Alumni Spotlights New Pirate lawyers The Elon University School of Law bestowed JD degrees on its first crop of attorneys in May and among the 105 graduates are five alumni who have been student leaders there. Pictured left to right are: Steven “Luke” Spencer II ‘06 received a Dowdy Student Stores scholarship and graduated magna cum laude. At Elon he was on the Moot Court Team and edited the Law Review Symposium. Britainy Alford ‘06 was a member of two honor societies at ECU and worked in the Under­graduate Admissions Office. At Elon she was secretary of the Business Law Association and a member of the Public Interest Law Society and Women’s Law Association. Erika Leigh Hamby ‘99 was a reporter for the East Carolinian and active in Circle K International. At Elon she was on the Moot Court Team, worked on the student newsletter staff and chaired the SBA Community Service Committee. Shannon O’Donnell ‘05 was ECU student body president, a Zeta Tau Alpha sister and served on the Robert H. Wright Society Board of Directors. At Elon she was treasurer of the Student Bar Association and a member of several other groups. Jason McKenna ‘04 was an honors student at ECU and served in student government. In law school he interned with the Wake County District Attorney’s Office and the N.C. Department of Justice. Meanwhile, Spencer placed second to Florida State out of 24 teams at UNC Chapel Hill School of Law’s 32nd J. Braxton Craven Moot Court Competition in February. They were Elon’s first team to compete, and arguing 14th Amendment issues, they bypassed Charleston School of Law’s team in the fourth round, Boston College in the quarter-finals, and George Mason University in the semi-finals. New leader at Girls Inc. Denise Hare Rogers ’97, a former senior business analyst at Wachovia and Progress Energy, was named executive director of Girls Inc. of the Albemarle in Elizabeth City, one of four North Carolina branches of a national organization with hundreds of chapters in the U.S. A native of Perquimans County, Rogers previously was general manager of a restaurant and nightclub in Elizabeth City. She also founded a nonprofit that delivered more than 40,000 meals to deserving children in Pasquotank and Perquimans counties during the summer of 2008. The Wal-Mart Foundation recently funded a proposal by Rogers to teach girls in the two-county region to take charge of their own health. Named a top lawyer Karen Dye Evans ’80 was named one of the “Best Lawyers in America” for 2009 in recognition of her achievements in health care litigation. A partner in the Washington, D.C., law firm Olender & Associates, Evans is both a nurse and an attorney. Active in the Trial Lawyers Association of D.C., Evans serves as advisory director of the Virginia Commission on Women and Minorities in the Legal System and as an adjunct professor at the University of D.C. School of Law. She is a volunteer mediator with the Alternative Dispute Resolution programs of the D.C. Superior Court and the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. After receiving her nursing degree at East Carolina, Evans served as a captain in the Air Force Nurse Corps. Later, she received a law degree from UNC Chapel Hill. She is married to Carter Evans, who lettered in football at ECU from 1976-80. Hoggard wins state title Ten years ago, Paul Hoggard ’87 (above, right) became the assistant football coach at Richmond Senior High School in Rockingham and the team won the state 4-A championship. Last year he became the head coach and the team again won the state’s biggest high school football prize in an improbable fashion. His team was 4-3-1 at midseason but then ran off eight straight wins, including three on the road in the playoffs, to win the state 4-A championship for the seventh time. Seven seniors on the team received college scholarship offers. Cheering on Hoggard were his principal, Cory Satterfield ’99, and his superintendent, George Norris ’76 ’85. Two Pirates ref title game Capping a 36-year career as a college football official, Dr. Jerry McGee ’65 (right) was selected to work the BCS national championship game in January, along with fellow ECU alumnus Darrell Harrison ’75 ’79 (left). It was the third national championship game that McGee officiated. “As I watched the clock wind down,” McGee said, “I thought about many people who had helped me along the way, including East Carolina Coach Jack Boone who hired me as an intramural football official when I was a college sophomore.” McGee continues working at his day job as president of Wingate University. Fulcher today and, below, on campus in 1927 Celebrating a century Esther Mason Fulcher ’27 of Atlantic, celebrated her 100th birthday in January with more than 100 of her friends and family gathered around her at the assisted living center where she lives in Sea Level. A former teacher, Fulcher is a popular figure in the Down East community and remains involved with her church, Atlantic Methodist. She was honorary grand marshal for the 2008 Down East Christmas Parade. She says her most gratifying life experience was her time at a student at E.C.T.C. Strike up the band! Patricia Laye Garren ’61 ’66, a long-time music educator in the Asheville area, was inducted into Women Band Directors International Hall of Fame. During her 30-year career, she was the first woman president of the N.C. Bandmasters Association, was chairman of the North American Band Directors Coordinating Council and served as president of Women Band Directors International. She became a fixture of Asheville’s music scene in 1979 when she became the founding director and conductor of the Asheville Community Band.  Upon her retirement from this organization in 1996, she was named director emeritus and the band created a music scholarship in her name to be given annually to a student pursuing a degree in instrumental music. In 2000 the ECU School of Music named her a Distinguished Alumni. Now retired, she and her husband enjoy traveling and have visited all seven continents.

