Summer-2010-Class-Notes

Alumni Spotlights

Greg Morin

The dean of Pit Crew U

Let’s just say that NASCAR was not a big deal to him in Waltham, Mass., when Greg
Morin ’01 was growing up there. It still wasn’t even after he graduated and married a fellow recreational therapy major, Holly Jarrett ’01, who is related to two icons of the sport, great uncle Ned Jarrett and cousin Dale Jarrett.

But in the past five years Morin has emerged as an elite trainer of NASCAR pit crews. For the second straight year he coached the crew for the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Lowe’s car raced by Jimmie Johnson, who won a historic fourth consecutive championship title last season.

Morin initially was a recreational therapist working with physically and sexually abused kids in Charlotte. The Charlotte suburb of Mooresville is home base for dozens of NASCAR teams and other businesses that support them, including Performance Instruction & Training (PIT), known around town as Pit Crew U.

He enrolled in the school, graduated, and was offered a job training other students. He quickly became a master of the millisecond.

“The technical side of the pit stop has not changed much over the last seven years, so the speed and the ability to take time off the pit stop has to come from improved athletic ability of the pit crew,” Morin says.

“In addition to our strength training,
conditioning and practice, our guys do yoga once a week, we do aquatics workouts. We have sports psychologists.”

He’s now PIT’s director of motorsports in charge of training for all types of racing, including the Truck Series. Morin began
the 2008 season with Hendrick Motorsports as the head pit crew coach for the No. 48 team, as well as Jeff Gordon’s No. 24 team. The No. 48 team won the 2008–09 Sprint Cup championships and Mechanix Wear MVP Pit Crew award worth $100,000.

Morin says he keeps bumping into other ECU people as he moves around the NAS CAR circuit, including Ed Watkins
’98, who now is jack man for driver Elliott Sadler and a parts manager for Gillette Evernham Motorsports; Jeff Kerr ’99, now with Stewart-Hass racing who won the 2006 NASCAR Nextel Pit Crew Challenge as a member of Martin Truex Jr.’s pit crew; and Brian Rimpf ’03 of Raleigh, the
former Baltimore Ravens lineman who recently joined the developmental program at Hendrick Motorsports.

Designing her future

Shopping for nursery furniture and accessories after her son was born, Kelly Barnes Rightsell ’90 of Greensboro was
surprised by the tackiness of a lot of what she saw in stores.

And she should know what good art looks like, having majored in fine art and printmaking at East Carolina,
buttressed by a six-week independent
study trip to the Blackheath School of Art in London and other training at the Penland School. Plus, she had taught elementary school art for five years.

Someone suggested that she make some prints of her own artwork and show them at the Atlanta Gift Show. She did, sold $10,000 worth of prints in one day, and has never looked back.

The business has grown so quickly that her husband, Brian Rightsell ’90, a business major, quit his job to manage the enterprise. Kelly Rightsell’s father is David Barnes ’66 of Lenoir.

Today, Kelly Rightsell Design licenses her wall art, babyshower gifts and other nursery decorations throughseveral major retailers, including Bloomingdale’s, Saks,Essex Collection and others. It’s sold at fine art shopsacross the Southeast.

She’s had a few famous clients. Shecreated a print and matching rug for Olympic skater Kristi Yamaguchi’s baby, and even painted a mural on the nursery wall. Glancing through Us magazine, she saw a photo of Yankee third baseman Alex Rodriguez holding his daughter, who was holding one of Rightsell’s dolls.

She sent a gift basket of artwork to Paula Deen, then saw some of the items decorating the nursery of Deen’s grandchild when it was featured in a magazine. Her creations have been featured on the TV shows Extreme Home Makeover and Reba.

Where did it all begin? She thinks it was in London, studying at the Blackheath School of Art. “It was an incredible learning
experience that gave me my true passion for creating art.”

Kornegay Brothers

Lots of docs in their house

A second generation of the Kornegay family is training for careers in medicine at East Carolina, including two brothers now serving as chief residents in internal medicine at ECU Physicians.

