Alumni Spotlights



More than 800 Wake County kids are acquiring the same love for dance that MARILYN CHAPPELL ’90 (above) learned from a former Rockette when she was growing up in New York City. The small dance studio that Chappell and her husband, CHRIS CHAPPELL ’89, opened in Holly Springs south of Raleigh in 1998 has grown into one of the largest in the area. 

Fueling that growth have been two principles that the Chappells firmly believe in: Dance should be a community art instead of a discipline limited to studios, competitions and metropolitan stages. And teachers should be role models of community involvement. Now an at-large board member of the N.C. Dance Alliance, she was the Raleigh Jaycees’ 1996 Young Educator of the Year and the 2000 winner of the Triangle Community Foundation’s Artist in Community Service Award. She and her husband shared the 2001 Holly Springs Citizen of the Year recognition for helping with the town’s Center for the Arts.

Amy White, a senior dance education major at ECU doing her student teaching at Raleigh’s Enloe High School, is one of Chappell’s many success stories. About her six years at HSSD, she says, “I learned that I should stay true to myself and just dance without worrying about others: ‘Dance as if no one is watching.’” 

As the Holly Springs School of Dance approaches its 10th anniversary, Chappell hopes its goal of “using our gifts and talents to the betterment of our community” continues to cultivate dancers in “a place where kids can be creative, where we provide many opportunities for growth as an artist as well as human beings.” —Leanne E. Smith




MARTY DICKENS ’69 (above) of Nashville, Tenn., announced his retirement as president of AT&T Tennessee, a position he has held since 1999. He said he plans to remain active in civic affairs in Nashville, where he recently was honored as Outstanding Nashvillian of the Year by the city’s Kiwanis Club. Dickens is chairman of the board of trustees of Belmont College, a large Baptist-affiliated school in Nashville. He has served on the local boards for the YMCA, Boy Scouts, Vanderbilt’s Blair School of Music, Adventure Science Center and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes as well as the corporate boards of Genesco and First American Financial Holdings. He is a past chairman of the Nashville Convention and Visitors Bureau and the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce. He currently heads the Music City Center Coalition, a business group advocating for a new downtown convention center.




BARNIE GYANT ’89 (above) was appointed supervisor of the Siuslaw National Forest in Corvallis, Ore. The forest covers 630,000 acres, stretching 135 miles along the Oregon coastline and 27 miles inland. Gyant was deputy forest supervisor for the White Mountain National Forest in New Hampshire. He’s considered an expert in threatened and endangered species, forest thinning and community collaboration. A native of High Point who played football at ECU for three years, Gyant, 41, worked for two years after graduating as a strength and conditioning coach for the team. He began his Forest Service career in 1991 at the Nantahala National Forest near Asheville and held subsequent posts at Croatan National Forest in New Bern and Francis Marion Sumter National Forests in South Carolina. In 1999, he became the deputy district ranger of the Appalachicola National Forest in Florida. Following that, he had assignments on the Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forests in Georgia and the George Washington and Jefferson National Forests in Virginia. “I’m coming to a forest with a great reputation for restoration and strong collaboration with communities,” Gyant said. I’ve gained experience through my background in fisheries, love of fishing and work with the red-cockaded woodpecker. All of this will help me serve local communities and Siuslaw employees.”




SUE PRICE WILSON ’75 (above), the veteran Associated Press journalist who runs the AP’s North Carolina bureau, has had South Carolina added to her beat and now is responsible for both Carolinas. Wilson, based in Raleigh, has managed AP operations in North Carolina since 1999. A native of Goldsboro, she joined the AP in 1976 in Raleigh as state broadcast editor. She became the bureau’s news editor in 1996 and was promoted to bureau chief in 1999. She worked at the Goldsboro News-Argus during her high school years and at the Daily Reflector while attending ECU. She gets around Raleigh on a red scooter and keeps in constant touch with a Treo personal digital assistant. She takes her scooter with her when vacationing at Beaufort. “Going over the bridges was a bit nerve wracking the first time,” she said.




Marine Capt. ROBERT P. RUTTER IV ’03 (above, at left) won $500,000 on the Fox TV show Are You Smarter than a Fifth Grader? during an appearance on the quiz show in September. He told host Jeff Foxworthy that he majored in information management at East Carolina and compiled a 3.9 grade point average. Below are the questions Rutter was asked. The correct answers he gave are below. 

