The University of Georgia Magazine June 2010

the university of

GEORGIA June 2010 • Vol. 89, No. 3

MAGAZINE

The essential Kim Bearden INSIDE: How Bernard Ramsey’s gift transformed the University of Georgia

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GEORGIA THE UNIVERSITY OF

Cecil Bentley, BBA ’70, UGA journalism staff; Valerie Boyd, UGA journalism faculty; Bobby Byrd, ABJ ’80, Wells Real Estate Funds; Jim Cobb, AB ’69, MA ’72, PhD ’75, UGA history faculty; Richard Hyatt, Columbus Ledger-Enquirer; Brad King, MMC ’97, BVK Communications; Fran Lane, AB ’69, MEd ’71, retired director, UGA Visitors Center; Bill McDougald, ABJ ’76, MLA ’86, Southern Living; Nicole Mitchell, UGA Press; Leneva Morgan, ABJ ’88, Georgia Power; Donald Perry, ABJ ’74, Chick-fil-A; Swann Seiler, ABJ ’78, Coastal Region of Georgia Power; Robert Willett, ABJ ’66, MFA ’73, retired journalism faculty; Martha Mitchell Zoller, ABJ ’79, WDUN-AM

EX-OFFICIO MEMBERS

In compliance with federal law, including the provisions of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Sections 503 and 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, the University of Georgia does not discriminate on the basis of race, sex, religion, color, national or ethnic origin, age, disability, or military service in its administration of educational policies, programs, or activities; its admissions policies; scholarship and loan programs; athletic or other University-administered programs; or employment. In addition, the University does not discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation consistent with the University nondiscrimination policy. Inquiries or complaints should be directed to the director of the Equal Opportunity Office, Peabody Hall, 290 South Jackson Street, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602. Telephone 706-542-7912 (V/TDD). Fax 706-542-2822.

ON THE COVER A chess set in the lobby of the Ron Clark Academy features Kim Bearden as queen and Ron Clark as king. The other pieces are based on some of the school’s first students and faculty members. Clark commissioned the set as a gift for the school.

Photo by Andrew Davis Tucker

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DEPARTMENTS 5 Take 5 with the President

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President Michael F. Adams on UGA’s most prestigious scholarship programs

Around the Arch Campus news and events

FEATURES 18 The gift

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Bernard Ramsey’s legacy lives on through the investment he made in the future of UGA

by Kelly Simmons (MPA ’10)

The essential Kim Bearden

Ask her students—Atlanta’s Ron Clark Academy would not be the same without her

by Allyson Mann (MA ’92)

30 Teaching the teachers

Clarke County’s first professional development school is providing new opportunities for student teachers at UGA

by Jackie Reedy (ABJ ’10)

CLASS NOTES 36 Alumni profiles and notes Freshman Sarah Beadles (left) socializes with Becca Doty (center) and Janelle Andrews, also freshmen, on a warm spring day on the lawn in front of Phi Kappa Hall on North Campus. photo by Andrew Davis Tucker

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FINE PRINT Georgia Magazine (ISSN 1085-1042) is published quarterly for alumni and friends of UGA. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: University of Georgia, 286 Oconee Street, Suite 200 North, Athens, GA 30602-5582

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Tom S. Landrum, AB ’72, MA ’87, Senior Vice President, E­ xternal Affairs; Tom Jackson, AB ’73, MPA ’04, PhD ’08, VP, Public Affairs; Deborah Dietzler, ­Executive ­Director, UGA Alumni Association; Alison Huff, Director of Publications; Eric Johnson, ABJ ’86, Director of UGA Visitors Center How to advertise in GEORGIA MAGAZINE: Contact Pamela Leed: 706/542-8124 or pjleed@uga.edu Where to send story ideas, letters, Class Notes items: Georgia Magazine 286 Oconee St., Suite 200 North Athens, GA 30602-1999 E-mail: GMeditor@uga.edu Web site: www.uga.edu/gm or University of Georgia Alumni Association www.alumni.uga.edu/alumni Address changes: E-mail records@uga.edu or call 888/268-5442

June 2010 • Vol. 89, No. 3

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GEORGIA MAGAZINE ADVISORY BOARD VOLUNTEER MEMBERS

MAGAZINE

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ADMINISTRATION Michael F. Adams, President Jere Morehead, JD ’80, Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost Tom S. Landrum, AB ’72, MA ’87,

Senior Vice President for External Affairs Tim Burgess, AB ’77, Senior Vice President for Finance and Administration PUBLIC AFFAIRS Tom Jackson, AB ’73, MPA ’04, PhD ’08, Vice President Alison Huff, Director of Publications GEORGIA MAGAZINE Editor, Kelly Simmons, MPA ’10 Managing Editor, Allyson Mann, MA ’92 Art Director, Cheri Wranosky, BFA ’84 Advertising Director, Pamela Leed Office Manager, Fran Burke Photographers, Paul Efland, BFA ’75, MEd ’80; Peter Frey, BFA ’94; Robert Newcomb, BFA ’81; Beth Newman, BFA ’07; Rick O’Quinn, ABJ ’87; Dot Paul; Andrew Davis Tucker Editorial Assistants, Jackie Reedy and Paige Varner

GEORGIA MAGAZINE • JUNE 2010 GEORGIA MAGAZINE • JUNE 2010

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GeorgiaC lub

CLASSIC LIVING IN THE HEART OF BULLDOG COUNTRY

Make a Complete Weekend Out of Your Visit to Athens

.Golf our 27-hole Chancellors Course

.Enjoy Clubhouse Dining for lunch, dinner or Sunday Brunch (Reservations recommended!) .Tour our Model Homes Sundays 1 p.m. to 4:00 p.m For more information please call 770.725.8100 or visit www.LivinginBulldogCountry.com 4 JUNE 2010 • GEORGIA MAGAZINE

The Georgia Club is located off University Parkway (Hwy 316), 12 miles west of campus. Homes of distinction from the $300,000s to $1+ million.

TAKE

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— President Michael F. Adams on UGA’s most prestigious scholarship programs

Q: From your perspective, how did the gift from Bernard Ramsey in 1996 change the University of Georgia?

A. That gift raised the academic standards of the entire place in a transformative way.

The university immediately had the capacity to compete for students of the highest order and to provide them a financial aid package that would draw them to UGA instead of some of the best places in the country.

Q: What, in your opinion, is the biggest advantage to students to have the Foundation Fellowship?

Michael F. Adams

A. The biggest advantage, among many, is the broadening of their view of the world. This comes through the very extensive exposure afforded by the unmatched undergraduate international travel opportunities that come with the fellowship.

Q: What is the advantage to the state of having prestigious scholarships, such as the Foundation Fellows?

A. It goes without saying, I think, that the state benefits from keeping the best and most creative minds in Georgia, in Georgia. Good students beget other good students. They ultimately provide leadership, build businesses and exhibit an unmatched level of citizenship.

Q: How does the university benefit from a broader Honors program?

A. The more good students an institution attracts the higher the level of academic discourse, the greater the appreciation for intellectual inquiry and the better off the entire student body becomes. The Foundation Fellows and Honors Program students are the kind of students that you build a great university around.

Q: Do you see these programs growing in the future?

A: I see them growing subject to our capacity to raise the money to fund them. As wonderful as the HOPE Scholarship is, it does not provide the extra measure of support, which is often required to attract this quality of student. Success does breed success, and for 50 years now we have built one of the best Honors Programs in America. The entire student body today would likely have qualified for the Honors Program 15 years ago. I see our quality and the demand for quality only continuing to increase.

ANDREW DAVIS TUCKER

In his free time Foundation Fellow Phillip Mote enjoys mountain biking.

A junior, Mote spent much of his spring semester studying for the MCAT. He plans to enter medical school once he graduates from UGA in 2011.

Here, Motes takes a spin through the trails around Lake Herrick on the UGA campus.

GEORGIA MAGAZINE • JUNE 2010

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ANDREW DAVIS TUCKER

Staff member Al Blackmon of the UGA physical plant paints the final coat of black over white primer on the Arch. The North Campus icon got a makeover in April.

GOING GREEN...AT HOME UGA faculty members have launched a website designed to help Georgians better understand how to “go green.” UGA GreenWay links viewers to resources offered through the university’s extension service.

The site provides information on “greenwashing,” which refers to false advertising claims by some companies regarding environmentally responsible products. The website provides information on eco-labels, third-party certifications, consumer reviews and how to spot misleading labels.

In addition to the benefits of “reduce, reuse, recycle and repurpose,” the site also emphasizes the importance of being environmentally friendly in making repairs to your home, such as eliminating moisture that causes mold and caulking doors and windows to lower heating costs. Saving “green” is also a part of the new site, which provides tips on saving money by going green and making environmentally responsible investments.

Check it out at www. ugagreenway.com.

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Wet paint UGA’s best-known icon, the Arch that marks the entrance from downtown to North Campus, got a makeover in April— just in time for spring graduation photos. Workers stripped 25 years’ worth of paint accumulation before priming and repainting the Arch.

The new paint highlights structural details previously covered by layers of old paint. Commissioned in 1856, the Arch was created by the Athens Foundry using parts the company had on hand—three lampposts and the top of a boiler.

The Arch originally contained the same finials, or ornamental tops, used on the North Campus fence. The decorative scrollwork was added in the 1890s, and the globe lights were added in about 1915, replacing the original finials. Funding for Arch maintenance is provided by a specific endowment account, not state funds.

For most graduates, visiting the Arch after commencement is a rite of passage. Since the 1900s, tradition has held that students may not pass beneath the Arch until they have received a diploma from UGA.

JUST THE FAC(T)S

PAUL EFLAND

TRACY YANG

YASMIN YONIS

PAUL EFLAND

Prestigious honors for Honors students Honors students Tracy Yang, an anthropology major from Macon, and Yasmin Yonis, an international affairs and journalism major from Lawrenceville, were awarded 2010 Harry S. Truman Scholarships, worth up to $30,000 in graduate study for juniors planning careers in government or other public service.

Honors students Christine Akoh, a food science and interdisciplinary applied science major from Athens, and Meagan Cauble, a biochemistry and molecular biology major from Weaverville, N.C., were awarded 2010 Barry M. Goldwater Scholarships, providing a maximum of $7,500 per year for exceptional mathematics, science and engineering students.

Honors student Lindel Cecilia Krige of Kennesaw, who graduated in May with bachelor’s degrees in biology and psychology, is the fifth consecutive UGA recipient of the Merage Foundation’s American Dream Fellowship. The national fellowship, which gives Krige up to $20,000 over a two-year period, is given to 12 academically exceptional immigrant students.

A new freshman learning community focused on managing finances will open in fall 2010. Freshman FAC(T)S, sponsored by the College of Family and Consumer Sciences, will discuss the best places to buy textbooks, successful time management and why it is important to protect personal information from identity thieves. Students in the learning community will take some classes together and will attend financial and career planning seminars. Freshman FAC(T)S is UGA’s seventh learning community, which group 20 freshmen with similar academic interests in Creswell Hall.

PEACE OUT UGA ranks in the top 25 of colleges and universities in the United States that produce Peace Corps volunteers.

Ranked 23rd among colleges with more than 15,000 undergraduates, UGA currently has 45 undergraduates and three graduate school alumni serving in the Peace Corps.

The olive state?

Olives may soon join peaches and peanuts in the line-up of popular produce farmed in Georgia. Extension agents in South Georgia are experimenting with the crop as a complement to blueberries, which have proven prolific in Georgia soil.

Farm machinery used for blueberries can also be used for olives, and their opposing harvest seasons—blueberries ripen in spring and summer, while olives are harvested in fall—provide farmers with an efficient year-round growing season.

Olive trees were planted in 2008 in Pierce, Lanier, Clinch, Bacon and Appling counties.

So far 200 total acres are planted. The trees should begin producing their first fruit in 2011, but a full crop isn’t expected until 2013. One acre of olive trees can produce six tons of olives, yielding 240 gallons of oil. Farmers can expect to get about $22 for a gallon of oil on the market. The U.S. imports 99 percent of its olive oil from other countries—76 million gallons in 2008—with consumption increasing each year.

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BEST IN SHOW A BARK OUT TO … Deryl Bailey, a counseling professor in the College of Education, who is the 2010 Reese House Social Justice Advocate of the Year for his dedication to social justice among K-12 students. … Han S. Park, professor of international affairs, who received the Gandhi, King, Ikeda Community Builders Prize for his commitment to finding peaceful solutions for challenges in the Korean peninsula. … the School of Law, which received the Best Buyer Side Draft and Best Overall Team awards at the inaugural Transactional Lawyering Meet at Drexel University in Philadelphia.

Third-year students Patrick S. Baldwin and Rachel K. Jones tied with Indiana University at Bloomington for the competition’s best team honor.

HAN PARK

… Todd Harrop, assistant professor of chemistry, who received a National Science Foundation CAREER Award, which gives him $626,775 over the next five years for research. … the Terry College of Business, which has one of the nation’s best undergraduate programs in business, ranking 18th among public business schools according to Bloomberg BusinessWeek.

ANDREW DAVIS TUCKER

ON WITH THE SHOW

TODD HARROP

… Linda Harklau, education professor, who is an Outstanding Reviewer for 2009, an honor given by the American Educational Research Journal’s section on Social and Institutional Analysis. ... College of Education faculty members Leslie Steffe, a UGA Distinguished Research Professor of mathematics education, and Peter Smagorinsky, a professor of language and literacy education, who were named 2010 Fellows of the American Educational Research Association. … Anneliese Singh, a counseling professor in the College of Education, who received the Presidential Service Award from the Association for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Issues in Counseling. … Franklin College of Arts and Sciences researchers Harry A. Dailey Jr., Robert J. Maier and Roberto Docampo, who were elected Fellows of the American Academy of Microbiology.

ANNELIESE SINGH

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… Patricia Wilson, mathematics education professor, who is a program officer for the National Science Foundation in Washington, D.C., in the Division of Research on Learning in Formal and Informal Settings.

JUNE 2010 • GEORGIA MAGAZINE

UGA’s Fine Arts Theatre was rededicated in April after an extensive renovation.

The last of the Works Progress Administration projects to be constructed on campus, the Theatre was designed in the ornate, high style of proscenium theatres of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Renovations in the 1970s to improve cooling and lighting resulted in the loss of many original ornamental features and exacerbated existing problems with acoustics.

After a one-year, $4.5 million renovation, the Fine Arts Theatre has been aesthetically restored to its original luster but also transformed into a modern theatre facility with improved sight lines from every one of its 675 seats.

Advise and ascend

CHILD CARE TO BENEFIT ALL

UGA’s Institute of Higher Education, in partnership with the Watson-Brown Foundation of Thomson and the National College Advising Corps, has begun an innovative program to recruit and train recent UGA graduates to work full time as college advisers in selected high schools across Georgia.

The Georgia College Advising Corps, working alongside professional high school guidance counselors, assists underrepresented and low-income students enroll in colleges that fit their academic profiles, career goals and personal circumstances. The advisers assist students in the admissions process, in applying DOT PAUL for financial aid and in preparing for the SAT. They Truitt Broome (AB ’08) helps arrange college visitations and help students write an Clarke Central High School application essay. Currently four UGA graduates are junior Demetria Davidson working as advisers at Clarke Central High School in register for the SAT. Athens, Meadowcreek High School in Norcross, Westside High School in Augusta and Thomson High School in Thomson.

For more information, go to www.uga.edu/ihe/gcac/index.html.

UGA plans to open a child care facility for children of faculty, staff and students as early as January 2012 on the site of the Navy Supply Corps School in Athens, which will close in 2011 and be turned over to UGA for use as a campus for the MCG-UGA Medical Partnership.

Administrators identified two buildings on the site that would accommodate a center. A 2007 needs assessment survey commissioned by UGA estimated there was a demand for 200 childcare slots from faculty and staff and an additional 40 from students.

A PREMIUM ON HIRING Despite ongoing state budget problems, UGA will spend $4 million to hire two dozen new faculty members to fill critical tenured and tenure-track positions for the coming academic year.

Among the positions to be filled are five chaired professorships in field botany, insurance, teacher education, social justice and civil rights, and small animal studies. President Michael F. Adams announced during his State of the University Address in January that he planned to use savings in the central budget to fund the faculty lines.

UGA THIRD IN TECHNOLOGY COMMERCIALIZATION JACKIE REEDY

UGA Dance Professor Mark Wheeler spent his April furlough day teaching salsa and swing techniques to students at Cedar Shoals High School.

