Spring 2009 — Vol. 62, No. 2
‘War Horse’ lawyer
J. Lewis Cromer ’57
Alumnus and attorney Lewis Cromer, of Cromer and Mabry law firm in Columbia, received the Southern Trial Lawyers Association’s War Horse award earlier this year.
The prestigious award is given to trial lawyers with 30 years or more of trial advocacy experience in state and federal courts who’ve demonstrated professional and public service excellence.
Cromer has served as state, regional and national officer of the American Board of Trial Advocates and was named South Carolina’s Best Trial Lawyer by that organization in 2000. He also received the Compleat Lawyer award from the USC School of Law. He has served as vice chairman of the S.C. Commission on Aging and is currently on Clemson’s Humanities Advancement Board. He made a recent gift to help the Clemson Ethics Bowl team travel to the national competition in Cincinnati, Ohio, where the team placed second in the country.
SC Farmer of the Year
Kendall W. “Kent” Wannamaker ’78
Agronomy graduate Kent Wannamaker of St. Matthews was named 2008 Swisher Sweets/Sunbelt Expo Southeastern Farmer of the Year for the state.
Wannamaker followed in the footsteps of his grandfather Whitfield Wesley Wannamaker Jr., Class of 1907, who earned a certificate of merit from Clemson for seed breeding in 1920 for the Wannamaker Big Boll cotton variety. Kent’s son, Kendall, is continuing the Clemson tradition as a sophomore majoring in biological sciences.
Wannamaker raised hogs from 1984 until 2000 and has been growing row crops since 1995. He’s a commissioner with the Calhoun County Soil & Water Conservation District, a Clemson Extension Service advisory committee member, a director on the Southern Cotton Growers Inc. board and a delegate to the National Cotton Council. He’s also president of Carolina Peanut LLC in Cameron and Farmers Gin LLC in St. Matthews.
Champion for historic preservation
Richard D. Marks III ’85
Construction science and management graduate Richard Marks sees the value in preserving the state’s history and in educating a new generation to do the same.
He’s president of Richard Marks Restorations, a premier builder and restoration construction company in the Lowcountry, and a champion of Clemson’s historic preservation graduate program in Charleston.
The program trains young preservationists in a practical, applied approach to understanding the failures of historic materials and the appropriate interventions to repairing them.
When the program began, Marks purchased and renovated 43 Radcliffe Street as a dorm and workplace for students and social center where students, professionals and others gather for informal talks and learning opportunities.
He’s also taken the lead to repair and renovate the Meeting Street property for use by the program.
Marks’ knowledge and experience in Charleston have given students access to excellent projects and craftspeople. (For more on the program, go to www.clemson.edu/caah/pla/mhp.)
Family tradition
Team Shuler, DVM
Members of the Shuler family of the Lowcountry have a long history of supporting their communities through quality veterinary care. They also have a long history with Clemson.
Photographed at a recent wedding are the Shuler veterinarians: seated Marian Shuler-Holladay ’01 (animal science) and Lanier Shuler; standing from left, Glen, Ken (K.C.) ’74 (pre-med), Heather Stevenson Shuler ’97 (animal science), Kenneth C. ’95, M ’97 (animal science and animal and food industries), Kevin E. ’98 (animal science) and Laura Huckabee Shuler ’99 (animal science).
NFL Pro Bowl again
Brian P. Dawkins ’96
Famed Clemson All-American Brian Dawkins — longtime Philadelphia Eagle, now Denver Bronco — was named to the NFL Pro Bowl for the seventh time in his celebrated career. He was also a finalist for NFL Man of the Year.
With the 2009 selection, Dawkins has been chosen for his league’s all-star game more than any other former Tiger in any sport. Dawkins, an industrial education graduate, also made the Pro Bowl after the 1999, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005 and 2006 seasons.
Festival of Flowers
Kay Kirby Self ’91
Language and international trade graduate Kay Self (married to Furman Self ’91) is using her experience in hosting, scheduling and promoting events and working with community volunteers at home in Greenwood.
In her third year as executive director of the S.C. Festival of Flowers presented by Park Seed Co., she has helped the festival reach a whole new level of tourism and financial impact.