1. For $1,000: What is the only U.S. national holiday that always falls on a Thursday?

2. For $2,000: True or false: The sum of two whole numbers is always another whole number?

3. For $5,000: How many adjectives are in the following sentence: Spencer takes good care of his hairy dog.

4. For $10,000: What is the last stage that a butterfly goes through before it becomes an adult? A. Pupa; B. Larva; C. Egg

5. For $25,000: Muscles are attached to bones by which of the following: A. Ligaments; B. Tendons; C. Marrow

6. For $50,000: The leaf of what tree is on the Canadian national flag?

7. For $100,000: The Ganges River flows through Bangladesh and what other country?

8. For $175,000: How many watts are used during one kilowatt hour?

9. For $300,000: Who was the only person to be elected U.S. president four times?

10. For $500,000: Ivan the Terrible was a czar of what country?

Rutter declined to attempt to answer the $1 million question, which was: Which Frenchman was the first European explorer to navigate the St. Lawrence River in Canada? The correct answer is Jacques Cartier.

Answers: 1. Thanksgiving. 2. True. 3. One 4. Pupa. 5. Tendons.  6. Maple. 7. India. 8. One thousand. 9. Franklin D. Roosevelt 10. Russia

 

By Leanne E. Smith '04 '06

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2007
BRANDON LEE MANNING and Hannah Brooks Doughtie were married June 9 in Cancun, Mexico. He works for Greenville’s Rivers and Associates. TARA MASSOOD is assistant business manager at Thomasville Stores of New Jersey’s East Hanover location.

2006
DIANA L. DILLARD is a certified nurse practitioner at the Roanoke Clinic, Halifax Regional Medical Center’s family medical office. ERIC COLE FEYER and Anne Michelle Williams were married June 24. He works for Feyer Ford, Lincoln, Mercury of Williamston. NANCY HILL, sales coordinator for the Greenville Hilton’s banquet department, was the April 2007 employee of the month. MICHELLE LEE HUNCKLER and KYLE MITCHELL STOKES ’07 were married June 23 in Clemmons. She works for Pitt County Schools and he works with Dr. Elizabeth Mullett and Associates. THOMAS MASSENGILL, a mortgage loan officer for BB&T in Carrollton, Ga., completed BB&T’s leadership development program. ADAM BRADY MURPHY and Tiffany Leigh Williams were married June 16 at New River Air Station Protestant Chapel. He is a customer service representative for HD Supply Waterworks. Navy Seaman CHRISTOPHER M. NELSON completed basic training at Recruit Training Command, Great Lakes, Ill. MICHAEL ROWE of Hackettstown, N.J., graduated from the Game Face Executive Academy in Portland, Ore., and has an inside sales position with Major League Soccer’s New York Red Bulls. LINDSEY LEIGH TAYLOR and Daniel Bryan Haddock were married June 16. She teaches kindergarten in Beaufort County. TARA LOUISE THACH and Dana Christopher Stroud were married May 19. She works at PCMH and they live in Snow Hill. CATHERINE NOBLE WHITEHURST and Joel Christian Grimm were married June 30 in Bethel. She is a planner for Craven County government in New Bern, where they live.

2005
JESSICA MARIE CIMO and Darrell Robert Jefferson were married May 12. She is a nurse in PCMH’s neonatal intensive care unit. ANDERSON CARDER FRUTIGER and MERANDA ANN ADAMS ’07 were married June 16. She is a dietetic intern at ECU and he is part owner of ASAP Photo and Camera. They live in Greenville. JARED BLAKE GRAY and ELIZABETH DARE NELSON ’06 were married June 10 at Yankee Hall Plantation. Living in Greenville, she works for Brantley, Jenkins, Riddle, Hardee & Hardee and he works at HML Site Development. DONNA LLOYD ’05 ’07 is a basic skills instructor at Sampson Community College. ROBIN RENEE REASON and Ralph Wayne Lilley Jr. were married July 21 in Jamesville, where they live. She teaches business at Bear Grass High School. SARAH MEAGAN STRICKLAND and Brandt Allen Baker were married May 19 at Yankee Hall Plantation. She works at AutoMax of Greenville.

