Have a blooming good time at the State Botanical Garden of Georgia
HARRIS ENGLISH PGA TOUR PRO, CLASS OF 2011
President Jere W. Morehead
Highlights from across the UGA community.
The rise, fall, and rise again of the Iron Horse.
One Health
A new approach to research is looking for health challenges faced by both humans and dogs. 18
Arena Show
Learn how to organize your life, command the opera stage, and claim an Immunity Idol from UGA alumni.
Get to know James M. Carson, Daniel P. Amos Distinguished Professor of
Go to Athens’ new Akins Ford Arena for ice hockey and leave with a new appreciation for Georgia music history.
One Upon a Conference
The Georgia Conference on Children’s Literature has shaped the genre for more than 50 years.
How Does Our Garden Grow?
The State Botanical Garden of Georgia partners with nature lovers to protect and beautify the places we call home.
When UGA photographer Dorothy Kozlowski visited the State Botanical Garden of Georgia in Athens, she saw scores of colorful flowers and plants worthy of our Summer 2025 cover. But the Guarianthe Aurantiaca, also known as the Orange Cattleya, stood out. This striking orchid is found in Mexico and much of Central America, as well as in the garden’s tropical conservatory.
DOROTHY KOZLOWSKI
CHAMBERLAIN SMITH
Books for kids, p. 20 What’s in those concourse kiosks at Akins Ford Arena? Visit page 18 to find out.
Home Field Advantage
FOLEY FIELD, THE HOME OF GEORGIA BULLDOGS BASEBALL since 1966, underwent a major multiyear renovation that was completed just in time for the 2025 season. In addition to more advanced training facilities for players, fans can now enjoy additional seating down the third-base line and an extended canopy for keeping cool during the Bulldogs’ inevitable summer hot streaks.
CHAMBERLAIN
SUMMER 2025
VOLUME 105 ISSUE NO. 3
GEORGIA MAGAZINE
Editor · Eric Rangus MA ’94
Associate Editors · Aaron Hale MA ’16 and Leigh Hataway MA ’17
Staff Writers · Jayne Roberts, Savannah Peat AB ’19, and Hannah Gallant
Art Director · Lindsay Robinson ABJ ’06, MPA ’11, MA ’22
Advertising Director · Kipp Mullis ABJ ’93
Photo Editor · Peter Frey BFA ’94
UGA Photographers · Andrew Davis Tucker, Chamberlain Smith ABJ ’18, and Dorothy Kozlowski BLA ’06, ABJ ’10,
Contributing Writers · Elizabeth Elmore BBA ’08, ABJ ’08, Clarke Schwabe ABJ ’08, Stacia Pelletier, Alexandra Shimalla MA ’19, and Rachael Andrews AB ’17, MPA ’21
Contributing Designers · Andrea Piazza ABJ ’12, MA ’19, Whitney Mathisen, Marisa Castengera, Justin Patton ABJ ’15, and Amy Gunby BFA ’20
Editorial Interns · Caroline Newbern, Maura Rutledge, and Navya Shukla AB ’25, AB ’25
Research Writing Graduate Assistant · Sydney Barrilleaux BS ’24
Senior Director for Integrated Media Communications · James Hataway MA ’10
Assistant Vice President & Chief Operating Officer · Fran Burke
Project Manager · Brittney Wurdeman
ADMINISTRATION
President · Jere W. Morehead JD ’80
Senior VP for Academic Affairs & Provost · S. Jack Hu
VP for Finance & Administration · Ryan Nesbit MBA ’91
VP for Development & Alumni Relations · Jill S. Walton BSA ’99, MPA ’03
VP for Instruction · Marisa Anne Pagnattaro PhD ’98
Interim VP for Research · Christopher King
Interim
VP for Public Service & Outreach · Matt Bishop MPA ’99, PhD '12
VP for Student Affairs · Michelle Cook
VP for Government Relations · Kevin Abernethy AB ’99
VP for Information Technology · Timothy M. Chester
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FINE PRINT
Georgia Magazine (issn 1085-1042) is published quarterly for alumni and friends of UGA.
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“This summer as we celebrate the graduating Class of 2025 and prepare to welcome the incoming Class of 2029 we are inspired by UGA students’ curiosity, drive, and commitment to excellence.”
Reaching New Heights
UGA Students are Succeeding at Record Levels
Students power the mission of the University of Georgia. They spark new ideas; bring vibrancy to our campus; and inspire our faculty, staff, and alumni with their sense of purpose. As an institution, UGA is committed to providing transformational learning opportunities to help students thrive. In fact, over the past decade, we have strategically introduced new initiatives to help students reach their full potential.
UGA was the first Tier 1 research institution in the nation to require every undergraduate student to have an experiential learning opportunity in order to graduate. Through this campuswide initiative, students conduct research with UGA faculty, complete external internships, engage in study-away programs, and more. These opportunities help students develop critical-thinking and problem-solving skills and prepare them for the workforce or graduate school.
As we expanded hands-on learning, we also enhanced the classroom experience. In 2022, UGA launched the Active Learning Initiative to expand the number of courses that implement active learning practices—evidence-based strategies that improve students’ understanding and retention of course material. We have transformed classrooms to encourage student engagement, and we established the Active Learning Summer Institute, an intensive program to help faculty redesign courses to incorporate these new methods.
We also have partnered with alumni and donors to increase the financial support available to our students. In 2017, we launched the Georgia Commitment Scholarship Program to make a UGA education more accessible to all students, and we have surpassed our goal of establishing 1,000 endowed, need-based scholarships. We also have established experiential learning scholarships across campus so that financial need does not prevent students from these transformative learning opportunities.
As a result, we are seeing UGA students succeed at record levels. Our graduation rate just reached an all-time high, with 90% of students completing their degrees within six years. In fact, UGA is just one of nine public universities in the nation with a graduation rate of 90% or higher. After they graduate, our students are putting their degrees to good use: More than 95% are employed or enrolled in graduate school within six months.
This summer—as we celebrate the graduating Class of 2025 and prepare to welcome the incoming Class of 2029—we are inspired by UGA students’ curiosity, drive, and commitment to excellence. We look forward to seeing all that they will accomplish in the years ahead.
Jere W. Morehead President
PARENTS LEADERSHIP COUNCIL
Stay connected with your Bulldog while making a meaningful impact at UGA by joining the Parents Leadership Council today.
Learn more at give.uga.edu/plc or scan the QR code.
CONNECTION PHILANTHROPY IMPACT
“It’s such a great opportunity to not only get involved in the school and support its mission, but also meet parents just like us. Reconnecting with friends from college who now have their children and are part of PLC has been a fond and special thing. We’re all in this together one generation later.”
to
UGA Z
Highlights from across the UGA community
Dance Marathon 2025 Raises $1.2M, Celebrates 30th Year
UGA Miracle raised $1,201,133.25 for Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta at its annual Dance Marathon on March 29.
More than 2,000 students, faculty, staff, and community members gathered in Stegeman Coliseum to celebrate one of the University of Georgia’s largest student-run organizations and its 30th year on campus. Over the years, UGA Miracle has raised more than $16 million for Children’s Healthcare.
Beginning at 10 a.m. and ending with the final donation reveal at midnight, attendees enjoyed silent discos, live music, and camaraderie with UGA Miracle families.
The organization continued beloved traditions, including the “hair chop challenge,” morale color group games and the “Circle of Hope,” a moment at the end of the marathon during which attendees remove the hospital bands they are given to wear throughout the
duration of the event. These bracelets serve as a reminder of the patients who wear the same bracelets during their stay in the hospital.
When the $1.2 million total was revealed at midnight, celebrations and emotions were high as the students’ hard work paid off.
UGA Miracle's milestone celebration of 30 years on campus included a move from the Tate Student Center to Stegeman Coliseum. Hairy Dawg and the multitudes of students in attendance enjoyed the extra space.
INNOVATIVE LEADERSHIP
UGA Sets the Mark for Schwarzman Scholars
The University of Georgia has set a record with three Schwarzman Scholars in a single year.
The UGA recipients are seniors Aryan Thakur of Cumming and Amanda Whylie of Kingston, Jamaica, as well as Garrett Williams BBA ’22, BBA ’22 of Atlanta. Each will pursue a oneyear master’s degree in global affairs at Tsinghua University in Beijing, China, starting in August.
UGA’s scholars join the incoming Schwarzman Class of 2026, which is made up of 150 scholars who were selected from a pool of nearly 5,000 applicants—the most ever to apply. The scholars represent 38 countries and 105 universities.
Applicants are selected based on their leadership abilities, open-mindedness, and intellectual abilities, among other skills.
Thakur focuses on creating innovations in genetics, mathematics, art, and environmental science, while Whylie uses her passions for service, story, and travel to advance her leadership impact as she works to extend Caribbean partnerships with China. With his knowledge in business and communication studies, Williams hopes to further examine how media is produced, consumed, and monetized under different cultural contexts.
DE-BUGGED
UGA Welcomes New College of Engineering Dean
Following a nationwide search, the University of Georgia has appointed Alessandro “Alex” Orso (below) as the dean of the College of Engineering, effective July 1.
Orso served as associate dean for off-campus and special initiatives in the College of Computing at Georgia Tech from 2020 to 2025. He was previously a professor in the college and director of Georgia Tech’s Scientific Software Engineering Center.
An expert in software engineering, Orso’s research focuses on software testing, program analysis, and debugging. His work includes the development of techniques for improving software reliability, security, and trustworthiness, and the validation of those techniques on real-world systems.
Orso earned his doctorate in computer science and his master’s and bachelor’s degrees in electrical engineering from Politecnico di Milano in Italy. At UGA, he will succeed interim dean Stephan Durham, who will return to his roles as Juneau Construction Company Professor in Civil Engineering and assistant dean for student success and outreach.
As dean, Orso will lead the UGA College of Engineering’s academic, research, and outreach programs, and promote growth for the college, which now includes four schools.
Jones and Talarico Receive the President’s Medal
The University of Georgia bestowed one of its highest honors on the Honorable Steve C. Jones BBA ’78, JD ’87, Senior U.S. District Judge for the Northern District of Georgia, and the late Susette M. Talarico, a renowned scholar and longtime director of the UGA Criminal Justice Studies Program, at the Founders Day luncheon on Jan. 24.
The President’s Medal recognizes individuals not currently employed at the university who have made extraordinary contributions to the UGA community by supporting students and academic programs, advancing research, or engaging in public service to enhance the quality of life of Georgians.
A native Athenian, Jones directed the Athens Child Support Recovery Unit and served as an assistant district attorney, an Athens-Clarke County municipal court judge, and a superior court judge in the Western Judicial Circuit of Georgia. In 2011, President Barack Obama appointed Jones to the District Court. On Jan. 1, Jones took senior status as a federal judge. He served on the UGA Foundation Board of Trustees in a variety of roles and is currently an emeritus trustee.
Talarico, a trailblazer for women in academia, was an internationally renowned political science scholar. She joined the UGA faculty in 1977 and led the interdisciplinary Criminal Justice Studies Program for more than two decades, developing it into a nationally recognized program. She retired in 2006 and left a mark through teaching, mentorship, research, and service to the university and her field.
From left: Aryan Thakur, Amanda Whylie, and Garrett Williams joined the Schwartzman Class of 2026, setting a UGA record of three scholars in a single year.
HIGHEST HONOR
S PECIAL
STEPHANIE SCHUPSKA
Welcome Class of 2029
The University of Georgia received nearly 48,000 applications for the Class of 2029, an increase of almost 5,000 from last year and a new institutional record.
More than 15,800 of those applicants were accepted for the upcoming fall semester.
Applications increased evenly among in-state and out-of-state students, up 12% overall from the previous year. The overall acceptance rate is a competitive 33%.
“Year after year, the University of Georgia continues to attract incredibly talented students who arrive on campus ready to embrace their role as future leaders,” says President Jere W. Morehead JD ’80
GENEROUS DAWGS
Bulldogs Contribute 13,000+ gifts in 24 hours
The fourth annual Dawg Day of Giving fundraiser brought in more than 13,000 gifts to support University of Georgia students and programs, a new singleday record for the university.
The 24-hour effort on March 27 targeted 11,000 gifts and surpassed this mark at around 9 p.m., Athens time. Last year’s Dawg Day of Giving set a record with 11,711 gifts.
Gifts cumulatively contributed more than $5.5 million to a multitude of university areas, supporting scholarships, experiential learning, student organizations, and more.
Giving challenges rallied supporters throughout the day, offering additional sums for UGA funds if donors met certain donation goals. In total, $248,500 was donated as a result of fulfilled challenges.
Donors hailed from all 50 states and five countries. The day spurred Bulldogs to action all over the university, including a large event in Tate Plaza, and across the country. A total of 28 alumni chapters held events in locations from New York to California and London. Many alumni also promoted the event on their personal social media channels.
AN
OFFER HE CAN’T REFUSE
‘Godfather of Peanuts’ Named UGA’s 17th NAI Fellow
William “Bill” D. Branch, a professor in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, has been elected as a Fellow for the National Academy of Inventors (NAI).