Dr. Chad Kornegay ’01 ’05 (left) and Dr. Todd Kornegay ’02 ’06—who are only 11 months apart in age—join older brother Hervy Jr. ’90 ’94, who practices emergency
medicine in Goldsboro, and younger brother Jon ’04 ’08, a second-year medicine/pediatrics resident at BSOM, in
continuing the family tradition.

Only baby brother Paul ’06 ’08 is following a different career path. He teaches in the ECU Department of Mathematics.

The five are the children of Dr. Hervy B. Kornegay Sr., an honorary alumnus who practices family medicine in Mount Olive, and Deborah K. Kornegay ’71 ’76 ’81, who graduated in ECU’s first class of nurse practitioners.

Fodor is Jones' top aide

Catherine M. Fodor ’08 was named
communications director for Congressman
Walter B. Jones, a Republican who
represents North Carolina’s Third
Congressional District. She has
worked for Jones since a month after
graduation, first as a staff assistant.
She was promoted to her current position last September.

“My degree in communication from ECU has really helped me with my responsibilities on Capitol Hill,” Fodor said. “My duties include speech writing, all contact with press, and writing
press releases.”

Fodor, who majored in communication with a concentration in broadcast journalism, also produces Congressman Jones’ cable show, Washington Watch, which airs monthly on 12 stations in the 3rd District. She also maintains the congressman’s website and YouTube channel.

Opera America honors Keaton

Benjamin Keaton ’57 ’61 of Chapel Hill, co-founder, music director and
conductor of the Long Leaf Opera Company, was one of four individuals
across the country honored by Opera America with a National Opera Trustee Recognition award during a February gala at the University Club in New York City.

The award recognizes trustees of U.S. opera companies for exemplary leadership, generosity and audience building efforts. Based in Chapel Hill with most performances at venues across the Triangle, Long Leaf is in the midst of its 12th season. It is known as the only professional U.S. company presenting exclusively fully-staged operas originally written in English.

Keaton co-founded Long Leaf Opera in 1998 with Dr. Randolph Umberger. Concerned with the lack of opportunities for young American composers, Keaton set out to recruit the finest regional and national composing talents and to follow a colorblind casting policy.

Since then, Keaton has overseen the production of 33 operas, including seven world premieres. In 2007, he established an international competition for new operatic works, and to date over 100 compositions have been received from countries including Germany, Australia and the U.K.

Under his baton, the company’s orchestra and vocalists have evolved from local performers to a professional company of artists with established careers at major opera houses both in Europe and the United States.

A native of Belhaven, Keaton was a founding member of the Zeta Psi Chapter of Phi Mu Alpha at East Carolina. He has endowed scholarships at ECU for voice majors.

Keaton taught 20th century music and theory for 18 years at N. C. Central University and has served as maestro for several musical organizations, including the Carolina Playmakers, the Durham Savoyards, Opera House Productions in Wilmington, Jenny Wiley Summer Theatre in Kentucky, and Opera Ft. Collins in Colorado.

He has directed in England and also currently serves as opera advisor to Chez Nous Productions in Paris.

He was recently awarded the Durham Jaycees Outstanding Citizen Award and the ECU School of Music’s Distinguished Alumni Award for 2009.

Warning for female athletes

Female high school basketball and soccer players are eight times more likely than boys to suffer a torn anterior cruciate
ligament in the knee, and coaches should
adjust their training regimens to protect
them against such injuries, Dr. Lisa
Rowland Callahan ’83 ’87 said at a major
conference in New York in late February.

She cited studies showing that when boys jump, they tend to land on both knees, with legs bent to soften the landing. Girls,
on the other hand, are more apt to land on one leg that’s not bent. Female soccer players should strengthen their hamstring muscles, which act to reinforce the ACL. She said coaches can address both problems by teaching girls better
body mechanics to protect their knees.

“You see a lot of girls in high school tear their ACLs. Some have surgery, have a good rehab program and come back to
play. But there is attrition. Many are lost in high school, and they never come back to compete.”