2004
DR. JENNIFER LOCKLEAR is a family medicine physician at Harris Family Medicine, which is part of Scotland Health Care System in Laurinburg. MARY ELIZABETH NORTON of Laurinburg and JOHN WESLEY QUICK III ’05 of Greensboro were married June 30 in Laurel Hill. She teaches at Wagram Primary School, and he is a CPA with KPMG LLP. JESSICA LYNN SHAW and CHRISTOPHER MARTIN DECKER ’05 were married Aug. 4 in Kinston. She is a nurse at PCMH and he is a computer technician for Lenoir County Schools. LEANNE E. SMITH ’04 ’06 is the author of East Carolina University: Off the Record (2007), which offers “insider info” about aspects of the student experience at ECU. The guidebook is geared to high school juniors and seniors who are considering attending ECU, but is also appropriate for ECU students who are new to college life. KURT WAYNE WEAVER and Angela Jean Gfeller were married July 7 in Mount Pleasant Chapel at Tanglewood Park in Clemmons. They live in Winston-Salem. He is a senior graphic designer for PinPoint Creative Group.

2003
JAMES RUSSELL ORR ’03 ’04 and Jennifer Lynne White were married Aug. 3. They live in Winterville and he works in decision sciences at ECU. PAUL “COREY” SCHMIDT and JEANA HARRIS ’03 ’05 of Cary were married March 13, 2004. He lettered in football at ECU and is a construction manager for ExperienceOne Homes. As a pricing analyst at SAS Institute, she works in pricing and policy support for the U.S. government business unit. LEIGH ANN VINCENT and Bryan Emerson Bell were married July 7. She is a nurse with Greenville’s Physicians East.

2002
KEVIN BRIGHTON is co-owner of Chefs 505 in Greenville and of Chefs 105, which opened in Morehead City in April. TRACY COLE-WILLIAMS, former principal of Greenville’s Eastern Elementary School, is the new principal at Winerville’s A.G. Cox Middle School. KILEY NICOLE CRAWFORD and James Matthew Pigg were married Aug. 18 in Bethel. She is a senior financial analyst in hardware accounting at IBM in Research Triangle Park. CHRISTOPHER FREDERICK and JENNIFER STROUD ’03 of Annandale, Va., were married April 21 in New Bern. He works for SAIC in McLean, Va., and she works for Novak Biddle Venture in Bethesda, Md. RYAN SCOTT HARRIS and JENNIFER LEIGH YORK ’06 were married July 7. She is a visual merchandiser for Belk, and he is a marketing representative for Federated Insurance. DR. EARL MOORE is the new principal at C.B. Aycock High School in Wayne County. He taught business and marketing there for 23 years before becoming assistant principal at Meadow Lane Elementary School and principal at Brogden Middle School. KELLY ELIZABETH NOTTINGHAM ’02 ’06 and Matthew Thomas Davis were married June 30 at Yankee Hall Plantation. She is a media coordinator at Greenville’s Wellcome Middle School. He is a sales representative for Hardware Suppliers of America. MIKE POWELL, who was a commercial lines account executive for Ward Insurance in Eugene, Ore., is now a commercial lines agent with the Greenville branch of Southern Insurance Agency. HOLLY SCOTT and MIKE HARRINGTON ’03 ’04 were married Dec. 2, 2006, in Manteo. A Greenville native and former ECU baseball player, he is the new corporate general manager at Resort Realty of the Outer Banks. At 25, he is the youngest real estate general manager on the Outer Banks. A Kinston native, she is the new wedding director/facility manager at Mallards Marsh in Wanchese. JOHN BROOKS SOUTHWORTH and MEREDITH LEIGH DEANS ’06 were married June 16 in Washington. He is an instructional technology consultant at ECU, and she teaches English at South Central High School. KATIE TINKLER, who has experience in technology sales, joined the Cary real estate division of Coldwell Banker Howard Perry and Walston. SYDNOR COZART WILLIAMS and William McDaniel Greene were married June 23 in Beaufort and they live in Raleigh.

