Summer/Fall 2009 — Vol. 62, No. 3
The Quinn Twins
Class of 1948 alumni Woodford S. (left) and Winston A. Quinn are pictured with Winston’s grandson Rhett W. Smith, a Clemson senior. The twins’ brother, Dewey W. Jr. ’47, is in Clemson’s Hall of Fame.
Part of U.S. naval history
Civil engineering graduate Jack T. Day ’56 (right) is pictured in the late 1950s at the Charleston Naval Shipyard where he helped extend the USS Proteus into a nuclear submarine tender. Day became director of management engineering and completed a long and accomplished career ensuring our safety. To see a tribute to him and learn more about his work, go to the Clemson World Facebook site’s discussion board (www.facebook.com/clemsonworld).
Clemson at Jo-Kell
Electrical engineering graduate Casey T. Jones ’72 and accounting graduate Cathy Barrineau Cherry ’86 recently joined Jo-Kell Inc., in Chesapeake, Va., an electrical distributor and solutions provider servicing the military, commercial, marine and industrial marketplace. Jones is manager of the company’s engineering services group, and Cherry is the chief financial officer.
Online journalism pioneer
Thomas H. Priddy ’73
Tom Priddy and his five careers are a great example of how passion for your work and following with your heart can grow from a Clemson experience. Tom arrived at Clemson to major in architecture and then discovered it was not going to be where his talents lay.
He switched his major to English, embraced what was interesting to him as a freshman from New Jersey — namely The Tiger newspaper and Tiger Band. Priddy began his journalistic interest as a music reporter for The Tiger and ventured on to beat reporting.
His contributions and gifts to the world of modern reporting and its technology are vast. After graduation, he went on to be a reporter, features editor, music writer, graphics and design editor for several newspapers throughout the state and managing director for PressLink — a major online news service.
He has been a pioneer in digital photography, a builder and manager of Knight Ridder Tribune Direct and NewCom in Washington, D.C. He’s currently the multimedia editor of GoUpstate, the Web site of The Herald-Journal in Spartanburg.
Priddy also works as a freelance photographer. His interest in photographing baseball has evolved to such a professional level that his work is used by Baseball America, Sports Illustrated, ESPN magazines and the Washington Post. He’s a regular contributor to MinorLeagueBaseball.com, and many of his photos have “starred” on baseball cards.
Pfizer Global Health Fellow
Richard J. Edwards M ’74
Environmental engineering and science alumnus Richard Edwards of Kalamazoo, Mich., has been with Pfizer, the world’s largest research-based biomedical and pharmaceutical company, for more than 31 years. But he’s recently taken on a new role with the company.
Earlier this year he began a six-month fellowship in Pfizer’s Global Health program. Each year, Pfizer sends 40 or so of its volunteer employees out into developing world countries to support NGO organizations in the field of health and wellness. Edwards is supporting the Water Aid Uganda program as a senior wastewater adviser. Water Aid is a UK-based NGO with a mission to contribute to the provision of sustainable and equitable safe water and adequate sanitation to the poor through advocacy and strategic partnerships.
So far, he’s supported urban sanitation projects at Kampala, Amuria and Buwana. The program follows the United Nation’s Millennium Development Goals aimed at improving the world in places where help is needed and sanitation is a key factor in improving quality of life. A critical piece of the work is to bridge the gap between the UN Goals and implementation.
For more on Pfizer’s Global Health Fellows program, go to globalhealthfellows.pfizer.com. And to view Edwards’ journals of his trip, use ID “richard” and password “edwards.”
Mount Vernon gardens
J. Dean Norton ’77
Alumnus Dean Norton of Alexandria, Va., must have known what he wanted to do at an early age. The director of horticulture at George Washington’s Mount Vernon Estate and Gardens actually began his career there as a high school student.
After earning a horticulture degree at Clemson, Norton returned to Mount Vernon. A few years later, he became the estate’s horticulturist. He’s taught courses through the U.S. Department of Agriculture Graduate School and, fittingly, for George Washington University.
Throughout his career, he’s earned an array of honors including the American Horticultural Society’s Professional Award. For more on his work at Mount Vernon Estate and Gardens, go to www.mountvernon.org.
M.D. Anderson legacy
S. Eva Singletary ’77
Physician Eva Singletary, professor of surgical oncology at The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, has a story to tell.
The 1977 premed graduate is one of 26 successful women faculty members profiled in the book Legends and Legacies: Personal journeys of women physicians and scientists at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center edited by Elizabeth L. Travis.
The S.C. native’s journey takes her from her hometown of Coward to Clemson to medical school to her present position at M.D. Anderson. In a field populated early on by so few women, Singletary made a commitment to treat cancer patients and followed it unwaveringly.
In Legends and Legacies, she recognizes those who inspired her along the way and includes her time at Clemson. She notes that the faculty and students created a sense of family that still exists today.
For more on women faculty at M.D. Anderson or to order the book, go to www.mdanderson.org/departments/womenfaculty.
Centennial flashback
University graphic designer Connie Mack Floyd M ’77 (left) collaborated on the design for the Clemson centennial flag with University historian Jerry Reel during Clemson’s centennial celebration in 1989. (See how art from the flag is reflected in our new academic symbol.)
‘Extreme’ project
Mechanical engineering graduate Will Johns ’87 (right) and accounting graduate Mark Powers ’82 put in tons of work on a project in Charlotte, N.C., for the ABC program “Extreme Makeover, Home Edition.” During the five-day build, the crew constructed and decorated a complete house from ground up.