Branch is the 17th UGA faculty member to receive this honor, which recognizes inventors whose innovations have made significant impacts on society, economic development, and quality of life.
Branch’s groundbreaking work in peanut breeding led to the development of more than 30 novel, licensed peanut varieties. His research has earned him accolades such as the National Peanut Buying Points Association Impact Award, the Innovator Award from the Georgia Peanut Commission, UGA’s Inventor of the Year Award in 1997, induction into the Georgia Agricultural Hall of Fame, and even the affectionate nickname “Godfather of Peanuts.”
Branch will be officially inducted as an NAI Fellow in June at the Annual Conference in Atlanta.
Good Forest Management Keeps Bats Alive
Research from the Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources found that sound forest management efforts support a healthy bat population.
Bat species native to the Southeast rely on forest habitats rich in food sources to survive the winter months. Supporting these species is important as diseases like white-nose syndrome wreak havoc on bat populations.
Warnell professor of wildlife ecology and management Steven Castleberry BS ’93, MS ’97 and his research team observed bat activity for more than 400 nights. As bats moved through Southeastern forests, the team found bats relied on large areas of semi-open, canopied forest stands. The balance had to be just right. An open canopy allowed bats to fly and feed efficiently, but dense, closed-canopy areas with thick vegetation made flying difficult.
The researchers emphasized that a varied forest structure is crucial for bat survival. Properly balancing every stage of forest management helps maintain the right mix of vegetation for these flying friends.
“These types of forests are pretty good for bats because they’re like a mosaic. Bats don’t need just one type of forest. They need a lot of different types of forests ,” Castleberry says.
Colder weather directly affected food availability for bats in a positive way. When temperatures dropped, nocturnal flying insects were less active and easier to catch. Bats account for 20% of all mammal species and heavily influence insect population management and seed dispersal. One estimate puts the value of bats at more than $22 billion for the effect they have on agricultural systems by controlling insect pests.
ONE GIANT LEAP
UGA
Student Wins Celestial Naming
Contest
In 2024, the science podcast Radiolab and the International Astronomical Union joined forces to launch a contest that invited listeners to name one of Earth’s quasi-moons, a space rock too small and too far away to be considered a moon.
More than 2,700 names were submitted from 96 countries to replace the quasi-moon’s current uninspired designation, (164207) 2004 GU9. UGA second-year student Clay Chilcutt (below) earned the right to give it a new name: Cardea.
UGA faculty member Hina Shaikh incorporated the Radiolab competition into an activity for her undergraduate astronomy course. Chilcutt, a student in the class, conducted research in not only astronomy and astrophysics but was inspired by Greco-Roman mythology. Radiolab convened a panel of experts and interested parties, including teachers, students, astronomers, astrophysicists, journalists, and artists ranging from Gossip Girl star Penn Badgley to Bill Nye The Science Guy.
Seven finalists were chosen, and last December more than 10,000 people voted for Chilcutt's name: Cardea, the Roman goddess of doorways and transitions.
“I chose her not only for her name but what she represents, perfect for a celestial object such as the quasi-moon,” Chilcutt says. “It is truly an honor to have a contribution to science and to be a part of something of some historical significance.”
Access to Green Spaces Could Lower Dementia Risk
According to a study from the University of Georgia College of Public Health, an unexpected factor may be increasing dementia risk: the environment.
Suhang Song, an assistant professor of health policy and management, says that factors such as air pollution and access to green spaces can significantly raise or lower the odds of declining cognitively and developing dementia.
“Based on these findings, we can suggest that people visit parks or forests more often and also live further from major roads,” Song says.
According to the study, living near major roadways was associated with a roughly 10% higher risk of dementia, and exposure to air pollutants was associated with a 9% increase in risk. Noise pollution also was shown to increase risk by about 9%. However, access to parks as well as bodies of water reduced risk by around 6%.
This research informs urban planning efforts to encourage communities to foster cognitive health and serves as a foundation for future research on cognation and dementia risk.
SANTIAGOPEREA
SPECIAL
MINDFUL DATA
OH, THE HUMANITIES!
Festival Showcases Art, Music, and Culture
The university celebrated its third annual Humanities Festival this spring. The event featured more than 20 public lectures, conversations, performances, and other events, including a trivia night and an open reception to honor recent accomplishments by the humanities community at UGA.
The festival, organized by the Humanities Council, elevates humanities research and brings visibility to the humanities as part of campus culture.
The event featured world-renowned sitarist Anoushka Shankar and Mitsuko Uchida, pianist and conductor with Berlin’s Mahler Chamber Orchestra, in addition to workshops presented by Robert Spano, music director of the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra and music director laureate of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra.
Charles Johnson, MacArthur Foundation Fellow and National Book Award-winning author of Middle Passage, and UGA faculty member Diana Graizbord showcased their literary accomplishments.
“Our mission is to share the joy of writing, reading, thinking, and making, which are the foundations of all human concern,” says Nicholas Allen, the Baldwin Professor in Humanities and director of the Willson Center for Humanities and Arts.
The Humanities Council is supported by the Office of Research, the Office of the Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost, and the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, with the participation of more than 30 colleges, schools, departments and units across the university.
A new cohort of academic faculty has been selected to participate in the Rural Engagement Workshop. The interdisciplinary program introduces UGA faculty to rural community matters and equips them with tools to partner with those communities.
To participate, faculty apply for seed grants funded by the Office of the Provost to support research that can be used to apply for external funding. A total of 16 participants from eight UGA schools and colleges were chosen for the latest workshop.
Since the program began in 2021, more than $260,000 in seed grant funding has been awarded to support 34 projects.
The 2025 Rural Engagement Workshop cohort visits Hillcrest Dairy Farm in Dearing. The interdisciplinary program introduces UGA faculty to rural community matters and equips them with tools to partner with those communities.
Christina Proctor, a clinical associate professor in the College of Public Health, participated in the first cohort. She used her grant to launch research into understanding the mental stress that farmers face and how that stress differs based on gender and roles on the farm. She’s applying strategies to help these farmers deal with stress in healthy ways.
The success of such projects paved the for UGA to receive the national Award of Excellence in the Innovation category in 2024 from the University Economic Development Association for the workshop.
JASON THRASHER
UGA’s Commitment to Excellence Drives Record-Breaking Year
Highlighting historic achievements in research funding, student success, and economic impact, President Jere W. Morehead JD ’80 reflected on an incomparable year of defining moments in his annual State of the University Address.
“This university has existed for 240 years as a symbol of optimism, strength, and prosperity for the state of Georgia and its people,” Morehead said. “But we are not content to rest. As Bulldogs, we are tenacious and remain committed to reaching higher and accomplishing even more.”
Student success continues surpassing records
UGA is ranked No. 18 among public universities by U.S. News & World Report, marking the university’s ninth consecutive year in the top 20.
Research and innovation reach new heights
The university set a new record for its research enterprise, totaling $628 million in R&D expenditures, a 10% increase from the previous year. UGA researchers were honored with prestigious national awards, contributed to tens of thousands of citations in top academic journals, and published nearly 800 books across various disciplines over the past decade.
Impact on Georgia grows
UGA’s annual impact on the state grew to a record $8.4 billion. Meanwhile, new enhancements for Georgia lay ahead. The Board of Regents approved the new School of Medicine’s ability to grant M.D. degrees, and the school has submitted its accreditation application. Once operational, the School of Medicine will help address Georgia’s growing health care needs.
Investment in campus community expands
Investment in campus security has totaled $23 million over the past eight years, including $7.3 million last year for enhancements like perimeter fencing, lighting, and emergency call stations. Student housing, sports complexes, and academic buildings have all also undergone infrastructure improvements.
PUBLIC UNIVERSITIES WITH 90% OR HIGHER GRADUATION RATE 1of 9
A POWERHOUSE in Academics
The University of Georgia ranks among the nation’s top public universities, inspiring leaders and driving groundbreaking discoveries. Our students succeed at the highest levels, thriving in a culture of academic excellence that emphasizes hands-on learning and innovative teaching.
BUILDING A HEALTHIER GEORGIA
Donors are investing in the School of Medicine’s new building and future students.
As construction crews raise the walls of the University of Georgia’s Medical Education and Research Building, future home to the UGA School of Medicine, university officials and donors are turning their attention to the individuals who will study within those walls—and how to make their education as affordable as possible.
State-of-the-art facilities will help attract students to the new school, but fellowships and other robust financial aid will help students manage the cost of a medical education. This will ensure that the best medical students have incentives to accept a place in the school's first class.
“There’s a high cost to becoming a physician that keeps many qualified students from pursuing this dream. Jonathan and I were fortunate enough to benefit from scholarships along the way, and we’re excited to be able to help others,” says Dr. Laurel Murrow, associate professor of medicine for the Augusta University/UGA Medical Partnership.
Murrow and her husband, Dr. Jonathan Murrow, also a medical partnership faculty member, grew up in Georgia—Watkinsville and Farmington, respectively—but left the state to pursue their
medical education. The medical partnership, and now the School of Medicine, afforded them the chance to come back and support the health of their home state.
The Murrows’ commitment to Georgia’s health extends beyond work hours, however. The couple created the Murrow Family Scholarship Fund, which will support School of Medicine students who have overcome hardships.
“Growing up in Oconee County, we’ve seen firsthand that access to high-quality health care matters,” says Dr. Jonathan Murrow. “We’re proud to invest in the School of Medicine and in Georgia’s future.”
The school aspires to enroll 60 students for its first class in fall 2026. To attract the most talented students (see right), and to help address Georgia’s medical shortfalls, UGA will continue to look to supporters who are ready to improve Georgians’ lives.
EDWIN HAMMOND
Drs. Laurel and Jonathan Murrow, both faculty members in the Augusta University/UGA Medical Partnership, support future UGA School of Medicine students through a scholarship fund created by their family.
A rendering of the Medical Education and Research Building, which was funded through a $50 million allocation from the state, matched by $50 million in private contributions. It is anticipated to open in December 2026.
Georgia is 40th in the U.S. in physician-to-population ratio.
Nine Georgia counties have no doctor.
Nearly 1/3 of Georgia physicians are 60 or older and nearing retirement.
UGA is positioned to solve these problems. The university is the ninthhighest producer of medical school applicants in the United States. The new medical school not only gives these applicants the opportunity to stay in Athens, but it also makes it more likely that physicians will practice in Georgia.
Fifty percent of physicians who complete their undergraduate or graduate education in Georgia stay in the state, and that percentage jumps to 73% when that physician completes both degrees in the Peach State. Donors can increase those odds by creating scholarships or other student aid funds.
Our goal is to provide substantial scholarship support for UGA’s first class of medical students.
Medical students graduate with an average of more than $200,000 in student debt. That’s a significant burden, and closing that gap is why the School of Medicine is now focusing its fundraising efforts on scholarships.
But there’s another reason, too. The School of Medicine cannot recruit students until it receives preliminary accreditation, which isn’t expected to be awarded until the accrediting body, the LCME, meets next February. This means UGA will be on an incredibly tight timeline for recruiting the inaugural class—months after established schools have already been making offers.
Every new commitment to endow scholarships for UGA medical students now will help to make the dream of our first students—and future generations of Georgia physicians—a reality.
Cushing's disease, a debilitating disease that's rare in humans but common in dogs, begins with a benign tumor in the pituitary gland.
One Health
A single disease is rare in humans but common in dogs. How do we find solutions to help both? A new approach to health research is looking for solutions to Cushing’s disease and other health challenges.
WRITTEN BY AARON HALE MA ’16
It took Yana Zavros 16 years to get diagnosed with a disorder called Cushing’s disease.
Sixteen years of a demoralizing condition that causes muscle weakness, mood changes, and weight gain, among other symptoms, because the patient’s adrenal glands produce too much of the stress hormone cortisol.
By the time Zavros received her diagnosis, she was an accomplished researcher at the University of Arizona who focused on gastric and pancreatic cancer. Cushing’s is rare in humans, and Zavros was frustrated by how long it took to diagnose and that the only treatments available to her weren’t even specific to her disease.
Then, she remembered that she was qualified to start a research program and do something about it.
“It was a turning point in how I viewed research and what we do as scientists,” she says. “I found my purpose.”
In fall 2024, Zavros joined UGA’s new School of Medicine as Research Center Director and Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar in Molecular Medicine. Already, she is partnering with
scholars on campus to find new answers for Cushing’s while continuing her cancer research.
Zavros believes the solution for better diagnosis and treatment for Cushing’s disease in humans is first understanding how to cure the disease in dogs through an approach to research called One Health. This concept looks for health solutions beyond the human by also considering animal and environmental health. In the last five years, UGA has invested in the One Health approach as part of a broader effort to bring interdisciplinary research teams together to tackle complex 21st century challenges.
