ALUMNI NEWS recognized 40 young professionals for their business success and civic contributions. Winners were selected by a panel of judges from the Louisville, Kentucky-area business community. When asked what was the most fulfilling moment in his career, McDearmon replied, “…without any doubt, [it] occurred in late October 2000 in Aden, Yemen.” He was stationed on the U.S.S. Cole as deck division officer at the time of the October 2000 terrorist attack. “Approximately three weeks following the terrorist attack, the crew of the U.S.S. Cole broke the battle flag and was towed out of Aden Harbor while playing the National Anthem. That moment came after three intense weeks of doing extraordinary things to save our ship and after saying goodbye to 17 shipmates killed in action. U.S.S. Cole’s motto was ‘Gloria Merces Virtutis’ or ‘Glory is the Reward of Valor,’ and I felt [the motto] come alive that day.” McDearmon is the vice president of NTS Development Company, a diversified real estate company. He donates his time to the Reformed Baptist Church of Louisville, the VMI Bluegrass Alumni Chapter, Boy Scouts of America Lincoln Heritage Counsel summer camp and other organizations. McDearmon matriculated form Burnt Hills, New York, and graduated with distinction from VMI, earning his bachelor’s degree in civil engineering. Thomas E. Sebrell ’01 has rediscovered the lost grave of Charles Prioleau in Kensal Green Cemetery, London, England. Prioleau was a cotton merchant born in Charleston, South Carolina, based in Liverpool during the Civil War, from 1861-65. He disappeared from history in a bonfire of company records and correspondence after
his firm went bankrupt, having sent supplies, funds and blockade-busting ships to the Confederates. Sebrell, a history lecturer at University College London, led a small group of students into the undergrowth, armed with secateurs and cemetery burial records supplied by the Friends of Kensal Green. They literally fell over Prioleau’s broken headstone. Sebrell, who matriculated from Newport News, Virginia, earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in history from VMI and Virginia Polytechnic Institute, respectively. At this time, he is working on his doctorate at Queen Mary University in London and is writing his thesis on Union and Confederate propaganda in Britain during the American Civil War. An employee of Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), Matthew T. Shea ’07 received the NASA Silver Snoopy award on July 23, 2009, at the NASA Johnson Space Center for his dedication to quality work and flight safety. Each year, non-managerial staff and contractors whom NASA regards as the “best in their respective professions” are selected for the Snoopy Award. The award, which is a lapel pin, is flown on a shuttle mission and presented to awardees by NASA astronauts during a recognition ceremony. Since the inception of NASA’s safety program in 1968, less than one percent of NASA employees and contractors have received the pin. Shea was cited as being an outstanding example of SAIC’s finest who has made significant impacts
Matthew T. Shea ’07 received the NASA Silver Snoopy award at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. See story above.
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on the customer’s missions. In a congratulatory letter, astronaut George Zamka recognized Shea for his immediate actions and professionalism, as well as his exemplary performance. The SAIC team supports the safe design, assembly and operation of human-operated space vehicles and shuttle flight missions for NASA under the Safety and Mission Assurance (S&MA) Support Services Contract with work performed at the NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston, the White Sands Test Facility near Las Cruces, New Mexico, and the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Shea has worked with SAIC for two years as an extravehicular activity (EVA) safety operations engineer in support of all S&MA activities for shuttle and International Space Station-based EVA planning, training and real-time operations. During preparation for an upcoming spacewalk for shuttle mission STS-124, he discovered a safety hazard: an “inhibit,” which is a safety command protecting the astronauts, was not being followed according to the EVA plan for the operation. Astronauts could have been seriously injured during the mission’s spacewalk if Shea had not brought this to the attention of his managers and NASA. Shea, a distinguished VMI graduate, matriculated from Springfield, Virginia, and earned his bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering.
Anthony J. Cavalero ’06, right, and Ashley B. Johnson ’84, left, with big screen actress Mindy Sterling during the shooting of a pilot film. Sterling’s Frau Farbissina character first appeared in the movie “Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery” and has appeared in Austin Powers sequels since then. Cavalero said that he was actor, co-writer and associate producer on the project, and Johnson was the assistant director. The team is pitching the film to Comedy Central and Showtime as of this writing in November 2009.
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