2008
Christie Bryan, originally of Moody, Ala., is a recruiting coordinator at Nease Personnel Services in Greenville. Margaret D. Dudley is a nurse practitioner at Eastern Carolina Pain Consultants, part of East Carolina Anesthesia Associates. She was a PCMH staff nurse and a patient care representative in a family practice in Washington. Ashley Watson is an educational program assistant with Literacy Volunteers of Pitt County.




2007
U.S. paralympian Elexis Gillette (above left, with Duke Coach Mike Krzyewski) received the 2009 Courage and Character Award from the Greater Raleigh Sports Council. Gillette, who has been visually impaired since the second grade, set two new American records and won a silver medal during his competitions in the 2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing, China.

2006
Viola Justine Cooper and William Christopher Fain of Tulsa, Okla., were married Feb. 21 at Kirkland Chapel. She was a marketing major. Tara Sparks, an interior designer at AECOM Design’s Virginia Beach office, passed the National Council for Interior Design qualification exam.

2005
Susan Bullock is the new principal of New Hope Elementary School in Wilson. With Wilson County Schools since 1985, her awards include teacher assistant of the year at Lee Woodard, teacher of the year at Lucama, Wilson County bus driver of the year, and Wilson Jaycees Outstanding Young Educator. She was assistant principal at Hunt High School. Elizabeth Liles of Greenville was named to the Little Willie Center board. She is associate relations manager for U.S. Cellular’s Eastern N.C. market, has held several positions in her seven years with the company, and received the Human Resources Leader Award. In the last year, she volunteered with the Little Willie Center for more than 100 hours, and she also works with Brigade Boys and Girls Club in Wilmington, the Backpack Pals program, and United Way. Ronald McNeill was named director of the Independent College Fund of North Carolina, which uses corporate, foundation and individual funds to award scholarships to students attending the 36 N.C. independent colleges and universities. He was director of operations for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Nash/Edgecombe Counties for seven years and worked in resource development at local, state and national levels.

2004
Tracy Lynne Owens ’04 ’08 and Anthony Pittman of Fremont were married Oct. 18 in Goldsboro. She teaches third grade with Wayne County Public Schools. Pam Juranas, the executive assistant in the N.C. High School Athletic Association’s sports department for four years, is pursuing an MBA, concentrating in sports management, at The Citadel. Nicholas James Serafini and Brittany Elyse Moody of Clinton were married Dec. 13. He is a Walgreen’s manager in Smithfield. Anna Battle Wilkinson and David Chadwick Stinson of Leland were married Oct. 4 in Sanford. She is a business services officer with BB&T in Shallotte, and he is a research coordination specialist with PPD in Wilmington. Jessica Lail Wilson, a Claremont native, received the Lenoir County Chamber of Commerce’s annual Ambassador of the Year award. She began working as community outreach coordinator for the Partnership for Children of Lenoir and Greene counties in 2006, and in 2008 attended most chamber events. She was an extra on One Tree Hill and is married to Timothy Wilson, an RN at PCMH.

2003
Jessica Hallman Holton of Greenville was appointed to the Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drug Specialty Practice Section Committee of the National Association of Social Workers (NASW). She was a coastal representative on the board of the N.C. chapter of the NASW and works at the Walter B. Jones Alcohol and Drug Abuse Treatment Center. Colleen L. J. McGinn of Jacksonville was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army National Guard after two years in the military. Guy Kelly “Bubba” Williams ’03 ’05, who was a long-snapper for ECU’s football team, is the new head football coach at Eastern Wayne High School.

