1943
More than four years after his death, Richard Bennitt Gable was the subject of a feature story in the Greenville News on Dec. 7, 2021, on the 80th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor. The article focused on a letter, released by his daughter, that Gable wrote to his mother in the aftermath of the attack on Dec. 7, 1941.
1960
Former Air Force Academy head football coach Fisher DeBerry has been named a 2021 Kappa Sigma Man of the Year. DeBerry, who resides in Isle of Palms, S.C., is a 1957 initiate of the Alpha-Nu Chapter at Wofford. He coached at the Air Force Academy from 1984-2006 and is the winningest coach in U.S. service academy history. He led the Falcons to 14 Commander-in-Chief’s trophies and compiled a 34-8 record over rivals Army and Navy. DeBerry won the 1985 Paul “Bear” Bryant Award as the country’s top coach. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2011. In 2004, DeBerry and his wife founded the Fisher DeBerry Foundation to provide opportunities for children of single-parent homes. He played football and baseball at Wofford and served as an assistant football coach at the college for two seasons. He was inducted into the Wofford Athletics Hall of Fame in 1986.
Lee Cantley Farmer, wife of the Rev. Zach Farmer, died on Sept. 3, 2020. In addition to serving as secretary for her husband’s ministry, she faithfully held other roles in local churches and worked for 16 years as an administrative assistant to the district superintendents of the Walterboro and Orangeburg districts of the S.C. United Methodist Conference. The Farmers were married four months after their first date and enjoyed almost 58 years of marriage.
1969
Lynda Broome McLane, wife of Foster B. McLane III, died on Oct. 7, 2021. A lifelong educator, she taught at the elementary school level for much of her career. Later in her career, she specialized in the Reading Recovery Program for students who had difficulty reading. The McLanes were married for more than 50 years and made their home in Spartanburg, S.C.
1972
The Rev. Arthur Holt of Boiling Springs, S.C., has written a book, “What I Have Come to Believe,” which was recently published by the S.C. United Methodist Advocate Press. The book is a summary of how the retired minister’s faith has evolved over the course of his adult life.
1977
Dr. Don Marler has been elected president of the S.C. Board of Dentistry for 2022. He has served on the board for the past four years. He is the owner of Pickens Dental Associates.
1978
Michael Rodriguez’s novel, “Moravian Falls: The Fantastic Adventures of Dr. Domo,” has been published by Outskirts Press. It tells the story of a man who is given special powers that he never asked for and the adventures he encounters while trying to use them to save the people who are dear to him. Rodriguez resides in Winter Springs, Fla.
1980
Joe E. Taylor Jr. was sworn in as a city councilman in Columbia, S.C., on Jan. 4, 2022, by the Hon. Costa Pleicones ’65, current Wofford trustee and retired chief justice of the South Carolina Supreme Court. While a student at Wofford, Taylor helped found Southland Log Homes along with his father. At age 25, he became president and CEO and eventually built the company into the largest producer of pre-cut log buildings in North America. He sold the company into the private equity market in 2005. In 2003, he was appointed by Gov. Mark Sanford to chair the S.C. Jobs Economic Development Authority. He was appointed Secretary of Commerce in 2006. He donated $1 million for the renovation of the Curry Building into the Joe E. Taylor Athletic Center. He has served on many corporate, charitable and educational boards, including the Wofford Board of Trustees. He received an honorary doctorate from the college, and he was named an honorary letterman by the Wofford Athletics Hall of Fame.
1990
Rebecca Durak Husted was a guest on the Webinars with Wendy podcast, discussing welfare, safety and disaster prep for pastured horses. Husted is a decorated combat veteran and a retired signal officer in the U.S. Army. She is president of Technical Large Animal Emergency Rescue in Macon, Ga. She provides training in rescue techniques across the U.S. and internationally.
1995
Liphatech’s structural pest control business has named Joey Hedgemon Southeast district sales manager. Hedgemon, who resides in Baton Rouge, La., brings several years of sales experience to the company, including five years in the professional pest control industry spent at Orkin Pest Control.
1996
Dr. David Cross is an associate professor at Charleston Southern University, where he teaches Spanish and Arabic languages. During the last year, he served as an Arabic expert content selector for the National Foreign Language Center at the University of Maryland and as a copy editor of college textbooks for diacriTech e-publishing company. He also taught online Arabic classes for City University of Seattle, Concordia Language Villages of Concordia College and the STARTALK Arabic Academy of Pennsylvania State University.