While Cushing’s in humans is rare, that’s not true for canines. About 100,000 dogs are diagnosed with the hormonal disorder each year. Like their human counterparts, dogs with the disease suffer from weakness and weight gain. They also lose their fur, gain pot bellies, and can have a shorter life span.
The fact that both humans and man’s best friend share the disease (which, to be clear, is not contagious) might be the key to finding better treatments or perhaps even a cure for Cushing’s for both species.
“One Health is all about the intersections between humans, other animals, and our environment,” says Jon Mochel, director of UGA’s Precision One Health Initiative.
“What can we learn about similarities in diseases, such as cancer or cardiarenal and metabolic diseases, that are shared by humans and other animals? What conditions lead to disease transmission between animals and humans? What role does the environment play in all of this? And how can we create better conditions to optimize human, veterinary, and environmental health?”
Yana Zavros is the director of the UGA School of Medicine's Research Center and a Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar in Molecular Medicine.
One Health has been practiced at UGA for over a decade, but the concept accelerated with the launch of UGA’s Precision One Health Initiative, supported by a hiring initiative in 2021. With UGA’s new School of Medicine, UGA is one of 13 universities in the nation with schools of veterinary medicine, human medicine, and agriculture on one campus. Add these to UGA’s other strengths, which range from pharmacy and engineering to public policy, law, and business, and UGA is positioned to make a unique impact.
“By working together, we can accelerate the discoveries of cures and then speed up the translation of discoveries to bedside practice,” said Jack S. Hu, senior vice president for academic affairs and provost at UGA’s One Health Symposium in November.
This interdisciplinary approach is being targeted at Cushing’s disease. UGA researchers are trying to understand, on a molecular level, the tumors that often cause the condition. And since the disease is much more common in dogs, researchers are collecting tumor biopsies from canine patients at UGA’s Veterinary Teaching Hospital.
“From those biopsies,” explains Mochel, who is also a co-investigator on the Cushing’s project, “we’ve created mini-tumors in dishes to screen for thousands of molecules in the cells. This process will allow us to determine which drugs could be safe and effective in fighting the disease.”
Researchers hope to customize optimal treatments for individual canine patients. If the trial treating dogs for Cushing’s is successful, then the next step is studying treatments in humans.
The research project could help with other applications as well. For example, Karin Allenspach, a clinician scientist and professor of pathology in the College of Veterinary Medicine, is a co-investigator on the Cushing’s research, helping create the mini-tumors called organoids, which serve as three-dimensional models of diseased tissues. These organoids can also be used in cancer research to help try out more drugs more quickly and pinpoint which ones should be tested in clinical trials. If this approach works, it means better treatments delivered to patients faster and cheaper.
UGA’s Precision One Health Initiative is just getting underway, but there’s already momentum toward making an impact.
“We have the resources, the talent, and the expertise to move this field forward,” Mochel says. “Our next step is to effectively translate these efforts from the lab to the patient’s bedside.” GM
Learn more about the fight against Cushing's Disease: T.UGA.EDU/PRECISIONONEHEALTH
Veterinary medicine student
Kenne Lott holds Cushing's patient Dixie, 10, during a blood draw.
Jon Mochel and Karin Allenspach are co-investigators in the One Health approach to tackling Cushing's disease.
PETER FREY
DOROTHY KOZLOWSKI
A blonde beehive wig complements a Mondrian-inspired dress, both worn by B-52s’ and Athens’ own Cindy Wilson. The display case, “Making a Scene,” currently houses iconic B-52s memorabilia.
ARENA SHOW
Go to Athens’ new Akins Ford Arena for ice hockey, leave with a new appreciation for the state’s music history, courtesy of the UGA Special Collections Libraries.
WRITTEN BY ERIC RANGUS MA ’94 AND CAROLINE NEWBERN
Kha Huynh thought she was just going to watch the Ice Dawgs make their debut at their brand-new home arena. (A 4-3 overtime win over the University of Tennessee, thank you very much.)
She didn’t expect a culture lesson.
Huynh, in town from Boston visiting a high school friend, went home with a newfound appreciation for Georgia’s music history, thanks to the UGA Special Collections Libraries.
The 8,500-seat Akins Ford Arena at the Classic Center opened in December on the eastern edge of downtown Athens. In addition to the Ice Dawgs, it’s also home to the new Athens Rock Lobsters of the Federal Prospects Hockey League, plus concerts and events.
One of the most engaging features of the Akins Ford Arena is the Georgia Music Collections exhibition that encircles the building’s concourses.
On a massive video screen on the eastern concourse, B-52s legend and Athens resident Cindy Wilson welcomes fans to the
arena, inviting them to explore cases filled with memorabilia spanning a century of Georgia music and celebrating more than 200 of the state’s artists.
Instruments, T-shirts, shoes and boots, wigs, dozens of photos, and hundreds of posters and album covers are on display. Beyond the cases, interactive displays encourage fans to do more than just look. Kids (and the young at heart) can dance on a floor piano— similar to the one popularized in the Tom Hanks classic movie Big—while creating their own tunes.
During an intermission of the Ice Dawgs’ Jan. 20 debut on Akins Ford ice, Huynh browsed the kiosks. She’d only learned the day before that the B-52s came out of Athens and knew the hit, “Love Shack,” but that was the limit of her knowledge of Classic City classics. She focused on the kiosk “Making a Scene,” admiring the avant-garde Mondrian-inspired style of Cindy Wilson’s dress.
“Literally two minutes ago, I wasn’t aware of Athens music history,” Huynh said. “Now I feel like I’m a part of the local scene.”
CAROLINE NEWBERN
Stairwell lights illuminate gold and platinum records from Georgia artists. The framed records line one of the walls in Akins Ford Arena, Athens’s newest performance venue.
Filling the Cases
Ten years ago, Paul Cramer, director of The Classic Center Authority, had a vision for the yet-to-be-built arena. More than just a performance venue, it would reflect upon the entire Athens community. But it wasn’t until a meeting with the UGA Special Collections Library that Cramer was drawn to the theme of Georgia music.
“There are Georgia artists who were the first of their kind,” says Katie Williams ABJ ’07, vice president of sales, marketing, and tourism for The Classic Center. “A lot of music from our state influenced what came in the future. To see these items on display again means a lot to people.”
An interactive exhibit puts arena visitors’ musical knowledge to the test.
Guitars, posters, concert flyers, outfits, and records from various Georgia artists representing a variety of genres showcase the wide-ranging musical impact of our state.
Visitors explore the main concourse of Akins Ford Arena, admiring display cases during an intermission of a UGA men’s club hockey game.
UGA acquired the bulk of the music collection in 2011, when the Georgia Music Hall of Fame shut down. The collaboration between the Libraries and The Classic Center to share items from that collection at the new Athens arena began taking shape before it was even built.
All that was needed was someone to take charge.
“The Georgia Music Collections exhibit provides an unparalleled opportunity to bring our work off campus and into the community to tell the evolving story of Georgia music history,” says Ryan Lewis, Georgia music curator for the Special Collections Libraries. “We are connecting people to our mission in a way that meets them where they are.”
Beyond the massive Hall of Fame holdings, the Georgia Music Collections have grown to include such treasures as James Brown’s cape in addition to high-profile objects on loan such as Duane Allman’s guitar. There is enough memorabilia to fill the Akins Ford cases for five years.
The launch of the exhibition has truly been a labor of love for Lewis, who was hired in January 2023 to put it all together. He created Spotify playlists attuned to the contents of each display case. He wrote trivia questions in the interactive “Do You Know Georgia Music?” kiosk, and he collaborated with researchers to collect facts about Georgia musicians that are presented at an interactive digital table. With the arena now open for business, Lewis leads tours of the exhibition as part of the Classic City’s Third Thursday activities.
The Georgia Music Collections and Akins Ford Arena represent just a fraction of the Special Collections Libraries full holdings. Cindy Wilson herself, as she concludes her welcome message, invites visitors to engage with even more moments in Georgia music history by exploring the Libraries’ galleries.
GM
CAROLINE NEWBERN
CAROLINE NEWBERN
CAROLINE NEWBERN
The Georgia Conference on Children’s Literature features a variety of children’s books, educational resources, and fun extras for attendees to take back to their schools and classrooms.
nce Upon a Conference
The Georgia Conference on Children's Literature, hosted by the University of Georgia, has shaped children's literature for more than 50 years, bringing together writers, librarians, illustrators, educators, and young readers.
WRITTEN BY JAYNE ROBERTS
PHOTOS BY PETER FREY BFA '94
There’s a running joke in the University of Georgia’s Department of Language and Literacy Education.
“Two very important things happened in 1969,” says clinical professor Petros Panaou with a grin. “We landed on the moon, and the Georgia Conference on Children’s Literature was born.”
An exaggerated comparison, maybe, but it’s hard to dismiss the impact of one of the longest-running literature conferences in the country. It’s an event where writers, illustrators, and educators meet each year to chart the future of children’s literature.
“Two very important things happened in 1969. We landed on the moon, and the Georgia Conference on Children’s Literature was born.”
PETROS PANAOU, CLINICAL PROFESSOR, DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGE AND LITERACY EDUCATION
Children's Book Awards
The conference was created to celebrate the authors who won the Georgia Children’s Book Awards. The awards were established by Shelton Root, a former professor in UGA’s Mary Frances Early College of Education, who wanted to build a community of readers and informed citizens.
College of Education faculty members
Sara Kajder and Jennifer Graff are at the frontlines of building connections. Graff was a committee chair from 2010 through 2021, and Kajder has been a committee chair since 2015. They talk to teachers and librarians, reach out to homeschool communities, and engage with students across Georgia to ensure the whole state is represented in committee membership and book selection.
“It’s a testimony to the adults and educators who understand that great writing and reading are important for the kids. Just as impressive, the kids know these books are critical for their future as engaged citizens and creative thinkers,” Graff says.
The awards attract people from every facet of children’s literature—teachers, media specialists, librarians, graduate students, authors, illustrators, and, most importantly, children.
Kids vote on the winning books: one for picture books and one for older readers. Every title that ends up on the finalist list is voted on by thousands of young readers. One year, as many as 51,000 students across Georgia voted in the competition.
But before the voting starts, each book award committee narrows down a massive list of nominations submitted by publishers, educators, and students. Each committee shares the shortened list with schools and libraries across the state. Then, the lists are shared with children and families to read and vote on before the winners are announced at the conference. This year, the winners were Mr. S by Monica Arnaldo and Hands by Torrey Maldonado, respectively.
Nancy Heiss, a graduate assistant for the book awards, says the process empowers young readers. She encourages all children, including her own, to vote.
“I think it’s important for kids to know that their voices are being heard,” Heiss says. “Instead of adults dictating what they can read, it’s their chance to connect to the books they love and share with their peers.”
Georgia Conference on Children's Literature
Once the winners are selected, it’s showtime.
Panaou, who has served as the conference chair for the past eight years, says each event is designed by and for the participants. Librarians discuss programs to engage children. Educators deliver presentations about incorporating literature in the classroom. Authors and illustrators share techniques with fellow artists.
Topics range from grammar to gamification, but the momentum doesn’t stop when speakers leave the stage. Participants mingle with their favorite authors after events, and educators inform publishers about how to get a book into children’s hands.
“The most interesting conversations happen in the hallways or at lunch, usually with UGA’s famous strawberry ice cream pie,” Panaou says. “That’s what makes it special. People meet their heroes here and
get to talk to them like human beings.”
The conference celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2019, attracting the highest attendance to date. Newbery Awardwinning author and poet Kwame Alexander gave the keynote address. Athens-area students even read his books as part of a book club.
“When they finally met him at the conference, they treated him like a superstar—like we’d expect for a football player or a rock musician,” Panaou says. “The whole experience left a lasting impression on me. It’s a memory I’ll never forget, and neither will they."
This adoration between children and authors hasn’t changed over the decades. Dozens of children sent letters to Doris Buchanan Smith after she won the Georgia Children’s Book Award in 1975.
Monica Arnaldo won a Georgia Children’s Book Award for Mr. S, which she wrote and illustrated. She couldn’t attend the conference in person but thanked the room virtually.
“Dear Ms. Smith, I wrote you because I wanted to tell you I might be an author when I grow up.”
“Dear Ms. Smith, I plan to read more of your books because I enjoyed Kelly’s Creek so much."
Children's Literature on Display
The exhibition room changes every year to keep up with the needs of new and evolving young readers. One year, the room hosted an international silent book exhibition with wordless picture books. Another year, the exhibition Outstanding International Books for Youth with Disabilities featured books for visually impaired children and books for and about children with autism. These books were tactile and creative and previously unknown to many readers.
“We want to let every child know that there is a book for them and that their story is important,” says Heiss. “Literature is a way to witness each other, and I think it’s beautiful.”
This year’s exhibition, organized by the Comics Appreciation Project, celebrated the power of graphic novels. While classic superhero comics will always be cherished, the Comics Appreciated Project highlighted the many profound themes that modern graphic novels explore. From the Civil Rights Movement to war-torn fantasy narratives, these stories go beyond entertainment to explore complex emotions and challenges in a way only graphic novels can.