2002
Bill Addis and his wife Suzanne of Abington, Pa., had a daughter, Payton Aubrey, on Nov. 17. Tywanna Lenise Jeffries ’02 ’04 and Elijah Jerome Purkett II of Winterville were married Oct. 11. She is assistant director of campus wellness at ECU. Ryan Mason and Lee Hill of Raleigh were married Nov. 8, at the Matthews House in Cary. She is catering manager at Caffe Luna in Raleigh. Dr. Erik Lie-Nielsen is an assistant professor focusing on family medicine and geriatrics in the Department of Family and Community Medicine at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center, where he completed a geriatric medicine residency and fellowship after graduating from BSOM.

2001
Cheryl Williams Dobson of Mount Olive, a nurse at Wayne Memorial Hospital in Goldsboro, was selected as an item reviewer for the National Council of State Boards of Nursing Licensure Examination. Nominated on the basis of clinical specialty and nursing expertise, she was one of six nurses selected nationally. Brian Fleming and Amanda Calfee Fleming ’02 ’05 had their first child, Bailey Cara, on Jan. 3. He is an installation director for Stock Building Supply, and she is an associate registrar at ECU. Pamela Cox Sugg and her husband, Ron, of Winterville had a son, Nathan Connor, on Nov. 29.

2000
Chip Gurkin of Arlington, Va., received his masters in public administration, concentrating in environmental science and policy, from George Mason University in December, and is an environmental protection specialist with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Stephen Piner ’00 ’03 and Brandy Piner ’02 ’05 of Belmont had a daughter, Eva Caroline, on Dec. 27. Doug Smith ’00 ’07, the ECU Alumni Association’s director of membership and marketing, received the 2009 Council of Alumni Association Executives (CAAE) Tardy New Professional Award, which provides an opportunity to visit other CAAE member alumni associations and the CAAE summer institute.


1997
Dr. Josh Humphrey is an emergency veterinarian at Veterinary Specialty Hospital of the Carolinas’ 24-hour Cary facility. He changed careers from information technology to veterinary medicine after working in IT at Duke University Medical Center and volunteering at an animal hospital. He was a research fellow at N.C. State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine and worked as a relief doctor at a local vet’s office. Deborah Foster Nevin and her husband John of Wilmington had a daughter, Violet Mae, on Feb. 19. Chad Newton was named to the Carolina’s PGA board of directors. Originally of Winston-Salem, he is the head pro at Asheboro’s Pinewood Country Club. There since 2004, he previously worked at Forsyth and Bermuda Run country clubs. René Hood Vanek and Rodney Hayes Vanek of Benson had twin sons, Westin Hayes and Jake Harrison, on Oct. 9. They also have a daughter, Reagan Whitley. He works for Fonville Morisey Realty, and she is an instructional technology facilitator at Benson Elementary School.

1996
Arthur L. Brewster and Kimberly King Brewster ’97 of Clermont, Fla., had a daughter, Addison, on Sept. 23. An Orlando, Fla., police officer, she is a liaison between the FBI and DEA for the Orange County Sheriff’s office. Elizabeth McDavid Jones of Palmyra, Va., wrote “The Secret Life,” a story serialized in the “Your Weekly Read” section of the Greenville Daily Reflector. Author of five historical novels for the American Girl History Mystery series, she received the Edgar Allan Poe Award for her 1999 novel, The Night Flyers. She is married to Rick Jones.

1995
Karen Floyd Pearce ’95 ’99 and Ennis Lee Pearce III ’97 ’99 of Rocky Mount had a son, Ennis Lee IV, on Jan. 8.

1994
M. Dustin “Dusty” Field, CEO of the real estate services source Boylan Companies, was named a director of the ECU Foundation. John G. Jernigan was promoted to assistant store manager for Harris Teeter in Raleigh. He and his wife, Cyndi, had a daughter, Alyssa, on Oct. 13, 2006.