2001
ANNE MONROE DERVIN ’01 ’04 of Winston-Salem received her doctorate of music in clarinet performance at Michigan State University. A former N.C. Symphony member, she has a special insterest in Holocaust-inspired music and music written in the concentration camps. DR. SCOTT HOVIS practices with Gastonia Surgical Associates at Gaston Memorial Hospital. J.C. MOELLER is commercial relationship manager of Capital Bank’s Raleigh commercial team. MICHAEL F. SANTOS is co-owner of Chefs 505 in Greenville and of Chefs 105, which opened in Morehead City in April 2007. KEISHA SHEPPERSON STEWART of Garner is a biologist for Talecris Biotherapeutics and has two sons. As a softball player at ECU, she started in every game, and set school records for hits (316), runs (263) and doubles (75), and is second in home runs (26), bases on balls (124) and stolen bases (162).

2000
WILL AYCOCK is a tax manager for RSM McGladrey’s Rocky Mount office. He has seven years of public and private sector accounting with individuals, corporations and non-profits. CHESLEY “CHESS” GRAY BLACK IV is director of campus services at Johnson & Wales University in Charlotte, where he was director of ITS after becoming assistant director for technology at UNC Charlotte. A former head drum major for the Marching Pirates, he is a conductor and adjudicator for several music programs and competitions. KRIS LUNDBERG, a New York City-based actress, played Bianca in, and was fight director for, Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew at the Carolinian Shakespeare Festival in New Bern. NICK SCHNABEL, who lettered twice as a second baseman at ECU, is an assistant baseball coach at Liberty University. He played for farm teams in the Montreal Expos organization and for the Harrisburg Senators. FRANK WIGGINS left his job as principal at Farmville’s Sam D. Bundy Elementary School to return to Henderson.

1999
MARY ELIZABETH HUGHES and Randall Gilbert Manning were married Aug. 4 in Winterville. She works for Schering Plough Pharmaceuticals. REBECCA M. THOMPSON was promoted to senior account manager/group operations manager at The Planning Group in Wilson after five years with the 36-year-old financial planning company. BRENT and AMANDA HANKS ANDERSON ’00 had a daughter, Kyleigh Grace, who joined 3-year old brother Chase William, on July 18.

1998
BRIAN FIELDS ’98 ’01 is a business banker at First Citizens Bank in Greenville. He is a former baseball pitcher for Greenville’s J.H. Rose High School and ECU, and a member of the University City Kiwanis Club. ANGELA MICHELLE MANNING and Dr. Brian Christopher Vinson were married May 12 at Historic Red Banks Primitive Baptist Church in Greenville. She works for Shealy Electrical Wholesalers. LESLIE LORRAINE MESSERLI MAYBERRY ’98 ’99 was promoted to chief financial officer at Eastern Radiologists in Greenville, where she was a controller. She is also a CPA with nine years of experience in finance. LACEY ROLLINS, originally of New Bern, is a vice president and a team leader in Winston-Salem at BB&T, where she has worked since 1999. ED WATKINS is the jack man for NASCAR driver Elliott Sadler and a parts manager for Gillette Evernham Motorsports. On ECU’s football team, he was a defensive lineman, guard and center from 1994 to 1996.

1997
MICHAEL CLARK of Laurinburg is an assistant vice-president and loan officer at First Capital Bank. He previously worked for RBC Centura and is active in the Laurinburg Optimist Club. RYAN EDRIC FEATHERER and Sarah Elizabeth Miles of Norfolk, Va., were married July 7. He is the orchestra director and fine arts department chair at Maury High School, where he was the 2007 teacher of the year, and where she is a social studies teacher. CHRIS IVEY was promoted from fitness supervisor to manager of Bladen Fitness Services in Elizabethtown. CHRIS LENKER ’97 ’00 and LAURA SHARP LENKER ’99 ’02 had their first child, Addison Cade, on May 23. ADAM MCCOMB ’97 ’00 is the new director of parks and recreation in Surry County. A Yadkin County native, he was the recreation program supervisor for the Elkin Recreation and Parks Department for five years. For the N.C. Recreation and Parks Association, he is on the athletics director workshop steering committee and is the athletics division chair. He and his wife, RUTHANN MCCOMB ’96, have two sons, Thomas and Luke. BARBARA ANN WHITE and Derrick Stancill Page were married April 21 in Hertford. They live in Winterville, and she is a laboratory specialist for the N.C. State Laboratory of Public Health.