TURNING LEMONS INTO LEMONAID Instead of spending their furlough day at home, at least 46 UGA instructors spent April 30 giving volunteer presentations at Athens-area schools. Organizer Ron Orlando, a researcher at UGA’s Complex Carbohydrate Research Center, says LemonAid’s goal is to highlight the importance of education. Professor Mark Wheeler of the dance department displayed salsa and swing techniques, Richard Steet brought genetically modified glowing zebrafish, and Orlando showcased the fun part of research—the discovery—in his discussion about tropical diseases.

The 2010 Association of University Technology Managers survey reports that UGA ranks third in the nation for moving basic research into the marketplace.

The UGA Research Foundation obtains patents or other intellectual property protection and licenses inventions to the private sector in return for royalty income to further support the university’s research mission.

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GOING GREEN UGA makes list of green colleges and universities UGA is one of six Georgia colleges and universities listed in The Princeton Review’s Guide to 286 Green Colleges.

In recognizing UGA, the guide noted the university’s Academy of the Environment, which is a venue for crossdisciplinary collaboration in research, teaching, and outreach that includes 300 faculty members, and the UGA’s “Every Drop Counts” water conservation campaign, which resulted in a 22 percent drop in water usage on campus.

It also noted that UGA is home to the Eugene Odum School of Ecology, the world’s first stand-alone school devoted to teaching, research and public service in the areas of ecology and environmental studies.

Developed by The Princeton Review in partnership with the U.S. Green Building Council, the guide is the first free comprehensive listing of institutions of higher education that have demonstrated an above-average commitment to sustainability in terms of campus infrastructure, activities and initiatives.

ANDREW DAVIS TUCKER

Jenna Garland (left) of the Southern Energy Network and intern and UGA senior Laura Chance, talk with senior Dylan Layfield as freshman environmental economics and management major Megan Chase fills out paperwork at the Southern Energy Network’s booth at Earth Day on the Tate Center Plaza on April 22.

Earth Week celebrates 40 Campus sustainability walking tours, film screenings, panel discussions and Car Free Day were among the activities to celebrate Earth Week, April 19-23. UGA’s new Office of Sustainability and Go Green Alliance hosted the walking tours which showed off sustainability initiatives in academics, research, student engagement and operations. The tours began at the Tate Student Center green roof plaza.

The Odum School of Ecology sponsored a program, “Earth Day @ 40: Where do we stand,” featuring a round table discussion with four local environmental leaders. Capping off the week on Friday was a Car Free Day in which faculty, staff and students were encouraged to car pool or use alternative transportation to get to and from campus. A food and drink station was set up in front of Memorial Hall, where commuters could register for prizes including gear and gift certificates from local bike shops.

Other Georgia schools on the list include Georgia Tech, Emory University, Agnes Scott College, LaGrange College and Wesleyan College.

Access the guide at www.princetonreview.com/greenguide or www.usgbc. org/campus.

For more on sustainability at UGA, go to http://gogreen.uga.edu.

10 JUNE 2010 • GEORGIA MAGAZINE

ODUM SCHOOL OF ECOLOGY TEAMS WITH RAINFOREST ALLIANCE The Odum School of Ecology is collaborating with the international nonprofit Rainforest Alliance to ensure the Alliance’s Green Certification Program for tourism, timber and agricultural products meets its sustainability goals. The Alliance will support Professor Catherine Pringle’s research program to protect against overuse and pollution of water resources.

PROFESSORSHIP NAMED AFTER AFRICAN AMERICAN The Donald L. Hollowell Professorship of Social Justice and Civil Rights Studies in the School of Social Work has been fully endowed. The professorship, the first at UGA named after an African American, was funded through the UGA faculty-hiring initiative, donations and ticket sales from the “Donald L. Hollowell: Foot Soldier for Equal Justice” documentary premiere on April 15.

GIFT WILL SUPPORT CIVIL WAR STUDIES GENA PERRY

UGA student Lynsey Jackson works with students from the Charles Ellis Elementary School in Savannah planting seeds in a bed.

Pizza gardens Members of UGA’s Sigma Alpha professional agricultural sorority, in Savannah over spring break, helped students at Charles Ellis Elementary School spruce up their campus and plant fruit trees and bushes, as well as a small pizza garden. During the “service day,” UGA students surveyed the proposed location for the garden and cleared the area of weeds and leaves. They helped the elementary students plant a peach tree and several blueberry bushes, and planted a garden of vegetables that can be used to top pizza. The school will use the garden to teach students about the food cycle and the need to protect the earth.

The end of an era This year’s Pandora will be the last printed edition of the nearly 125-yearold UGA yearbook, staff members told the Athens Banner-Herald in April.

Sales of the student-produced book have declined for years and no longer justify the printing cost.

“We’re not going to sell the books that we need to sell in order to break even,” Pandora adviser Cody Ward said.

The book sold 1,846 copies in 1999 but only 506 last year. Only 335 copies 1882 PANDORA of this year’s Pandora had been sold in April. But the staff is planning to produce a digital Pandora next year that will be distributed free to students in combination with a graduation CD the UGA Alumni Association is already providing to new graduates.

To order a copy of the last printed Pandora, visit the links at www.uga.edu/ pandora.

A $1 million gift from an Atlanta couple will establish the Amanda and Greg Gregory Chair in the Civil War Era in the history department. The Gregorys gave an additional $50,000 to support research in Civil War era studies for graduate students and faculty, and they gave $10,000 to bring a prominent historian to UGA in the fall to conduct seminars for students and deliver a public lecture.

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY, ARCH FOUNDATION The Arch Foundation celebrated its fifth anniversary of working to increase the UGA endowment and build programs that will promote the university. The Foundation has $82 million in assets following record fundraising years. Also, its Arch Professorship Initiative has created four new professorships with donations from board members. Members are in the process of creating a UGA Board of Visitors to increase awareness of the university. The Arch Foundation was incorporated on May 3, 2005, by Swann Seiler (ABJ ’78), Robert D. Bishop (BBA ’61), John Phinizy Spalding (AB ’82, JD ’85) and William R. Childs (BBA ’08).

For more on the Arch Foundation go to www.uga.edu/archfoundation.

GEORGIA MAGAZINE • JUNE 2010

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EQUESTRIAN TEAM WINS FIFTH NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP

TREVOR SPRINK/BAYLOR UNIVERSITY

The UGA equestrian team beat Texas A&M to win the overall crown at the 2010 Varsity Equestrian National Championships in Waco, Texas. UGA has won five championships in eight years. Two sophomores, Michelle Morris and Emma Lipman, were the third and fourth UGA students ever to win individual national championships.

STUDY SHOWS BLACK ATHLETES ARE NEGLECTED ACADEMICALLY

ANDREW DAVIS TUCKER

UGA golfer Russell Henley (right) of Macon, gets some words of encouragement from Georgia Head Golf Coach Chris Haack after driving off the second tee box.

TOURNEY BRINGS IN THE GREEN About 8,500 people visited the UGA Golf Course April 26 through May 1 for the Stadion Athens Classic at UGA, a PGA Nationwide tour golf event held on the campus course for the first time.

Texan Martin Piller, 24, won the tournament, which included nine current or former Georgia Bulldog golfers. He took home a $99,000 paycheck for the win, his first since the 2008 Texas State Open, which was his first professional start.

The tournament, which replaced the Athens Regional Foundation Classic Nationwide event played in Athens for the past four years, was sponsored by the Watkinsville-based Stadion Money Management, Inc. Stadion President Jud Doherty attended UGA. A TICKETS Fore CHARITY Program, which enabled nonprofit organizations to sell tickets to the tournament and keep the proceeds, brought in $88,000 for the local community. St. Mary’s hospital and health care system donated an additional $5,000 to benefit local charities.

All other proceeds from the event will go to the UGA Arch Foundation to support need-based scholarships for UGA students.

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A study by kinesiology professor Billy Hawkins shows that black athletes at predominately white National Collegiate Athletic Association schools are often physically exploited while being neglected academically. Across 36 sports monitored by the NCAA, men’s basketball has the lowest graduation rates, with less than two-thirds of players earning degrees. Even though black athletes comprise the majority of NCAA football and basketball teams, the fouryear graduation rates in 2008 for black male athletes in these sports were 49 percent and 42 percent, respectively.

MEN’S GOLF TEAM WINS SEC TITLE At St. Simons Island, the UGA men’s golf team won the Southeastern Conference Championship for the second consecutive season, and junior Russell Henley nabbed the SEC individual medal. The team finished at 4-over 844 for a five-shot victory over Florida and Ole Miss. The team has won six times in the past decade.

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Muktha Natrajan, Honors student, 2010 Udall Scholar, recipient of UGA’s Foundation Fellowship and a 2009 Goldwater Scholar.

University chemistry lab circa 1900, Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library.

Student scholars excel at UGA. Today’s learning environment has progressed well beyond passing beakers of liquid over a Bunsen burner. Participating in undergraduate research apprenticeships and working with leading faculty inspires a future generation of researchers engaged in projects with important impact on our state and world--from genes and infectious diseases to coastal water quality.

Did you know recent Goldwater, Udall, Truman and Rhodes Scholars attribute their academic success to their UGA experiences? These scholars and others credit research and international opportunities in helping them grow as students and people.

Private support from alumni and friends contribute to these academic opportunities. In this, our 225th anniversary year, we recognize the generations of students who have earned their place in UGA history.

Support future generations by making your gift to the Georgia Fund today!

Give every year. Make a difference every day.

To learn more about the important work of our students and faculty and to give online, visit the Georgia Fund Web site at:

www.givingtouga.com

For more information, contact The University of Georgia Office of Development Annual and Special Giving 394 S. Milledge Ave., Ste. 100 Athens, GA 30602-5582 1-888-268-5442 GEORGIA MAGAZINE • JUNE 2010

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Lending a

HAND

UGA takes its agricultural expertise to Haiti to help create a sustainable food supply

by Brad Haire

I

n the shadow of a rundown block building in Los Palis, Haiti, children wearing tattered clothes bite into half-ripened mangoes they pick from the ground and wonder about the strange men toiling in the field.

They don’t understand that the visitors—agricultural experts from the University of Georgia—are there to help the people of Haiti produce enough food to combat the poverty that has long crippled their Caribbean country.

In March, a team of scientists from the UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Children watch as UGA agricultural experts work in a field near Los Palis, Haiti.

Sciences traveled to Haiti to help develop sustainable agricultural practices in the wake of a devastating earthquake that killed an estimated 200,000 people. Unlike many other relief efforts, the UGA team was there to help Haitians learn to provide for themselves.

“Our college is not really set up to do relief work per se,” says Steve Brown, CAES assistant dean for Cooperative Extension. “But we do have the expertise to help the people here develop better agricultural systems that can produce better, more nutritious food without them being dependent upon food being sent to them.”

Led by Ed Kanemasu, the CAES director of global programs, the team included Brown, CAES agronomist BRAD HAIRE

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David Kissel, Birdsong Peanut logistics manager Sally Wells and Graham Huff, executive director of the Atlanta-based League of Hope, which funded and organized the trip.

The charity has worked in Haiti for the past 18 months.

Agricultural development is critical for the country now, says Huff, who was in Haiti on the day of the earthquake.

“UGA has a lot of expertise in agricultural fields, but they also have many contacts in industry in Georgia and across the United States,” Huff says. “The mission (of the team) is to see how we might employ those resources to help Haiti recover from the earthquake.”

Decades of poor environmental practices and policy decisions—and some tough breaks from Mother Nature—have left Haiti one of the poorest, least-developed countries in the world. The land of lush tropical growth and abundant agriculture is now barren, and mountains are eroded. Sparse, rocky roads—some like parched riverbeds in the dry season—connect cities, where many live in cobbled-together shacks.

Statistics vary, but most Haitians live on less than $2 a day. One in five children suffers severe malnutrition and many more don’t get the proper nourishment for healthy immune systems. Disease is widespread.

Life expectancy is just over 50 years. Unemployment is as high as 80 percent in some areas. Haitian farmers produce only half of the food needed in the country each year.

“The people need a hand up instead of hand outs,” says Suchet Loois, a Haitian native and retired

BRAD HAIRE

Ed Kanemasu, director of global programs for UGA’s College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, distributes peanut butter to children on the road from Cange to Terrier Rouge.

Tuskegee University professor. Loois now works in Los Palis with the Catholic-based Haiti Humanitarian Fund, helping local farmers with sustainable small-scale vegetable production and Haitian women with a small-business credit program.

“More than anything, we need education and without it lives will never improve here,” Loois says, as a dozen local farmers gather to hear him talk about the use of drip irrigation for vegetables.

CAES has a Peanut Collaborative Research Support Program on the country’s northern coast. Peanut experts help farmers in that region grow safer, better peanuts. They are partners with Meds and Foods for Kids, a nonprofit organization based in the U.S. that makes a peanut-based, ready-toeat food called Medika Mamba to combat malnutrition in children.

During the week-long trip, the team traveled to the central plateau, where the country has the highest potential for increased agriculture.

Farms there include one managed

by Zanmi Agrikol, the agricultural arm of the Boston-based Partners in Health, which has provided extensive medical care for Haitians for 25 years.

Recently, Zanmi Agrikol started producing a peanut-based therapeutic food to distribute through nine Partners in Health clinics across the country. The program uses Haitiantrained agronomists to grow the food. They want to use this program to teach local farmers modernized farming techniques. But they need help to do it.

The researchers believe they can help the Haitians expand farming to the central plain with proper fertilization, crop varieties and rotation, conservation, disease and insect control, and good postharvest handling—practices that aren’t well understood or used there now.

“People want that connection with the earth. You feel really good about providing something that’s life sustaining, which you can produce yourself,” Wells says. “And Haitian farmers want to be able to do that.

So, if we can help provide the expertise that allows them to do that, I think that’s really a great thing.”

—Brad Haire is a news editor with UGA’s College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.

A tent encampment stands in Port-auPrince beneath a crumbling building damaged by a Jan. 12 earthquake that killed an estimated 200,000 people and displaced many more.

BRAD HAIRE

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realworld

ANDREW DAVIS TUCKER

Veterinarian Les Sales and UGA vet student Mandy Webb treat Precious, a Shih Tzu belonging to Dianne Scott, for a possible eye ulcer. Webb was visiting Sales’ practice, Wilkes County Veterinary Services in Washington, Ga., as part of a program created by UGA’s Small Business Development Center.

the

A collaboration with UGA’s Small Business Development Center allows students in pharmacy and veterinary medicine to learn more about private practice

by Lori Johnston (ABJ ’95)

T

he sign in Rob Sanfilippo’s suburban Atlanta animal hospital reads: “Dawgs welcome. Gators by appt.” So it’s easy to see where the veterinarian’s allegiances lie.

It goes beyond athletic rivalries though. Sanfilippo (BS ’00, DVM ’04) is relying on UGA College of Veterinary Medicine students to assist him and business partner Ashley Tharp (DVM ’04) in growing the business at Four Paws Animal Hospital at Johns Creek, which they acquired in August 2009.

A new program created by UGA’s Small Business Development Center assigns teams of students to veterinarians—often UGA alumni—to assess the business and

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make recommendations for improvements. In doing the research, the students learn what it takes to run a small business, the kind some of them will manage once they earn their degrees. The SBDC runs a similar program in the College of Pharmacy.

On this day, five students and Jeff Sanford, director of entrepreneurial studies for the SBDC, are making their initial visit to Sanfilippo’s clinic.

“What percent of your cash flow are you reinvesting in the business right now? Do you have a target?” veterinary student David Boardman asks Sanfilippo during a tour of the clinic.

Sanfilippo is open and chatty about their revenue and expenses, their challenges and their desires for growth, particularly adding new clients.

“Being my first year as an owner, it’s all new,” he tells the students.

They see where worn-out flooring will be replaced, where yellow countertops reminiscent of the ’70s need to be removed and where the vets are desperate for space to simply fill out patients’ charts.

“You’ve seen the clinic. Now, work toward making me some money,” Sanfilippo says, clapping his hands and smiling. “Let’s go, people.”

The students typically spend more than 80 hours on each clinic or pharmacy’s analysis, reviewing financial records and interacting with the owners and their staffs as they create detailed financial projections and recommendations. The SBDC estimates the assessments would cost between $2,000 and $5,000 if performed by a consultant.

The students’ research, which can include a financial analysis, fee analysis and valuation analysis, is shared in final two-hour-plus meetings at the business or in Athens.