“One of the most important parts of this conference is showing educators what resources are out there,” says Panaou. The more educators know about different types of children’s books, the more they can incorporate them into the reading spaces of children who need them.
“We want to let every child know that there is a book for them and that their story is important. Literature is a way to witness each other, and I think it’s beautiful.”
NANCY HEISS
BOOK AWARD GRADUATE ASSISTANT
The Comics Appreciation Project presented this year’s special exhibition. Members of the project curated graphic novels with powerful narratives and educational resources and programs for storytelling.
The Bigger Picture (Book)
As much as the conference is meant to inspire knowledge and engagement in children, it’s clear that adults also reap benefits from this community.
One of 2025’s keynote speakers, historical children’s book author Jessica Kasper Kramer, kicked off her presentation with the story of meeting her literary idol, Andre Norton, as a child.
Norton, a prolific science fiction writer, held a book signing, and Kramer was the only child at the event. She remembers Norton pulling her to the front of the line, talking to her for longer than anyone else, and answering her questions as seriously as if she were the world’s leading literary critic. That moment left a lasting impact on Kramer.
“I believe stories can save us,” she said in her speech.
Kramer, like her fellow conference attendees, believes in the transformative power of literature to help young readers shape their world in new and profound ways.
Harold with his purple crayon. Ada Twist with her curious questions. Matilda with her magic powers. Children’s books are often the settings of our first heroes and inspirations. At the Georgia Conference on Children's Literature, magic meets the everyday in a story that never ends. GM
The Georgia Center for Continuing Education and Hotel hosts the conference every year. It draws hundreds of teachers, librarians, media specialists, authors, illustrators, and scholars from the university and across the state.
Breakout sessions included presentations from guests like Jennifer Allen and Bethany Scullin from the University of West Georgia. They discussed how picture books can be used to teach children critical media literacy skills.
How Does Our Garden Grow?
With a mission to safeguard native plants and educate the next generation of student leaders, UGA’s State Botanical Garden of Georgia is partnering with nature lovers statewide to protect the plants and places we call home.
WRITTEN BY STACIA PELLETIER
Stroll through the State Botanical Garden of Georgia at the University of Georgia on any given day, and you’ll be amazed by the sights: orchids blooming in white, pink, and purple; a sea of yellow on Daffodil Hillside; elegant tableware in the Porcelain & Decorative Arts Museum; a soaring three-story tropical conservatory. The garden attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors year-round, including for seasonal events such as February’s Orchid Madness, the summertime Sunflower Music Series, and the popular Winter WonderLights, which drew more than 65,000 visitors in 2024.
The sights are impressive, but what’s going on behind the scenes is equally remarkable. Over the past three decades, the State Botanical Garden has evolved into a living laboratory—a sanctuary for native seeds and endangered and rare plants. It’s also one of the finest examples of team science, experiential learning, and thriving partnerships for a sustainable environmental future across the southeastern United States.
As a unit of Public Service and Outreach at the University of Georgia, the State Botanical Garden combines the teaching, research, and service missions of UGA.
“The State Botanical Garden exists to serve the state of Georgia with the conservation of our precious natural resources, including common and imperiled plant species, and to provide a free and accessible place for people of all ages to enjoy and find inspiration in nature,” says Jenny Cruse-Sanders MS ’97, PhD ’03, director of the State Botanical Garden.
DOROTHY KOZLOWSKI
The Insectival is one of the garden’s most beloved events. The Insectival is a familyfriendly celebration of our creepy-crawly—and friendly—neighbors. One of the highlights is the monarch butterfly release practiced here by butterfly breeder James Maudsley and student volunteer Gracey Throckmorton.
Restoring workhorse species
Heather Alley BS ’97, MS ’02 believes you don’t have to import plants from tropical or exotic locations to find a gorgeous flower. There are plenty of amazing species right here in Georgia.
Alley, who manages the garden’s Mimsie Lanier Center for Native Plants, has spent 20-plus years expanding the garden’s traditional focus on exotics and ornamentals to include native plants and ecological restoration across the state. She completed her master’s thesis as part of a research assistantship at the garden back in 2001. That study went on to be published to critical acclaim, helping provide important proof-of-concept data for native plant restoration efforts throughout the state.
“This is gardening for wildlife, for pollinators, for birds,” Alley says. “And while we’re doing the scientific side, we’re also helping people apply these conservation techniques in their own backyards.”
The new Georgia Native Seed Network, a unique public-private partnership built on 10 years of research and outreach by garden
leaders, pairs UGA horticulturalists with commercial growers and other partners to collect and reproduce native species seeds for future planting. The network targets plants like the little bluestem, Virginia wild rye, purple-top grass, and pollinatorsupporting wildflowers such as blazing star, mountain mint, and wild bergamot.
“These are workhorse plants,” Alley says. “They serve as the backbone of Georgia’s habitats and ecosystems.”
In 2023, the team collected seeds from 40 native species across the state. Twentyfour of those species are now in production for critical projects, like replanting after hurricanes or wildfires. The big-picture goal? To make these plants more widely available in Georgia for everything from powerline rights-of-way to home gardens.
“Twenty years ago, we had one small native plant garden within the shade garden, and that was it,” Alley says. “Now we’re going statewide. That’s been a major shift and one that I’m excited about—both for the plants and for Georgia residents.”
DOROTHY KOZLOWSKI
ALAN CRESSLER
Partnering for rare and endangered plants
While Alley helps keep Georgia’s ecosystems thriving through native plants, conservation coordinator Jennifer Ceska MS ’95 is helping protect the state’s rare and endangered plant communities.
Like Alley, Ceska has been doing her work for decades—she celebrates her 30year anniversary at the garden this year.
As a graduate student, she helped create the Georgia Plant Conservation Alliance to safeguard plants at risk of extinction or facing pressure from extreme weather or human activity. Today, the alliance includes more than 100 participating organizations statewide. The garden both serves as the alliance’s headquarters and as a sanctuary for these endangered Georgia treasures.
“The goal of these partnerships is to keep these species ecologically relevant in the wild,” Ceska says. “We protect these plants through our seed banks, through our garden collections, and by sharing them with partner growers. That’s all happening behind the scenes every day here.”
Saving these plants is urgent work but isn’t accomplished quickly. Think of it as an emergency in slow motion.
Take smooth coneflower. A sassy, beautiful echinacea, this purple perennial is threatened by habitat degradation. Conservationists have begun restoring local habitats for the
plant, replanting individual plants grown at the garden and watching them spread. Smooth coneflower was recently downlisted from “endangered” to “threatened” as defined by the Endangered Species Act.
Hairy rattleweed is another example. This rare and endangered flowering plant only appears in southeast Georgia—it won’t grow anywhere else on the planet. Alley and her team are “head-starting” these plants, a phrase borrowed from animal conservation that refers to young animals raised in captivity before being released into the wild. A recent sighting of a hairy rattleweed “born” in the wild—thanks to habitat restoration efforts—offers an encouraging sign.
“This baby plant appeared in a powerline right-of-way, where sunlight allowed things to reproduce,” Ceska says. “We knew it was a baby because they’re not ‘hairy’ during their first year. We were so thrilled to see one!”
Georgia Power oversees right-of-way maintenance throughout the state and partners with the GPCA on these projects. But even with commitments from such stakeholders, saving and restoring rare species takes time.
“Conservation moves at the speed of plants,” Ceska says. “I tell our students to take care of themselves, to take time for themselves, because we’re going to need you doing this work for the next 40 years.”
DOROTHY KOZLOWSKI
SHANNAH MONTGOMERY
Hairy rattleweed and smooth coneflower (inset) are two plants native to Georgia that the State Botanical Garden is working to protect and restore to the wild.
The State Botanical Garden’s pathways offer a variety of opportunities for relaxation and quiet reflection.
Growing Future Leaders
While the State Botanical Garden is nourishing native and endangered plants, it’s also helping grow the next generation of Georgia’s leaders. Cora Keber MA ’19, the garden’s director of education, oversees the experiential learning initiative Learning by Leading.
“We’re trying to create a culture of leadership,” Keber says. “We’re helping students build the foundational interpersonal skills they’ll need to flourish and lead in the workplace.”
Learning by Leading helps UGA students learn these skills while participating in horticultural and environmental projects. Internship opportunities are also available for those who want to dig deeper into the garden’s work.
“They learn how they relate to others and how others relate to them.” Keber says. Students take a science communication module that teaches them to share scientific ideas in ways that connect with public audiences. And earlier this year, staff mentors offered a new networking event for students in the program.
“We’ve had our students tell us they don’t know how to network professionally,” says Keber. “They’ve never done this sort of thing before. So we created an event where we practiced networking, learned some tips and tricks, and helped build their confidence.”
Since the initiative’s launch at the garden in 2018, 182 students have participated, contributing more than 23,000 hours to advancing the State Botanical Garden’s mission. On the national level, Learning by Leading won the Program Excellence
Award from the American Public Gardens Association in 2024. For Keber, the program’s success mirrors the larger evolution of the State Botanical Garden and its increasing engagement with plants, places, and people statewide.
“We’re moving from a model of seeing students as temporary workers to seeing them as leaders and co-creators of the garden,” she says. “That’s also part of our larger mission. Across our state and regional partners, we’re in this work together. There’s not a hierarchy here.”
“The State Botanical Garden exists to serve the state of Georgia with the conservation of our precious natural resources, including common and imperiled plant species, and to provide a free and accessible place for people of all ages to enjoy and find inspiration in nature.”
JENNY CRUSE-SANDERS, DIRECTOR, STATE BOTANICAL GARDEN OF GEORGIA
DOROTHY KOZLOWSKI
DOROTHY KOZLOWSKI
The Porcelain and Decorative Arts Museum, which opened in 2022, realizes the dream of garden board member Deen Day Sanders, who donated her 50-year collection for display.
Inset right: Jenny Cruse-Sanders was named garden director in 2017.
Winter WonderLights at the garden is one of northeast Georgia’s most popular seasonal celebrations. In 2024, more than 65,000 guests visited the State Botanical Garden to experience the festivities.
DOROTHY KOZLOWSKI
The Alice H. Richards Children’s Garden opened in 2019 as the ideal place for children to play and learn in an environment that inspires their sense of adventure, wonder, and love for nature.
DOROTHY KOZLOWSKI
DOROTHY KOZLOWSKI
The garden includes many edible selections. Winter vegetables in the children's garden offer some nutritious leafy green options.
Athens resident Megan Williams and her daughters explore the garden conservatory, which is home to dozens of colorful species of orchids (inset) and a host of other flowers and plants.
Putting Down Roots
Learning opportunities at the garden aren’t just for the young.
“Our programs are open to all ages, from pre-K to gray,” Keber says. “Anyone who wants to connect more closely to the natural environment is welcome and wanted here.”
Community education resides at the heart of the State Botanical Garden’s mission. As the garden connects to Georgians across generations, the goal remains the same: to foster appreciation and environmental stewardship for the diverse plants that sustain and beautify our world.
“The scientific and technical work that we do absolutely matters,” Ceska says. “But at the end of the day, if people don’t care about plants, then we might as well go home. If you don’t love something, you can’t protect it. We need people across our state to see and value plants in their own lives.”
It’s a goal worth putting your gloves on for—and it’s why some of the garden’s most vital work takes place in the backyards of Georgia residents. The Connect to Protect program provides resources for gardeners statewide, helping the public create sanctuaries for plants and wildlife in their own gardens, no matter how modest the lot size. These small retreats make a big difference to the plants, pollinators, and other animals eking out a living in our increasingly crowded world.
Best of all, almost anyone can do it. All you need, says Ceska, is the willingness to keep trying—and to recognize that when it comes to growing plants, the learning will be lifelong.
“I spend a lot of my time looking people in the eye, whether trained conservationists, volunteers, or students, and saying, ‘Yes, you can. Yes, you can. You can do this,’” Ceska says.
“Yes, we’re going to plant some seeds,
and we’re going to find out what happens to them. And if something goes wrong and the plants don’t survive, we’ll learn from what happened and try again.
“We’re in this for the long haul.”
One of the best parts about working at the State Botanical Garden, Alley says, is learning about nature’s resilience. Like people, plants have a drive to survive.
Sometimes all plants need are places to put down roots, helping hands during tough moments, and enough time to grow into what they’re meant to be—vibrant and vital participants in our shared future.
“You can see it if you’re patient,” Alley says. “But you have to be willing to look. You plant these plants, and here they come. That’s why we do this work.”
Help the Botanical Garden grow! BOTGARDEN.UGA.EDU/GIVE
DOROTHY KOZLOWSKI SHANNAH MONTGOMERY GM
Cora Keber
Jennifer Ceska
Heather Alley
Keep on truckin’! The Iron Horse rides in style to what would be a 24-week restoration process. It was the first time in decades that the sculpture had left its home at the University of Georgia Iron Horse Plant Sciences Farm. The land in Greene County was named after the curious colt as part of a gift from the family of the late UGA professor L.C. Curtis.