1993
Kristie Flynt Baity of Yadkinville is director of Forsyth Technical Community College’s new Northwest Forsyth Center in King. With FTCC for nine years, she previously chaired the public safety technology department. She is married to Travis Baity. Jeff Dishmon ’93 ’98 of Haw River was named principal at River Mill Academy, a new charter school in Graham. He was an assistant principal in Pitt County and principal at Orange County and Roanoke Rapids high schools. Stephanie J. Edmondson of Clayton was named clerk for the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for N.C.’s Eastern District. She was acting clerk and chief deputy clerk since 2008. She worked for Dixon, Doub & Conner in Greenville from 1997 to 1999; was the Pitt County school board attorney from 1999 to 2001; and lectured in ECU’s College of Business from 2001 to 2006, when she became a career law clerk for a bankruptcy judge. She and her husband, Allan Edmondson ’94, have two children. Kevin S. Joyner ’93 ’94, a labor and employment attorney in the Raleigh office of Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart, was elected as one of 244 shareholders with Ogletree Deakins, a nation-wide company that employs more than 430 lawyers in 34 offices and serves more than half of the U.S.’s Fortune 50 companies. R. Matthew Poteat, an assistant professor of history at Central Virginia Community College in Lynchburg, Va., released a new book with McFarland Publishing, "Henry Toole Clark: Civil War Governor of North Carolina," which is the first comprehensive biography of N.C.’s second chief executive of the war. Craig Turnbull ’93 ’95 was promoted to assistant athletic director for internal operations and director of NCAA compliance at Catawba College. In his 11 seasons as the men’s head soccer coach, he led the team to three consecutive NCAA tournaments from 2004 to 2006 and became the winningest coach in Catawba’s soccer program history.

1992
Lt. Col. John Shirley, originally of Ormondsville, is commander of the 200-member 25th Intelligence Squadron based in Hurlburt Field, Fla., which provides intelligence for Air Force Special Operations Command aircraft, mostly in Operations Iraqi and Enduring Freedom in Iraq and Afghanistan. After completing his AFROTC training at ECU, he held several international assignments. His most recent was at the Pentagon managing more than $4.5 billion of support resources for 28 aircraft.

1991
Ken Burnette ’91 ’93 opened a new insurance office in Davidson. He and his wife, Kimberly, have 5-year-old sons, Kace and Koy.

1990
Kristin Sauer Gibson of Carolina Beach was selected to participate in a permanent collection exhibition for Raleigh’s North Ridge Country Club. Twenty-five of her new paintings are at Greenville’s City Art Gallery, and others are at Greensboro’s Tyler White, Bald Head Island’s Woods Gallery, Wilmington’s Spectrum Art & Jewelry and New Mexico’s Jandreau Art.

1989
Deborah Morgan ’89 ’94 ’04 is a certified nurse-midwife at Greenville Women’s Clinic. An American College of Nurse Midwives member, her 12 years of medical experience include working at Cape Fear Valley Obstetrics and Gynecology in Fayetteville, Obstetrics and Gynecology of Washington, and the Beaufort County Health Department.

1987
Eric Harper was promoted to chief information officer at Southeastern Regional Medical Center. He was a network systems manager there for 13 years and was named director of information systems in December 2007.

1986
Beth Armstrong Foss of Newton was promoted to assistant vice president with BB&T in Hickory. With BB&T since 1989, she is a business deposits specialist in the deposit portfolio administration department. Esther L. Smith is senior project manager at The Corporate Image in Bristol, Tenn. In Greenville for 25 years, she worked at Glaxo and PCC. She was an editor and teacher in N.C. and Tennessee before joining the media and public relations firm in 2007.

1985
Stephen W. Cauley III of Smithfield was promoted to manager of the CPA firm Pittard, Perry & Crone. Maria McDaniel ’85 ’06 of Grimesland received the Middle School Outstanding Science Educator Award for District One at the National Science Teachers Conference in Charlotte. An eighth grade science teacher at Chicod School, she is also involved in ECU’s NCTEACH program.

1984
Ross Rhudy opened Ross Rhudy Consulting, after 25 years in real estate sales and management, to offer strategic vision assistance to property firms. He and his wife, Penny Rhudy ’82, have two sons and live in Raleigh.

1982
Donna M. Daniels ’82 ’84 of Kure Beach and Jay Gartrell of Wilmington were married May 28. KIMBERLY M. JESSUP ’82 ’94, a third grade teacher at Wintergreen Intermediate School, was named Pitt County teacher of the year. She is married to real estate appraiser Robert Jessup III ’83.

1978
Rev. Joe Collins ’78 ’82, the 2007 National Mountain Dulcimer Champion and a singer/songwriter, taught dulcimer workshops and played an evening concert at Dalton First United Methodist Church in Georgia in March. He is an assistant professor of religion at Gardner-Webb University in Boiling Springs and is married to Pamela Bunch Collins. Marianne Carroll Elliott retired in July 2008 from the Roanoke Rapids Graded School district after 30 years as an exceptional children’s teacher. David Bryant Hill teaches P.E. at Goldsboro’s Northwest Elementary School.