“Hopefully one day I plan to own my business,” says veterinary medicine student Mandy Webb, who will graduate in 2011. “You get the medicine in school; you just don’t get the business side of it.”

The program blends academics with public service and outreach as students create relationships with alumni that sometimes continue after the rotation. Last fall, two students traveled to Chancy Drugs in Hahira to discuss the challenges the owners face in running an independent pharmacy.

“We were able to benefit from the financial services they offered while they were learning how an independent pharmacy worked and how we take care of our patients,” Hugh Chancy (BSPh ’88) says.

Their research about the cost of dispensing prescriptions and

PETER FREY

Adrianna Hesselbring, pharmacy student, Jonathan McKoy, pharmacy student, Jeff Sanford, SBDC, and pharmacist Chris Thurmond look over paperwork as part of a Small Business Development Center program at Village Drug in Athens.

recommendations for bookkeeping contributed to changes at Chancy Drugs, which has three locations in South Georgia. Impressed by the students’ work, Chancy shared details about the program with National Community Pharmacy Association members.

“The students see owning a practice or an independent pharmacy as a reality,” says Sanford, who holds joint faculty positions in the pharmacy and veterinary medicine colleges. “They learn how to become a successful owner, not just to be a veterinarian or a pharmacist.

They get to see the good, bad and the ugly of practice management.”

Pharmacy student Jonathan McKoy says the rotations dispelled a lot of misperceptions he had about the business.

“It has not only exceeded my expectations but has changed my mind about independent ownership and the direction of my career,” McKoy says.

The veterinary rotation, partially funded by Hill’s Pet Nutrition, has placed about 25 students in more than a dozen clinics and animal hospitals since it began in spring 2009.

“The (rotation) allows the students to learn about running a veterinary practice by gaining direct exposure,” says Sheila Allen (MS ’86), dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine. “In return, the practice owner gets a comprehensive analysis from an outsider’s perspective on what works well in the practice and what could be improved.”

Brad Speed, who graduated in May, plans to own his own veterinary clinic as soon as possible.

Standing outside one of Sanfilippo’s exam rooms while the vet handled back-to-back appointments, Speed says he recognizes the benefit of learning about the entrepreneurial side of veterinary medicine. He’s gained insight into where clinics lose money and the difficulty of keeping track of financial details while juggling a business with a family.

“The more I can see these clinics, the better,” he says.

—Lori Johnston is a writer living in Watkinsville. Caroline Buttimer (ABJ, AB ’09) contributed to this article.

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gift

the

Bernard Ramsey’s legacy lives on through the investment he made in the future of UGA

by Kelly Simmons (MPA ’10)

M

ANDREW DAVIS TUCKER

organn Lyles got more than a few funny looks when she arrived at Westminster High School on college day her senior year wearing a UGA shirt.

A standout student at the private Atlanta school, Lyles had applied to such elite private universities as Harvard, Yale and Stanford, which she thought was her first choice.

It was the “be all, end all,” she remembers thinking at the time.

But in the end, the northern California campus couldn’t compete with the opportunities offered by UGA’s Foundation Fellowship program. She turned down Stanford and withdrew applications to Harvard and Yale.

Now a sophomore, Lyles spent

At left: Senior biology and psychology major Caitlin Robinson of Monroe, La., and senior biology major Mike Yang of Cumming, both Ramsey Scholars, relax on the steps of Moore College, the home of UGA’s Honors Program. In the background is a statue of Bernard Ramsey, the main benefactor of the Foundation Fellows and Ramsey Scholars programs, sitting on a bench.

last summer at UGA’s Oxford campus and traveled to Berlin to study Jewish history and the Holocaust. This summer she’ll travel as a medical volunteer to Benin in West Africa, where she will live with a French-speaking family. Next spring she plans to study abroad in Senegal.

In addition, she has access to small classes taught by some of UGA’s most elite professors and lives in the French community at Mary Lyndon Residence Hall, surrounded by other students working to become fluent in the language.

“I chose very deliberately to come here,” Lyles says. “And it was a good choice.”

Bringing in top students like Lyles, who could attend almost any college in the country, is what Bernard Ramsey had in mind when he bequeathed $34 million of his estate to UGA, $23.4 million earmarked for the Bernard B. Ramsey Foundation Fellowship. Ramsey’s death in 1996 triggered the gift, which then ignited the Honors Program and the Foundation Fellows scholarships and created a new financial award for top students—the Ramsey Scholarship, says David Williams, director of the Honors Program.

“The plan was in place for that gift to transform the school,” Williams says.

By many accounts, it has. Between 1996 and 2009, the mean SAT score for incoming freshmen at UGA rose 73 points from 1190 to 1263. In comparison, the national SAT mean rose only three points, from 1013 to Bernard Ramsey, shown here in New York in 1993, remains the University of Georgia’s single biggest donor to scholarship programs. Ramsey died in 1996.

CHRIS HILDRETH

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ANDREW DAVIS TUCKER

SPECIAL

Doris Ramsey (above) lives in Athens and serves on the advisory board for the UGA Honors Program. Below, Matthew Crim and wife Jill (BSEd ’04) pose a for a picture in Anapolis, Md., with their bulldog Daphne.

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1016, during the same time period.

Students who once would have been lured out of state or to private institutions are taking a second look at UGA. In the 14 years since the gift, UGA has had successive years of major national academic award winners, including six Rhodes, 34 Goldwater, 10 Truman and four Marshall scholars. In 2008 UGA was the only public institution in the country to have two students—Deep Shah (AB ’08) and Kate Vyborny (AB ’05)—selected as Rhodes scholars.

“Without this program we wouldn’t get many of these students at the University of Georgia,” says Jere Morehead, provost and senior vice president for academic affairs. Morehead became director of the Honors Program in 1999. “It has transformed our ability to recruit the truly elite high school students that everyone in the country is after.”

Students like Beth Shapiro (AB, MA ’99), UGA’s first female Rhodes scholar in 1999 and one of 24 recipients of the 2009 MacArthur Foundation “Genius Award,” given to individuals who show “exceptional creativity, promise for important future advances based on a track record of significant accomplishment and potential for the fellowship to facilitate subsequent creative work.” Shapiro is an assistant biology professor at Penn State.

And Matthew Crim (AB, BS ’05), who received a 2004 Truman Award followed by a 2005 Marshall Scholarship. Now in his third year at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, Crim plans to pursue a career in internal medicine and cardiology, as well as research domestic policy issues such as health care financing.

Crim, who chose Georgia over Yale, Duke and Emory, says the Fellows program provided him an opportunity to balance his interests in

medicine and political science and to explore areas that interested him, such as biosecurity, tropical and infectious disease and health care needs in third world countries. “I started reading about bioterrorism and saw a way to connect health care with security, international affairs and policy,” Crim says.

He spent summers in hospitals in Tanzania and western Thailand, teaching English to orphans and shadowing doctors. “UGA was such a fantastic experience,” he says.

Bernard Ramsey grew up in Macon and earned his undergraduate degree in business from UGA in 1937. He made the most of his college years, serving as business manager for the Pandora yearbook, secretary of the Economics Society, and treasurer and president of Alpha Tau Omega fraternity. He was treasurer of Delta Sigma Pi and was elected to the Gridiron Society.

Ramsey also was cadet colonel and student commander of Army ROTC and was elected to Scabbard and Blade military honor society.

After graduation he served as a cadet colonel in the U.S. Air Force during World War II.

Upon leaving the Air Force, he moved to New York and took a job with Merrill Lynch. As he moved up the corporate ladder, he maintained close ties to UGA, which he credited for giving him the skills to be successful on Wall Street. Ramsey had contact with members of the UGA Foundation and also stayed in touch with classmate and longtime friend William C. Hartman Jr.

He was a member of the Merrill Lynch executive board when he retired in 1973 at age 59. He and his wife Eugenia traveled the world but maintained their home in New York.

They had no children. After Eugenia

TALIA M. QUANDELACY

died in 1992, Ramsey made a $10 million gift to UGA. Half of that was designated for the Foundation Fellows program.

Between 1984, when he made his first gift—$35,000 to Butts-Mehre Heritage Hall—and the $34 million estate gift in 1996, Ramsey gave a total of $44,785,682 to the University of Georgia. In addition to scholarships, Ramsey’s gifts helped establish three endowed professorships and created a center for the study of private enterprise in the Terry College of Business. His contributions helped fund construction of a student center in the business college, a concert hall in the new Performing Arts Center and the Butts-Mehre Athletic Heritage Hall.

He called the gifts an investment in the future.

“I want a better student at [the

university] so we can build a better university,” Ramsey once said. “I want a better University of Georgia so we can build a better world.”

Ramsey’s second wife, Doris, whom he married in 1993, recalls his concern that his inheritance be left to those who could put it to the best use.

“He wanted to educate young people who could make a difference in the world,” says Doris Ramsey, who lives in Athens and often hosts UGA Honors students in her home.

“His first love was scholastics and the Honors Program. He felt like this is where he got his self-esteem and his motivation to succeed.”

As yet, no donor has surpassed his support for student scholarships at the university.

UGA received its first infusion of money from Ramsey’s estate in 1997.

Changes began quickly as admissions

Foundation Fellow Phillip Mote, a junior from Marietta, interacts with local children during one of his summer study abroad opportunities in Peru.

and academic affairs worked to ramp up offerings to top students. The Foundation Fellowship, which had existed since 1972 with funds managed by members of the UGA Foundation, was restructured to include significant travel opportunities. The Ramsey Scholarship, offered to finalists for the Foundation Fellowship, was created in 2000. The Honors Program, which had boasted as its biggest advantage the ability to register early for smaller classes, was strengthened by plans for special seminars and research opportunities.

UGA also brought all the programs under one roof, literally, designating the renovated Moore

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Foundation Fellowship 2009-10 freshman profile Average SAT: 1524* Average high school GPA: 4.11 • Serves about 20 entering freshman each year • Annual stipend of $9,000 for in-state students ($14,700 plus out-of- state tuition waiver for non-Georgia students) • Maymester program in Oxford, England, following freshman year • Travel study grants for second, third and fourth years students; up to $6,000 total • Academic and research conference grants up to $1,750 total • Special seminars and book discussions with UGA and visiting professors • Peer mentoring

Bernard Ramsey Honors Scholarship 2009-10 freshman profile Average SAT 1522* Average high school GPA: 4.27 • Serves about 12 entering freshmen each year • Annual stipend of $4,500 for in-state students ($7,200 plus out-of- state tuition waiver for non-Georgia students) • Travel study grants up to $3,000 total

Honors Program 2009-10 freshman profile Average SAT: 1463* Average high school GPA: 4.09 • Serves about 500 entering freshmen each year • Small classes taught by tenured and tenure-track faculty • Research opportunities through the Center for Undergraduate Research Opportunities (CURO) • Study abroad scholarships available up to $5,000 • Opportunity to take graduate level programs, earn master’s degree at same time as bachelor’s degree • Access to professional advisers and priority registration for classes * Math and reading only

College as the home of the Honors Program. The building now houses a library used by Foundation Fellows and Ramsey Scholars, a gathering area for students, advising offices and the Center for Undergraduate Research Opportunities (CURO), which began as a grant-funded program in 1997 designed to introduce undergraduate students to research opportunities with faculty. Housing created a social

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home for the Honors students by designating 250 of the 400 beds in Myers Hall for them. In 2001, UGA launched the Honors in Washington Internship Program, which provides stipends for students to spend the summer in the nation’s capital, working in congressional offices, corporations and nonprofit organizations.

The experiences outside Athens, particularly the international travel,

Honors Program Director David Williams, who himself was in the program as an undergraduate at UGA, chats with students in the Foundation Fellows library in Moore College.

open the world to many students.

“I had never traveled outside the United States,” says Amy Mulkey McGowan (BBA ’01). “It opened my eyes to the world and all that was going on.”

McGowan began UGA as a chemistry major but switched to business once she got into the Fellows program. She went to work for McKensey & Co. in Atlanta after graduation so that she could get a broad perspective of the corporate world.

Two years later, after working briefly for a private equity firm, she went to Harvard for her MBA.

She returned to McKensey after completing the degree. She and husband Trey McGowan, an attorney at Georgia Pacific, are expecting their first child in August.

“For me, it just opened up the possibility of a host of opportunities,” says the Gainesville native.

DOT PAUL

Now a junior, Phillip Mote

had his heart set on becoming a doctor when he entered UGA as a Foundation Fellow and hasn’t veered off course. One internship program had him in Peru for two months doing work with an epidemiologist for the Centers for Disease Control. As part of that program, he shadowed doctors in the naval hospital who were exploring diseases like dengue fever.

“It was a pretty cool experience to do some medical lab work where you have to suit up (in protective gear),” Mote says, adding that he learned a lot of techniques that he might not have understand as easily in a classroom.

Mote helped researchers track the spread of the H1N1 virus on a Navy ship. Through CURO he had done some molecular work at UGA’s Com-

plex Carbohydrate Research Center and so was familiar with some of the antibody techniques used in Peru.

Closer to home, Mote bolstered the MATHCOUNTS program for students at Clarke Middle School. As a middle school student in Marietta, Mote had been active in MATHCOUNTS, a national program designed to heighten students’ interest in math, science and engineering.

At first he went to the school once a week to work with the students. Two years later he and another Foundation Fellow, Betsy Allen, expanded the program to become a campus organization. MATHCOUNTS Outreach now sends about 70 UGA students into eight Athens area middle schools.

“The kids are interested in going beyond what the school has to offer and get excited about math in middle school—excited about learning,” Mote says.

Lyles too is giving back to the Athens community, through an SAT tutoring and mentoring program for minority high school students. Mentors in Christ reaches out to students through the small, predominantly

black churches in the area.

“Just like the Civil Rights Movement,” Lyles says.

Two years into her coursework she has changed her major from microbiology and premed to French and African Studies and can see herself in the field of public health, perhaps in a remote area of the world.

She recalls her Foundation Fellows interview weekend when she met a former student who had returned to India to build a water tower in his hometown.

“I thought, ‘That’s having a real impact,’” she says. “He’s only 22. He’s only a few years older than I am.”

“It’s not important that I’m a doctor. If you can help someone and you’re able to, it’s important to do that.”

GET MORE To learn more about the Foundation Fellows, Ramsey scholars and the Honors Program at UGA, go to www.uga.edu/honors.

To make a gift, contact Dorothe Otemann at (706) 583-0698 or dotemann@uga.edu.

Foundation Fellow Morgann Lyles, a sophomore from Roswell, rehearses her role in “For Colored Girls who have Considered Suicide when the Rainbow is Enuf,” an April play performed by the Black Theatrical Ensemble at UGA. JACKIE REEDY

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The essential

K m Bearden Ask her students—Atlanta’s Ron Clark Academy would not be the same without her

by Allyson Mann (MA ’92)

photos by Andrew Davis Tucker “Bad boys, bad boys, whatcha gonna do?

Whatcha gonna do when they come for you?”

Inner Circle’s reggae song “Bad Boys” blares while a flashing blue light whirls around and around. The woman standing at the front of the room is wearing all black— black cap, black shirt and black pants tucked into black boots. She’s got a whistle around her neck, and her shirt and cap identify her as Police. But this is not a scene from the Fox television show “Cops.” This is Kim Bearden’s fifth-grade classroom. Her students are training to be Grammar Police, with a mission “to serve and correct.”

“What’s it called if I have two things that could be sentences, two independent clauses, and I smush them together, but I only fix it with a comma?” Bearden (BSEd ’87) asks.

“A comma splice!” the class answers.

“It’s called a comma splice, and those are evil and bad and horrible,” she replies.

On the edges of the classroom are about 40 teachers—some from Georgia, others from as far away as Indiana—observing Bearden and her students on this Friday in March. During the next hour they watch as Bearden acts like a traffic cop, using her whistle to lead an exercise that substitutes hand signals for punctuation marks. Three times the class breaks into song, reviewing grammatical concepts like verb conjugations, prepositions and linking verbs using lyrics that Bearden wrote and adapted to popular songs (the song on linking verbs is set to the tune of M.I.A.’s “Paper Planes,” for example). Frequently the students get out of their seats, stomping, hand signaling and dancing. It may seem unusual, but this is pretty much an average day at the Ron Clark Academy, where creativity is not just encouraged—it’s expected.

“Obama on the left, McCain on the right.

We can talk politics all night, and you can vote however you like.

I said, you can vote however you like.”

In February, 20-plus students from the Ron Clark Academy performed on stage at UGA’s Hodgson Hall.