Giddy Up!
The rise,
fall,
and rise again of the Iron Horse
WRITTEN BY MAURA RUTLEDGE
After 70 years standing tall as a source of quirky pride and more than a little curiosity for the University of Georgia community, the iconic Iron Horse needed a makeover.
The 12-foot-tall, two-ton sculpture of welded boilerplate steel first was installed on campus in 1954, but the negative reaction from students was so intense that it was quickly removed. In 1959, the Iron Horse was reinstalled on a farm south of campus, where it eventually became a sort of folk hero and a right-of-passage pilgrimage for generations of students.
But seven decades of exposure to the elements left the Iron Horse rusted, ragged, and in need of repair.
That’s when President Jere W. Morehead JD ’80 rode to the rescue, allocating private discretionary funds to hire art conservator Amy Abbe and metalsmith Don Cope MEd ’95 to restore the sculpture. Cope transported the
Iron Horse to his studio in Athens last summer and got to work. The team cleaned the Iron Horse from nose to hoof and cleared it of corrosion. They stabilized the structure—reinforced its joints, replaced the tail section, and applied a coat of fresh black paint.
In November, a refreshed and renewed Iron Horse returned to its home off Highway 15 in Greene County. The makeover proved to be worth the effort, and the Iron Horse stands tall once again.
The tender loving care provided to the Iron Horse included sandblasting from head to hoof (right). Wear and tear in the elements had damaged significant portions of the sculpture’s body, many of which were rusted completely through. The procedure helped the Iron Horse look shiny and new.
DOROTHY KOZLOWSKI
Metal designer and UGA alumnus Don Cope repairs part of the Iron Horse’s leg. Cope became a fan of the Iron Horse while in graduate school. His work helped return the horse to the original vision of its sculptor, Abbott Pattison, even down to the original 1954 paint color.
After its refurbishments were complete the Iron Horse was lowered to its forever home, which now features a plaque detailing its history and how it came to reside in Greene County. In its early days, the majestic mustang was removed from campus after students attempted to set it on fire. But over the course of the next 70 years, the Iron Horse has grown into a much-loved symbol for UGA students and alumni, as well as a local tourist attraction.
Standing tall once again, the Iron Horse glistens in the sunlight months after its refurbishment.
PETER FREY
ANDREW DAVIS TUCKER
CHAMBERLAIN SMITH
CHAMBERLAIN SMITH
dATES TO REMEMBER
UGA NIGHT AT ATLANTA UNITED
July 26 | 7:30 p.m.
Join fellow Georgia Bulldogs to cheer on the Five Stripes as they take on the Seattle Sounders at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Fans who purchase a ticket through UGA will receive a limited-edition ATL UTD x UGA scarf, and $5 from each ticket will support UGA student scholarships. Get your tickets at alumni.uga.edu/united25.
BULLDOG 100 NOMINATION DEADLINE
July 31
The annual Bulldog 100 list recognizes the risk-takers, entrepreneurs, and culture-shapers who are behind the 100 fastest-growing businesses owned or led by UGA alumni. Nominations for the 2026 list are open through July 31 at alumni.uga.edu/b100.
FALL GAME-WATCHING PARTIES
Is it ever too early to plan for football season? Update your contact information with UGA to ensure you’re invited to game-watching parties all season long. It only takes two minutes at alumni.uga.edu/update
HELP UGA STUDENTS FINISH THE DRILL
When undergraduate students with more than 60 credit hours face personal challenges that threaten their paths to graduation, the UGA Young Alumni Leadership Council wants to provide financial support to help them “finish the drill.”
The newly launched Young Alumni Leadership Council Finish the Drill
Scholarship Fund will provide needbased aid to students who are in danger of abandoning their college education— sometimes when just a few hundred dollars would make the difference. Join in this initiative to support UGA students on their paths to graduation. Visit give.uga.edu/finish and donate to this worthy cause.
chapter spotlight
CHAPTER GAME-WATCHING PARTIES
The Volusia/Flagler Alumni Chapter cheers on the Dawgs in Ormond Beach, Florida.
Last football season, 64 alumni chapters hosted 915 game-watching parties for more than 6,400 Bulldogs around the world. Game-watching parties are rally points for Bulldog faithful to gather and reconnect with the University of Georgia—no matter where they’ve traveled or moved. Hundreds of
passionate alumni volunteers host these gatherings and serve as year-round ambassadors for UGA in their respective cities. Thanks to everyone who attended last season’s watch parties. We look forward to seeing you this fall and encourage you to bring a new friend or two. Go Dawgs!
KBH INDUSTRIAL LANDS AT NO. 1 ON 2025 BULLDOG 100 LIST
Congratulations to Tarun Ganeriwal MBA ’09, president and CEO of KBH Industrial in Smyrna, for leading his business to the top of the 2025 Bulldog 100 list. KBH Industrial provides a range of project management services for the energy, industrial, and government sectors. View the complete list of Bulldog 100 rankings at alumni.uga.edu/b100
SIX RECEIVE PRESTIGIOUS 2025 ALUMNI AWARDS
GUIDE STUDENTS THROUGH MENTORING
Mentorship helps students succeed in their personal, academic, and professional endeavors. But with schedules as busy as they are, it can be challenging to know how to share your valuable experiences and insights to help guide a young Bulldog. Through the UGA Mentor Program, just one to two hours per month can change the trajectory of a student’s life. Sign up at mentor.uga.edu.
Each April during Honors Week, the university presents the annual UGA Alumni Awards to individuals and organizations that demonstrate an outstanding commitment to the university. The 2025 honorees include:
• Allison C. Ausband ABJ ’83 – Alumni Merit Award
• Terry Brown BBA ’84 – Alumni Merit Award
• Jennifer Frum PhD ’09 – Faculty Service Award
• Cathie and John AB ’62 Crawford Family – Family of the Year Award
• John Huland Carmical Foundation – Friend of UGA Award
• Lucy Pinto BBA ’12 – Young Alumni Award
Learn more about these generous and committed supporters at alumni.uga.edu/alumniawards.
Check out what's going on for alumni and update your email or mailing address with UGA.
EDWIN
class notes
Compiled by Caroline Newbern, Maura
Encore! Encore!
Long before he was born, Clay Hilley’s maternal grandmother, Margie Ferguson, prayed for a musical grandchild.
“My joke is, because of those prayers, I’m the one that ended up with all the music school and conservatory debt,” Hilley says. He is also, without a doubt, a musical superstar.
Today, Hilley BMus ’04 is a critically acclaimed, world-famous opera singer. From his base in Berlin, he has traveled the world expanding his repertoire of opera’s most famous heroes including the titular roles of Samson, Tristan, and Siegfried. From classic Beethoven, Mozart, and Wagner operas to more modern and experimental works, he does it all.
But Hilley’s journey started in Statham with Margie. Not content to rely solely on her prayers, she bribed her 5-year-old grandson with a piano of his own.
“Not terribly long after, probably because of those seeds planted, I would start noticing the pianist at church on Sunday,” Hilley says.
He was mesmerized by the way the pianist’s hands moved effortlessly across the keys. Soon after, he began piano lessons.
He made his debut at 15 with the Athens Choral Society. By then, Hilley knew he wanted to turn his love of music into a career. At UGA, he pursued a degree in music education with a double emphasis in piano and voice.
But it wasn’t until a performance of Puccini’s opera La bohème at the Classic Center with the Athena Grand Opera Company and UGA Symphony that Hilley caught the opera bug. He packed his bag, grabbed every gig, and absorbed every experience he could find. Hilley performed at Opera in the Ozarks in Arkansas, surrounded by fellow young vocalists. Even then, his peers predicted he would step into demanding operatic roles.
Surrounded by cornfields in Indiana, he performed at public schools as Baby Bear in “Goldilocks and the Three Bears” set to the music of The Magic Flute.
Hilley focused on academics, too, earning his Master of Music degree in voice performance at Georgia State University. He also studied at both the Manhattan School of Music and the Opera Institute at Boston University, attending programs every summer.
But he eventually moved back home and performed in smaller roles or as an understudy. Still at 32, he was a young artist in the opera world, and
Hilley’s heavy workload eventually paid off.
In 2012, he was noticed by Francesca Zambello, the artistic director of Glimmerglass Festival in New York, who connected him with opera legend Jon Frederic West. West mentored him, and Hilley earned the title of heldentenor, a voice type distinguished by its power, drama, and stamina.
Hilley reached the summit in 2021, debuting at the Deutsche Oper Berlin in the legendary title role in Siegfried, a part that
Rutledge, and Navya Shukla AB ’25, AB ’25
ALUMNI PROFILE
Clay Hilley got his start with the Athens Choral Society (now the Classic City Community Chorus). Today, he's a world-famous opera singer.
DASHA BUBEN PHOTOGRAPHY
1957-1964
Louie W. Frost Jr. BSA ’57 retired after 35 years as a soil scientist at the USDA Soil Conservation Service and 15 years as a soil consultant in private practice.
Arnold Young BBA ’63, LLB ’65 is a partner in HunterMaclean’s Savannah office and has a general trial practice. He also was an assistant U.S. attorney for the Middle District of
Georgia and a lieutenant in the U.S. Navy JAG Corps.
1965-1969
David Sipple AB ’66, MPA ’69 is a partner in HunterMaclean’s Savannah office and practices in the areas of admiralty law and insurance law. He also belongs to the
Maritime Law Association of the United States, the Southeastern Admiralty Law Institute, and the Federation of Defense and Corporate Counsel.
Charles Woods AB ’66, MEd ’68, EdS ’72 is a music librarian and flute player, and his wife, Arlene Woods BM ’68, EdS ’82, is conductor of the Covington Conyers Community Orchestra.
Hilley performed with the Dutch National Opera in 2021 when he played the title role in Der Zwerg, a fantastical Austrian opera based on an Oscar Wilde short story. Hilley is one of the opera world's most in-demand tenors, regularly performing in Europe's most legendary opera houses.
requires over five hours of singing.“ It was at age 39; 11 years of people telling me weekly, ‘Clay, any minute now, your career is gonna blow up,’” he remembers. “A major theater finally took a chance on me.”
He hasn’t performed in a cornfield since.
Now Hilley is booked through 2028, and he will be taking the stage in some of Europe’s most acclaimed opera houses. In March, he returned to Teatro Lirico Giuseppe Verdi in Trieste, Italy, and an old
Written by Caroline Newbern
role, Erik in Der Fligende Holländer. He is up to perform the title role of Tannhäuser during a house debut at the Wiener Staatsoper in Vienna, Austria.
In an age of digital distraction, opera is especially relevant today because of its ability to demand your attention. To pull you out of your seat. To not let you go.
“It’s down to the nature of the tissue in your throat,” Hilley says.
Think of the feeling you get before a
yawn. Your larynx is in a low position; training this placement is crucial for maintaining vocal power and endurance.
Like a world-class athlete, world-class opera singers know technique. Hilley’s expertise allows him to pursue a passion he was born to do.
“In opera, there’s love, there’s hate, there’s jealousy, there’s birth, there’s death. These moments of life are made bigger.”
Clay Hilley BMus '04
State OF SOLUTIONS
CAES TRANSFORMS IDEAS INTO IMPACT.
CAES turns groundbreaking research and innovative ideas into real-world solutions, shaping a sustainable future for people and the planet.
Through hands-on learning and cuttingedge science, our students and faculty drive change that improves lives and protects the environment for generations to come.
WE’RE BUILDING A FUTURE TO BE EXCITED ABOUT.
Scan the QR code to discover the college’s annual impact report.
The Life Aquatic
The first time Abby Steijlen visited the Florida Aquarium in Tampa was for her final interview for a new job. Before then, she’d worked exclusively as a video producer in sports, most notably with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and her alma mater, the University of Georgia. The move to the aquarium marked a professional jump, but she was ready for it.
Steijlen AB ’18 aced the interview.
“I work in a place where if I’m having a bad day I can sit in front of a 350,000-gallon exhibit and look at sharks and fish and rays,” says Steijlen, the Florida Aquarium’s video production manager since 2022.
But Steijlen isn’t content to just watch the aquarium’s residents through glass. Shortly after she was hired, she earned her scuba certification, which opened up a whole new world underwater.
Steijlen regularly dives into the aquarium’s habitats to document aquatic life. Accompanied by a dive buddy, Steijlen often swims an arm’s length away from multiple sand tiger sharks. She isn’t fazed.
“It’s hard to be scared when you are surrounded by that kind of beauty,” she says. “Every time I dive I get just as excited as the first because I don’t know what I’m going to see next.”
At UGA, Steijlen majored in linguistics. The summer before her senior year, she earned an internship with the NFL Network as a video editor. Before her internship, it was her focus on speech and language that made her application stand out. It certainly wasn’t her video experience, she jokes.
Before the internship, Steijlen hadn’t picked up a video camera since high school, and following a self-taught, crash-course on video production, she hasn’t put it down since. Her stint at the NFL Network led her to a role with UGA athletics; she spent her senior year capturing every UGA sport she could.