1996
JENNIFER BALL is a community awareness coordinator for the Martin/Pitt Partnership for Children, the Smart Start agency for Martin and Pitt counties. SONIA FOSTER, a nursing professor at Catawba Valley Community College since 2003, received the Robert Scott Award from the N.C. Associate Degree Nursing Organization. She previously was with Catawba Valley Medical Center’s Birthing Center and directed the independent nurse-midwifery practice at Catawba Women’s Center. NICOLE SMITH ’96 ’98 ’04, former assistant principal at Falkland Elementary School, is the new principal at Greenville’s Eastern Elementary School. She was the Pitt County 2006 assistant principal of the year.

1995
KAREN ELIZABETH FLOYD ’95 ’99 and ENNIS LEE PEARCE III ’97 were married June 16. At ECU, she works in advising and is pursuing a doctorate in educational leadership. He works for Nash-Rocky Mount Schools. TODD REEVES FOWLER of Concord, N.H., and Raleigh, and Sarah Kathryn Johnson of Winston-Salem were married June 2 at The Brookstown Inn in Winston-Salem. He works for TAC in North Andover, Mass., and they will live in Concord, N.H.

1994
EILEEN BARBOUR was promoted to assistant director of fitness services at Southeastern Lifestyle Center for Fitness and Rehabilitation in Lumberton. ANNETTE EUBANKS ’94 ’96 is the new regional long-term care ombudsman for the Mid-East Commission Area Agency on Aging, which serves Beaufort, Bertie, Hertford, Martin and Pitt counties. JIM HERRING of Hartsville, S.C., is a senior vice president and credit card products marketing/sales manager for Bank of America. He is married to BEVERLY HERRING ’91 ’93, a stay-at-home mother, and they have two children, Christian and Emily. STEPHANIE SUZANNE RAECHER MCDONALD ’94 ’97 of Chester, Va., who teaches fifth grade in Chesterfield County, was named 2007-08 Teacher of the Year for Ettrick Elementary School in Ettrick, Va. BRYAN J. RAITHEL ’94 ’96 of Cornelius is a hedge fund manager for a private equity firm in Charlotte after 10 years working with The Vanguard Group, and he married Collette McCune on June 9, 2006.

1993
DAVID ADAMS is the Raleigh city executive and leader of Capital Bank’s Raleigh commercial team. JACQUELINE BOYD ELLIS is the new principal of Chapel Hill High School. She previously worked in Pitt, Guilford and Wake county schools, and was an administrator at Durham’s Riverside High School and Chapel Hill’s Culbreth Middle School, where she was the 2005-06 Chapel Hill-Carrboro Principal of the Year. CHRIS GABRIEL of Charlotte was commissioned to create four bronze sculptures for the African Plains exhibit expansion at the N.C. Zoo in Asheboro. DR. VIRGINIA HARDY is the new senior associate dean for academic affairs at BSOM. She is also ECU’s interim chief diversity officer and was associate dean for counseling and diversity and director of BSOM’s academic support and enrichment center. MICHELLE LEE POPE SHILLING returned from her leave of absence taking care of 2-year-old Connor and 1-year-old Cassandra to teach second grade in Bradenton, Fla.

1992
GHANIM AL-SHIBLI is Iraq’s ambassador to Australia. As a diplomat in the 1980s, he developed ties with the U.S. When he and his wife wanted to stay in the U.S. for their children’s education, the government relocated them to Greenville in 1988 for protection. He attended graduate school and worked at East Carolina Vocational Center. In 2003, the U.S. government recruited him to help rebuild the Iraqi pool of diplomats. His projects in Australia, where there are about 80,000 Iraqis, include recruiting Iraqi scholarship students to attend school in Australia and building trade relations. GREG GENTRY is the new athletics director for Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools. He was head football coach at Hillsborough-Orange County Schools for seven years. At Mount Tabor High School, he was a health and life skills teacher and a coach since 1998. RENEE CUNDIFF NAUFUL, the new coordinator for the evening MOPS groups, recently moved to Forest, Va., built a new house and gave birth to Dale Austin in November 2006. After having three children in five years, she returned to counseling trauma-suffering children part-time. LYNETTE PATRICIA SCHEHR and Mark W. Fenton were married Aug. 18. They live in Raleigh. JUDITH WILSON retired from Pitt County Schools after 22 years of teaching.

