July 29th, 2010
Sally Quillian Yates ‘82, ‘86 has been formally installed as U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia. She was tapped for the post earlier this year by President Obama, confirmed by the U.S. Senate in March, and installed last month. Sally has been a part of the U.S. Attorney’s office for more than 20 years. She successfully prosecuted former Atlanta Mayor Bill Campbell and former Georgia State Schools Superintendant Linda Schrenko for corruption, and was an integral part of the investigation into the 1996 Olympic Park bombing in Atlanta. U.S. Attorney Eric Holder attended the June ceremony.
July 28th, 2010
Dr. Idrissa Dicko ‘83, ‘89 has been appointed Head of Africa Programs for the The Hunger Project, a New York City-based, non-profit global initiative to end world hunger. Idrissa came to Athens around 1980 from his native Burkina Faso and was here for nearly a decade earning an MS in Agricultural Plant Pathology and a PhD in Agricultural Entomology. His new position with The Hunger Project will be to “strengthen partnerships with African governments and non-governmental organizations working in Africa,” according to a THP news release. While at UGA, Idrissa developed a love for American football. “I guess this is left over from my school days at the University of Georgia where the Bulldogs are kings!,” he said in the release.
July 27th, 2010
I was pleased to join our Washington, DC alumni chapter -affectionately known as the DC Dawgs- earlier this month as we recognized them for being our 2009 Chapter of the Year. UGA Provost and Sr. Vice President for Academic Affairs Jere Morehead addressed the crowd, as did our Sr. Vice President for External Affairs Tom Landrum.
Here you see Chapter president Valerie Elston and the board. She does a fantastic job for us in the Washington area, and was recognized as our Volunteer of the Year. The DC Dawgs, sporting more than 3,000 strong, is the only alumni chapter to be recognized twice as Chapter of the Year, having first received the award in 2005. Special thanks to McKenna, Long & Aldridge for hosting the event.
July 26th, 2010
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UGA’s Selig Center for Economic Growth reports the university was a “stabilizing economic force for the Athens area in FY 09,” according to a news release. A Selig study says UGA pumped more than $2.2 billion into the local economy during the last fiscal year. Selig’s director of economic forecasting Dr. Jeff Humphreys ‘82, ‘88 said despite a weak economy, the university contributed more money to the Athens area during the period than in the previous fiscal year. “The recession has had a big impact, particularly on expenditures by the institutions themselves because of cutbacks in state spending for personnel and operating expenses, but it seems like it hasn’t because the numbers keep growing,” said Dr. Humphreys. The study showed that for every $1 spent by UGA, $1.51 was added to the regional economy.
July 23rd, 2010
Ga. Gov. Sonny Perdue recently made some executive appointments to state boards and commissions and three UGA grads are among those chosen. They include Mike Shea ‘78 to the State Board of Economic Development. Mike lives in Thomasville and owns Fernleaf Investments. Chip Brown ‘94 has been tapped to serve on the Georgia Board of Landscape Architects. Chip is from Locust Grove and is president of Breedlove Land Planning, Inc. Ellerslie resident Joey Loudermilk has been selected to join the State Board of Education. Joey received his law degree from UGA in 1978. He is executive vice president and general counsel for Columbus-based Aflac, Inc. Congratulations to these Bulldogs.
July 22nd, 2010
Three-time Grammy nominee Steve Dorff ‘71 is the music director for CMT’s The Singing Bee. He’s garnered a Songwriter of the Year Award and has had more than 40 BMI and 11 Billboard No. 1 honors. Steve is based in Los Angeles and has composed music for a myriad of films including Clint Eastwood’s Every Which Way But Loose, Rocky IV and Tin Cup. His dossier includes nine No. 1 film songs and 15 Top 10 hits. He’s also written five TV show themes, including Murphy Brown, Murder She Wrote, Growing Pains and Reba. Among his many projects, Steve is currently working with County singer Lee Ann Womack on some new soon-to-be-released songs – that is when he’s not working on The Singing Bee. A new episode of the karaoke-style singing program airs Friday, July 23 at 8 p.m. (EST)
July 21st, 2010
Georgia Public Broadcasting will air at 7:00 tonight a UGA-produced documentary about the Gulf oil spill. Black and Blue: Beneath the Gulf Oil Disaster will feature the work of UGA marine sciences professor Samantha Joye, as she and her team assess the long-term impact of the spill on the environment. Three UGA grads videotaped, edited and produced the project; Steve Bell ‘79, Bill Evelyn ‘79 and Geof Gilland ‘86. For two weeks in early June, Bill joined Professor Joye on the research cruise into the Gulf of Mexico, capturing real-time drama into the nation’s worst maritime oil spill. If you’d like more information about the professor’s work, click here.
July 20th, 2010
UGA’s first female Rhodes Scholar, Beth Shapiro BS ‘99, MS ‘99, has been dubbed an Emerging Explorer by National Geographic. Now an assistant biology professor at Penn State, Beth’s field of study involves collecting samples of ancient plant and animal DNA and trying to determine how evolution occurs over time. “We can pinpoint when a species’ genetic diversity changes,” she told National Geographic magazine. Beth is such an accomplished scientist; just last year she received a MacArthur Foundation “Genius Award.” Click here to read the entire NG article about this truly amazing Bulldog.
July 19th, 2010
Congratulations to the University of Georgia Libraries for winning an Emmy for its participation in a Civil Rights documentary film. Andrew Young: How We Got Over was recently recognized for its technical work which was based largely on old news footage housed at the Walter J. Brown Media Archives and Peabody Awards collection at UGA. Several UGA Library employees assisted Mr. Young and producer C.B. Hackworth as they reviewed hours of archived raw news film from Atlanta’s WSB TV and WALB-TV in Albany, which form the centerpiece of the Civil Rights Digital Library. “We never expected our archival work to be honored, so this award is very special to us,” said media archives director Ruta Abolins in a news release.
July 16th, 2010
Three UGA women recently placed in the top 10 of two state pageants, showing the talent and diversity of Georgia students. Miss UGA Laura Lyn McLeod ‘11 and Miss Rome Briana Jewett ‘12 both finished in the top 10 of the Miss Georgia Pageant. A little further west, Augusta native Tiffany Hobbs ‘09 placed sixth in the Miss Texas Pageant as Miss Hunt County. She double-majored in journalism and theatre while in Athens and is currently pursuing a masters degree at SMU. Congratulations.