One of the nation’s leading experts on sports medicine, Callahan also warned that high school athletes, like hospital patients, must remain vigilant against the MRSA
staph infection, which has developed a strong resistance to antibiotics.

“The bug can cause skin and soft-tissue
infections, and it can spread to the lungs or joints,” said Callahan, medical director of the Women’s Sports Medicine
Center at the Hospital for Special Surgery in Manhattan that sponsored the conference. “You can get very sick from this.”

Callahan, who also is director of player care for the New York Knicks and New York Liberty professional basketball teams,
says the bacteria can spread if athletes share towels or don’t properly clean abrasions or athletic equipment. She says
wrestlers and football players are most vulnerable, but others also can become infected by sharing training facilities with
those who play contact sports.

“Something as simple as hand-washing can really help,” suggested Callahan, who stays in shape skiing and riding her titanium road bike. “And athletes should use liquid soap,
not bar soap in the locker room to prevent spreading the bacteria.”

Among the estimated 30 million American children and teens that play youth sports, about 3.5 million require medical
treatment each year.

—David McKay Wilson

She faced cancer

On her 31st birthday, Meredith Manoly
McNerney ’98 was diagnosed with a rare
and aggressive form of cancer, Merkel cell
carcinoma. The cancer formed a tumor on her left cheek that required three surgeries to remove, followed by extensive rounds of radiation to her face.

Not one to sit and curse her fate, McNerney wrote a book about her experience and launched a foundation to provide support to people like herself. The book, Facing Cancer: A Spiritual Journey from Pain to Peace, is an exploration of how the disease affects the daily lives of sufferers with a special insight into how a woman deals with
disfiguring facial surgery.

The foundation, A Message of Hope Cancer Fund, is an all-volunteer organization that to date has raised more than $170,000 and provided financial assistance to about 25 cancer patients and their families.

Serving as the treasurer of the foundation is Elizabeth Wilder Phipps ’98 of Matthews.

McNerney, who won the Robert H. Wright Outstanding Alumni Leadership Award
her senior year, was a gifted reading teacher at an award-winning public school in Silver Spring, Md., when she was
diagnosed with cancer. More information is available at the foundation’s web site, www.amessageofhopecf.org.

By Joanne Kollar

Click here to send in your news Go to the obituary page

2009

JENNIFER FITZGERALD joined RE/MAX UNITED-New Homes Services as the K. Hovnanian Homes Marketing Coordinator for the Triangle area. RACHEL GAFFNEY is an account coordinator with Media Partners Inc. in Raleigh. She was the local sales manager for University Directories in Greenville. JESSICA LYNN JONES wed Timothy Wayne Dunn on Oct. 17 in Snow Hill. She is a nurse at Pitt County Memorial Hospital. CHRISTINE KENT joined Murphy & Bunch CPAs in Greenville as a staff accountant. CARLTON PURVIS was named College Journalist of the Year by the Southeast Journalism Conference for his work as a copy editor and news editor at The East Carolinian, ECU’s student-run newspaper. He is a multimedia journalist at the Morning News in Florence, S.C. ALEXANDRA SALEEBY wed Jeffrey Wayne Lawrence Jr. on Oct. 10 in Fuquay-Varina. She teaches first grade at Harnett Primary School in Dunn.

Pirate Nation

Howell Binkley '77, the Tony-winning
lighting director, establishes an internship program for ECU students on Broadway.