While Steijlen works in a visual field, her command of words contributes to her craft. Her job involves conducting interviews; knowing how to ask the right
Written by Eric Rangus MA '94
question to get the best response comes in handy. And then, it’s always effective to let the images do the talking.
Steijlen’s most affecting work involves both, as well as direct partnerships with aquarium scientists and other professionals.
She has recorded the releases of dozens of sea turtles rehabilitated at the aquarium. Last fall after Hurricane Milton tore the roof off the Tampa Bay Rays’ home park, Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Steijlen recorded the rescue and transfer of the stadium’s beloved rays across the bay.
Steijlen aims to expand her field work to include open-water videography. Later this year, if conditions allow, she hopes to film the outplanting of aquarium-grown corals in the Florida Keys.
“The aquarium isn’t just about entertainment,” she says. “We are a conservation-driven aquarium, and we do amazing work.” In addition to sea turtle and coral rehabilitation, the aquarium works to protect other imperiled wildlife around the world, Steijlen says. And it’s dedicated to keeping Tampa Bay and other Florida waterways clean.
“I’d never considered working in a place like this, but I haven’t regretted a second.”
Abby Steijlen AB ’18
CRYSTA MILLER
As the video production manager for the Florida Aquarium, Abby Steijlen gets up close and personal with marine life and other friendly creatures, like Pebbles, an African penguin.
CRYSTAMILLER
Randall Abney BBA ’68 created 14 businesses and is currently president and co-owner of Uncommon Gourmet, providing a selection of handpicked, imported Italian goods.
1970-1974
John Martin Taylor ABJ ’71, MA ’77 is the author of four cookbooks and several articles on food and travel. He has received the Amelia Award from The Culinary Historians of New York and is featured in several anthologies.
Bill Bradbury AB ’73 is an Episcopal priest and has served churches in Georgia, North Carolina, and Massachusetts, where he is semi-retired.
John Longino BBA ’73, JD ’76, MBA ’76 is a professor at the Law School at Antalya University in Turkey.
Richard Cassel Friedman BBA ’74 is in his 50th year in the real estate profession.
1975-1979
Jim Brown BSPH ’75 retired in March 2024 after working for 49 years in retail pharmacy.
Sandra Daise Adams BSA ’75 retired from Montclair State University as a professor of biology after more than 22 years of service and was named professor emeritus.
Dr. John Lowrey Stone BS ’77 retired in 2023 following 36 years of practicing endocrinology in Dothan, AL.
Liz Wallace Fleming AB ’78, JD ’81 closed her law office in Kodiak, AK, and retired after 42 years of practice. Prior to starting her practice, she was an assistant attorney and trial attorney in the U.S. Department of Justice and a colonel in the U.S. Navy JAG Corps.
Ed Fickey BSA ’79 is a licensed real estate broker in six Southeastern states and the president of Wakefield Group, a specialty brokerage for raw land and paper.
Anna Paine Gomez BSEd ’79 retired from her organizational development career as an organizational consultant at Grounded Change.
Steve Oney ABJ ’79 released the comprehensive book, On Air: The Triumph and Tumult of NPR, in March.
1980-1984
Joe Brand BSEd ’81 recertified his certifying fundraising professional (CFRE) credential. He is a stewardship strategist and organizational development consultant at Generis.
Mark Clegg AB ’81 recently had his third book, The Crimson and GoldFootball and Integration in Athens, Georgia, published by UGA Press.
Denise Bennett Yanus AB ’81 is the 3rd division president of the American Legion Auxiliary Department of Texas.
Michael Marcotte ABJ ’82, MA ’84 retired from the University of New Mexico journalism program
and is leading a study of the state’s local news ecosystem.
Chris Phillips BSFR ’83, MFR ’85, JD ’88 is listed in Best Lawyers in America for construction law and construction litigation, part of Georgia Trend’s Legal Elite and has been named lawyer of the year in construction litigation and medical malpractice defense for multiple years. He is a partner in HunterMaclean's Savannah office.
1985-1989
Cynthia Gray AB ’85, MEd ’87 is a health program director and medical terminology instructor for Spartanburg Community College in South Carolina.
Jim Purcell AB ’85 recently joined the team at Atlas Real Estate Advisors in Athens.
Complex Behavior
Colin Muething never knows what will happen minute to minute on the floor of Marcus Autism Center, a subsidiary of Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. That’s exactly what drew him in.
Muething BSEd ’07, MEd ’09 is director of Marcus Autism Center’s Complex Behavior Support Program, where he works with children with autism and their families, helping curb dangerous behaviors such as aggression and selfinjury.
For Muething, working with people with disabilities is a lifelong passion. His mom is a behavior specialist, and he helped care for his uncle with Down syndrome.
After earning his master’s degree in special education at UGA, he taught in the Gwinnett County Public Schools and shadowed professionals across Atlanta. That’s how he met Nate Call,
Written by Sydney Barrilleaux BS ’24
then-manager of Marcus Autism Center’s Intensive Outpatient Program.
While shadowing Call, who today is Marcus Autism Center’s vice president, Muething soon came to a realization: “This is it. This is what I want to do.”
The Complex Behavior Support Program that Muething directs uses current, evidence-based assessment and treatment strategies to provide comprehensive treatment services for children on the autism spectrum or who have a developmental delay or a history of physical safety risks. Services range in intensity to meet each family’s needs with treatment aiming to reduce concerning behaviors, teach new ways to communicate wants and needs, and build accommodating environments that facilitate success both during treatment and in daily life.
For each case, the mission is the same: helping children and families no matter how severe the issue is.
Marcus Autism Center is one of the few facilities in the country offering such programs, and demand is skyrocketing.
Muething has watched the waitlist grow from three years to four. For parents, that’s four years waiting for help managing what can be very dangerous behavior.
Muething remembers thinking, “This is out of control.” And he believes the path to greater accessibility for these services is growing the behavioral specialist workforce.
He has advocated for creating a path for professionals in this field to get licensed in Georgia. He was appointed by Gov. Brian Kemp BS ’87 to sit on the Georgia Board of Examiners of Psychologists and is part of the Georgia Association for Behavior Analysis public policy committee.
Muething, who holds a Ph.D. in school psychology from the University of Texas at Austin and is an assistant professor in the Emory University School of Medicine, is also active in research, studying what could trigger a relapse in destructive behavior and how to help caregivers prevent them. He serves as an associate editor for publications such as Journal of Behavior Education and also seeks to improve training for doctors and nurses working with kids who have disabilities.
He has been honored for his work, landing in UGA’s 40 Under 40 Class of 2019. But beyond all else, Muething loves seeing the impact his work has on children and their families. He recalls an experience where, after years of treatment, a child was able to return to school. The boy’s mother and grandmother gave him big hugs.
“It took four long years of lots of individuals working with him, but the trajectory of their life has totally changed forever,” Muething says. “I wouldn't change that for the world.”
PETR FREY
Colin Muething understands what is at stake for children with autism and their families. He's dedicated to improving their lives as director of Marcus Autism Center's Complex Behavior Support Program.
Monroe Abram BSEd ’86 received the Bill Chisolm Professional Service Award from the National Athletic Trainers Association’s Ethnic Diversity Advisory Committee.
John Tanzella BSA ’87 is president and CEO of the International LGBTQ travel Association, which is based in the U.S. with business in 82 countries.
Daryl Gilbertson BBA ’88 is a federal sales director at the SANS Institute, a computer and network security company.
Jeff Brooks BSFR ’89, MS ’92 retired in December from his position as a district wildlife biologist with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Michael Ostergard BBA ’89 was named vice-chairman of healthcare for Accenture. Ostergard is in his 26th year at Accenture and was previously the North American strategy practice managing partner.
1990-1994
Eric William Colegrove BS ’90 is a clinical optometrist at Joint Base ElmendorfRichardson in Anchorage, AK.
Jeanna Mastrodicasa ABJ ’92, JD ’95 is the director of the Office of Institutional Assessment at the University of Florida.
Chris Torino AB ’92 founded Amici Food Group, a regional restaurant chain with corporate and franchise locations throughout Georgia and South Carolina.
Tanya Agler ABJ ’93, JD ’96 is an award-winning author who released her 10th Harlequin novel, The Triplets' Holiday Miracle, in December. She also has taught workshops for writing organizations and conferences, including the prestigious Moonlight and Magnolias Conference and the Contemporary Romance Writers summer conference.
Tracy Mitchell AB ’93 serves as the director of campus store operations and joined the school of business as adjunct professor at Truett McConnell University.
Christine Buck AB’ 94 is the chief marketing and communications officer at HIMSS, a global digital health organization. She was awarded 2024 Marketer of the Year by the American Marketing Association Chicago.
1995-1999
Steven R. Patrick BSFR ’96, MS ’98 is a county extension coordinator with UGA Extension. He passed the $1 million mark implementing watershed restoration projects on farms to protect habitats for shoal and Chattahoochee bass.
Steven Haugabook Jr. AB ’98 was promoted to executive vice president at LAD Truck Lines.
Bonnie & Lisa Real Estate
BONNIE DUNN LISA M. LANGFORD
Over 60+ Years of combined Real Estate & Financial Experience UGA Terry College of Business & UGA Redcoat Auxiliary Alumni Global Luxury Specialists
MaryAnne McAdams
wellness partnerships manager at Peloton Interactive, working to build the Peloton for Business (B2B) division.
2000-2004
Siblings Howard Hsu BBA ’00 and Anita Hsu BS ’03 co-own Hsu Hospitality, which consists of seven restaurants across the Atlanta area. They also own the Michelin-starred restaurant Lazy Betty in partnership with their brother, Ron.
Betsy Brafman Alpert BSEd ’01, MEd ’08, EdS ’10 completed her doctoral degree in counseling from the University of West Georgia.
Lola Campbell BBA ’01 founded Binya, a business honoring her Gullah heritage, and Binya Cultural Impact Consulting. She also serves as the board chair of Historic Mitchelville Freedom Park and board member of the Hilton Head Island-Bluffton Chamber of Commerce.
Margaret Kabahenda MS ’02, PhD ’06 is a senior lecturer at Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda. She has taught in the Department of Food Technology and Nutrition for more than 17 years.
Chrisey Spears BSEd ’04, BS ’04, MEd ’04 is the North Oconee High School Teacher of the Year 2023-2024.
Caroline Gregory BBA ’05 is a client advisor at Sterling Seacrest Pritchard’s Savannah office. She was the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society 2021 Woman of the Year.
Douglas Harden AB ’05 completed the U.S. National Security Strategy seminar at the Brookings Institute in Washington, DC. June Johnson AB ’05 has more than 18 years of experience in the fashion, entertainment, and cannabis industries. She is also the founder and editor-in-chief of Feed Me Fashion TV, and a podcast host on Sunday Soul Sessions.
Nancy Palmer AB ’05 was promoted to senior vice president for public affairs at the Georgia Chamber of Commerce.
OUR GEORGIA COMMITMENT
Getting to know UGA’s most committed Bulldogs
Nancy Juneau BSEd ’82 and her husband, Les, founded Juneau Construction Company in 1997. Today, Nancy is CEO of the $400 million, Atlanta-based company that employs more than 190 people in its offices in Atlanta, Miami, and Tampa.
A UGA Foundation trustee, Nancy is especially proud to provide financial support to nearly every corner of campus to enhance the academic and public service mission of her alma mater. Over the years, the couple has found many ways to give back, including establishing the Juneau Construction Company Professorship in Civil Engineering, supporting Delta Hall, providing scholarships to students, and including UGA in their estate plans.
Q: Where does your UGA story begin?
A: I was raised in Atlanta by a single mother who didn’t attend college but was adamant that I attend the University of Georgia. It had a great reputation, and she probably selfishly liked that I’d still be nearby.
Q: Where were we most likely to find you on campus as a student?
A: I lived in Creswell Hall and then at the Chi Omega house on Milledge Avenue. I ran up and down Milledge a lot, and since I didn’t have a car, I also did a lot of walking around campus—something I still enjoy today.
Q: What is a treasured UGA memory?
A: Being in a sorority allowed me to be a part of a smaller group within the bigger UGA campus. But it could be any club or organization—Chi O is just what gave me leadership opportunities that probably fueled a bit of my entrepreneurship without really knowing it at the time. A memory that sticks out is helping to organize a “Fun Run” to benefit the Athens Boys and Girls Club. It was hard work, but it taught me how rewarding fundraising for the community could be.
Q: What keeps you connected to UGA?
A: After graduating, I moved a lot, began a family, started a company, and honestly was not very connected to UGA for years. Close friends regularly invited Les and me to football games, and when our kids were old enough, we secured our own season tickets to games in a SkySuite. So, I guess football was the first reason I reconnected.
The second was that our older son struggled to locate housing in Washington, D.C., during a college internship, so when UGA approached us to support the development of what is now Delta Hall, we knew firsthand that there was a need for safe intern housing in the capital. That spurred us to donate to help renovate the building for UGA’s residential presence in D.C.
