Wofford names Gabbert vice president for communications and marketing College announces additional promotions and appointments
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ouglas C. Gabbert has been named vice president for communications and marketing at Wofford. Gabbert is a 33-year veteran of the marketing and advertising business, having begun his career at the J. Walter Thompson Co. in Chicago, where he worked on such brands as Sears, Gillette, Sara Lee and Kimberly Clark. He begins his duties at Wofford effective Jan. 1, 2009. Most recently, Gabbert was vice president of Meridian Chiles marketing and advertising firm in Lexington, Ky. A native of Lexington, Gabbert brings to Wofford expertise to develop comprehensive integrated marketing and communications programs to further the mission of the college. Gabbert He received a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Kentucky and a master’s degree in advertising from the University of Illinois, where he was a Marsteller Scholar, provided by Burson-Marsteller Agency, one of the largest and most prestigious public relations firms in New York City. Gabbert and his wife, Mae Mae, have three children, adult twin daughters Pattie and Carolyn, and a son, Douglas, who is a firstyear student at Wofford. In addtion, this fall the college announced the following promotions and new employees: • Kris Neely ’02 has been promoted to executive director of the college’s Success Initiative. • Amy Hernandez has been promoted to associate director of the Success Initiative. • Marianna Taylor has been promoted to assistant director of the Success Initiative. • Carolyn Sparks joins the college as assistant director of financial aid. • Crystal Crawford has been hired as an administrative assistant in the college’s admission office. • Betsy Claire Neely has been promoted to assistant director of health services. • Franklin Pettit has been hired as a programmer/analyst for information management. • Dexter McCarter joins the college’s information technology staff as Oracle administrator.
Friends and colleagues attended a celebration for John Pilley on Nov. 14 in the psychology suite of the Roger Milliken Science Center.
Celebrating John Pilley
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is nickname is Merlin, and his magical effect on those around him on the Wofford campus is why Dr. John Pilley’s colleagues and friends decided to honor him during a reception in November. “We’re celebrating his many years of affecting student’s lives,” says Dr. Alliston Reid ’75, a professor in Wofford’s psychology department and a former Pilley student. Reid recently submitted an article for publication with Pilley for the journal Animal Cognition. It is based on Pilley’s work with his border collie Chaser. “It’s really amazing what the dog can do,” says Reid. “John is able to do a tremendous amount with Chaser. The dog can distinguish between proper nouns and common nouns that represent categories, adverbs, adjectives, verbs, and many different things. He has demonstrated that very, very well with physical tests and so forth.” The dog has learned more than 1,000 different words in the past three plus years. “Most of us think that humans are the only animals on Earth who can talk and communicate,” adds Reid. “But of course humans must have evolved to have these abilities from their precursors. So there must be some kind of modules in the brains of animals that are language related. So the question is, ’What sort of cognitive processes do animals have that are similar to ours?’ Of course, ours allow us to have extensive language abilities.” Pilley turned 80 this summer but remains active in the Wofford community. He continues to work with the volleyball team, still socializes with psychology staff and students, and even attended the recent Wofford vs. Appalachian State football game in Boone, N.C. His work with Reid is potentially important to the scientific community. “The research paper isn’t about seeing how many words a dog can learn,” Reid explains. “It’s actually very good science where Dr. Pilley is looking at the ways in which children and lower animals share certain cognitive processes for language acquisition. “It’s a major paper. I’m just so proud that he has done this.” by Brett Borden
Pilley and Chaser
8 • Wofford Today • Winter 2008