1991
MAJOR BARRETT JENKINS II, former assistant principal at North Pitt High School, is the new principal at Farmville’s Sam D. Bundy Elementary School. He is on the board for N.C. Baptist Men, is a Boy Scout merit badge counselor and has adopted five children.

1990
JENNIFER BOGENN and her husband, Tim, manage a media transfer and video production company called INMOTION that converts slides, VHS and other formats to DVD. They used to operate from their Greenville home as Digital Heirlooms. RONNIE ROACH is a mortgage banker on the Outer Banks. He and his wife, Lori, have two children. He is active in the Outer Banks Association of Realtors, Swim Club, YMCA, Dare County Parks and Recreation and First Flight Middle School PTA.

1989
DEBBIE G. VARGAS is executive director/CEO of the Greenville-Pitt County Convention and Visitors Bureau. She is on the boards for several tourism and business organizations, and has two sons. In 2001, she received the N.C. Travel Council Bill Sharpe Travel Award for her work in the travel industry.

1988
MELVIN HAWKINS ’88 ’99 ’05 is the new principal at Camden County High School. He taught social studies in Pasquotank County for 10 years, was assistant principal at Camden County Middle School for four years, principal at Perquimans County High School, and was the first directory of secondary education for the Camden County School System. He was the 2005 Northeast Regional Principal of the Year. LT. COL. JON DAVID RANDEL transferred from a base in Honolulu, Hawaii, to one at Fort Bliss, Texas. He is a career Army space and missile defense officer who served in four operations: Desert Storm/Shield and Enduring/Iraqi Freedom. JOHN WRIGHT retired from Pitt County Schools after 22 years of teaching.

1987
CEDRIC L. ADDERLEY is associate vice-president for academic affairs at Claftin University in Orangeburg, S.C. He was assistant vice president for academic affairs for two years and music department chair for five years. SUSAN ANN DAVIS DIMEO of Sarasota, Fla., an occupational therapist and certified SaeboFlex therapist, was promoted to program champion for Sarasota HealthSouth’s SaeboFlex arm training program, which uses procedures developed in Charlotte and a SaeboFlex dynamic hand splint to help individuals suffering from neurological injuries. SUSAN STEINMAN KOOSHA is a senior sales consultant for Novartis Pharmaceuticals. She was named best representative, won the President’s Club and MVP awards and received $5,000 for referring several key employees to the company. She lives in Malvern, Penn., with her husband and three children: Austin, Robert and Sophia. MICHAEL LAND, former principal at Walkertown Elementary School, is principal at Union Cross Elementary School in Kernersville. GEORGE GREGGORY OSBORNE ’87 ’89 was appointed assistant chief of police for the Gaston County Police Department in Gastonia after 17 years with the department. He and his wife, Angie, have a 5-year-old daughter, Reagan.

1986
EDWIN M. “SANDY” HARDY, a lawyer in Greenville and Washington, is chair of the Beaufort County Hospital trustees. MARK VAUGHN of Wake Forest is senior vice president and compliance manager at Crescent State Bank. As a certified regulatory compliance officer, he is a member of the Institute of Certified Bankers.

1985
CAPT. JERRY DILSAVER ’85 of Oak Island was named to the Southern Kingfish Association Hall of Fame. He is a writer and photographer for sports publications and founded the North and South Carolina Sportsman Fishing Schools and Monthly Seminar Series, for which he spends about 70 days annually sharing information about recreational, tournament and commercial fishing. He is married to fellow award-winning angler DONNA MOONEYHAM ’84 ’91. KEVIN WILLIAMS, who was recently the head golf pro at Walnut Creek Country Club, returned to ECU to be the women’s golf coach. In 2000, he was the first coach for the team, and in 2003 and 2005, he led them to NCAA at-large bids.