1999
Eleanor McDonough Malinoski, a licensed clinical social worker in Zionsville, Ind., began working with The Emotional PPE Project in 2021. The project connects healthcare workers whose mental health has been impacted by the COVID-19 crisis with licensed mental health professionals. All services provided through The Emotional PPE Project are free of charge.
Aiken (S.C.) High School has appointed Fritz Mason assistant principal. He was a special education teacher before moving into administration. He was a communications specialist for several organizations before beginning his career in education.
Jan Ruth Streater Mayheu has been hired as the director of philanthropy for Gwinnett/Walton Habitat for Humanity in Lawrenceville, Ga.
2000
Coker Gamble Powell of Spartanburg, S.C., chief development officer of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, was recently featured on the “Her Success Story” podcast. She discussed the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's fundraisers, initiatives and programs, pivoting during the pandemic, getting youth involved in fundraising and more.
The Jacksonville, Fla., Chamber of Commerce has selected Memorial Hospital CEO Bradley S. Talbert as 2023 chamber chair. The chamber traditionally selects its chair more than a year in advance. In the role of chair-elect, Talbert will lead the 2022 leadership trip. Prior to moving to Jacksonville, he was CEO of Piedmont Medical Center in Rock Hill, S.C. He was recently named to Florida Trend’s Florida 500, highlighting the state’s most influential business leaders.
2003
Sen. Hugh K. Leatherman Sr., father of Amy Leatherman Smith and Dr. Sarah Leatherman Allen ’04, died Nov. 12, 2021, in Florence, S.C. In 1955, Leatherman founded Florence Concrete Products. He was first elected to the state senate in 1980. He served as the president pro tempore from 2014 to 2019 and as chairman of the Senate Finance Committee until his death.
Dr. Nicholas R. White has joined Hand Surgery Associates in Florence, S.C. White is a board-certified surgeon who practiced for five years in Florence before accepting a fellowship at the University of Miami to specialize in hand surgery. His surgical interests include endoscopic carpal tunnel release, advanced nerve repair and nonoperative treatment of Dupuytren’s disease.
Jennifer Jackson Swank received her doctorate of education degree in curriculum and instruction of special education from Liberty University in February 2021. She is the assistant principal at Anderson Mill Elementary School in Moore, S.C.
2004
Jean Cecil Frick, a communications professional with experience in public, private and nonprofit sectors, has been named the chair of the board of the Greater Columbia Chamber of Commerce. Frick is a senior strategic advisor at NP Strategy. She also has served as the CEO of a startup web development firm and as a Senate liaison in the White House Office of Legislative Affairs during the George W. Bush administration. A former executive at the S.C. Department of Employment and Workforce, she was selected by the Columbia Regional Business Report for its 2020 list of Icons and Phenoms.
2005
The city of Beaufort, S.C., has named Alan Eisenman finance director. He has worked for the city’s finance department as a senior accountant since January 2016.
Carrie Schultz Peck and Brian Peck welcomed a son, Henry David Peck, on Sept. 16, 2021. They live in Fort Mill, S.C., where she is employed as a product group manager at TD Bank and he is a director of development at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.
2006
Meredith Jaggard has been promoted to executive director of the alumni association at the University of California’s Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco. She has worked at the college since 2019 and previously served as director of alumni engagement and culture.
Rachel Smithson Wood has been named assistant city manager in Asheville, N.C. She came to Asheville from Denton, Texas, where she served in a variety of roles, most recently as deputy director of capital projects.
2007
Tyler Greiner and Megan Greiner welcomed a son, Arthur Robert Greiner, in July 2021. Tyler is a project forester/wildland firefighter with the S.C. Forestry Commission in Walterboro.
2008
Elizabeth Fortson Sheehan and Adam Sheehan ’07 have opened McIntosh Cottage Antiques in Columbia, S.C. Elizabeth is the owner of Keep Your Fork Cheesecakes. Adam is vice president of underwriting at AccuRisk Ancillary Solutions.
Andrew Stubbs is the owner of the first Chick-Fil-A restaurant in Bismarck, N.D. He is the brother of Wofford women’s tennis coach Krissy Hall.