In fact, the 2009 Carolina Showfest conference (representing event planner associations from both Carolinas) recognized Self as S.C. Director of the Year and the S.C. Festival of Flowers as the Overall Festival Event of the Year. For more on the upcoming festival, go to www.scfestivalofflowers.org.
National environmental farm family
Lydia McGill ’87, M ’89 and Kevin ’88 Yon
The Yon family, owner of Yon Family Farms in Ridge Spring, has received the National Environmental Stewardship Award for their commitment to conserving natural resources.
Kevin and Lydia both have degrees in animal science. Lydia also has a master’s degree in animal and food industries.
They received the award — presented by the National Cattlemen’s Foundation and sponsored by Dow AgroSciences, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service — at the 2009 Cattle Industry Annual Convention in Phoenix.
The Yons started their Saluda County farm 12 years ago with 100 cows on 100 acres. Today they manage 1,200 acres of pasture and 300 acres of crops and more than 800 brood cows, most of which are purebred Angus.
Their environmental efforts include irrigating crops with pond water using an efficient, low-pressure watering system; managing farm ponds to encourage healthy wildlife habitats; and installing 28 water troughs and more than 55,000 feet of fencing for rotational grazing on pasture land.
‘Theater that matters’
Matt S. Opatrny ’96
Biological sciences graduate Matt Opatrny, an alumnus of the Clemson Players theater group, is making waves in New York’s Off-Off-Broadway scene.
As managing director and founding member of New York’s Blessed Unrest experimental theater company, he wrote a play called Burn, Crave, Hold: The James Wilde Project that earned Outstanding Production of a Play at the 2008 Innovative Theatre Awards. In presenting the award, Edward Albee referred to the play as “theater that matters.”
Opatrny has written, directed and appeared in productions ranging from Off-Broadway to the National Shakespeare Company. He’s also taught and directed movement and stage combat and has trained with the SITI Company. He’ll be touring this summer with his Blessed Unrest play Doruntine (in a collaboration with a Kosovo company) in Albania, Macedonia and Kosovo.
‘All-American’ honor
Christopher M. Rauch ’01
Agricultural economics graduate Chris Rauch of Lexington, a captain in the S.C. Army National Guard, was honored — along with 84 other service members who served in Iraq or Afghanistan — at the U.S. Army All-American Bowl earlier this year.
As the nation’s premier high school all-star football game, the All-American Bowl highlights the ideals of leadership, courage and strength that these elite athletes and soldiers share.
In 2006, Rauch was awarded the Bronze Star and Army Commendation Medal with Valor and the Purple Heart for his service in Iraq in 2003-04. He’s pictured with All-American Bowl offensive lineman Morgan Moses from Virginia.
‘Good Samaritan donor’
Zachary W. Sutton ’02, M ’05
For a young man, Zachary Sutton has a wide range of knowledge and life experiences. At Clemson, he earned a bachelor’s degree in speech and communications and a master’s in applied sociology. He’s currently enrolled at the Medical University of South Carolina in the physician assistant (PA) program.
In between academic pursuits, he’s taught at the college level and followed other interests. To say he’s totally immersed in the PA program’s mission now — to prepare compassionate, diverse graduates to collaborate with physicians to provide high quality health care to all patients — is an understatement.
Last fall, Sutton donated a kidney to a patient who’d been on dialysis for 15 years, a person he didn’t know and hadn’t met until shortly before the surgery. And although he hasn’t wanted publicity, the news of his unusual selflessness has had an impact on convincing others to do the same.
While there have been S.C. kidney donors to family members and friends, Sutton was first in the state to sign up for the transplant list. But since, five more individuals — “good Samaritan donors” — have agreed to donate to people they don’t know.
Both patients are doing well. In fact, Sutton, who’s also president of the PA student society, is planning two medical mission trips. He’s also a volunteer at the CARES health care clinic in Mount Pleasant, a free clinic run by students, an officer in the cycling club and a representative of LifePoint — the organ procurement organization and donor education center for most of the state. (For more on LifePoint and organ donation, go to www.lifepoint-sc.org.