1984
EARNEST BYNER was inducted into the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame 2008 class. Originally of Milledgeville, Ga., he led ECU’s football team in rushing in 1983 and in 1992 was the leading rusher for the Super Bowl champions Washington Redskins. In his 14-year NFL career he was selected for the Pro Bowl twice. DONALD FENTON MADDREY of Lorton, Va., a commercial research coordinator/analyst with C.B. Richard Ellis in McLean, Va., received an MS in real estate from the Carey School of Business at Johns Hopkins in May. JOHN WHICHARD is a project estimator with B&M Construction of Rocky Mount. He and his wife, JENNIFER WHICHARD, live in Rocky Mount.

1983
ROLANDA BEST ’83 ’03, who was an N.C. Principal Fellow, is the new principal at Greenwood Middle School. She taught math at Southern Wayne and Spring Creek high schools for 17 years before being named assistant principal at Spring Creek Elementary and Greenwood Middle schools. JULIA CLARK BROOKS, the assistant director of N.C. State University’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Alumni and Friends Society, received the 2007 Award of Excellence for outstanding achievement from the college. GREGG HOWE ’83 ’87, a Michigan State professor who said he decided to study plants after seeing an ECU professor behead a rat in class, has been researching plant resistance to pests for a decade. With his farming family background and current focus on tomato plant systems and their insect and disease defense mechanisms, he hopes to help develop environmentally friendly ways to control crop pests that would also protect water supplies and consumers from harmful chemical pesticides.

1982
VERNIE DOVE JR., who has more than 23 years experience in insurance, is a Raleigh-based producer with the independent John Hackney Agency of Rocky Mount. RUTH EMILY LYTLE-BARNABY of Ft. Collins, Colo., is executive director of community and foundation development for Poudre Valley Health System. She also manages the foundation for the new Medical Center of the Rockies that will raise funds for cardiac and trauma research and education. DR. LINDA NELMS is the new vice president for student services at Wayne Community College, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary. She has administrative experience at UNC Wilmington and Whiteville’s Southeastern Community College and is the N.C. Community College System’s educational consultant/distance learning coordinator. JANE WALSTON is the new director of exceptional children/instructional support services for Wayne County Schools. Starting in 1996, she was coordinator of the academically and intellectually gifted program.

1981
WILLIAM JAMES “JIM” PAYNE ’81 ’82 ’83 of Greensboro and JULIE WARD ’82 of Marietta, Ga., were married May 28 at Warwick Bay Beach, Bermuda. He is vice-president of supply chain for GoldtoeMoretz. She relocated her CPA practice to North Carolina. The family, including children Eric, Wil and Rachel, lives in Summerfield.

1980
J.C. BASNIGHT is the new superintendent at Fayetteville’s Northwood Temple Academy. He was vice president of academic and student services at Fayetteville Technical Community College. DR. BERNADETTE GREGORY WATTS, a Greenville native, received the 2007 Susie W. Jones Award from the national alumnae association for Greensboro’s Bennet College for Women. From 1971 to 2002, she held several state-level administrative positions in the N.C. Cooperative Extension Service. The annual professional development scholarship for cooperative extension employees is named for her, as is the highest award of excellence given by the N.C. Association of Extension Program Assistants, Associates and Technicians. Now retired, she is a motivational speaker and educational consultant and president of Durham’s Bennett College alumnae chapter and the GIHS-C.M. Eppes High School Alumni Heritage Society.

1979
REBECCA COBURN BROWN of Plymouth retired from the Washington County School District after 29 years. Her career includes 28 years teaching English and 11 years as a distance learning coordinator. She was named 2006–07 facilitator of the year, a statewide recognition from LEARN NC.

1978
JANE TUCKER retired from Pitt County Schools after 28 years of teaching. MARJORIE ELLEN RIDDLE WATSON ’78 ’82 of Sanford completed 30 years of state service, teaching for 28 of those years, and recently received her national board certification for teaching exceptional children.

1977
MAMIE DAVIS ’77 ’81 retired from Pitt County Schools after 19 years of teaching. MARVIN E. “MARK” GARNER JR. passed the American Institute of Certified Planners exam. He is an owner of and board member for Rivers & Associates, where he has 30 years of experience as a planning consultant for eastern North Carolina governments. NANCY HARRIS retired from Pitt County Schools after 30 years of teaching. LU ANN NEESE ’77 ’85 retired from Pitt County Schools after 30 years of teaching.