2009
Dr. Achini Bandara has been named to the board of directors of Placer Land Trust in Auburn, Calif. Bandara serves as development director for Sierra Nevada Journeys, a nonprofit based in Nevada and California that delivers outdoor, science-based education programs for youth. Before her career in education and environmental advocacy, she held project management and project development scientist positions at the University of Southern California’s Keck School of Medicine and the City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center. She also brings extensive experience with managing large grants and grant-funded projects.
Horizon Investments has promoted Austin Fitch of Charlotte, N.C., to managing director of consulting solutions. He joined the company in 2011 and most recently served as head of the portfolio strategy group.
2011
William Thomas Mills was recently recognized by Continental Who’s Who as a distinguished executive for his work in the brokerage field. He is a senior brokerage associate at Trinity Partners in Columbia, S.C. He earned his real estate license during his junior year at Wofford. In 2016, he received the Power Broker Award from the Costar Group as the top retail leasing broker.
2012
Calvin Cantrell and his wife, Laurel, are both completing residencies in Jacksonville, Fla. Cantrell is currently in a general surgery residency and plans to continue with a fellowship in bariatric surgery.
Sara Blackman Dolinak and Tom Dolinak ’11 welcomed a son, Stephen Thomas Dolinak III, on Jan. 5, 2002. Sara is a speech-language pathologist at East Tennessee Children’s Hospital in Knoxville, Tenn. Tom is a senior category manager at Pilot Flying J.
2013
Ayesha Iqbal has joined the software company Salesforce in San Francisco as senior business operations manager. She previously worked with Citibank in a variety of capacities, most recently as vice president of global consumer banking.
Mary Katherine DuBose Lentz and Joe Lentz welcomed a daughter, Salem Katherine Lentz, on Feb. 3, 2021. Mary Katherine is an assurance manager with Price Waterhouse Coopers in Charlotte, N.C.
Grace Wallace Moyd and Livingston Moyd IV ’12 welcomed a daughter, Wallace Ivy Moyd, on March 6, 2021. Grace is executive director of Thrive Global Project in Charlotte, N.C. Livingston is director of business valuation at Elliott Davis, an accounting and business consulting firm.
Dr. Amy Simpkins Robinson and Brandon Robinson ’12 welcomed their second child, Graham, on Sept. 24, 2021. Amy is a clinical pharmacist with Prisma Health, and Brandon is a tax partner with Bradshaw, Gordon and Clinkscales in Greenville, S.C. They have a daughter, Blair, who is 3.
2014
Courtney King has joined Duke Raleigh Hospital as a clinical pharmacist.
2015
Ashlee Moody Davis and Hank Davis welcomed a daughter, Clarke Louise Davis, on Sept. 22, 2021. Ashlee is the director of public affairs for the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation in Washington, D.C. Hank is an implementation specialist at DDC Public Affairs in Columbia, S.C.
Carolyn Harvey McMurry and Kit McMurry were married on Nov. 6, 2021, on Seabrook Island, S.C. Carolyn is an assurance manager at PricewaterhouseCoopers, and Kit is a development associate with OTO Development in Tampa, Fla.
The University of Chicago Law School has awarded Erin Simmonds the Herbert L. Caplan Prize for Reform in Public and Constitutional Law. The prize is presented to the outstanding student paper that proposes a creative and feasible solution to a critical issue in the public law. Simmonds’ paper, “Abortion and the Establishment Clause: A New Constitutional Method and Case Study,” examined whether religious freedom arguments could be used in opposing antiabortion laws that were religiously motivated but justified on secular grounds.
Anna Grace Snyder and her husband, Miller, welcomed a son, Mack Alton Snyder, on Sept. 9, 2021. They live in Charlotte, N.C., where she practices as a physician assistant and he is a landscape architect.
2016
Bailey Newsome and Wilson Jay Brown ’17 were married on Oct. 9, 2021, in Linville, N.C. She is an interior design assistant at Pursley Dixon Architecture in Raleigh, N.C. He is vice president of branch units at AlarmQuest in Winston-Salem, N.C.
2020
Haiden Lancaster has been named the club director at the Cleveland Academy of Leadership, Boys & Girls Clubs of the Upstate. Additionally, she is an intern at Spartanburg Academic Movement.
Kendall Weaver and Victor Karpik were married on Nov. 21, 2021, at Indigo Hall in Spartanburg. She is a volunteer coordinator with SAFE Homes-Rape Crisis Coalition in Spartanburg.