2008

ELIZABETH MADGELLE BEAN ’08 wed JEREMY TRAD GODWIN ’07 on Oct. 10 in Wilmington. She teaches music at Coker-Wimberly Elementary School in Edgecombe County, and he is the chorus teacher at Hunt High School in Wilson. Army Reserve Spec. MELISSA LYNN BEDDARD ’08 wed BRADLEY BROOKS EAKES ’06 on Nov. 7 at the historic Bonner Point in Bath, N.C. She works at ECU, and he works with Tar Heel Amusements and The Pool Table Shop in Greenville. DIAMOND COLEY is the resident director in the Office of Student Life at High Point University in High Point. BRENNA LEIGH EVANS ’08 wed KENNETH ALAN WESTON ’08 ’09 on Nov. 21 in the Winterville Baptist Church. She is a nurse at Pitt County Memorial Hospital, and he works at D. H. Conley High School in Greenville. BRANDON W. MILLER graduated from basic combat training at Ft. Jackson, Columbia, S.C. LINDSEY SAWYER joined OIC Family Medical Center in Rocky Mount as a physician’s assistant. WILLIAM LUCIUS SCOTT IV wed Kathryn McCoy Everton in Whiteville. He is a health and safety director with the Nucor plant in Auburn, N.Y. ASHLEY DEWS SMITH of Winterville was named alumni relations director at Pitt Community College. She was executive director of the Martin County Chamber of Commerce. KEAUNA VINSON was inducted into the East Wake High School Hall of Fame where she played basketball and volleyball and ran track. Among her honors, in her senior year she was named MVP and All-Conference in each of the three sports. She was named the Wake County Female Athlete of the Year and named the WRAL Athlete of the month. She is the volleyball and basketball coach at East Wake Middle School.

2007

Army 2nd Lt. BRYAN M. BEARD graduated from the U.S. Army Ranger School at Fort Benning, Columbus, Ga., with authorization to wear the distinctive Ranger Tab. LAURA KELLY TAYLOR ’07 wed BRAD HUGHES BOYD ’00 ’06 on Nov. 21 in Williamston. She works at Pitt County Memorial Hospital, and he works with NACCO Materials Handling Group Inc. in Greenville.

2006

SPENCER TODD BRADLEY ’06, principal at Brinson Memorial Elementary School in New Bern, was named the 2010 Wachovia Principal of the Year for Craven County. JESSICA ERIN CRESON ’06 ’08 wed MARK AUSTIN NOTTINGHAM ’08 on Oct. 3 at the Historic Brookstown Inn in Winston-Salem. KATHERINE L. DAVIS ’06 ’08 joined SILVERcare, a licensed home-care agency, as public relations/resource coordinator. WILLIAM D. EDGAR JR. was promoted to senior vice president and chief credit officer of First Carolina State Bank in Rocky Mount. BRENDA HAGAN, Snow Hill Primary School principal, was named 2009-2010 Greene County Schools Principal of the Year. BEN JENSEN had an exhibit titled “Sameness” at the Janalyn Hanson White Gallery at Mount Mercy College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where he is an adjunct art professor. He also teaches ceramics at Kirkwood Community College. HALEY EDWARD JOHNSON ’06 wed MICHAEL DAVID MORGAN ’08 on Aug. 29 on the beach at Atlantic Beach. They opened Uncle Yammy’s Rib Shack in Greenville, with the bride’s father, Uncle Yammy. MICHAEL RHODES, physical education teacher at Rand Road Elementary School in Wake County, was recognized for having the Outstanding PE Program of the Year for Wake County Public Schools. He also won the N.C. Physical Education Association’s Outstanding Program Award.

2005

MELISSA BRITNER, kindergarten teacher at Creekside Elementary in Winterville, is a national board certified teacher. LISA DESIREE BROWN HOGAN ’05 ’09 earned a master’s in adult education and a certificate in community college instruction from ECU. ALLEN N. TRASK III joined Ward and Smith at their Wilmington office as a litigation attorney. He received his JD from Campbell Law School in 2009 and was a 2008 summer associate at Ward and Smith. RACHEAL YOUNG ’05 and TREMAINE YOUNG ’02 ’04 ’09 had the first baby born in Pitt County in 2010, Tremaine Ronnell Young Jr. She is a nurse at Pitt Community Memorial Hospital, and he is a school counselor at two elementary schools in Jones County.