Q: You donate each year to all 19 UGA schools and colleges; what prompted this generous decision?
A: When I was chairing the UGA Foundation’s development committee during the pandemic, I asked to have phone chats with the development directors of every school and college. We discussed their priorities and funding needs, and I absolutely loved it! Les was often working in the background during those calls, and he was also blown away—and he’s not even a UGA grad. He was immediately on board with the idea of spreading our giving as there were so many compelling needs across campus.
Q: What have you learned about UGA that surprised you?
A: There are many student resources and programs whose missions are to improve student outcomes outside the classroom. For example, Let All the Big Dawgs Eat seeks to end food insecurity among students, and the Sunshine Fund focuses on improving students’ mental well-being. It also is amazing to see how UGA faculty and students are recognized globally for their work. These things make me proud to be a Dawg.
EDWIN HAMMOND
Nancy and Les Juneau founded the multimillion-dollar Juneau Construction Co. in 1997. Today, they make annual donations to all 19 UGA schools and colleges.
Mario Cambardella BLA ’06, MEPD ’11, MLA ’13 is the CEO and founder of Servescape, an online marketplace for growers, homeowners, and landscape professionals and part of the 2024 Bulldog 100 list.
Justin Moseley BBA ’06 has been promoted to vice president of underwriting at Striior Insurance Solutions.
Robert D. Thomas AB ’06, JD ’09 joined Burr & Forman’s Atlanta office as a partner in the commercial litigation practice group, specializing in contract disputes and construction law matters.
Julia Webb BSEd ’06 graduated with a Juris Doctor from Georgia State University in May 2023 and works for Eversheds Sutherland.
Justin Caudill BBA ’07 is an office investments specialist at Marcus & Millichap in its Atlanta office.
Dustin Davies AB ’07 was selected as a Georgia Super Lawyer Rising Star for 2025 in Personal Injury. Davies has been selected as a Georgia Super Lawyer Rising Star in Personal Injury every year since 2015.
Sharla McBride AB ’07 is a host of Wake Up America on Newsmax Media.
Christine Job BBA ’09 is the award-winning creator and host of Flourish in the Foreign,
a podcast focused on Black women living abroad. It won Best International Podcast at the 2021 Black Podcasting Awards and was featured in Apple Podcasts’ 2023 Black History Spotlight.
2010-2014
Nicholas Patrick AB ’10, MHP ’13 is an architectural conservator currently working at the Smithsonian Institution, revitalizing its Hirshhorn Museum campus. He recently finished restorations on the National Museum of Women in the Arts, the Jefferson Memorial, D.C. Carnegie Library, and the U.S. Capitol building.
Chelsea Thompson BBA ’11 is a self-employed social media marketing manager following a 10-year career with Chick-fil-A corporate as a kitchen throughput consultant.
Matt Wilmot AB ’11, JD ’14 is a 2024 Legal Elite by Georgia Trend. Wilmot is an attorney for HunterMaclean in Savannah.
Daniela Belton Perry AB ’12, MPA ’19 will serve as the new executive director of the Georgia Chamber Foundation.
GEORGIA BUSINESSES
Larry Collins (left) and Gwen Collins (right), owners of Collins Manufacturing Company in Macon, Ga.
Health Care’s Homepage
Young entrepreneurs have had this phrase hammered into their heads: “If you don’t succeed, try, try again.”
But Jeff Arnold prefers a different one: “If you aren’t passionate about it, find something you are passionate about.”
Improving health care accessibility fuels Arnold, the founder and CEO of digital health company Sharecare, and he doesn’t see that passion going anywhere.
Arnold AB ’18 has created several ventures that have become household names. His career highlights include founding WebMD and building HowStuffWorks, a leading online resource for explaining anything and everything for users. He also acquired the Mobil Travel Guide and transformed it into the global Forbes Travel Guide, where he still serves as chairman.
The Dunwoody native was not always confident in sharing his next big idea; that credit all goes to the University of Georgia, where he studied speech communications.
“I used to be scared of public speaking, so my major served as a building block of how to take a topic, break it down, and then be able to articulate that to others and accomplish a goal,” he says. “To basically be able to apply that to anything, whether it’s raising a family, starting a business, the University of Georgia gave me all that.”
Guests can be reminded of that when they visit Sharecare headquarters in Atlanta and see a giant, 100-pound wooden ‘G’ welcoming visitors (and Sharecare’s many UGA grads) to the sixth floor. Although Arnold paused his studies just a few credits shy of graduation to pursue a job opportunity in the pharmaceutical industry, UGA stayed at the forefront of his mind until he completed his degree 30 years later.
“There’s a good, strong sense of purpose and community at UGA,” Arnold says. “I talk about all the successes in my career, but there have been tons of things along the way that didn’t work. UGA was transformative and allowed me to overcome fears, take risks, and think big.”
Written by Savannah Peat AB ’19
Finding the Digital Pulse
It’s a good thing Arnold got comfortable speaking up. Because in 1994, he had an idea that would dramatically improve the quality of life for millions. By combining emerging tech with an emphasis on building meaningful customer relationships, Arnold developed Quality Diagnostic Services (QDS), a company focused on revolutionizing EKGs. Those experiencing cardiac issues outside the doctor’s office could pull out a small, credit card-styled device and hold it to their heart to record their arrythmia episode. QDS would then connect the doctor’s office with that data in real time.
“It’s like taking your car to a mechanic and saying, ‘My car is making a noise,’ but then it doesn’t make the noise at the shop,” Arnold says. “The cool thing looking at it now is that it was telemedicine and remote patient monitoring, which really didn’t become popular until recently, but we were doing it in 1994.”
That’s what it’s always been about for Arnold—using media, data, and technology to help make health care accessible for all. That idea fueled the iconic WebMD, the original source for health data in the early days of
the internet. In 1998, Arnold asked the question, “What if health had a homepage?”
Since then, WebMD has become synonymous with finding information on medicine, illness, and well-being.
Click to Cure
Consumers might now take for granted that they can find medical answers at the touch of a screen, but Arnold believes the possibilities for attainable health care are boundless.
Sharecare, a digital health management platform, is like having your medical history and personalized recommendations to improve your health in your pocket. It has been around for more than a decade now, but Arnold constantly pushes the boundaries of what it can do, like with artificial intelligence. And once you solve the problem of accessibility for one, you can do it for all.
“This theme of trust is super important, and this theme of scale is really important,” he says. “How do we provide universal access to knowledge, to resources, to empower better and easier decisions? I’m going to continue that journey of consumer empowerment and making health care better—because I know it is possible. And it’s my passion.”
Jeff Arnold, founder of WebMD, is leading a new venture. With Atlanta-based Sharecare, the possibilities for attainable health care are boundless, he believes.
Jeff Arnold AB ’18
Strength Beyond ‘Survivor’
She’s held the title of Sole Survivor, has been called a traitor and “the black widow,” and taken on the roles of mother, life coach, boxer, podcast host, and author. But before she became a reality superstar, Parvati Shallow was just a Bulldog.
It’s been nearly 20 years since Shallow ABJ ’04 appeared on Survivor: Cook Islands. Donning a camouflage cap with the Georgia ‘G,’ Shallow enchanted audiences and was invited to a return for three additional seasons of the show (soon to be four).
Spoiler alert: On one season, she earned the $1 million prize. Across nearly 50 seasons, only a dozen Georgia residents have competed on Survivor, and Shallow is the only one to win.
“Why do they always wanna vote me out? I’m just a sweet, innocent little girl.”
“I felt very tied to my identity as a Georgia girl,” says Shallow, a native of Marietta. “In Georgia, there’s this sense
Parvati Shallow made her reality TV show debut in 2006 on season 13 of Survivor. Shallow says she couldn't have made that leap without the confidence she gained at UGA.
of sunny charm, optimism, and buoyancy. You can make connections with people, and you can be non-threatening because you’re from the South, so I really embraced that.”
And embrace it she did. When she made her Survivor debut in 2006, Shallow’s charisma and cunning social strategy stood out.
At UGA, as she earned her broadcast journalism degree, studied psychology, and built friendships in her sorority, Alpha Omicron Pi, she had no idea each of these things would give her a leg up in the ultimate group experiment.
“There is something about what the University of Georgia requires of a student; it’s to be brave in selfexploration, to get really curious about what you’re interested in, to be open to meeting new and different kinds of people, and to be willing to put yourself into uncertain situations where you don’t know what the outcome is going to be,” she says. “It helps a person blossom and grow, and that was my experience at UGA.”
“It’s, like, the Black Widow Brigade. All the girls are coming together, and we’re spinning the guys around as much as we can.”
Her second season on Survivor, she helped unite one of the only successful female alliances in the show’s history. As a favorite on Survivor: Micronesia (Fans vs. Favorites), she earned the nickname “black widow” for her ruthlessness and the title Sole Survivor, along with a $1 million prize.
Shallow ended with a controversial second place finish in her third run— Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains, with many fans declaring she should have won then, too. (Host Jeff Probst even admitted he would have voted for her to win.) In her
fourth go at the game, Survivor: Winners at War, viewers saw Shallow dipping her toes back into the world of reality TV, after a 10year break from the game. Life had become more than securing hidden immunity idols and building a legacy, as Shallow became a wife and mom. That came with a different set of challenges not based in a televised competition.
“I discovered how to do life on your terms while trusting you can always start over and begin again. You have the capacity and the courage and the ability to learn new things and new ways of living,” she says.
“What do you call the one who slayed the Dragonslayer?”
Taking out popular male players over the years, such as Benjamin Wade (i.e., Coach; i.e., the self-proclaimed Dragonslayer) comes with some upset fans.
Women, she says, are often criticized for demanding the best for themselves and called “villains” for insisting on control of their own lives.
“It’s hard to figure out how to like yourself. It requires consistency and commitment to doing things that are just for you,” Shallow says. “But the freedom that we can have on the other side once we get to this place of radical self-acceptance is really powerful. I think that’s the treasure that’s waiting for women through this.”
This is the message Shallow focuses on in her first book, debuting this summer, Nice Girls Don’t Win: How I Burned It All Down to Claim My Power. The memoir dives into her struggles with selfassurance. Her new podcast, under the same name, goes even further.
After a 10-year break, Parvati Shallow returned to reality television in 2019. Since then, she's starred on a variety of competition shows winning legions of fans along the way.
Written by Savannah Peat AB ’19
“Like a phoenix rising from the ashes ready to burn down your house.”
Shallow is back to her roots with a fresh outlook on life. She has also expanded her reality resume with exciting results, as a star on NBC’s Deal or No Deal Island and The Traitors. She will appear in the upcoming Survivor vs. The World on CBS.
Now a resident of Los Angeles, Shallow still sees Athens as foundational. One of her core beliefs is to honor the past but accept that the future is never fully predictable.
“Don’t be afraid to make mistakes. Don’t be afraid to fail. Don’t be afraid to embarrass yourself,” she says. “Never fixate on a linear path to success. We are all flawed humans who are trying as hard as we can to figure it out.”
In her winning season, Survivor Micronesia: Fans vs. Favorites, Shallow created the infamous ’Black Widow Brigade’, an allfemale alliance that dominated the game. They even got the fifth place contestant, Erik Reichenbach, to give his individual immunity to Shallow, just for the remaining four women to vote him out.
Parvati Shallow ABJ '04
Dr. Julie Thompson BS ’12, MPH ’18, DVM ’19 serves as an Epidemic Intelligence Service fellow at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Bacterial Special Pathogens branch. She has worked with the Laos National Animal Health Laboratories and Laos National Center for Laboratory and Epidemiology to study the surveillance, prevention, and control of anthrax on a recent deployment.
Alex Kraemer BS ’13, MS ’14 is a host of Wake Up America on Newsmax Media.
2015-2019
Chas Choran AB ’15, AB ’15 is the director of literacy at the Boyce L. Ansley School, a non-tuition private school in Atlanta for children who have or are currently experiencing homelessness.
Kelsey Fernandez BS ’16, MA ’17 runs Retrieving Independence, a nonprofit service dog training program in Nashville, TN.
Chelsea Peterson ABJ ’16 is the manager of marketing at BrightFire, a digital marketing company, and does freelance marketing for a Christian Missions nonprofit serving Jamaica.
Jeb Blazevich BBA ’17 is a benefits broker at Sterling Seacrest Pritchard’s Savannah office.
Dori Butler AB ’18 has joined Kabat Chapman & Ozmer as an associate.
Antonio Del Sesto AB ’18, MBA ’22 recently started a new role with Chick-fil-A’s financial planning and analysis team.
Shuchi Goyal BS ’18, AB ’18 earned her Ph.D. in statistics from UCLA. She is a data scientist at Govini, a software development company.
Ethan Todd AB ’18 joined Fox Rothschild in Dallas, TX, as an associate in the litigation department.
Bailey Marshall BS ’19 accepted a job with Malchow Johnson Injury Lawyers in Augusta. Marshall previously worked in the Augusta District Attorney’s Office as an assistant district attorney.