Dressed in navy sweaters, neckties and khaki pants or skirts, they danced while singing the song they wrote—set to the beat and melody of rapper T.I.’s “Whatever You Like”— during the 2008 presidential campaign. After a video of their song was posted on youtube.com, the students got lots of attention: 15 million hits from around the world, visits from CNN, and appearances on “Good Morning Kim Bearden (BSEd ’87) and Ron Clark, co-founders of Atlanta’s Ron Clark Academy, brought 20-plus students to campus in February when Clark delivered UGA’s 25th annual HolmesHunter Lecture.

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Bearden and her students review linking verbs during class while performing a song she wrote to the tune of M.I.A.’s popular “Paper Planes.”

America,” the “Today” show and “ABC World News Tonight.” But they also got negative feedback, including racial slurs, from comments posted by thousands of YouTube users. How they handled the situation was part of Ron Clark’s message, and Bearden—co-founder and executive director of the Ron Clark Academy—came to help him deliver it.

Clark gave UGA’s 25th annual Holmes-Hunter Lecture, a series established to honor Dr. Hamilton Holmes and Charlayne Hunter-Gault, the first black students to enroll at UGA. Clark and Bearden brought the students to demonstrate how they use music and creativity to teach and to share the story of how their students are dealing with issues of race while in the public spotlight. Watching the students smile while performing, it’s difficult to believe that they could inspire negativity in anyone. It’s also difficult to believe that the Ron Clark Academy that produced these students was, 10 short years ago, just a dream shared by two friends.

Kim Bearden and Ron Clark met in Los Angeles in 2000, when both were nominated for Disney’s American Teacher Awards. Bearden had been teaching language arts in Cobb County for 13 years; Clark had begun teach-

ing in North Carolina but moved in 1998 to Harlem to teach in inner-city schools. During the week of workshops and speeches that preceded the awards, Bearden was approached by a group of children who introduced themselves and complimented her use of a fashion show to teach creative writing. They were Clark’s students.

“It was the perfect living example of what we try to create in these students—to teach them to be able to have one-on-one interaction and to be able to ask people questions,” she says. “They made me feel so special, and it was the coolest thing. So immediately I was just so impressed.”

“I thought Kim sparkled,” Clark says of their first meeting. “She was full of life, energy, and she loved to teach. I thought we had a lot in common—we’re both innovative, creative, and we both pour our hearts and our souls into our students and our classrooms, so we just hit it off immediately.”

At the end of the week, Disney honored the creative spark they’d seen in each other—Bearden was named Outstanding Middle School Humanities Teacher and Clark was named American Teacher of the Year. During the next year they had several opportunities to spend time

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Teacher training is one of the primary missions at RCA. Above, teachers attending a “Writing the Blues” workshop express the personal narratives they’ve just crafted.

together, and early on they talked about creating a school, envisioning a two-room building where they would teach all subjects. That was before Oprah.

During a joint appearance on “The Oprah Winfrey Show,” the host suggested that Clark write a book. He took her advice and penned The Essential 55, which outlines his rules for creating a successful learning environment. A subsequent appearance on Oprah’s show helped the book become a New York Times best-seller, bringing in $1 million and making it possible for Clark and Bearden to build their dream school. There was just one problem—Clark was in Harlem and Bearden was in Atlanta. Bearden didn’t want to uproot her family (husband Scotty Bearden, who coaches soccer at RCA, and daughter Madison Stewart, now 20), so Clark moved to Atlanta.

“She was worth me moving my entire life here because she’s just that dynamic. The school would not be the school without her,” Clark says. “She’s the hardest working person I know. She sleeps about four hours a night, and every hour that she’s awake is a valuable hour where she’s going full force, 100 percent ahead for this school.”

“When we begin, we begin together. Parentheses first, now please be clever.

Exponents come right next in line, gonna multiply and divide at the same time.

Now subtraction and addition, walk it out with computation.

It’s the order of operations. It’s the order of operations, -ations, -ations, A, A, plus.”

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This song, set to Rihanna’s smash hit “Umbrella,” is how Clark taught his middle schoolers to do high-school level algebra. Today they sing various parts of the song as they work their way through equations that look daunting.

Clark writes a new equation on the screen and steps up onto the long tables where the students sit. It’s one of his signature moves, and he sings to the tune of a Bonnie Tyler song as he walks down the row: “I need a hero. I’m holding out for a hero in this fifth grade class. You’ve gotta be strong and you’ve gotta be smart, and you’ve gotta be ready to pass.”

Teachers on tables is not actually the most unusual thing at the Ron Clark Academy. That honor goes to the famous Big Blue Slide, a large plastic tunnel that starts on the second floor and shoots sliders out onto the lobby floor.

On the landing of the stairs is a giant scroll featuring the Essential 55 rules, based on Clark’s book, that the students are required to follow. Right next to it is the Great Wheel that determines which of four houses a student is placed in—just like Harry Potter. A local graffiti artist painted the school’s interior, and the classrooms feature colorful murals and, in Bearden’s case, a Volkswagen Beetle painted in psychedelic colors.

Creating this kind of stimulating environment wasn’t cheap. Bearden and Clark spent the $1 million book proceeds and then solicited an additional $2.5 million from donors while renovating the abandoned warehouse in southeast Atlanta they had chosen as the site for their school. They made the school private so they could select particular students they thought would respond to their teaching methods. With every class they choose a wide variety—roughly one-third are high achievers, one-third aren’t living up to their potential and one-third have had no previous academic success before attending RCA. All students are on scholarship, though each pays some tuition based on a sliding scale. And Bearden and Clark decided to focus on middle school, offering grades five through eight.

“Middle school is kind of that forgotten stepchild,” Bearden says. “We weren’t seeing a lot of things that were really happening that were making a difference in middle school students, and that’s kind of where you’re losing kids.

If you wait till that ninth grade year and they’re already thinking about dropping out, it’s a really hard time to intervene.”

The Ron Clark Academy opened its doors in 2007.

In 2006 the TNT network premiered “The Ron Clark Story,” a film version of Clark’s life starring Matthew Perry of “Friends” fame. Though Clark didn’t want the school named after him—“I’m not even dead,” he says—the school’s board of directors outvoted him. Bearden is fine with being in the background.

“It’s a blessing and a curse to have your name on the building,” she says. “Wherever he goes, everywhere he goes, he’s always Ron Clark, so I’m happy to be where I am—the one kind of behind the scenes here.”

Back in class, Clark is still making his way down the tables. He looks down to check on students’ progress and gives encouragement—“Come on, y’all, come on” and “Work it out, darling”—while walking. Sometimes he asks questions of all the students, and sometimes he asks just one. As the student works on the problem, the class is silent until he needs some encouragement: “You got it, Jerry,” followed by applause and drumming. There’s more silence and then a second round of cheers before Jerry gets the answer.

“Is Jerry on?” Clark asks the class.

“Wipe him down!” they reply.

This kind of support is found in all of the classrooms at the Ron Clark Academy.

“That was the first thing Mr. Clark taught us—that we’re all a family, and we have to stand behind each other,” Willie, 13, says. “We love each other very much.”

“We had a wreck this morning on the way here today, I said, we had a wreck this morning on the way to Ron Clark today, We didn’t see the stop light, and that car was in the way!”

This time the visiting teachers are performing, and their song is based on a true story. They’re attending teacher Susan Barnes’ “Writing the Blues” workshop, and they’re onstage—one costumed in a pink feather boa— singing to a blues tune. After working in groups to write lyrics, they’re now expressing their personal narratives in a way they probably never anticipated when they arrived this morning. About 3,000 teachers attend RCA’s training annually, and Bearden and Clark consider it one of the school’s primary missions.

Teachers attending RCA training watch while Clark leads his fifth-graders in a song. Set to Rihanna’s “Umbrella,” the song outlines the order of operations for solving algebraic equations.

ANDREW DAVIS TUCKER

The Cadet Band, shown here in 1908, was a precursor to the Redcoat Band.

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The students are placed into one of four houses after spinning RCA’s Great Wheel. Above, Bearden’s house of Altruismo (“charity” in Portuguese) performs a skit during Friday afternoon house cheers.

“We think educators need opportunities to see each other in action, but this just doesn’t happen. Our model for training is unique, and the response from educators has been overwhelming,” Bearden says.

Trainees observe classes, participate in workshops like the one led by Barnes and learn strategies for bringing creativity into their own classrooms. They also learn about discipline the RCA way—every adult, from founder to janitor, goes through discipline training and has the authority to give consequences if students misbehave.

“On one hand, we are all about manners and discipline and structure and the family environment that we create here—the way that our students interact with each other, the way they lift each other up,” Bearden says. “On the other hand it’s all about passion, excitement, energy, enthusiasm. How do you create a classroom that’s dynamic and full of energy? It’s the blend of those two things that we think has led to the success that we’re able to have.”

Bearden is well known for coming up with innovative ways to teach. For a lesson on descriptive writing, she used dim lights and a smoke machine to transform her classroom into a planet from a different galaxy. She dressed up as an alien, adopted a funny voice and told the students they were stranded on the planet and had to write to NASA for help, using descriptions to communicate their location.

“Oh, I love Mrs. Bearden’s class!” Chi Chi, 13, says.

“She is just so creative. I don’t know how that much creativity can be in one mind. It’s amazing.”

28 JUNE 2010 • GEORGIA MAGAZINE

“I’m starting with the man in the mirror.

I’m asking him to change his ways.

And no message could’ve been any clearer.

If you want to make the world a better place, take a look at yourself and make a change.”

It’s the end of the day, and the students are performing again, this time in the lobby of the Ron Clark Academy. In a few minutes, the teachers who attended today’s training seminar will ascend the stairs, enter the Big Blue Slide, whoosh out onto the lobby floor and then receive a sticker that labels them as Slide Certified. But at the moment, they’re listening as 14-year-old Jordan sings lead, even imitating Michael Jackson’s repeated “Whoo!” Performers and audience are only a few feet away from each other, but despite the close scrutiny the kids aren’t nervous.

“They do away with that quickly,” says Charline Avril.

“It’s pretty much necessary. And it becomes routine—being on stage, speaking in public, talking to adults in an interview format. So now it’s pretty much second nature.”

Avril witnessed this change in her son, Osei, 14, who was shy when he started sixth grade at RCA but now takes everything in stride—singing and dancing for an audience, giving interviews on CNN and traveling the world. In a few hours, Osei and the other eighth graders will depart with their teachers for South Africa, where they’ll visit orphanages and the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls. This year the eighth grade will also visit Australia,

and the lower grades will travel as well: seventh to Greece and Rome, sixth to London and Paris and fifth to New York and Washington, D.C. By the time students graduate from the Ron Clark Academy, they will have visited six continents in four years.

Travel and public performances can sometimes make it difficult to fit in academics, but somehow they make it work. Bearden and Clark share a philosophy of teaching to their top students, using motivational tools and creative strategies to help the others reach the highest level. Avril remembers one particular assignment—the students had to draw the world map from memory.

“Mr. Clark gave them what seemed to be an impossible assignment, but I guess he just knows,” Avril says. “They actually were able to deliver.”

Chi Chi remembers her presentation on ancient Egypt.

“My idea was just so extreme and so out of the box, but I told it to Mr. Clark, and he was like, ‘I want you to do better. I want you to do more,’” she says. “So I really had to think on it. He challenges you—he really does.”

Despite the hard work, the kids love the place. Chi Chi is part of RCA’s first class that graduates this spring—when she saw graduation on the school calendar, her reaction was “Nooooo!” She and 50 other students signed a petition requesting that RCA start a high school. Their devotion is understandable since RCA functions like an extended family, with students able to call, text or e-mail their teachers at any time. Bearden takes students out to celebrate birthdays and hosts an annual New Year’s Eve sleepover at her house.

“It’s just another way for us to connect with her, and that makes her class even more fun because now we know how she lives and what she does and what her house looks like,” Robin, 10, says. “Because you know you wonder that about teachers sometimes, but they don’t really invite you over.”

“Mrs. Bearden is like the mother, really,” Ahjanae, 14, says. “Everyone goes to her—the girls talk to her about problems, the boys talk to her about what they’re dealing with. Mrs. Bearden has always been there for us, from the very beginning. She just gets us. She feels us.”

Bearden’s eyes get teary when she talks about Ahjanae.

“I still remember when she came in for her interview in a little pink sweatsuit and pigtails, and she was about yea high,” she says. “Very special girl.”

Next year Ahjanae will be attending a boarding school in Connecticut, with a full scholarship that covers tuition, travel expenses and spending money. And Bearden had a hand in it—she’s spent the previous weeks talking to the school’s admissions director and sending video of Ahjanae talking about her family. When the call about the scholarship came, Bearden immediately ran down the hall and into Ahjanae’s classroom, handing her the phone.

“They told her, and she hit the floor,” Bearden says.

“Immediately, every kid in the room was crying and standing up and cheering because they’re so happy for her.”

Going above and beyond—that’s one reason why Bearden receives Mother’s Day cards from her students.

“I really love her. She’s great. I’m going to miss her a lot,” Ahjanae says. “She’s just… there is no other Mrs. Bearden. There will never be.”

Clark agrees.

“They just love her to death,” he says. “She’s just the most wonderful person. Like I said at the lecture, she’s the best person I know. And I know a lot of people.

I know Oprah.” GM GET MORE Ron Clark Academy www.ronclarkacademy.com Ron Clark’s 2010 Holmes-Hunter Lecture Download video at http://itunes.uga.edu

Hugs are common at RCA, where students and faculty function like an extended family. “I have a daughter, and she’s my heart and soul,” Bearden says. “But I feel like these are my kids too.”

GEORGIA MAGAZINE • JUNE 2010

29

teaching the

teachers

Clarke County’s first professional development school is providing new opportunities for student teachers at UGA

by Jackie Reedy (ABJ ’10)

photos by Andrew Davis Tucker

30 30 JUNE JUNE 2010 2010 •• GEORGIA GEORGIA MAGAZINE MAGAZINE

Senior Jordan Smith of Albany talks with the students at her table during a science lesson at J.J. Harris Elementary School.

GEORGIA GEORGIAMAGAZINE MAGAZINE •• JUNE JUNE2010 2010

31 31

T

Janna Dresden, director of the Office of School Engagement for the College of Education, takes questions from UGA students before they begin a morning science program for second graders.

Junior Sarah Waldroup of Roswell, left, shows animal pictures to (clockwise from left) Pedro Alvear, Jamal Jones, Jacob Kitchens, Evelyn Portillo, Luis Campuza and Marilyn Alvear. Junior Tiffany Wagner of Buford observes the students’ reactions to the pictures.

he bustling second-graders line up at their classroom

doors and wait impatiently to go into the hallway. At 10 a.m. sharp, their teachers count off six students at a time and guide them to one of the nine half-moon-shaped tables set up in the hall. At each table, smiling University of Georgia student teachers anticipate their arrival.

“How is everyone doing this morning?” asks Jordan Smith, 22, an early childhood education major from Albany, as a group of boys approaches her table and settles into child-size seats. She holds up a tiny green figurine and asks them to tell her what it is. One child, barely above a whisper, says it is a fish. Another child more confidently insists it is a tadpole.

“What if I tell you it is a baby animal?” Smith asks them. “Do you want to change any of your predictions?”

The boys stick to their original hypotheses. Smith pulls out a piece of paper with the word “amphibian” on it and tapes it to the top of a poster board chart.

On this day in March, 30 students from UGA’s College of Education are at Judia Jackson Harris Elementary School in Athens teaching science to second-grade students. It is part of a broader collaborative project that brings UGA students into the school for more hands-on experience earlier in the teacher education program. The UGA students even take classes at the elementary school—twice a week they meet in a classroom for courses in science and early childhood methods.

“The idea is that having the students walk in the door of the elementary school on a weekly basis helps with the transition from student to teacher,” says Janna Dresden, director of the College of Education Office of School Engagement.

J.J. Harris Elementary School opened in August 2009 as the first professional development school (PDS) in Clarke County. A public school, its administration works in conjunction with the College of Education to improve the K-12 experience. Having the UGA students lowers the adult-to-child ratio, giving children more individualized attention. The UGA students have the benefit of working with the children without the distraction of other duties that teachers perform.

“We get to work with small groups of children for a short period of time without having to worry about those big events that affect a teacher’s curriculum, such as taking the kids to lunch or P.E. class,” Smith says. “This is a compact way for us examine our teaching styles and form personal ties with the children.”