2004

SUSAN CHESSON opened Set Salon in Greenville. She graduated from Mitchell’s Hairstyling Academy in 2009. GAIL MARIE EVAN ’04 wed HEATH LAYTON COURTRIGHT ’03 ’05 on Sept. 26 in Erie, Pa. In Charlotte, she is a clinical counselor at Anuvia Prevention and Recovery Center, and he is a financial adviser at RM Stark and Co. Dr. YOLANDA M. NEWTON joined First Health Richmond Medical Group—Women’s Center in Rockingham. KATIE MELIA wed Chance Jackson on Sept. 19 in Cary. She works at Marco Environmental near Washington, D.C., and the couple lives in Ellicott City, Md. JENNIFER MIGLIACCIO wed Lt. Thomas Joseph Gibbons on Oct. 10 at the U.S. Naval Academy Chapel in Annapolis, Md. She works for Gateway Academy in Charlotte. MARCELO MERCADANTE PARIZ wed Frances Careen Thomas on Oct. 17 at the Southport Community Center facing the Cape Fear River. He works with the State Employees Credit Union in Raleigh. RYAN STROHL of Arlington, Va., became art director of Delucchi+, a strategic marketing communications firm, in Washington, D.C. LACHELLE NICOLE WILLIAMS ‘04 wed Earl Reese Owens Jr. on Oct. 24 at Rock Springs Center in Greenville. She works for Pitt County schools.

2003

KELLY MEREDITH GARNER wed Hunter Grey Dixon on Aug. 29 at Yankee Hall Plantation in Greenville. She works at the Polly Piland Insurance Agency in Greenville. GABRIELLE KAHLIAN JAMES wed ASHTON NICHOLAS SLATE on Nov. 14 in Hickory. She teaches in the Wake County public schools, and he works at The Wooten Company, an engineering consulting company. ANNA REBECCA LOPEZ wed WILLIAM BRYANT WARD on Nov. 14 on the Kings Crown Lawn of South Seas Resort, Captiva Island, Fla. She is the NFL merchandise manager for Vanity Fair License Sports Group, and he is an assistant baseball coach for the University of South Florida. MELISSA YVONNE THORNE wed Thomas Earl Owens Jr. on Oct. 2 at the Greenville Country Club. She is employed by ECU. SYLVIA ADAMS WINGLER received her PhD in educational leadership and cultural foundations from UNC Greensboro. She teaches art at Starmount High School in Yadkin County.

2002

STEPHANIE CLARK FOGARTY wed Matthew Robert Rygler on Sept. 26 in Greensboro. She was attended by ECU roommates Abby Stallworth ’03 ’04 as maid of honor and Elizabeth Warren as matron of honor. The couple lives in Wilmington, Del. KIMBERLY JOHNSON wed Carlos Hooper on Oct. 23 in Atlanta, Ga. She is a registered nurse at Emory University Midtown Hospital in Atlanta. ALLISON CATHERINE NEEDHAM wed Timothy George Couillard on June 27 in Richmond, Va. She teaches fifth grade at J. B. Watkins Elementary in Midlothian, Va.

2001

WHITNEY OAKLEY, principal at Sylvan Elementary School in Snow Camp, was chosen by the N.C. Physical Education Association as 2009 Elementary Distinguished Principal of the Year. She was also selected as the 2010 Alamance-Burlington School System Wachovia Principal of the Year. JAMIE TIER WILLIAMS ’01 ’04 and JONATHAN WILLIAMS ’05 had a son, Aiden Edwin Williams, on July 6. REAGAN BLAIR WILLIAMS wed John Daniel Wayne Deans on Oct. 24 at Fifth Avenue United Methodist Church in Wilmington. She teaches social studies and coaches varsity cheerleading at D.H. Conley High School in Greenville. MARC YELLOCK, who played football for ECU from 1997 to 2000, was named ECU’s defensive assistant coach. He was a defensive assistant at Elon University for the past four seasons.