2021
Ashlyn Alexander is working at Edelweiss Lodge and Resort in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany.
NBC Sports has hired Eyon Brown as a social media coordinator. Brown is working in the division headquarters in Stamford, Conn. He previously interned with the Wofford College Office of Marketing and Communications, the Pro Football Hall of Fame and with ESPN.
FACULTY AND STAFF
Dr. Laura Barbas Rhoden, professor of Spanish, published “Sustainability and the Pluriverse: from Environmental Humanities Theory to Content-Based Instruction in Spanish Curricula” in Education for Sustainable Development in Foreign Language Learning, Content-Based Instruction in College-Level Curricula.
Dr. Jennifer Bradham, assistant professor of environmental studies, and a colleague published “Perceptions by early career tropical researchers on the impact of COVID-19 six months into the pandemic” in Biotropica.
Dr. Natalie Grinnell, Reeves Family Professor in Humanities, has had her article, “Writing Into Hope: Laughter, Sadness and Healing in John Gower's Confessio Amantis,” accepted for publication in Accessus: A Journal of Premodern Literature and New Media. Additionally, Grinnell has been appointed to the advisory board of the New Queer Medievalisms book series with De Gruyter and the Medieval Institutions Publications. Her first project will be to co-edit a volume on queer theory and the works of John Gower. Additionally, Grinnell was elected vice president of the Southeastern Medieval Association (SEMA) for 2021-23, and president of SEMA for 2023-25.
Dr. Philip Dorroll, associate professor of religion, was interviewed by the Middle East Monitor (MEMO) to discuss his book “Islamic Theology in the Turkish Republic.”
Dr. Rachel Grotheer, assistant professor of mathematics, has had her article, “Iterative hard thresholding for low CP-rank tensor models,” published in the journal Linear and Multilinear Algebra. Additionally, Grotheer and coauthors have had the paper “Semi-supervised Nonnegative Matrix Factorization for Document Classification” accepted to the Asilomar Conference on Signals, Systems, and Computer.
Dr. Katherine Janiec Jones’ article, “A Theology of Increasing Adequacy: Process, Practicality and Relationship,” has been published by The Journal of Interreligious Studies. Jones also has been asked to write for the University of Chicago Divinity School’s Craft of Teaching blog. Jones is a professor of religion. Additionally, Jones was a panelist and keynote respondent for “Translating Sanskrit Buddhist Philosophy for the Philosophy Curriculum,” an online symposium hosted by Princeton University.
Dr. Kirsten Krick-Aigner’s article, “‘It is not to think that real strangers, as you are, give us so much love’: An Austrian Pen Pal’s Journey to a Safe Haven in the United States,” appeared in the Journal of Austrian-American History. Krick-Aigner is a professor of German.
Dr. Dawn McQuiston, associate professor of psychology, and co-authors published the article “Secondary trauma in the legal system: Stories, studies, and strategies” in Wake Forest Law Review.
Dr. Anne Rodrick, Reeves Family Professor of History, has been invited to present at a roundtable on the history of Mason College and the University of Birmingham (UK) in January.
Jessica Scott-Felder, assistant professor of studio art, was part of a panel discussion sponsored by the Columbia Museum of Art. The program, “Identity and Power in Cultural Economics,” was a conversation about identity against a backdrop of increased national anxiety around issues of race and inclusion.
Dr. Charles Smith, associate professor of biology, was interviewed on a recent episode of the Village Voices podcast. Smith discussed his research on the copperhead snake and what that revealed about climate and drought. He is the director of the Copperhead Institute in Spartanburg.
Michael Webster, assistant professor of studio art, is participating in two exhibitions of his work: the South Carolina Biennial, at the 701 Center for Contemporary Art in Columbia, S.C., and the Contemporary South Biennial, at the VAE Gallery in Raleigh, N.C.
Emily Witsell was a panelist on the Careers in Middle East Librarianship workshop, which was sponsored by the Middle East Librarians Association. Witsell is a research librarian and instruction coordinator in the Sandor Teszler Library.
TRUSTEES
Laura Jackson Hoy, a former member of the Wofford Board of Trustees, was the recipient of Brookgreen Gardens’ 2021 John S. Rainey Philanthropy Award. Hoy has been involved with Brookgreen since she was a child, has been a generous donor since 2002 and has served on the Brookgreen Board of Trustees since 2019.