ALUMNI PROFILE Trend. David Sipple (AB ’66, MPA ’69) of Savannah was included in Best Lawyers in America 2016, an annually published list of top-rated lawyers in the U.S. Sipple is an attorney with the HunterMaclean law firm. Douglas Gressette (BSA ’68) of Stuart, Fla., and Jo Neal Griffeth (BSEd ’68) of Monck’s Corner, S.C., were married in May in Charleston, S.C. Hershell Paige Scarborough Jr. (BBA ’68) of Athens retired from Morgan Stanley in September after working for 38 years as a financial consultant. Stephen Watson (BBA ’68) of Lakeland, Fla., was included in Best Lawyers in America 2016. He practices real estate law with the GrayRobinson firm. Jack Hood (AB ’69, JD ’71) of Birmingham, Ala., attended an American Bar Association-sponsored trip to Ireland and the U.K. in June for the 800th anniversary of the sealing of the Magna Carta. Hood is an assistant U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Alabama. Elizabeth Lide (BFA ’69) of Atlanta was named a winner of the 2015-16 Working Artist Project by the Museum of Contemporary Art of Georgia. She received a solo exhibition, promotion, a studio assistant, catalogue and a $15,000 stipend to create work for the year. Mark Reed II (BBA ’69) of Dawsonville designed and help raise money for a veterans memorial at Sigma Pi fraternity’s headquarters in Lebanon, Tenn. Reed is a U.S. Army veteran of the Vietnam War.
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Creg Smith (ABJ ’70) of Indian Land, S.C., retired five years ago after more than 30 years in public and government relations with the American Petroleum Institute in Atlanta and Washington, D.C. He serves on the board of communications for the Virginia Conference of the United Methodist Church. Maxine Hubbard Burton (BSEd ’72, MEd ’78) of Bogart had a flower named after her at the International Floriculture Exposition in Chicago on June 8. The pink Dianthus Sweet F1 was awarded the name “Maxine” Dianthus Sweet in honor of Burton, president and founder of burton + BURTON, a family-owned balloon and gift business. Teresa Singletary Irvin (AB ’72) of Columbus received the 2015 Susan M. Cochran Scholarship for Faulkner Studies. Irvin is chair of the Basic Studies Department at Columbus State University.
Die-hard Dawg Alumna embraces a new leadership role at the UGA Foundation by Allyson Mann (MA ’92) After nearly 34 years of practicing law, Eleanor Banister retired in December 2014 with the intention of not taking on any new commitments during 2015. “I have a lot of interests, but I didn’t have any particular one that I wanted to pursue,” she says, “other than making sure that I made it to PETER FREY as many Georgia football games and Eleanor Banister basketball games as I could.” Banister (BSEd ’73, JD ’79) is a die-hard sports fan, the kind who stays till the bitter end and would rather watch in person than on TV. “I would almost always rather be there, even if it’s bad weather, just because the energy is so incredible,” she says. “There’s nothing like being at Sanford Stadium. It’s just the best.” In addition to attending sporting events, Banister also found time this year to travel—to Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands—as well as raft down the French Broad River with her brother and nephew. And despite her intentions, she did take on one new commitment: She joined the UGA Foundation board of trustees. “I just felt like it was an opportunity that I couldn’t turn down,” she says. “I’m constantly amazed at the programs and the opportunities we have for students, and I think this will give me an opportunity to learn even more.” Joining the board brings together her love for UGA and her appreciation for education—an understanding formed early in her career. Banister’s first UGA degree was earned in education. After graduating she taught school in Madison County—familiar territory since she grew up in Ila—but decided after four years that she wanted to do something different. Law school was the answer. After graduating in December 1979, Banister was admitted to the State Bar of Georgia; that same month she also began a clerkship with the late Judge G. Ernest Tidwell in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia. In 1983, she joined the Atlanta office of King and Spalding, where she specialized in employee benefits and executive compensation, eventually becoming a partner at the firm. Serving on the board of trustees will reunite Banister with a law school classmate, President Jere W. Morehead (JD ’80). “I’m continuously impressed with how he relates to alumni and how he steers the university,” she says. And she’s excited about finding ways to connect alumni with opportunities to give back—by helping with programs like the university’s new experiential learning initiative, for example. “I’m a big ambassador for the university, but I think [serving as a trustee] is going to give me a platform to do that with even more zeal,” she says, “and I’m looking forward to that.”
DECEMBER 2015 • GEORGIA MAGAZINE
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