2000

LESLIE GRAY BUNCH was promoted to partner at Jan Murphy CPA, and JAN MURPHY ’77 changed the practice name to Murphy & Bunch CPAs PA . ELLEN GOLDBERG ’00 ’08 and MARC GOLDBERG ’01 of Winterville had a son, Mason Duval, on Sept. 5. DWAYNE LEDFORD was inducted into McDowell High School (Marion, N.C.) Athletic Hall of Fame where he was a two-time All-Conference selection and led the team in sacks three straight years. He was an offensive lineman at ECU for four years and played for several NFL teams, including the San Francisco 49ers, Jacksonville Jaguars, Carolina Panthers, and the Cleveland Browns during his career. He was an offensive staff assistant at ECU for the 2008 and 2009 seasons. ROBERT BRIAN TUCK wed Jennifer Leary Clark on Dec. 12 in Hartsville, S.C. He is district sales manager for Coca-Cola North America managing the Glaceau brands. They live in Columbia, S.C. CHAD TUCKER ’00 ’02, reporter for FOX8/WGHP in Winston-Salem, received an Emmy Award for his story The Last Day of Nancy Reynolds School in the “General Assignment Reporting within 24 Hours” category. He is also an adjunct instructor of communications at Forsyth Technical Community College in Winston-Salem.

1999

ELIZABETH ANNE ROONEY DOLBY ’99 ’02 and Keith Dolby had a son, Gavin Patrick Dolby, on Sept. 11. JOHN M. PERSON CPA, PA joined with MICHAEL V. JOYNER ’73 CPA, PA to form Joyner, Person & Co., CPA, PA in Greenville. DEBORAH WESTBROOK LCSW was named to the Austin Hatcher Foundation board of directors for 2010. She is a clinical evaluator and admissions liaison at Shepherd Spinal Center in Atlanta, Ga. FARAH LISA WHITLEY-SEBTI wed Driss Belmadani on Oct. 3 in Greenville. She practices law with Alston and Bird in Raleigh.

1998

RICK OWENS ’98 ’01 was named assistant vice president of information technology at Pitt Community College in Greenville, where he has been since 2006. TERRELL WILLIAMS (right) is the defensive line coach at Texas Tech. He coached defensive linemen at Purdue for the past four seasons. He was a standout nose guard for the Pirates and a member of the 1995 team that defeated Stanford 19-13 in the Liberty Bowl.

1997

NIKKI EPPS wed Kenny Todd on Apr. 18 at Hallsboro Baptist Church. She is a certified athletic trainer.

1996

Dr. DAVID DAVIDIAN of Durham joined the Triangle Implant Center as a dental anesthesiologist. He is a member of the American Society of Dental Anesthesiologists and has served on the UNC-CH dental school admissions committee.

1995

STEVEN DOBEY wed Amanda Haynes on Oct. 10 at Shell Island Resort at Wrightsville Beach. He is a wildlife program coordinator for the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife. ERIC S. CLARK was promoted to city executive of First South Bank’s Greenville, N.C., market from vice president. JOLEEN M. NEVERS, health education coordinator at the University of Connecticut, Storrs, was certified as a sexuality educator through the American Association of Sexuality Educators, Counselors and Therapists and became a certified health education specialist through the National Commission for Health Education Credentialing. She received two Outstanding Advisor Awards through regional conferences in New England and is currently president of the New England College Health Association. ROBERT C. SCALISE serves as a flight surgeon at the Naval Air Station Souda Bay on the Greek island of Crete. He received a degree as doctor of osteopathic medicine from the Edward Via Virginia College of Osteopathic Medicine at Virginia Tech.

1994

CHRISTINE ANDRE ’94 ’99, principal of Swansboro High School, was named the 2010 Wachovia Principal of the Year for Onslow County. MICHAEL BAKER ’94 ’98 joined the Pinehurst office of Wells Fargo Advisors as a financial adviser. He was an accountant with James F. Baker, CPA, in Raeford for 12 years. Dr. PHIL CAMERON joined Rowan-Cabarrus Community College as dean of special projects. He was with the Anolik Law Offices in San Francisco, where as a law clerk, his focus was on the travel and tourism industry. STEPHEN J. LEWIS won the 2009 Chicago/Midwest Emmy Award for Outstanding Achievement for Informational Programs: Public Affairs/Current Affairs—Single Program for producing the 30-minute special Surviving Suicide. He is a producer and writer at WLS-TV ABC 7.