‘Color of the Land’
Joseph Drew Lanham ’88, M ’90, PhD ’97
Clemson alumnus and forestry and natural resources professor Drew Lanham’s mix of history, philosophy and conservation has earned him national support for an in-state project.
In his project — “The Color of the Land” — Lanham is contacting, educating and providing technical support for African American rural landowners across South Carolina. He’s learning firsthand how a significant but underserved population of potential conservationists value and manage their property.
He’s also helping them develop strategies to implement sustainable timber and wildlife management practices.
Lanham, who holds Clemson degrees in zoology and forestry, is one of only 40 people selected nationwide for the TogetherGreen Conservation Leadership Program, part of a new initiative of the National Audubon Society with support from Toyota. For more on the project, contact Lanham at (864) 656-7294 or lanhamj@clemson.edu.
Web Extra: Drew Lanham: The Color of the Land
Young Engineer of the Year
L. Suzanne Aultman ’00, M ’02
Success is nothing new to civil engineering graduate Suzanne Aultman of Atlanta, Ga. She is, after all, a chief engineer with Metromont Corp., one of the largest privately owned precast/prestressed concrete companies in the country.
In July, she was named the 2009 National Society of Professional Engineers Young Engineer of the Year.
Aultman, who was the 2008 S.C. Society of Professional Engineers Young Engineer of the Year, is involved in the Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute where she serves on various committees. She’s also an adjunct professor in Clemson’s civil engineering department where she’s taught prestressed concrete design.
As a volunteer with Engineering Ministries International, she’s served as a structural engineer intern in India and has been a structural engineer volunteer on project trips to Guatemala and Jordan.
ICON of sport flying
Thomas H. “Kirk” Hawkins ’91,
David A. Crook ’92
Clemson mechanical engineering graduates Kirk Hawkins (right) and David Crook are in a business designed to help people live out their dreams of flight — ICON Aircraft in Los Angeles, Calif.
Hawkins, who’s also a graduate from Stanford Business School, founded ICON Aircraft in 2005 with Stanford classmate Steen Strand. Its first product is the ICON A5, a spectacular sport aircraft to inspire pilots the way great sport cars do drivers.
Hawkins got the idea soon after the Federal Aviation Administration’s groundbreaking regulatory change in 2004 creating the Light Sport Aircraft category and sport pilot license.
An accomplished engineer, former U.S. Air Force F-16 pilot and longtime motorsport enthusiast, Hawkins began his love of flight at Clemson. As a student, he built an ultralight airplane on his own and equipped it with floats so that he could land it on Hartwell Lake.
Clemson classmate and friend David Crook joined GE Manufacturing Management Program after graduation, which included assignments at GE Aircraft Engines. He gravitated toward finance and later became a director for GE Capital. After Crook earned an MBA from UCLA’s Anderson School of Management, he became a senior vice president at CWCapital. In 2005, he joined ICON part time as chief financial officer and came on board full time in 2009.
Since January 2009, ICON and the A5 have been hot topics for “FOX News,” the Discovery Channel and other media outlets and publications. For more on ICON, its full team and its A5, go to www.iconaircraft.com.
Web Extra: Anyone Can Fly
Great smiles!
This Clemson gathering took place at the College of Dental Medicine at the Medical University of South Carolina. The new dentists are, first row from left, June Winston Price ’05, Chris Costa ’05, Mary Frances Ross ’04, Maylyn Price ’04, Lori Simmons Cook ’04; second row, Michael Snider ’05, Sarah Proulx Donald ’05; third row, Reese McElveen ’04, Eric Jones ’05, Will Owen ’00 and Robin Strickland Skowronski ’05.
31K miles in 36 days
Ryan Fernandes ’08
Biochemistry graduate and MBA student Ryan Fernandes already knows something about world travel. A native of Mumbai, India, and longtime resident of Greer, Fernandes spent the month of May in a whirlwind tour that included Australia, Belgium, China, France, Germany and India.
Fernandes’ enterprising trip came together because of Clemson connections and experiences in and out of the classroom. As an undergraduate, he took two executive leadership and entrepreneurship classes related to his major. During his senior year, he received the John Copses Business Scholarship, awarded by the Spiro Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies. And his extracurricular experiences included student government and co-founding (with Oliver Basic ’07) an indoor soccer league at Clemson.
This year, he received a fellowship through the Clemson MBA Student Association for a study abroad program and decided to complete a two-week program in China. From there, he put together a return trip through other countries.
He stayed with family in Australia and India and with Clemson friend Oliver Basic in Germany. His trip to Brussels was based on recommendations from Brussels students who had visited Clemson and Clemson students who completed a Maymester at the Clemson University Brussels Center.
For more photos and a travel journal, go to www.ryanfernandes.com.
Happy graduation times 2!
Paula A. and Jeronica Williams ’09
During the morning ceremony of Clemson Commencement May 2009, Jeronica Williams walked across the stage in Littlejohn Coliseum to receive her packaging science degree while her family glowed with pride.
Then, in the afternoon ceremony, they glowed some more. This time the new graduate was Jeronica’s mom, Paula Williams, who walked across the same stage and received her degree in human resource development.
In fact, Paula, an administrative assistant in Clemson’s PEER office (Programs for Educational Enrichment and Retention), is a living example of the PEER philosophy and an inspiration to PEER students. Both mother and daughter plan to pursue their master’s degrees.
Clemson at Parker
Clemson cooperative education students and alumni at Parker Hannifin Corp. in Moncks Corner, from left, Silas Turner (student), Kyle Webster (student), Kevin Dejonckheere (student), Doug Billings ’04, Kelly Wright ’90, Erik Akrop ’06, Brandon Bland ’00, Ross Epstein (student) and Barry Blackburn ’84.