2020-2024
Mary Stewart DeLong BBA ’20 is an associate attorney at Turner Padget Graham & Laney, P.A. in Charleston, SC. She is a member of the workplace law practice.
Lisa Maddox BBA ’20 is the operations manager at Moisand Fitzgerald Tamayo, a wealth management firm in Orlando, FL. Katelyn Weyenberg BSEd ’21 received her master’s degree in speech language pathology from the University of Tennessee Health Science Center.
Mikayla Hardman AB ’23 graduated from the GBI Special Agent Academy and was assigned to the GBI’s regional investigative office in Milledgeville.
Gordon Liu BBA ’23 is co-owner of Masterpiece, a Michelin Guide Chinese restaurant in Duluth.
Ansley McCraw AB ’23 is working and living in Ireland as a commercial archaeologist at IAC Archaeology.
Olivia Wakim AB ’23 is a food and dining reporter at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Juwon Johnson BS ’24, BSW ’24 is pursuing a Master of Social Work at UGA.
Erin O’Keefe AB ’24, AB ’24 began her doctoral studies in English at Stanford University.
Logan Rouse BBA ’24 is an equipment coordinator at HapagLloyd AG, a logistics and supply chain company.
GRADNOTES
ARTS AND SCIENCES
Suzanne MacCrone Rogers MFA ’88 is the founder and lead designer of Suzanne M Rogers Interiors, a boutique interior architecture, design, and renovation firm. Her work won several best of show awards at markets in Atlanta, Dallas, San Francisco, and Seattle.
Sharon Jones PhD ’96 is the chair of the Department of Women's, Gender, and African American Studies and professor of English at Ball State University in Indiana.
Host your special event at the State Botanical Garden of Georgia, just 3 miles from downtown Athens. Our catering-friendly venues are perfect for weddings, meetings, trainings, retreats and more.
Contact us at 706-542-6467 or sbgrent@uga.edu for reservations.
Support in Life and Loss
Loss is a universal experience, and life moments, like the death of a loved one or an unwelcome diagnosis, can be overwhelming. SupportNow, a company founded by Jordan and Scott Arogeti, aims to make these difficult moments easier by creating a space where communities can rally to support those in need.
“Everyone wants to take action when they hear news, and SupportNow was built to be the platform where people can take those actions,” says chief operating officer Scott Arogeti AB ’06. On the SupportNow website, users create a “support registry” for loved ones, whether they’re recovering from an injury or coping with an illness diagnosis. Through the platform, friends and family can donate money for groceries or medical bills, organize meals, coordinate volunteers, and provide updates.
“Scott and I are very old souls, and we wanted to build something meaningful,” says Jordan Arogeti AB ’11, the chief executive officer.
The idea for SupportNow came after the couple embarked on a “listening tour,” where they spoke with families, places of worship, nonprofits, and related organizations to learn what people needed and wanted during the hardest moments of their lives.
When people experience loss, grief, or any major moment in life that causes stress—including a positive one, like having a baby—decision fatigue is common. Bombarded with things to do during a stressful time, people struggle, Jordan says. Through SupportNow’s “lend a hand” feature, something as simple as mowing the lawn can be covered by willing friends.
In 2024, more than 5,300 families were supported through the platform. The donors came from 52 countries, and more than $2 million was raised for individuals and families.
“A lot of emotions come with startups,” Jordan says. “Relief because we have something that people want, something that people see value in, but that
Written by Alexandra Shimalla MA ’19
Jordan and Scott Arogeti recognized how challenging life can be.
So they co-founded SupportNow, a company that makes it easy for others to help those who need it.
Scott Arogeti AB ’06
Jordan Arogeti AB ’11
introduces a new set of challenges: How do you go faster, serve them better, keep going?”
The Arogetis are no strangers to startups: Scott’s career has focused on the startup world, which is where he landed following a few years in politics, including a job at the White House after graduation. Jordan began in sports marketing then rose through the ranks in sales at a tech startup.
In addition to SupportNow, the Arogetis founded Arogeti Endeavors, which works with Atlanta startups; the
couple act as angel investors and advisers.
In 2025, the Arogetis took customer feedback and launched a new tool called Connect. This online, sortable database allows people to easily filter for active grants that apply to their specific situations, including financial support for medical equipment, therapies, or bills.
“We’re humbled by the trust that families, and those leading support efforts on their behalf, have placed in us. Our goal is both do good and do well,” Scott says.
Keeping it Neat
Is your life a mess? Kat Duncan
Campbell may not be able to fix that, but the company she founded, UpTown Concierge, can work with you to organize and manage your home.
Kat Duncan Campbell discovered her entrepreneurial calling the old-fashioned way. She took a personality test.
No-nonsense, yet caring. She is introspective and has sky-high standards. She’s also aware of her flaws but doesn’t allow them to overshadow her work.
After all that data were crunched, the results recommended careers in home organization or in-home services. The fit sounded great.
“I’ve always been organized,” says Campbell AB ’14. “I always was the one rearranging my room growing up. Everything had a place. My three-ring binder had the dividers. That’s just who I am.
“But I had no clue that was something you could get paid to do.”
That’s the origin story of UpTown Concierge, the home organization and house management company Campbell founded 10 years ago. She runs the business out of her home in Newnan, but her staff spend most of their time in the homes of others, transforming them from labyrinths of chaos into oases of peace.
“When you walk into your house and there is just stuff everywhere, your brain struggles to focus on one thing,” Campbell says. “There are real benefits to having a tidy, organized space. Yes, we want rooms to look pretty, but the most important thing is to create functional spaces where you can thrive.”
Campbell’s vocation is a far cry from where she started, but there is a chartable path. A classically trained singer,
Campbell majored in vocal performance at UGA. She moved to New York right after graduation to explore musical theater but realized quickly that a career on the boards wasn’t what she wanted.
However, the confidence, poise, and personal presentation skills that she acquired on stage served her well when she returned to Georgia to launch what became UpTown Concierge.
To get started, she joined several neighborhood Facebook groups, ranging geographically from Buckhead into Atlanta’s suburbs. Interest spiked immediately, though the work was
AIVAGENYS
Kat Duncan Campbell’s Five Helpful Hints for Home Organization
DECLUTTER: Because you can’t organize clutter.
CREATE HOMES FOR EVERYTHING: So there’s no guesswork.
UTILIZE VERTICAL SPACE: You can’t add square footage, but you can always go up.
MAKE YOUR ORGANIZATION MAINTAINABLE: The easier, the better.
BE INTENTIONAL WHEN PURCHASING “STUFF”: Because it’s never been easier to buy things.
rather broad. Campbell planned kids’ birthday parties, unpacked recently moved families, helped with laundry, and reorganized homes.
Very soon, she was logging 80-hour work weeks. She hired her first employee 10 months in. Her company now employs a dozen. Within a year, she’d focused her work on home organization and house management.
Home organization is a highly personal thing—we don’t open our sock drawers to
Written by Eric Rangus MA ’94
just anyone. Campbell understands that and brings the feeling of respect to her work.
“We tailor our approach to the client,” she says. “We see everything that’s in a home. You, the client, have to feel a level of connection with us in your space. We are really fortunate that we’re able to mold our team into wonderful organizers, but they also have what I call the ‘servant’s heart.’ They really want to help.”
Melinda Cro MA ’06, PhD ’10 was named dean of Oklahoma State University’s College of Arts and Sciences. She is also a professor of languages and literatures and the Puterbaugh Foundation endowed chair.
Willie U. Willie PhD ’11 is an associate professor of linguistics and chief editor at Nigeria’s University of Uyo Journal of Humanities. He is also chief editor of USEM: Journal of Languages, Linguistics, and Literature and head of the Department of Linguistics and Nigerian Languages at the University of Uyo.
Patty Carter PhD ’24 received the Patricia Cranton Distinguished Dissertation Award for her dissertation, Unlocking Embodied Cognition in Transformative Learning: Navigating Edge-Emotions Captured by a Disorienting Dilemma
BUSINESS
Kevin Goodwin MBA ’79 was elected to the Board of Directors of Africa University, a United Methodist Church university in Zimbabwe, where he also chairs the Investment Committee and serves on the AU Development Committee and Planned Giving Council.
Jason E. Taylor PhD ’98 is in his 22nd year as professor of economics at Central Michigan University. His latest book, The Brew Deal: How Beer Helped Battle the Great Depression, was published in December.
Shawn P. Vincent MBA ’05 is the president and CEO of Loyola Medicine. Vincent was named one of Becker’s Hospital Review’s “64 CEO Influencers to Know” and to the Crain’s Chicago Business “Who’s Who in Chicago Business” list for the third consecutive year.
Stephen Heard MBA ’22 was promoted to director of supply chain at GoTo Foods.
EDUCATION
John Colson MA ’93, EdD ’97 retired from a career in senior administration in the California Community College system.
Rachel Watkins Dunn MEd ’93 is the marketing and sales director at the University of Georgia Press. This appointment comes after more than 13 years at Avid Bookshop where Dunn managed marketing strategies, coordinated more than 600 literary and author events, and expanded community engagement.
Kat Duncan Campbell AB ’14
Paulette Isaac-Savage EdD ’99 received the 2024 American Association for Adult and Continuing Education President’s Appreciation Award. Isaac-Savage is best known for her scholarship on adult education of African Americans and their learning experiences within the African American Church.
Stephanie Arp Queen EdS ’10 is a gifted teacher for first through fifth grade students at Whitfield County Schools.
Carolina Robinson MEd ’10 is the chair-elect at NAFSA Education Abroad Knowledge Community, leading discussions about issues in study abroad and global student mobility.
Brandon Mastromartino MS ’16, PhD ’20 was recently named to the “25 People to Watch” list from Global Gaming Business.
Wanda Gaither Johnson EdD ’23 is the 2024 Southern Association of College Student Affairs' Dissertation of the Year Award recipient. The title of her dissertation is Still I Rise... Using Sista Circles to Explore the Lived Experiences of Black Women Who Attend(ed) Predominately White Institutions as Undergraduates.
JOURNALISM AND MASS COMMUNICATION
Kristyn Hunt Cathey MMC ’03 is the chief of communications and personal relations for Alief Independent School District. Cathey is also president of the Texas School Public Relations Association.
LAW
Sarah Dauby MA ’70, JD ’73 received a certificate from the State Bar of Georgia recognizing her for 50 years of service as an attorney.
Thomas Cullen JD ’94 is a 2024 Legal Elite by Georgia Trend. Cullen is an attorney at HunterMaclean in Savannah.
Ben Hartman JD ’96 is a 2024 Legal Elite by Georgia Trend. Hartman is an attorney at HunterMaclean in St. Simons Island.
Lance McMillan JD ’98 published Street Girls, the sixth novel in the Atlanta Murder Squad crime series.
Lindsey Cambardella JD ’12 is CEO of Translation Station, a full-service translation and interpretation company on the Bulldog 100 list for 2024.
PHARMACY
Kline Whitley PharmD ’16 is a lecturer in the UGA College of Pharmacy.
PUBLIC HEALTH
Cefari Langford MPH ’24, MSW ’24 works for the Clarke County Health Department.
VETERINARY MEDICINE
Dr. Don Campbell DVM ’73 retired to Anderson, SC, after selling his veterinary hospitals in New Bern, NC, where he practiced for 38 years. He also served as director of veterinary medicine technology for Central Carolina Community College from 1975 to 1977, and worked in Raleigh, NC, and Portsmouth, VA.
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James M. Carson
Daniel P. Amos Distinguished Professor of Insurance Director of Risk Management and Insurance Program
Department Head, Insurance, Legal Studies, and Real Estate
TERRY
COLLEGE OF BUSINESS
Acareer in insurance may seem like a path for the cautious. But for James M. Carson, insurance emboldens society’s most daring endeavors by offering something that protects you from even the slipperiest paths: a safe landing.
Carson studies the role insurance plays in society and leads the nation’s top-ranked risk management and insurance program.
What drew you to study and teach insurance?
Insurance enables people to sometimes throw caution to the wind and do some very crazy, but often very productive: things like fly across the ocean, start a new business, or perform a dangerous surgery. As a student, I appreciated discovering not only what insurance allows but also that it encourages us to engage in activities that make the world a better place.
What are some things you wish people knew about the insurance industry?
The industry provides the guardrails that allow people and businesses to go faster and take on more risk. Each year, insurance typically pays out more than it brings in, excluding investment income. This happens because of strong competition and government regulations that keep prices lower than what insurers would need to charge to break even. But while cheaper insurance might seem beneficial for everyone, there is a downside. When prices are artificially low, they don’t accurately signal the true level of risk involved. This means people often unknowingly take on more risk than they realize.
Endowed chairs—positions that receive supplemental support generated from private donations—are essential to recruiting and retaining leading faculty who are committed to world-changing research and preparing the next generation of problemsolvers, pioneers, and leaders. Learn more about supporting UGA’s leading faculty at GIVE.UGA.EDU