1993

Dr. VIRGINIA DARE HARDY wed Darth Darnelle Akins on Oct. 31 at Yankee Hall Plantation in Greenville. She is vice provost for student affairs at ECU. VICTORIA ELIZABETH VAUGHN ’93 ’04 wed BRADLEY RUSSELL MCALLISTER on Dec. 12 in Greenville. She is an academic advisor for ECU’s College of Allied Health Sciences, and he is a doctoral candidate in ECU’s educational leadership program and an academic advisor for ECU’s College of Business.

1992

JOHN KENYON received the Award of Excellence in the slide and multimedia programs category by the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education, District III. He was cited for his role as producer, editor, and videographer for the multimedia video Musical Theatre Program, produced in March 2009 as a promotional video for Western Carolina University. He joined the staff of ECU Publications as web editor in March. STANLEY SCOTT LEWIS earned the professional geologist license.

1991

JOHN F. CHILTON was awarded the contract to provide all the art for the new Holiday Inn Express in Mt. Pleasant, S.C., the first LEED-certified green hotel in S.C. His company, Earthscapes Photography, specializes in photographic art for the hotel/hospitality industry.

1990

FREDDIE LEE HEATH was elected president of the N.C. Alliance for Athletics, Health, PE, Recreation and Dance. He is a dance educator for Wake County public schools and is working on a master’s in school administration at N.C. State. G. CABELL LAWTON IV was named administrator of New Kent County in Virginia. He was the director of Fluvanna County, Va. DENISE WICKER OWEN published her first children’s book, Turtle Gliding, about a little girl who wonders what it would be like to meet a sea turtle. Her mother, Jo Wicker, illustrated the book. Dr. JERRY L. POWELL ’90 ’95 was named associate medical director of Hospice of the Piedmont in High Point. He was a hospitalist with High Point Regional Health System. JOHN RODMAN was promoted to director of the planning and community development department in Washington, N.C., where he was the planning administrator.

1989

ANNE R. COREY was named senior vice president and chief credit officer at Select Bank & Trust in Greenville. She was senior vice president and senior credit risk manager at First South Bank in Washington, N.C.

1988

THOMAS ASBELL was named superintendent at Greene Correctional Institution. He has 20 years experience in corrections. SONYA MCGRAW became Gaston County Schools’ staff attorney. For 18 years, she primarily handled family law cases at Ferguson and McGraw law firm.

1987

YONNIE BUTLER was elected to the board of directors for the ECU Medical & Health Sciences Foundation. He is director of business development at the N.C. Biotechnology Center in RTP where he manages investments through the center’s loan-based programs to support life science companies through inception, research, and growth stages. CRAIG WILLARD was promoted from territory sales representative to Mid-Atlantic sales manager for the Burke Corporation.

1986

The Gary Nemosky painting "Mom & Me"

JIM FORD and JIM CRUMMER opened the first Brew, Breakfast, and Bed franchise in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada. GARY NEMCOSKY ’85 and ANN THOMPSON NEMCOSKY ’86 had art exhibits at the Jones House Community Center in Boone sponsored by the Watauga Arts Council. He teaches art at Appalachian State University. JUDITH “JUDY” ANN TYRANCE was one of five women named as the 2010 Intriguing African American Women of Onslow County. For 21 years with the Onslow County School System, she was a substitute teacher, reading assistant, classroom teacher, and night school teacher. In 1965, she was one of seven students to integrate Dixon School. In her community, she has worked with more than a dozen organizations, including AmeriCorps VISTA and Concerned Citizens Association.

1985

C. STEVEN EAGLE of Savannah, Ga., completed 10 years of service to the United Way Board of the Coastal Empire in 2009. He was the 2006 campaign chair, raising more than $7.6 million, and was board chair in 2009. TERRY MIZESKO premiered his new composition Ice Counterpoint at the FedEx Global Education Center at UNC Chapel Hill. The work was commissioned for the center’s new exhibit “Ice Counterpoint: Encounters in Antarctica and the Arctic.” Since 1971 he has played bass trombone with the NC Symphony. RANDY MURPHY ’81 ’84 retired as defensive football coordinator at West Craven High School. He continues to teach U.S. history at the school.