1976
LT. COL GLENN HARMON was named an outstanding professor at Embry Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Fla., where he is in his second year as an assistant professor of aeronautical science. Retired from the Air Force, he uses his military and civilian flight background in teaching aeronautics and flight physiology. SUSAN MANNING retired from Pitt County Schools after 26 years of teaching. FREDERICK M. RICHARDSON of Blacksburg, Va., received professor emeritus status from Virginia Tech, where he started working in 1980. He taught accounting and information systems, and from 1995 to 1996 was president of the Beta Alpha Psi professional society. ISABELLE WICKER ’76 ’91 retired from Pitt County Schools as a principal after 41 years in education.

1975
MARTHA BLACKWELDER retired from Pitt County Schools after 32 years as a media coordinator. MARTHA GORE ’75 ’78 retired from Pitt County Schools after 19 years of teaching.

1974
DEBORAH EVANS retired from Pitt County Schools after 33 years of teaching. ALLAN WILSON retired from Pitt County Schools after 34 years of coaching.

1973
ALICE KEENE ’73 ’80, special projects coordinator with Pitt County Community Schools and Recreation, received the N.C. Recreation and Parks Association’s Distinguished Fellow Award in August at the joint N.C./S.C. Recreation and Parks convention in Charleston, S.C.

1972
SHELBY BULLOCK ’72 ’85 retired from Pitt County Schools after 35 years of teaching. STEPHEN M. RUSSELL ’72 ’77, an attorney and director with Bell, Davis & Pitt in Winston-Salem, was elected to a one-year term as president of the Forsyth County Bar Association. His specialties are civil litigation, professional malpractice, legal malpractice, business torts, contracts litigation, condemnation/eminent domain and appellate representation.

1971
VELTON RAY BUNCH, an Emmy-winning music composer who lives in Beverly Hills, Calif., produced a concert/show opening for the new 2,000-seat Randy Parton Theatre at Carolina Crossroads in July. CAROL B. JONES KIMREY, a family and consumer sciences teacher at Richmond, Va.’s Short Pump Middle School, was appointed by Gov. Tim Kaine to a four-year term on the Milk Commission. MARY MCFARLAND is the carillonneur at First Presbyterian Church in Belmont. While many carillons are automated, the First Presbyterian’s is played live. The smallest of the 48 bells weighs 31 pounds, and the largest weighs 4,850 pounds. McFarland, who also plays piano and organ and was music director for eight years at Gastonia’s First Presbyterian Church, gives concerts that can be heard for several blocks in Belmont.

1969
DANIEL LEE HEAVNER of Smithfield was elected to the board of Raleigh-headquartered First Citizens BancShares. He is a partner in Heavner Furniture Market, which operates in Raleigh and Smithfield. NANCY WILLIAMS retired from Pitt County Schools after 25 years of teaching.

1968
JERRY FISHER was named to the 2006–07 Strathmore’s Who’s Who. He retired as UNC Chapel Hill’s associate budget director and is a substitute teacher at Durham’s Cresset Christian Academy and treasurer of Governor’s Club’s Stone Brook Homeowner’s Association, North Myrtle Beach’s Sundowner Villa Association and Ephesus Baptist Church. SANDRA ROWE ’68 ’81 ’83 retired from Pitt County Schools after 25 years as a counselor.

1967
PHYLLIS ROBERTS retired from Pitt County Schools after 23 years of teaching.

1966
Bill Clark Construction, owned by BILL CLARK ’66 ’68 of Greenville, was named the fastest growing privately held homebuilder in the nation by Professional Builder magazine. The magazine said the company generated $227.4 million in revenue in fiscal 2007 and built 1,059 homes.

1962
JOYCE MARIE SCOTT LACKEY retired for the third time after 29 years as an English, history and special needs teacher at Tuscola Senior High School in Waynesville. Her career total is 42 years of teaching.

1959
CHARLIE ADAMS of Chapel Hill is the executive director of the N.C. High School Athletics Association.

1952
DR. MARY ROSE STOCKS ’52 ’54 ’81 retired from Pitt County Schools after 54 years of teaching.