The UGA students meet Monday and Wednesday mornings at J.J. Harris for the two UGA courses. They

32 JUNE 2010 • GEORGIA MAGAZINE

Junior Jon Carter, left, and senior Becky Fair use a potted plant during their science lesson with (left to right) Sakaiah Browner, Angel Arriaga and Daniel Teran-Salazar.

sometimes interact with elementary school students—such as when Smith taught the boys about amphibians. On Thursdays and Fridays, they apply what they learned to their field placements at other schools in counties across Georgia.

“I actually get excited to go to class when I know I’m going to have the opportunity to work with kids,” says Jon Carter, 22, an early childhood education major from Conyers. “You can read books on education to understand what educators are supposed to do, but you can’t know how to be a teacher until you’re in front of the children.”

The PDS partnership also provides professional learning experiences for teachers at J.J. Harris and professors at UGA. The K-12 teachers, who work with children on a daily basis, help UGA professors understand from a practical standpoint what does and does not work in an elementary school classroom. The professors share techniques and programs that are working at other schools in the nation and suggest new ideas to improve education in Clarke County.

“What do tadpoles do in the lake?” Smith asks with a warm and engaging laugh. She clasps her hands together and wiggles them through the air. The boys giggle to each other. Carter is the observing UGA student for Smith’s group and watches with hidden concentration as one child sounds out and writes the word “gills” on a yellow Post-it to place on the chart.

“Let’s say ‘lungs’ and ‘land’ together, and remember

that ‘L’ sound,” Smith says, rolling her tongue and reminding the students that frogs breathe on land through their lungs. Her supporting student teacher Becky Fair, 21, an early childhood development major from Augusta, passes out worksheets and colored pencils for the boys to make their own charts of the amphibian’s life cycle.

The science lessons last 15 minutes, and with each rotation university students switch roles as the lead and observing teacher. The students meet to debrief one another on the activity immediately following the rotations, while the experiences are still fresh.

The students at J.J. Harris are among the poorest in Clarke County, with 99 percent of them qualifying for free or reduced-price meals. In 2008 a steering committee of administrators from the College of Education and the Clarke County School District began discussing a school-university partnership to meet the community’s needs.

“The College of Education feels an obligation to the people who physically surround the university,” says Lew Allen, the school’s professional development liaison. The PDS partnership aims to give K-12 students the skills and attitudes they need to be successful and improve their chances of overcoming poverty. And exposing children to UGA students might encourage them to consider higher education as a possibility.

GEORGIA MAGAZINE • JUNE 2010

33

Senior Rachel Flueckiger, a student teacher at J.J. Harris, reads a story to her second-grade class.

While it is too early to determine the success of the programs at J.J. Harris, a 2008 report by the National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future showed schools in a Georgia State University PDS program had higher teacher retention and student pass rates than traditional schools.

“We are training students and putting them in authentic environments earlier in the teacher education program, giving them more experiences in classrooms than we have done previously,” says Julie Kittleson, a science education professor at the University of Georgia.

As they round out their first academic year, College of Education and J.J. Harris administrators plan to continue building strong community relationships and providing UGA students more opportunities to work with children in targeted ways across all content courses—math, science, reading and writing.

“The PDS school is about inquiring together about children and how they are learning,” says Stephanie Jones, an associate professor in the College of Education’s department of elementary and social studies education. “We want to make their experiences more positive and better.” GM

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Nominate a Business Nominations for the 2011 Bulldog 100: Fastest Growing Bulldog Businesses will be accepted until June 30th. To view the criteria and nominate a business, visit www.uga.edu/alumni/bulldog100.

Celebrate Success Congratulations to all businesses honored as the 2010 Bulldog 100.

See the full list online at www.uga.edu/alumni/bulldog100.

Greg Hitson ’94 (L) of Hitson Land & Timber Management, the #1 ranked business of the 2010 Bulldog 100, with UGA President Michael F. Adams (R).

www.uga.edu/alumni/bulldog100 GEORGIA MAGAZINE • JUNE 2010

35

NOTES CLASS

The Tumornator

SPECIAL

On March 7, Chad Leathers (BFA ’07) completed the 2010 Antarctica Marathon, which raised more than $250,000 for neurofibromatosis research, in 6 hours and 20 minutes. His team of 11 slogged through rains, 45-mph winds and peanut butter-like frozen mud in the 30-degree, summertime weather. Leathers’ brother, Drew, has a rare form of NF that has made him a paraplegic. Leathers compares the marathon, which he calls “26 miles of hell,” to Drew’s battle with NF. Chad created the Tumornators fundraising team with brother Ben (BS ’08) to promote awareness about NF research.

Compiled by Jackie Reedy and Paige Varner

1945–1949

Ross Gatlin (BSF ’49) and Isabelle Gatlin (BSHE ’48) of Albany celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary on March 21. The Gatlins have three children, nine grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.

1955–1959

James “Jim” William Garrett (BBA ’57) of Carrollton is retiring from the Garrett Stephens Thomas & Fazio accounting firm after 50 years. William “Billy” Douglas Dilworth (M ’59) re-

36 JUNE 2010 • GEORGIA MAGAZINE

tired from WNEG-TV after more than 50 years in print, radio and television journalism, including nearly 20 years as host of “The Billy Dilworth Show.”

1960–1964

Edwin “Ed” Lane III (ABJ ’64) is the chief executive officer and publisher of Lane Communications Group, which publishes business and economic news magazines in Kentucky. Its flagship magazine, The Lane Report, is celebrating its 25th anniversary. Lane is a threeterm elected member of the Lexington, Ky., city council and serves as vicechair of the city’s budget and finance committee.

1965–1969

Judith Jarman Morgan (BS ’65, MEd ’68) is an IRS-certified tax counselor for the elderly and a volunteer in AARP’s Tax-Aide program. Morgan is a retired Towers Perrin principal and member of the firm’s board of directors. Mary Laraine “Larry” Young Hines (AB ’68) of Raleigh, N.C., is the chair of UGA’s Franklin College of Arts and Sciences Dean’s Council.

1970–1974

John T. Baggett (BBA ’71) is clerk/ treasurer for Woodruff, S.C. Baggett spent 30 years working in a variety of financial functions for Kemet Corpora-

ALUMNI PROFILE tion, an electronic components manufacturer. Robert Joseph “Joe” Hamilton (BSFR ’71, MS ’78) of Walterboro, S.C., is South Carolina’s Wildlife Conservationist of the Year. In 1979, Hamilton joined the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources as a deer research biologist, then founded the Quality Deer Management Association. Robert A. “Andy” Stancil (AB ’71) received the Accredited Land Consultant designation of the Realtors Land Institute. Stancil is a broker with United Country-Johnson Realty in Wilkesboro, N.C. Bernadette “Berney” Bacon Kirkland (ABJ ’74), chief of staff of Gwinnett County public schools, received the Public Service Award for her work in the county and her commitment to the schools. Dr. Henry M. Patton Jr. (BS ’74) of Covington is chairman of the newly formed Advisory Council for Public Health in the Georgia Department of Community Health. Patton is an attending physician at Newton Medical Center, clinical associate professor of medicine at the Medical College of Georgia and president of Newton Medical Associates.

1975–1979

Walter W. Kelley (AB ’75), bankruptcy attorney for Kelley, Lovett & Blakey, P.C. in Albany, accepted the award for his law firm’s being named to the first class of the Bulldog 100, which honors the fastest-growing businesses in the state owned or operated by UGA alumni. Cynthia Allen Smith (AB ’75, JD ’78) is the chief development officer of Eckerd Youth Alternatives, a Clearwater, Fla.-based provider of service for at-risk and vulnerable youth. James “Jimmy” Lindsey (AB ’76) of Albany is the senior vice president of human resources and marketing at Community Capital Bancshares and its subsidiary AB&T National Bank. Rear Adm. David Anderson (AB ’77) of Virginia Beach, Va., retired from the Navy after 30 years. Bonnie Arnold (ABJ ’77) of Los Angeles was a producer of the

Preserving lives Long a supporter of historic preservation, Sheffield Hale now helps the American Cancer Society save lives

by Caroline Hubbard Wilbert (ABJ ’94)

Even before he was chief counsel for the American Cancer Society, Sheffield Hale was involved in the nonprofit world.

“It is my hobby,” says Hale (AB ’82), who earned his law degree from the University of Virginia.

“Other people golf. I go to board SPECIAL meetings. ” SHEFFIELD HALE

Hale cut his nonprofit teeth on historic preservation. (He was a history major at UGA and has particularly fond memories of studying with—and renting a house from—professor Phinizy Spalding.) He is past chairman of the Atlanta Historical Society, past chairman of the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation, a trustee of the Fox Theatre and a former member of the Board of Curators of the Georgia Historical Society. In January 2011 he will join the board of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

He enjoys being an activist.

“We get to revitalize communities and save buildings,” he says. “And there is an environmental component. The most sustainable buildings are the ones you already have.”

Outside of preservation, his volunteer work includes serving on the board of trustees for the Arch Foundation at UGA, which raises money for the flagship university. This year he is vice chair of that board.

Because of Hale’s interest in nonprofits, a friend approached him eight years ago about an American Cancer Society job. At the time, Hale was a partner in the corporate group at Kilpatrick Stockton.

Since making the switch, Hale has brought a passion for applying corporate best practices to the nonprofit world. As an example, he is working to establish new metrics that the American Cancer Society can use to chart progress and to share that progress with stakeholders.

He has had a lot to learn, he says, including parts of the law (such as tax law, employment law and litigation) and how to work in a nonprofit culture. He also manages a team of 40 people.

That steep learning curve is his favorite part of the job.

“Something new comes across my desk every day,” he says. “I still have a lot of intellectual stimulation.”

Hale lives with his wife Elizabeth in Buckhead, not far from where he grew up, and has three sons, ages 16, 18 and 20.

—Caroline Hubbard Wilbert is a writer living in Atlanta.

GEORGIA MAGAZINE • JUNE 2010

37

CLASSNOTES

As your Alumni Association president, the spring semester is a great time to re-connect with loyal UGA graduates attending the annual alumni awards luncheon and also to welcome students to alumni membership as their degrees are conferred at commencement. These activities for me reaffirm why it’s great to be a Georgia Bulldog.

This year’s spring commencement was an evening ceremony at Sanford Stadium featuring remarks

by Food Network’s Alton Brown (’04) and concluding with a spectacular fireworks display. For the students, Vic Sullivan it was an exciting way to begin their time as UGA alumni. Earlier in the spring, it was my pleasure to emcee our annual alumni awards ceremony, as the Association honored four with special ties to UGA. Atlanta businessman John McMullan (’58, ’60) received our Alumni Merit Award; the Watson-Brown Foundation was honored as our Friend of UGA; Craig and Diana Barrow (both ’65) were recognized as the UGA Family of the Year; and former UGA provost Arnett Mace was our Faculty Service Award recipient.

Congratulations to all. It also was great to recognize Athens entrepreneur C. L. Morehead (BSA ’50) with a special Board of Regents Hall of Fame Alumni Award.

Our alumni association has so much of which we are proud and our programs and outreach to our 260,000 UGA graduates are expanding every year.

As graduates and friends, we are called to serve our university and advance its mission. Now more than ever, UGA needs your support of the university’s annual Georgia Fund, which benefits today’s students through academic support and also yesterday’s students through the alumni association. It’s through your annual gifts that we’re able to support scholarships, faculty positions and alumni programming.

Renew your support of UGA in this, our University’s 225th year, by making an annual fund contribution. By doing so, you will make the work of the alumni association more successful, and you will help UGA students for generations to come.

—Vic Sullivan (BBA ’80), president UGA Alumni Association

UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA ALUMNI ASSOCIATION Deborah Dietzler, Executive Director ALUMNI ASSOCIATION OFFICERS Vic Sullivan BBA ’80 President, Albany Steve Jones BBA ’78, JD ’87 Vice President, Athens Tim Keadle BBA ’78 Treasurer, Lilburn Ruth Bartlett BBA ’76 Asst. Treasurer, Atlanta Harriette Bohannon BSFCS ’74 Secretary, Augusta Trey Paris BBA ’84, MBA ’85 Immediate Past President, Gainesville

38 JUNE 2010 • GEORGIA MAGAZINE

ALUMNI ASSOCIATION WEB SITE www.uga.edu/alumni 800/606-8786 or 706/542-2251 To receive a monthly e-newsletter, enroll at: www.uga.edu/alumni ADDRESS CHANGES E-mail records@uga.edu or call 888/268-5442

2010 animated film “How to Train Your Dragon,” based on the children’s book

by Cressida Cowell. Vincent “Vince” Alan Taylor (BSFR ’77) retired last year as state park manager with 32 years with the Georgia Department of Natural Resources. Richard D. “Rick” Doherty (BBA ’78), president of Doherty, Duggan & Rouse Insurors in Albany, accepted the award for his agency’s being named to the first class of the Bulldog 100, which honors the fastest-growing businesses in the state owned or operated by UGA alumni.

Philip M. Goldstein (BBA ’78) is serving his ninth term as Ward 7 Councilman of the Marietta City Council, a position he has held for 30 years. Goldstein is the longest serving municipal elected official in Marietta’s history. David Gregg Jennings (BSFR ’79) was appointed to the Washington state Fish and Wildlife Commission and will establish policies and regulations to preserve and protect fish and wildlife in the natural habitat.

Jennings currently works at the Washington State Department of Health in the Environmental Health Division.

Stelling to head Synovus University System of Georgia Regent and UGA alumnus Kessel Stelling (BBA ’78) is the new president and CEO of Synovus Financial Corp. Stelling previously was president and CEO of Bank of North Georgia, a Synovus subsidiary. He was named to his first seven-year term on the Board of Regents in January 2008.

1980–1984

Rep. Jan Jones (ABJ ’80) of Alpharetta is the first female speaker pro tempore of the Georgia House of Representatives.

Robert M. Rohr (AB ’80) was admitted to practice law in Albuquerque, N.M. Rohr works in tribal administration for the Pueblo of Jemez in northern New Mexico. Warren Cole Smith (ABJ ’80, MA ’85) of Charlotte, N.C., is the as-

ALUMNI calendar sociate publisher of WORLD Magazine, a Christian news magazine. He also contributed a chapter to Calvin and the Vocations, a book in the Calvin 500 series celebrating John Calvin’s 500th birthday. Catherine “Cathy” Duckworth Dial (BSEd ’81) of Gainesville, Ga., was named the Gifted Program Teacher of the Year by the Georgia Association for Gifted Children. Herman Todd Holbrook (BSFR ’81) is the deputy commissioner of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources. Holbrook oversees the DNR’s six divisions. Joseph “Joe” Dean Parsons (BSFR ’81, MBA ’82) is the procurement manager for Graphic Packaging in Macon. Douglas W. Brown (BS ’83) of Columbus is second vice president of Application Services for Aflac’s IT department. Shawn Ellen LaGrua (AB ’84) was appointed to the Superior Court for the Atlanta Judicial Circuit by Gov. Sonny Perdue. She previously served as the inspector-general for the Georgia secretary of state’s office.

Eric Negley (BS ’84) of Suwanee won a bronze medal at Boston’s U.S. Masters Indoor Track and Field Championship in the pole vault in his age division, with a vault clearance of 3.6 meters, or 11 feet, 9.75 inches. Negley placed 10th in the championship rankings in the M45 pole vault for the 2010 indoor season. Negley also won a silver medal at the World Masters Championship in Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada, with a vault clearance of 3.66 meters, or 12 feet.

Thursday, June 3, July 1, August 5, 5:30 p.m.

Midlands, S.C. Chapter–Bulldogs After Business Hours At 5:30 p.m. on the first Thursday of each month Georgia alumni gather at the Thirsty Fellow located at 621 Gadsden Street in Columbia.

Thursday, June 3, July 1, August 5, 5:30 p.m.

Boston—Bulldogs After Business Hours Join fellow UGA alumni and friends the first Thursday of every month at Clery’s.

Saturday, June 5, 12:30 p.m.

1st Annual SEC Rivalry Golf Tournament, Washington D.C. Grab your clubs, put on your best red and black and join the DC Dawgs in a battle against the Metro Washington Auburn Alumni Club for supremacy on the golf course.

Wednesday, June 9, 11 a.m. - 3 p.m.

UGA Alumni Career Fair Register to attend the only career fair EXCLUSIVELY for UGA graduates. This year’s fair will be held at the Gwinnett Center Ballroom. For more information, please contact Nicole Lechene at nlechene@uga.edu.

Thursday, June 17, July 15, August 19, 6 p.m.