1977

MELISSA BRANTLEY HIGHT ’77 ’90 retired in 2009 as county director of the NCSU Cooperative Extension in New Hanover County after 32 years. JAN MURPHY of Jan Murphy CPA promoted LESLIE GRAY BUNCH ’00 to partner and changed the practice name to Murphy & Bunch CPAs PA. STEPHEN W. PARDUE was named CEO of D’zine Garage, India’s oldest digital agency and a leading provider of digital media communication services and offshore digital production solutions. He is based in San Diego, Calif. He was senior vice president with Visual Sciences. ROGER WHITSON ’77 ’09 won the seat of Snow Hill town commissioner. He teaches social studies at E. B. Frink Middle School in La Grange.

1976

PARKER CREECH was honored with the 2009 Annual Hall of Fame award from the Raleigh Regional Association of REALTORS. He is a founding member of the Raleigh Regional Association of Realtors Foundation and on the state level serves as a regional vice president of North Carolina Association of Realtors’ Homes 4 NC. Dr. MICHAEL A. FELDSTEIN ’76 ’78 was selected as director of planning, research and institutional effectiveness at Rowan-Cabarrus Community College. He was a training and assessment consultant with TRG/Learning V2 in Raleigh. Dr. THOMAS R. KOBALLA JR. ’76 ’78 (right) was named dean of the College of Education at Georgia Southern University. He was a faculty member in the University of Georgia’s Department of Mathematics and Science Education. MARSHA MOORE LEWIS ’76 ’85 was named Outstanding Alumni Teacher of the Year by the Mount Olive College Alumni Association. She teaches second grade at Kenansville Elementary School.

1975

GLENN EURE (right) received the fourth annual Living Legend Award from the Land of Beginnings Festival on the Outer Banks. He is an artist and supporter of the arts who runs the Ghost Fleet Gallery in Nags Head. He created the Century of Flight monument at Kitty Hawk.

1973

BOB GRECYZN retired as CEO of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina. He is on the ECU Board of Trustees and is its immediate past chair. MICHAEL V. JOYNER CPA, PA merged his CPA firm with JOHN M. PERSON ’99 CPA, PA to form Joyner, Person & Co., CPA, PA in Greenville. LEE MYERS received the order of the Long Leaf Pine for his 18 years as mayor of Matthews, N.C. He did not seek reelection in 2009. He practices law in Mecklenburg County with his son, Matthew Myers, as the Myers Law Firm, PLLC.

1974

TERRY MANN was elected mayor of Whiteville after serving one 4-year term as city councilman. He is president of J. S. Mann’s in Whiteville.

1971

RICHARD FOLSOM ’71 ’74 published Indian Wood: A Mystery of the Lost Colony of Roanoke Island.

1970

PHIL BILODEAU received his MBA from Franklin Pierce University. He works for the city of Concord, N.H., and is president of the New Hampshire Water Works Association. FRED HOLDER joined Helen Adams Realty in Charlotte. KELLY KING, CEO of BB&T Corp. in Winston-Salem, was elected chair of the BB&T corporate board. TOM MARSH ’70 ’05 was named principal of New Bern High School.

1965

JAMES “JIM” EDWARD MAHAN is co-founder of American Eye Care Technician School, which sells training school franchises to eye care offices across the country. He is the author of a children’s book, Harry and Bogey, and is working on Challenge to America, a book describing his recovery from paralysis.

1959

CHARLIE ADAMS ’59 ’62 was honored when the Cary High School gymnasium was named in his honor. He was an outstanding athlete at Cary High and later coached basketball there. The Greater Raleigh Sports Council awarded him a Lifetime Achievement Award for his work as executive director of the NC High School Athletic Association from which he recently retired after 42 years, 25 as executive director

1945

BETTIE SMITH DRESSER ’45 ’46 and Philip L. Dresser celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary in 2009. A retired school teacher, she taught in North Carolina public schools in Penderlea, Concord, Angier, and Wilmington and in Fairfax County, Va.