1977
Jayne Duryea exhibited her glasswork, created with off hand Italian glassblowing techniques, in her “Hot Sculpted Glass” show at the Brazosport College Art Gallery in Lake Jackson, Texas, in March and April. In Texas for 28 years, she has taught since 1981 at Coastal Bend College, where she founded and directs the glassblowing program, and since 1989 has chaired the Visual Arts division. She is a charter member of the National Museum of Women in the Arts, studied in Europe, and her paintings are in international collections. Reggie Pinkney was inducted into the Fayetteville Sports Club Hall of Fame. He played football at ECU and then in the NFL for five years and is now principal at Hillsboro Elementary School.

1976
Joseph S. Bower was a featured speaker at the Investors Title Insurance Co.’s fifth annual Fall Gathering Seminar in Chapel Hill. An attorney with Kinston’s White & Allen, he spoke about practical and ethical dilemmas in real property transactions. He is a real estate law instructor for candidates preparing for the N.C. Real Estate Licensing Examination; an N.C. Bar and Land Title associations member; and counsel to the Kinston Housing Authority, North Lenoir and Deep Run water corporations, Homebuilders Association of Kinston, and the Kinston Board of Realtors. Rebecca Bradshaw “Becky” Lytle received her masters in Christian counseling from Trinity Theological Seminary in Newburgh, Ind. Pete West was named an inaugural member of TrustAtlantic Bank’s Greenville advisory board. He owns and operates Custom Building commercial contracting company, helped found the Coastal Conservation Association in N.C., and is a member of the Pitt County Home Builders Association.

1974
Milt Sherman ’74 ’79 published "Wrestling Spoken Here," a young adult novel that draws on his 30 years of coaching and teaching experiences. A former All-American, he is a member of the ECU Athletics Hall of Fame and the N.C. chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame; has written more than 25 magazine articles; and teaches part-time in ECU’s Exercise and Sports Science department.

1973
Alec Carr French of Elon received the Physical Education Association Lifetime Achievement Award at the N.C. Alliance for Athletics, Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance Convention in Winston-Salem. He teaches at Sylvan Elementary School in Snow Camp, is an adjunct professor at Elon University, and is married to Sandra B. French ’73.

1970
Margaret Daniel Bradsher ’70 ’81 retired in July 2008 as principal of Person High School after 39 years in education. She was a Person County commissioner from 2000 to 2004 and 2007 Person County principal of the year, and was elected to the Person County Board of Education in 2008. Kelly S. King ’70 ’71, CEO of BB&T Corp., was elected to serve on the nine-member board of directors of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, Va.

1969
William “Bill” Rogers received his third U.S. patent for engineered ceramics. For 26 years, he has been a ceramist and technical manager for Advanced Composite Materials in Greer, S.C. In his upcoming retirement, he plans to pursue pottery making, gardening, and sitting on a rock.

1967
Linda Lou Green ’67 ’69 of Harvest, Ala., published "First, for the Duration: The Story of the 8th Alabama Infantry CSA" in 2007. Her more than 50 books include ones relating to the 1850–1870 agricultural census of northern states and some family histories. 

1966
Jeanette Elder Whiteley ’66 ’72 of Florence, S.C., retired in 2008 from the Florence School System, where she was a reading recovery teacher for 16 years. She previously taught in Guilford and Scotland counties and Raleigh.

1965
Dan V. Kinlaw of Fayetteville received the Order of the Long Leaf Pine for service to the state. A developer and bank founder, he is a past director of the ECU Educational Foundation, an ECU trustee and the 2007 recipient of the Alumni Association’s Distinguished Service Award.

1963
Martha B. Lessner was elected a trustee of Greater Baltimore Board of REALTORS Charitable Foundation. With more than 25 years of real estate experience, she is a sales associate at Timonium’s Long & Foster Real Estate office; president of the Real Estate Million Dollar Association; a GBBR Distinguished Associate Award recipient; and a member of the National and Maryland associations of REALTORS.

1954
Melva Johnson Powell Johnson of Fayetteville was instrumental in the awarding of a historical highway marker to Wells Chapel Baptist Church, established in 1756, near Harrells. After the death of her husband, James “Jimmie” William Powell Jr., she married high school boyfriend James Edward Johnson on Nov. 12, 2006.