Bulldogs After Business Hours—Augusta Chapter Mingle with fellow UGA alumni and friends after a hard day at work at Indigo Joe’s Sports Pub & Restaurant.

For more information: Athens area events.............Wanda Darden at wdarden@uga.edu or (706) 542-2251 Student programs...............Julie Cheney at jcheney@uga.edu or (706) 542-2251 Atlanta programs................Meredith Carr at mcarr@uga.edu or (404) 814-8820 Chapters and clubs.............Tami Gardner at tgardner@uga.edu or (706) 542-2251

To learn more about the UGA Alumni Association or find a chapter or club in your area, go to

1985–1989

Michael Morgan Smith (AB ’86) and John Christopher Clark opened Clark & Smith Law Firm LLC in Macon. Brian Kemp (BSA ’87), an Athens native and former Georgia state senator, is Gov. Sonny Perdue’s appointee for secretary of state. Aprille Carol Williams (AB ’87), the media specialist at Russell Middle School in Winder, received a grant from Sonic for a project called “You Be a Film Maker – Digital Storytelling,” which she submitted to Sonic during its Limeades for Learning project. Sonic donated more

www.uga.edu/alumni.

than $500 in video editing software to be used in the school’s media center and new Windstream Computer Lab. William “Bill” Scott Goldberg (M ’89), the semiretired professional wrestler, was a contestant on “The Celebrity Apprentice 3.”

1990–1994

Eric Baker (ABJ ’90) of Orlando, Fla.,

is the decorator and prop manager for The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios, which opens June 18.

Jeanna Childers (BSFR ’90) is the state forester for the Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service center in Temple, Texas. Freeman Elliott (AB ’90) of Newnan is the vice president of the Atlantic Division

GEORGIA MAGAZINE • JUNE 2010

39

CLASSNOTES ALUMNI PROFILE

He’s number one Alumnus Evan Glazer’s public high school is consistently ranked tops in the nation

by Genevieve di Leonardo

Evan Glazer went to college to become a physicist. Or so he SPECIAL thought. He soon discovered an Principal Evan Glazer congratulates a winenthusiasm for helping people ning student at the 2008 Thomas Jefferson learn that led him to pursue a High School Science Fair. career in teaching.

Now, a decade later, Glazer (PhD ’03) is still helping people learn, but these days it’s as principal of the top ranked high school in the nation.

For the past three years, Glazer’s Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Alexandria, Va., has been ranked by U.S. News & World Report as the best in the nation in terms of education provided and student test scores from among more than 21,000 American public high schools.

Glazer, who earned his doctorate in instructional technology from the College of Education, attributes his school’s success to its values of critical inquiry and research, problem solving, intellectual curiosity and social responsibility.

“None of our students have the same passion, but having a passion is widely accepted and embraced,” Glazer says.

A public school, Thomas Jefferson receives about $13,000 per student from the state and raises an additional $1 million dollars each year, most of which is used to purchase research equipment.

The school’s curriculum is designed to challenge students, Glazer says.

Course offerings that include DNA science, neurology and quantum physics would seem to be more than enough to accomplish that goal.

But in addition students and faculty are exploring social responsibility through projects of their own design, ranging from getting school supplies for students with cerebral palsy in Shanghai to persuading their classmates to use handkerchiefs to reduce paper waste.

The students at Thomas Jefferson are driven, balancing a full academic load in addition to participating in more than 75 different activities each week.

Each student is required to complete a senior-year science and technology project in a specialized field, such as neuroscience or analytical chemistry.

“I think the fundamental role in a successful curriculum is to make sure the courses and experiences are engaging, challenging and nurture students’ curiosity to want to learn more,” he says.

Inspired by his mother, who volunteered in public schools while working two jobs, Glazer developed an appreciation for service as well as a passion for learning. He earned his bachelor’s degree in mathematics and a master’s in mathematics education from the University of Illinois, and then taught for five years in a suburban Illinois high school before coming to UGA.

“While completing my Ph.D., I pursued a variety of options and through the interview process, I fell in love with idea of serving as a leader of a high school that supports student research in science and technology,” says Glazer. “I think I missed being in a high school, so this opportunity gave me the best of both worlds—being with adolescents and being immersed in a culture of research.”

—Genevieve di Leonardo is a master’s degree student in advertising.

40 JUNE 2010 • GEORGIA MAGAZINE

of Orkin Pest Control LLC. Mitchel “Mitch” Hires (AB ’90) was elected to the Artisan Group board of directors for a two-year term. Hires is also the co-owner of Decatur-based Construction Resources Inc. Laura Hancock (BBA ’91) is the senior vice president and chief financial officer at Community Capital Bancshares and its subsidiary AB&T National Bank. Edward Lamont Tarlton (BLA ’91) received the 2010 Buck Weirus Spirit Award, which recognizes exemplary students who create positive experiences throughout the Texas A&M University community and participate in student organizations. Lisa Jarrett Vogt (BSEd ’92) opened The Dawg House Grooming & Gifts on Milledge Avenue, offering professional dog grooming and styling with spa apparel, collars, bandanas, leashes and more. Tim Zech (BSA ’92) of Canton is the new president of United Turf Alliance LLC, a consortium of major turf distributors marketing the ArmorTech product line to golf course superintendents and other turf maintenance professionals. Tommy Byrnes (BBA ’93) is the president of the Memphis Area Home Builders Association for 2010. Lorrie Ward Conglose (BBA ’94) founded the Vastu School of Yoga in Athens.

1995–1999

Ivy Hall (ABJ ’95) appeared on CBS Atlanta’s “Better Mornings Atlanta” on March 15 to publicize Initials Inc., the Clarkesville-based national home party planning company she co-founded.

Lamar Perry (AB ’95), a former walk-on wide receiver for the Bulldogs, is the new Scout executive of the Northwest Georgia Council for the Boy Scouts of America. Dr. Kristen Cone Feldman (BS ’96), her husband, Zach, and their son, Sam, welcomed Susanna Claire, who was born Nov. 21. Michael Kirkland (AB ’96), an assistant professor of history in the Bainbridge College Division of Arts and Sciences and Iron City resident, earned his Ph.D. with distinc-

tion from Florida State University. Jennifer “Jenny” Orr Spain (BSEd ’96), a fifth grade teacher at Sixes Elementary School in Canton, was inducted into the Hall of Fame at Seminole High School in Seminole, Fla., for being a conference and district champion diver on the swim team all four years of high school and for earning All-America status for three years. Michael L. Benner (BBA ’97) of Atlanta is an account executive in the Employee Benefits Department of Pritchard & Jerden Inc. Benner has 11 years of experience in the insurance industry. Prior to Pritchard & Jerden, Benner was vice president for BB&T Insurance Services Inc. Dr. Jeffery R. Singleton (BS ’97) is a Fellow of the Pierre Fauchard Academy, an international dental honor organization promoting professionalism, integrity and ethics. Amy Tapley (ABJ ’97) of Duluth is an account executive at Fresh Air Business Promotions in Hilton Head, S.C. Robert Alexander Williams (ABJ ’97) received a 2010 Award of Excellence from the Council for Advancement and Support of Education – District III for a virtual tour he designed with his communications staff at Asheville School in Asheville, N.C. In addition, Williams’ alternative country band, Peach League, released its debut CD, “Whatever I’m Chasin,’” which is available at cdbaby. com/peachleague. Nicole “Nicki” M. Hendrix (AB ’98) is a director of major gifts on Penn State’s College of the Liberal Arts development staff. Hendrix previously was the assistant director of corporate and foundation relations at UGA. Dr. Alan Russell Redding (AB ’98) opened a medical practice in Atlanta after completing a fellowship at the University of Tennessee Medical School.

Redding is certified by the American Board of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology. William Lee Rogers III (BBA ’98) is the Young Man of the Year, an annual award given by the Gainesville (Ga.) Jaycees. Rogers received the award for his many community involvements. Paul

A. Faletti Jr. (BBA ’99) is the president and chief executive officer for NCM Associates Inc., a firm that offers training and consultation to auto dealers. He has held domestic and international executive management positions with Maserati North America, BMW of North America LLC and Jaguar Cars North America.

2000–2004

Michael Clifford Conley (ABJ ’00) of Sharpsburg is the senior manager of marketing communications and distributor relations with CeloNova BioSciences.

Matt Pollard (BBA ’00) of Marietta is the director of advisory services for Forsythe Solutions Group and was highlighted in the March edition of Enterprise IT Planet. Leslie Grove (BS ’01), an application programmer at the School of Law and Summerville, S.C., native, is the 2009 Emma P. Terrell Employee of the Year. Cody Hale (BSFR ’02) won the $10,000 Horton Research Grant from the American Geophysical Union for the best proposal in hydrology. Hale is currently a Ph.D. student in water resources science at Oregon State University. Jon Stinchcomb (BS ’02), who is the New Orleans Saints offensive tackle, and Ali Stinchcomb (BSEd ’02, MEd ’04) welcomed their first child, Mason Andrew, on Jan. 19. Emily Anne Campbell (ABJ ’03) and Lewis Bryant Campbell III (BSA ’03) of Bluffton, S.C., welcomed their daughter Ella Hope on Dec. 10.

Ella weighed 5 pounds, 7 ounces and measured 18.5 inches. Lewis is a grain broker with Palmetto Grain Brokerage.

Christopher E. George (AB ’03) was appointed commander of Charlie Company, Ninth Engineer Battalion (Combat). George has served as a platoon leader and operations officer in Iraq. He has won multiple awards and decorations for his service. Mary Elizabeth Hobby (ABJ ’03, AB ’03) of Albany is the vice president of HeritageBank of the South, a promotion from marketing director. Amy M. Taylor (BSFR

’03) was elected to the Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources Young Alumni Committee. William Roderick “Rick” Gammon III (BLA ’04) is owner and president of the Evergreen Outdoor Group, a turnkey landscape contractor in Bluffton, S.C. Christopher Konke (AB ’04) is an intelligence research specialist with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection in Washington, D.C., an agency in the Department of Homeland Security. Parvati Shallow (ABJ ’04), now a three-time “Survivor” series contestant, is a “villain” on “Survivor: Heroes and Villains.” Shallow won $1 million in “Survivor: Micronesia – Fans vs. Favorites” in 2008 and placed sixth in “Survivor: Cook Islands” in 2006.

2005 – 2009

Michael Hall (ABJ ’05) of Lawrenceville and Anna Ferguson (ABJ ’05) of St. Simons Island will marry on June 17. The

GEORGIA MAGAZINE • JUNE 2010

41

CLASSNOTES

ALUMNI PROFILE

All the president’s kids Alumnus Sally Selby has had a hand in educating several children of U.S. presidents and vice presidents

by Paige Varner

To the students and teachers at Sidwell Friends Middle School, Malia Obama is just another sixth grader, says Principal Sally Selby. Then again, to Selby (BSEd ’75) President Obama’s daughter is just another student who claims 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. as home.

SPECIAL

In Selby’s 26 years at Sidwell Friends SALLY SELBY in Washington, D.C., numerous children of presidents and vice presidents—Chelsea Clinton, Albert Gore III and Finnegan Biden in addition to Malia Obama—have walked the private Quaker school’s hallways.

Today, Selby oversees 350 students at the middle school and attributes the school’s academic rigor and values as to why the school is special.

“It’s rooted in Quaker values, and it does make a difference,” she says. “It gives us a way to ask the best of our kids, not only as students, but as people.”

Nearly 130 years old, Sidwell Friends believes that there is “that of God” in each person, providing a reason to be kind to others, use talents for others’ benefit and strive for peace.

Malia and the rest of her class participated in community service every other Friday afternoon. In the spring, they helped the recycling program at Sidwell Friends and cleaned the campus and a nearby neighborhood.

The school also promotes an understanding of diversity—about 40 percent of the students are not white—and stresses empathy, equity and social justice in age-appropriate ways. Middle school students present what they have learned to the lower school in Bethesda, Md., where Sasha Obama is in third grade.

Students attend a weekly silent worship service, though students are encouraged to speak if they want. In addition, when school starts at 8 a.m., students spend five minutes in silence.

“It’s a Quaker practice,” Selby says. “It’s just the idea of centering so that you start the day sort of more focused and calmer.”

The middle school tuition is about $30,000, and about 23 percent of the students, including lower, middle and upper schools, receive need-based financial aid.

Many of Selby’s family members live in Gainesville, Ga., but her ties to UGA reach back to before she attended in the ’70s. Selby’s grandfather, Jonathan Rogers, was president of the university from 1949 to 1950, and her mother, Katherine Rogers Williams (AB ’33), taught in the School of Social Work when it opened.

Selby received her English education degree from UGA and chose Sidwell Friends initially because it was where she could find a job.

After being an English teacher and assistant principal, Selby became principal six years ago.

Although she says she cannot divulge any fun facts about the president’s daughter, Selby recognizes the curiosity surrounding Malia.

“It’s wonderful, and we’re so glad to have her.”

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two met while Hall was a photographer and Ferguson was a reporter for the Brunswick News. Hall is the communications coordinator for Padgett Business Services in Athens, and Ferguson is a journalism graduate student at UGA and a freelance writer. Grant Harvey (BSFR ’05) married Rachel Louise McCarthy on May 2, 2009. Augusto Michael Trujillo (ABJ ’05, AB ’05) is the communications specialist for Parish & Social Justice Ministries for Catholic Charities Atlanta. Lauren Ashley Irving (AB ’06) is the broadcast traffic coordinator in the creative department of St. John & Partners, the largest independent general market advertising agency headquartered in Florida. Andrew Dortch Oldham (AB ’06, AB ’06) joined the law firm Miller & Martin PLLC in Nashville, Tenn., in the corporate department, focusing primarily on mergers and acquisitions, securities, and general corporate law. Oldham graduated summa cum laude from the University of Tennessee College of Law in Knoxville in 2009. Christopher Tapley (M ’06) of Lilburn was promoted to chief technology officer at Woodlands Bank in Beaufort, S.C., where he is the information technology director. Andrew “Andy” Bentley Baxter (BSFR ’07) of Crandall works for the U.S. Forest Service’s Conasauga district in Chatsworth.

Bradford Perry Huffman (BSFR ’07) married Whitney Bryant. Huffman is attending the Medical College of Georgia School of Dentistry. Krista Johns Morris (BSA ’07), agricultural educator of Brantley County Middle School in Nahunta, is one of only 47 people nationwide to receive the Teachers Turn the Key Award. The scholarship award allows early career agricultural educators to attend the annual National Association of Agricultural Educators convention and participate in special programming. Ami Alese Flowers (BSFR ’08) is a seasonal resource management ranger at Cowpens National Battlefield in Gaffney, S.C., and is a biological science technician at Ninety Six National Historic Site in Ninety Six, S.C. Brian Jamaal Gates (BSFR ’08)

is a program specialist with the Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service and the Natural Resources and Environment Unit within the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Lindsay Phillips Huff (BBA ’08) is the market leader for the Capital City Bank office in Macon. Andrew Michael McCarley (BSFR ’08) is a silviculturist trainee with the U.S. Forest Service. Kyle McLaughlin (AB ’08) and Graham Burkhalter (AB ’09), both from Macon, are teaching English in South Korea. 2nd Lt. Jodie K. Pix (BSEd ’08) of Duluth entered into the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Md., in order to be a physician in the Army, Navy, Air Force or the Public Health Service.

Veronica Ann Rohrmoser (AB ’08, ABJ ’08) is Miss Tidewater, Virginia, and she will compete in the Miss Virginia Pageant on June 26. Rohrmoser is seeking a master’s degree and doctorate at Syracuse University. Darwin Shelton (BSFR ’08) works with Foxwater Environmental Restoration in McDonough. Lauren Elyse Wilson (BSFR ’08) is an assistant educational coordinator with Reed Creek Wetland Park and Interpretive Center in Martinez. Patrick Work (BSFR ’08) and wife Avery welcomed their daughter Reagan Annabelle Work on Oct. 13. She weighed 6 pounds, 12 ounces and was 20 inches long. Leslie Marie Emanuele (ABJ ’09, AB ’09) of McDonough received the Public Relations Student Society of America’s National Gold Key Award. Emanuele works at Cookerly Public Relations. Ensign Kyle R. Stewart (BBA ’09) received his commission as a naval officer after completing Officer Candidate School in Newport, R.I.

Athenian Ashley Epting (third from left) served as executive producer for “Not Since You,” a feature film shot in Athens.

