at Candler School of Theology, Emory University in Atlanta. He is also the executive editor of the African American Church Music Series published by GIA Publications (Chicago) and served as co-director of the annual Hampton University Ministers’ and Musicians’ Conference from 2000 to 2010. Dr. George O’Neal “Neal” Hickson ’83 was recently inducted into the Walden University National Honor Society for Public Policy and Administration. He is currently employed as a policy analyst with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid in Baltimore. Quince T. Brinkley ’85 has joined the Westfield Future Fund in Atlanta as its executive director. He previously was vice president and secretary with the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority and has served in a variety of capacities in the financial and non-profit sectors, including as vice president/portfolio manager for Wachovia Securities, Northeast regional business/ community development manager for Freddie Mac, and assistant executive and acting executive director of the Urban Residential Development Corporation in Atlanta.