SPECIAL

Not Since You Athens hit the big screen with the April 2 Ciné premiere of “Not Since You,” a film produced by Ashley Epting of Athens’ Epting Events. Filmed in Athens in the summer of 2007, “Not Since You” features the town’s historical landmarks, such as the Arch, Jackson Street Bookstore, Wuxtry Records and the Hill, which includes plantation homes restored by Lee Epting (BBA ’67), a co-executive producer, and his son Daniel (AB ’03), the film’s construction coordinator. The two were also extras in the film. The film also used the talents of some UGA alumni: Andy Rusk (AB ’03), leadman in the art department; Joseph Litsch (ABJ ’67), in production design; Tom Pritchard (ABJ ’01), in the camera and electrical department; Amy Venghaus (AB ’06), the key set production assistant; Jim Hawkins (ABJ ’65), the sound mixer; and Ethan Payne (ABJ ’07), the boom operator.

GRAD NOTES Arts and Sciences

Diana Brehm Williams (BFA ’64, MFA ’67) was honored by the Cobb Chamber of Commerce when it renamed its art gallery after her. Williams is president of the Artists’ League of Cobb County, and she has coordinated exhibitions in the art

GEORGIA MAGAZINE • JUNE 2010

43

CLASSNOTES

Regents’ Award for Morehead Athens entrepreneur C.L. Morehead Jr. (BSA ’50) in March received the 2010 Regents’ Hall of Fame Alumni Award, which is presented annually by the University System of Georgia Foundation.

Each year, the award recognizes one individual from a USG institution for outstanding accomplishments that show commitment to the institution. UGA President Michael F. Adams nominated Morehead for the award.

A native of Fitzgerald, Ga., Morehead earned a bachelor of science degree in agriculture. After graduation, he remained in Athens and taught horticulture classes at the university and took a job at a flower shop downtown. In 1959, he opened his own wholesale-retail greenhouse business, Flowers Inc., which continues to thrive today.

He has supported the university in many ways since graduation, serving as adviser for the Georgia Museum of Art and the State Botanical Garden. He is an emeritus trustee of the UGA Foundation.

An avid art collector, Morehead was a close friend of the late Lamar Dodd, who founded the university’s art program and for whom the School of Art now is named. Over the past 20 years, Morehead has assembled the largest known collection of Dodd’s work, consisting of nearly 700 oil paintings, watercolors and drawings appraised at $10 million.

Morehead has bequeathed his entire Lamar Dodd art collection to the Georgia Museum of Art and has financially supported the university in other ways as well. In 1993, he made a $1 million gift to help support the new Georgia Museum of Art building. In 2006, he pledged an additional $1 million to support the museum’s 30,000-square-foot expansion, which is currently under way.

To learn more about Morehead, see the June 2008 feature story in Georgia Magazine at http://uga.edu/gm.

gallery at the Cobb Chamber’s Johnny Isakson building for more than 17 years.

Roger S. Austin (MS ’65, PhD ’73) received the Industrial Minerals Distinguished Service Award. Austin’s studies on kaolin, white clay-like rock that is one of Georgia’s largest natural resources, recognized the extreme weathering processes responsible for many major deposits in the United States, Australia and Brazil. Daniel J. Garland (MS ’86, PhD ’89) of Canton is the dean of academic affairs at The Art Institute of

44 JUNE 2010 • GEORGIA MAGAZINE

Atlanta. In his previous post as associate dean, Garland expanded faculty development programs and was a member of the reaffirmation steering committee for the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.

William Moore (BSFR ’93, MS ’96), assistant professor of wildlife technology at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College, was awarded Best Wildlife Paper Presentation by the Southeastern Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies. Shannon Leigh Goff (MA ’98) is a new partner

ANDREW DAVIS TUCKER

C. L. Morehead

at the largest Nashville, Tenn.-based law firm, Waller Lansden Dortch & Davis LLP. Goff practices tax law and is a member of the firm’s Women’s Initiative Committee. James “Jamie” Roy Ulmer (BSFR ’00, MS ’02) was elected to the Warnell School’s Young Alumni Committee. Amanda Carla Newman (BSFR ’03, MS ’08) of Washington, N.C., is a forester professional development candidate at Weyerhaeuser Company.

Brooks C. Mendell (PhD ’04) and Elizabeth Schiamberg Mendell (MEd

’04) welcomed their second daughter, Ellery Frances Mendell, on July 9. Brooks also recently published Beaverball: A (Winning) Season with the MIT Baseball Team. Tyler Clemons (BSFR ’05, MFR ’06) of Fitzgerald married Leslie Liles on April 25, 2009. Max Crawford Lang (BSFR ’05, MS ’08) and Amanda Hamsley Lang (BSFR ’05, MS ’08) of Estill, S.C., married on June 20, 2009, at St. Stephen’s Anglican Church in Athens.

Max works for Groton Land Company, and Amanda works for Forisk Consulting. Michael David Westbrook (BSFR ’05, MS ’08) and his wife welcomed their daughter, Sara Louise Westbrook, on April 27, 2009. Michael also was elected to serve on the Warnell School’s Young Alumni Committee. Carolyn Niles Belcher (PhD ’08) of White Oak is a biologist with the Georgia Department of Natural Resources in the coastal resources division.

Business

Kenneth D. Van Meter (MBA ’79), an energy executive at Lockheed Martin in King of Prussia, Va., was elected to the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s Smart Grid Interoperability Panel Board of Governors. Van Meter was also just awarded a United States patent for technology for optimizing energy usage in buildings. James V. Hughes (BBA ’82, MAcc ’84) is managing director of the western region at Steven Hall & Partners in Los Angeles.

Hughes has more than 25 years of consulting experience in executive compensation, particularly in the banking, health care, transportation, technology and gaming industries. Barbara Hampton (MBA ’06), the senior vice president and chief financial officer of Georgia Transmission Corporation, is the president of the 2010 Board of Trustees of Leadership Georgia.

Education

Jo Ellen Maypole (MEd ’74) of Augusta is president and chief executive officer

GEORGIA MAGAZINE • JUNE 2010

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CLASSNOTES

ALUMNI PROFILE

Against the odds Robert Lamb’s improbable journey to journalism, novels, publishing and honors

by Tom Poland (ABJ ’71, MEd ’75) In 1962, The Augusta Chronicle needed a reporter. Robert Lamb (BSEd ’61) impulsively responded. This accidental journalist would become a novelBOND NICKLES ist, professor and publisher but famously ROBERT LAMB pass on being a columnist.

Born in Aiken and living for a stint in Clearwater, S.C., a mill village, Lamb grew up in Augusta.

“In a large, extended family,” Lamb says, “I never saw but two books in their homes: the Bible and Erskine Caldwell’s God’s Little Acre or Tobacco Road. My mother urged me to attend the University of Georgia. When you have only a fifth grade education, you know—as few others do—how important education is.”

“It was a wonderful experience, but small-town life has its limitations,” he says.

Lamb joined The Atlanta Constitution in 1975. Writing features, he covered homicides and street crime and wrote a series, “Cops and Stress.” He left in 1982 after writing a freelance cover story for Atlanta Magazine on Brother Dave Gardner.

“I found Brother Dave down and out in Dallas. I knew I’d never write a better feature story if I stayed in journalism 20 more years. I loved every minute of my Atlanta experience, but I wanted to write a novel.”

In 1991, the Permanent Press published Lamb’s Striking Out, nominated for the PEN/Hemingway Award. In 2004, Harbor House published Atlanta Blues, an Edgar Award nominee. One newspaper cited Atlanta Blues as “one of the best three novels of the year by a Southern writer—and maybe the best.”

“My mother said, ‘No, it was the best’—and I don’t argue with my mama,” says Lamb, who was inspired by Erskine Caldwell to write. Lamb, in fact, was the last journalist to interview Caldwell, for The New York Times.

Lamb won the 2009 Fiction Project, and his name made the South Carolina Literary Map.

For more than a decade, Lamb has taught writing and literature at the University of South Carolina. At the urging of two lawyers auditing his fiction workshop, Lamb in 1998 founded the Red Letter Press and has published nearly 20 titles by South Carolina writers, many former students. Two titles won national awards.

Despite his Palmetto state success, Lamb can’t deny that his heart belongs to UGA.

“If I could arrange it, I’d be buried on the Old Campus when I die,” he says.

“At least part of me is already buried there. The university’s library requested the original manuscript of Atlanta Blues. I gladly sent it.”

That daily column Lamb passed up at the Atlanta Constitution? Lewis Grizzard wrote it instead.

“Readers lucked out on that one,” Lamb says. “Lewis was perfect for the job.”

—Lincolnton, Ga., native Tom Poland is a freelance writer living in Columbia, S.C. The University of South Carolina Press has published three of his books, most recently Reflections of South Carolina.

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of the Southeastern Firefighters Burn Foundation, which provides services for patients and families at the Joseph M. Still Burn Center at Doctors Hospital.

Joseph Angelo Manjone Jr. (EdD ’76) is the president of Waldorf College in Forest City, Iowa. He has more than 40 years of higher education experience.

Michael D. “Mike” Moye (MEd ’77, EdD ’83) is president of Central Georgia Technical College. Eva Constance “Connie” Fox (EdD ’84) is the associate dean for the College of Education at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, Ill. Fox is also an associate professor in the department of kinesiology and physical education, the director of teacher education in physical education and coordinator of clinical experiences for her department. Manorama Packiavathy Talaiver (EdD ’87) of Chesterfield, Va., received the Outstanding Service in Digital Equity Award from the Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education. Talaiver is the director of Longwood University’s Institute for Teaching through Technology and Innovative Practices. Scott E. Burton (MEd ’97) is the head football coach for Marietta High School. Burton was previously a University of Richmond (Va.) assistant football coach. Karry L. Hathaway (AB ’91, MEd ’97) is dean of the humanistic studies division at Harford Community College in Bel Air, Md. Hathaway also has chaired the humanities department at Columbia State Community College in Tennessee, and he was chosen for the Tennessee Board of Regents Academic Leadership Institute and the Chair Academy. Terry Lee Cotton Jr. (MEd ’00), a teacher at Parkview High School in Lilburn, is the 2009 Technology Student Association High School Adviser of the Year. Joseph E. “Joe” Cox (MEd ’00), an Advanced Placement physics teacher and co-chairman of the science department at Brookwood High in Snellville, is the 2010 Georgia High School Science Teacher of the Year, awarded by the Georgia Science Teachers Association.

CLASSNOTES

Where are

theynow?

What money means Frank Hanna (BBA ’83, JD ’86) explores the philosophy of business

by Allyson Mann (MA ’92) Frank Hanna’s time at UGA was productive in many ways; the Foundation Fellow and National Merit Scholar was active in Mortar Board, Blue Key and Sphinx and was one of UGA’s first Truman Scholars.

But it was also during his college years that FRANK HANNA Hanna developed the many interests—business, law, public policy, education, writing and media—that have led to his varied career.

While studying finance as an undergraduate, Hanna became fascinated with a team project that revealed business planning as a big puzzle requiring making educated decisions about an uncertain future. He also developed an idea that became the basis for the first company he started with brother David (BBA ’86) in 1989. Twenty-plus years later the two still are partnered with investment firm Hanna Capital.

But Hanna is concerned with more than just making money, which he sees as a “wonderful blessing” but also a tool that can be misused. In 2008 he published What Your Money Means and How To Use It Well.

“There are a lot of get-rich-quick and how-to-succeed-inbusiness books. There are very few that address the notion of how ought we to behave with our money,” he says. “We’re not thinking, I believe, in a deep enough and a profound enough sense of what the money means and how ought we to behave with it.”

Hanna’s interest in education also traces its roots back to his undergraduate years, when the Reagan administration released A Nation At Risk: The Imperative for Educational Reform. While enrolled at UGA’s School of Law Hanna commissioned market research exploring attitudes toward education, later putting that information into use when helping to found three new Catholic schools in Atlanta. He was appointed by the George W. Bush administration to the President’s Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans.

He still has strong feelings about education. He and wife Sally Rodgers Hanna (BSHE ’83) are the parents of Elizabeth, a UGA sophomore majoring in philosophy. And Hanna is enthused about his daughter’s choice of majors.

“One of the things I’ve found in life is that if you have a choice between wisdom and money, wisdom is worth much, much more,” he says.

1982 PANDORA

Hanna, Scott Kenney and Grant Smith were members of Phi Gamma Delta and the Interfraternity Council.

Where are they now? is a feature in GM that spotlights students who made a name for themselves while at UGA. Have a standout classmate you’d like to catch up on? Email Kelly Simmons at simmonsk@uga.edu.

GEORGIA MAGAZINE • JUNE 2010

47

NEWBOOKS Nathaniel’s Chorus Lightfoot Independent Press, 2009

By Gary Lightfoot (AB ’05) The three Foot brothers form an innocent fraternity in high school, Phi Pi Psi, that later morphs into an international terrorist organization that threatens the country and their own relationship. The two older brothers must confront the accusation from the Senate Intelligence Committee chairman that the youngest brother, now a junior senator, is involved in terrorism. Combining espionage, adventure, loyalties and romance, this novel is an action-packed mystery.

Mysteries and Legends of Georgia: True Stories of the Unsolved and Unexplained Globe Pequot, 2010

By Don Rhodes (ABJ ’67) A selection of a dozen stories from Georgia’s past, this book explores the Peach State’s compelling mysteries and famous myths, such as the puzzle of lost Confederate gold and a woman who mysteriously spent her life waving at more than 50,000 passing ships.

Traveling Savannah: A Girl’s Guide Meredith Shultz Gaunce, 2010

By Meredith Shultz Gaunce (JD ’07) Because Savannah was ranked among the top 10 most popular cities for girls’ getaways in the United States, Gaunce wanted to share what locals love about their city. Gaunce, the Georgia Association for Women Lawyers Savannah chapter president, writes about her best-loved venues, offers sample itineraries, recommends restaurants and shares anecdotes.

The Butt Book Bloomsbury Publishing, 2009

By Artie Bennett (ABJ ’76) This children’s book and ode to the backside features dozens of funny rhymes and pictures to salute the body part that keeps kids and grown-ups giggling.

Teachers Act Up!: Creating Multicultural Learning Communities Through Theatre Teachers College Press, 2010

By Melisa Cahnmann-Taylor and Mariana Souto-Manning (BSEd ’01, MEd ’02, PhD ’05) Using acting techniques to show real-life classroom situations, this

48 JUNE 2010 • GEORGIA MAGAZINE

professional development guide for bilingual teachers is based on techniques learned during the authors’ six-year, federally funded initiative for recruiting and retaining bilingual teachers for public schools.

The Intentional Parenting Plan (TIPP) AuthorHouse, 2009

By Veda Pendleton McClain (PhD ’97) This parenting guide and workbook allows parents to not leave their children’s futures up to chance. Parents can respond to questions about character, health, home life, education and finances in order to visualize what they want for their children.

This guide encourages parents to think about their children’s entire lives, not just rely on on-the-spot decisions.

Once Upon a Life Science Book: 12 Interdisciplinary Activities to Create Confident Readers National Science Teachers Association Press, 2010

By Jodi Wheeler-Toppen (PhD ’06) This guide for middle school teachers shows how to improve students’ reading abilities and teach science content through outlined, inquiry-based lessons.

Wheeler-Toppen provides science activities and explains how they relate to the National Science Education Standards.

Shall Never See So Much Booklocker.com Inc., 2010

By Gerald Gillis (BBA ’70) In this novel, the relationship between Tom Flanagan and sister Kate is strained because he is a U.S. Marine infantry lieutenant facing deadly combat in Vietnam and she accepts a staff position with presidential-hopeful Robert F. Kennedy.

Tom and Kate are miles apart in their positions on the war, contemporary U.S. politics and life in general in the 1960s.

ONLINE Find more books by UGA graduates at www.uga.edu/gm

SUBMISSIONS Submit new books written by UGA alumni to simmonsk@uga.edu. Please include a brief description of the book and a hi-res pdf or tiff of its cover.

Cox also received the state 2008-09 Siemens Award for Advanced Placement for teachers and was named a Gwinnett County Public Schools Teacher of the Year finalist. Katherine Hudgins Kelbaugh (MEd ’00) is principal of the new charter school in DeKalb County, the Museum School of Avondale Estates.

The school plans to open for kindergarten through third grade in August.

Jason Walter Umfress (MEd ’05) is the dean of students at Coker College in Hartsville, S.C. He is a Ph.D. candidate in educational leadership at Clemson University. Christopher Canter (EdS ’09), an English and journalism teacher at Pope High School in Marietta, is a 2010 Outstanding Young Educator Honoree.

The Association of Supervision and Curriculum Design award recognizes the nation’s most innovative and dedicated teachers and administrators under 40 years old.

Law

George P. “Pete” Donaldson III (AB ’69, JD ’72) is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, which is composed of top trial lawyers from the U.S. and Canada. Donaldson, a partner in the Perry & Walters LLP firm in Albany, is also the president-elect of the Georgia Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. Col. Elizabeth Wallace Fleming (AB ’78, JD ’81) returned to private practice as a member of Seattle-based Barokas Martin & Tomlinson in the Anchorage, Alaska, office. Fleming also was elected chair of District 21 of the Alaska Democratic Party and served as a delegate at the state Democratic Convention in Sitka in May. James H. Moore III (BSA ’78, JD ’81), president of Moore, Clarke, DuVall & Rodgers P.C. in Albany, accepted the award for his law firm’s being named to the first class of the Bulldog 100, which honors the fastest-growing businesses in the state owned or operated by UGA alumni. Beverly Baldwin Martin (JD ’81), a Macon native, is a new judge for the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Mark Taylor (JD ’82), the former

CRAIG BARROW III

JOHN F. MCMULLAN

ARNETT C. MACE JR.

2010 ALUMNI ASSOCIATION AWARDS

Former provost Arnett C. Mace Jr., Atlanta businessman John F. McMullan, the Thomson-based Watson-Brown Foundation Inc. and the family of Savannah businessman Craig Barrow III were honored by the Alumni Association in April for their continued support of the university.

Mace, who retired as provost and vice president for academic affairs in December, received the Faculty Service Award. Mace served as provost and senior vice president for academic affairs for seven years. Prior to that, he was dean of the Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources for 11 years. He remains on staff part-time as a special assistant to President Michael F. Adams, working to implement UGA’s medical partnership with the Medical College of Georgia.

McMullan, chief executive officer and founder of the Atlanta-based Camden Real Estate, received the Alumni Merit Award. An Arch Foundation trustee and former trustee for the UGA Foundation, McMullen (BBA ’58, MBA ’60) also serves as a director of Life Care Centers of America Inc., which operates skilled nursing, assisted living and retirement centers in 28 states, and is a partner in Tiger Mountain Vineyards in Tiger, Ga.

The Watson-Brown Foundation Inc. received the Friend of UGA Award.

Founded in 1970 by Walter J. Brown, the foundation was established to provide college opportunities for underprivileged boys and girls. Named for former state legislator and presidential candidate Thomas E. Watson and former Bowman mayor J.J. Brown, the foundation awards more than $1 million in merit and need-based college scholarships each year to students from the central Savannah River area of Georgia and South Carolina and also awards grants in support of Southern colleges and universities.

The family of Craig Barrow III, of Savannah, received the Family of the Year Award. An original organizer of Savannah Bank, Barrow (AB ’65) is managing director of Sterne, Agee and Leach Inc. A founder of the Board of Visitors of the UGA Libraries, he also is founder and current chairman of the UGA Press Advisory Council and a former UGA Foundation Trustee. Barrow’s wife, Diana (AB ’65) now is chairwoman of the Wormsloe Foundation, a member of the board of directors of the Garden Club of America, president of the Directresses of the Telfair Women’s Hospital and a member of the board of the State Botanical Garden of Georgia. The Barrows’ son, Thornton (AB ’94), is a trustee of the Wormsloe Foundation and a broker at Sterne, Agee and Leach Inc. in Savannah.

He was the tenth generation of Barrows to attend UGA.

GEORGIA MAGAZINE • JUNE 2010

49

CLASSNOTES

ALUMNI PROFILE

Ahead of the game Alumnus stays involved with UGA through programs that promote leadership and involvement

by Caroline Hubbard Wilbert (ABJ ’94)

Jack Head (BBA ’75) knows the sooner students at the University of Georgia get involved in campus activities, the more likely they are to be happy and successful during their years in Athens.

He knows this on some level because of his own experience at UGA. Head was president of his fraternity, Sigma Alpha Epsilon, and was involved in the interfraternity PETER FREY council as well as intramural football and JACK HEAD basketball.

He also knows it because the university has tracked students who participate in some of Head’s favorite programs—LeaderShape and Dawg Camp.

“Their success rate is so much higher than the average student,” Head says.

A decade ago, UGA’s vice president of student affairs approached Head about mentoring at LeaderShape, an off-campus retreat for mostly sophomores and juniors. Head agreed and was impressed with the program, which helps students put their ideas, particularly about service, into action plans. The curriculum involves working in large groups, participating in small group discussions, individual reflection and interactive activities. The UGA Dance Marathon, now called UGA Miracle, which annually raises hundreds of thousands of dollars for Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, grew out of LeaderShape.

Since re-engaging with the university through that experience, Head has become increasingly involved. He was a founding member of the Arch Foundation Board of Trustees in 2005 and currently is chairman. In 2003, he and his wife Jane (BSEd ’77) donated $1 million to the university for leadership development. The gif was in memory of his parents, John and Jacqueline Head, both of whom graduated from UGA.

Most of that money has gone to Dawg Camp, a program for incoming freshmen. The program introduces students to the university and connects them with new friends before school starts. Thanks to the donation the Heads made, as well as funds he helped raise, the Dawg Camp program has expanded. It now includes a variety of experiences, both on-campus and off-campus. Some freshmen bond while building Habitat for Humanity houses and others go whitewater rafting.

“It helps them to be successful and to gain the confidence they will need in dealing with people, especially at such a large university,” Head says. He hopes that one day all incoming freshmen can participate in some form of Dawg Camp cost-free.

“At large institutions, it is important to keep students involved in different ways,” he says. “This is my torch to carry.”

Head, whose Atlanta company does industrial development, has three children. Two have already graduated from UGA, and his youngest is in his third year.

—Caroline Hubbard Wilbert is a writer living in Atlanta.

50 JUNE 2010 • GEORGIA MAGAZINE

Georgia lieutenant governor from Albany, is the chief executive officer of Fred Taylor Company and its subsidiaries, and he is the vice-chairman of the board of directors. Gregg Bundschuh (JD ’85) of Atlanta was elected to the American College of Construction Lawyers board of governors. Jonathan A. Alderman (AB ’83, JD ’86) is the 2009 Macon Bar Lawyer of the Year and has received a Justice Robert Benham community service award. Stephen Dorsett Kelley (JD ’86) was appointed to the Superior Court for the Brunswick Judicial Circuit

by Gov. Sonny Perdue. He previously served as district attorney for the circuit.

William Kendall Wynne Jr. (AB ’84, JD ’87) was appointed to the Superior Court for the Alcovy Judicial Circuit

by Gov. Sonny Perdue. He previously served as district attorney for the circuit.

Peter D. Muller (ABJ ’84, JD ’87) is the managing partner of the Savannah office of Goodman McGuffey Lindsey & Johnson LLP, an Atlanta-based firm. Sheri Gates McGaughy (BBA ’89, JD ’92) of Atlanta is the vice president of the legal department at The Weather Channel Inc. McGaughy works with both the television network and the Weathercom website. Austin E. Carter (JD ’95), a partner at Stone & Baxter LLP in Atlanta, is a Georgia Super Lawyer Rising Star for 2010. Matthew Kramer (JD ’97) and wife Katrina of Atlanta welcomed their first child, daughter Devan Denny Kramer, on Jan. 7. David Smith (JD ’98) of Rome, Ga., received a 2010 Heart of the Community Award of Honor for his community activism and humanitarianism. Keith Alan Jernigan (JD ’99) of Atlanta is a partner in the Coleman Talley LLP law firm. Stacey Luck (JD ’00) of Alexandria, Va., is the chief of staff and counselor for the Office of the Deputy Attorney in the U.S. Department of Justice. Shyam Reddy (JD ’00) is the regional administrator of the General Services Administration’s Southeast Sunbelt Region. Reddy will oversee all GSA operations in the Southeast, including managing federal real estate and

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—George A. (AB ’50) and Nancy Montgomery

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SPECIAL

George A. and Nancy Montgomery George A. and Nancy Montgomery traveled the globe during his years as vice president of the Atlanta Coca-Cola Bottling Company and later as founder of the Atlanta-based Montgomery Properties. Fascinated both by history and literature, George has written two novels: Pillow of Gold, later published as The Eye of the Eagle, about the story of the nation’s first major gold rush, and And the Mountain Cried, in which Montgomery speculates on the fate of D.B. Cooper, who in 1971 hijacked a Boeing 727 for $200,000 in ransom and parachuted from the plane, never to be seen again. The Montgomery’s $2 million gift to the UGA Libraries will help pay for construction of the Richard B. Russell building, which will house the Special Collections Library, and will help fund an endowment for the Georgia Writers Hall of Fame, established by UGA in 2000 to recognize Georgia writers whose work reflects the character of the state, its land and its people. A reading room in the Russell building will be named for George and Nancy Montgomery.

Want to give? Go to www.externalaffairs.uga.edu/os/makegift.

GEORGIA MAGAZINE • JUNE 2010

51

ALUMNI PROFILE

R-E-S-P-E-C-T Sheila Kahrs’ philosophy garnered a national award for the middle school principal

by Paige Varner

Sometimes it’s Bach, sometimes it’s Mozart, but the classical music playing as students arrive at Haymon-Morris Middle School always sets a calm mood.

This purposeful start to the day is just one idea Principal Sheila Kahrs (EdD ’92) enacted when she was hired to head the new school in Barrow County five years ago. It is also part of the “whatever it takes” philosophy she forged with teachers, based on educator ANDREW DAVIS TUCKER and author Richard DuFour’s book Raising the Bar and Closing the Gap. SHEILA KAHRS

Because more than half the school’s students qualify to receive free or reduced-price lunch, Kahrs knows the students need a personalized environment to overcome socioeconomic stumbling blocks in education.

“It’s a hard age for parents and kids,” Kahrs says. “We realize the seriousness of what we owe them.”

Kahrs was named the 2010 National Middle Level Principal of the Year by MetLife and the National Association of Secondary School Principals. The school leads Barrow County in writing test scores and four out of five Criterion-Referenced Competency Test scores.

Respect, rewards and attention are keys to the school’s success.

“The students are treated as if high achievements are endless,” she says.

“Poverty does not mean low intellect.”

Kahrs meets with students who earn a 70 or below on report cards to show them that even the principal cares how they do in school. Once, a student who had been to see Kahrs about a failing grade in math returned to excitedly report a C+.

“‘Respect’ is a word to describe the school—respect for each other and the curriculum,” Kahrs says. “We know kids will not learn from us if we don’t care.”

Kahrs and the teachers abide by a positive discipline plan, rewarding students with 45 minutes of non-curricular activities at the end of two or three weeks. The reward can be time outside, a cookie decorating class or playing Rock Band or musical chairs.

Before class starts at 8:35 a.m., Kahrs waits by the doors to greet incoming students.

“There’s a beautiful innocence about children in this world of awful stuff,” she says. “They’re not afraid to hug you.”

Kahrs, who has spent her professional life in education—earning her doctorate in educational leadership, teaching music at Russell Middle School in Barrow County and serving as assistant principal at Westside Middle School before opening Haymon-Morris—says she will not retire too young.

“I’m never going to be able to just call it quits,” she says. “With experience comes wisdom. I really enjoy what I’m doing. I want to be in the throes of my school.”

52 JUNE 2010 • GEORGIA MAGAZINE

information technology. Steven Duncan Henry (BBA ’95, JD ’01) of Atlanta is counsel at Smith Moore Leatherwood LLP. Florian Stamm (JD ’94) is counsel in the Smith, Gambrell and Russell LLP law firm in Atlanta. In recognition of his development as a lawyer and because he gained German, Austrian and Swiss business for the firm, he was promoted two years ahead of the usual seven-year partnership track.

SPECIAL

FADIA NASSER-ABU ALHIJA

UGA grad is first female Israeli Arab associate prof A UGA College of Education alumna has become the first Israeli Arab woman to be appointed associate professor at an Israeli research university.

Fadia Nasser-Abu Alhija, who is head of the department of curriculum planning and instruction at Tel Aviv University’s School of Education, was appointed last month. She earned a Ph.D. in 1997 in educational psychology with a concentration in research, evaluation, measurement and statistical methods. Prior to joining the university, Akhija taught high school in the Israeli Arab town of Tira.

CLASSNOTES

School of Public and International Affairs

Steven J. Elliott-Gower (MA ’86, PhD ’89), associate professor of political science at Georgia College and State University and director of the Georgia College Honors Program, was elected president of the Georgia Collegiate Honors Council.

Vet School

Delegate James Shuler (DVM ’70), who represents the 12th District in the Virginia House of Delegates, is the 2010 Distinguished Friend of Virginia Agribusiness.

Obituaries can be found online at www.uga.edu/gm.

GEORGIA MAGAZINE • JUNE 2010

53

CLASSNOTES

ALUMNI PROFILE

Making wishes come true Former Foundation Fellow leaves high finance and makes cross-country trek

by John English

Everyday charity donors typically undertake modest physical challenges to raise funds for local causes, such as a 5K jog around town. Not Joe Lariscy, who graduated in 2007 with a degree in finance.

Joe, along with two buddies, rode his bicycle across the United States—from San Francisco to St. Simons Island—to raise money for the Make-A-Wish Foundation, a national nonprofit organization that helps children with life-threatening medical conditions fulfill their wishes. The trip covered 3,600 miles and took the men eight weeks.

“I wanted to go on an adventure and support a great cause,” Lariscy says.

The notion of giving back to society came from undergraduate experiences with the Foundation Fellows and the Leonard Leadership Scholar program, Lariscy says. Community service projects through those programs included gutting houses in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina and serving at the Athens Performance Learning Center, an alternative high school.

The physical challenges of a cross-country road trip were daunting, Lariscy admits, even for a competitive tennis player.

“Crossing the Continental Divide was a big milestone,” he says. “We climbed to an elevation of 11,500 feet in Colorado. Going downhill with a tailwind and the weight of my backpack, I hit 52 mph, which was exhilarating and scary. On our longest day, we biked 116 miles in about 10 hours. Luckily we had few mechanical problems and no sickness.”

The scenery from the road was gorgeous, he says.

“This trip really opened my eyes to the beauty of our country,” he says. “I discovered a lot of small-town America, places like Telluride, Colo. People along the way were incredibly generous, treating us to meals and putting us up. I flew an American flag on my bike that many people responded to—it made me realize why this country is so great. I’m very thankful for the friendships that developed.”

The friends paid their own way and camped out five of seven nights each week.

“We ate in diners and stayed in cheap motels to have hot showers” the other two nights of the week, he says. “Biking alone for hours at a time was great for introspection and

54 JUNE 2010 • GEORGIA MAGAZINE

SPECIAL

JOE LARISCY

reflection on what I want to do next. I also lost 20 pounds and got a jump-start on a healthy lifestyle.”

Over the eight weeks, donations got close to the goal of $25,000—enough to grant three children their wishes.

“The trip took a lot of planning, preparation and training.

We set out to fulfill a dream—biking across the country and helping children make their wishes come true. We accomplished both goals. All things together, it was an experience I’ll cherish the rest of my life.”

—John W. English, a professor emeritus of journalism at the University of Georgia, is a frequent contributor to GM.

GET MORE Read about Lariscy’s adventure and view photos from the trip at www.bikeforwishes.com.

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BACK PAGE

CAROLINA ACOSTA-ALZURU

Associate professor, public relations Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication Core faculty member, Latin American and Caribbean Studies Institute B.S. in computer science, Georgia Institute of Technology M.A. and Ph.D. in mass communication, University of Georgia Josiah Meigs Distinguished Teaching Professor, 2010 Photo shot on location at UGA’s Broadcast and Video studio by Andrew Davis Tucker

“I

took on my first telenovela as just a case study, but it turned out it was so complex that 10 years later I’m still there. Of course telenovelas seem very simple because they’re just melodramatic love stories. But really there is enormous complexity in them—enormous complexity in what makes people watch them.

Why are they so addictive? There is enormous complexity in how they are written and produced and performed. These are products that come from Latin America originally and have links between Latin American culture and Latin American society. By studying telenovelas I’m studying those things.”

—Carolina Acosta-Alzuru on her research into media, culture and society.

Visit Acosta-Alzuru’s blog in English at http:// telenovelas-carolina.blogspot.com and in Spanish at http://telenovelas-carolina-esp. blogspot.com.

JUNE2010 2010 •• GEORGIA GEORGIAMAGAZINE MAGAZINE 56 56 JUNE

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