1973
Richard Cohn was awarded The Order of Palmetto, South Carolina’s highest civilian honor, by Gov. Henry McMaster on Sept. 4. A longtime business and civic leader in the Midlands community, Cohn has constructed more than 15 million square feet of development since founding Cohn Construction in 1993. He currently serves as chairman at-large of South Carolina ETV and has held leadership roles with the City of Columbia Planning Commission, South Carolina Philharmonic and the Congaree Vista Guild. Alongside his wife, Debbie, Cohn has supported Columbia’s arts community through the Richard and Debbie Cohn Side Door Theatre and was previously awarded the Palmetto Patriot Award in 2011.
1974
“Billy: The Untold Story of Kentucky’s All- Time Winningest Coach,” a book about the late Billy Hicks written by Dr. John Wiley Bryson, was published in August. Hicks coached high school boys basketball for 38 years in Kentucky and is the only coach in the state’s history to earn more than 1,000 wins.
1989
The Rev. Furman Buchanan published “Honest to Goodness: Discovering the Truth & Beauty of a Loving God” in October. It is a devotional companion for the season of Lent but is suitable for any time of the year. The book is available on Amazon. Buchanan is rector of Christ Episcopal Church in Mount Pleasant, S.C.
1990
G. Murrell Smith Jr. was named chairman of the State Legislative Leaders Foundation, a nonpartisan group established in 1972 that serves sitting state legislative leaders. He has served as speaker of the South Carolina House of Representatives since May 2022. Smith also was named Lawyer of the Year in the 2026 edition of “The Best Lawyers in America.” He received the top honor in the medical malpractice law category for the metropolitan Columbia, S.C., area. A current member of the Wofford College Board of Trustees, he is a co-founding member of the Smith Robinson law firm in Sumter, S.C., and practices civil litigation, medical malpractice defense and insurance defense.
1999
Eleanor McDonough Malinoski completed her coursework and examination to become a certified clinical trauma professional. An advocate for healthcare professionals, Malinoski is also an ambassador of the Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes Foundation, which focuses on suicide prevention for healthcare workers.
2000
David C. Hicks was named vice president and underwriting counsel for the South Carolina office of Chicago Title Insurance Co. Hicks works in Columbia, S.C.
2009
Andrew Dobson was elected chairman of the board of commissioners for the South Carolina School for the Deaf and the Blind. Dobson has served on the board since his appointment by Gov. Henry McMaster in March 2021.
2010
Dr. Patrick Sellars has been named employee of the year for the South Carolina Technical College System. Sellars is the project director for the Scout Motors project with readySC. He is based out of Columbia, S.C.
2013
Dr. Angelique Nyinawabera was recently issued a U.S. patent. Her research at the University of Toledo led to the invention of a method to induce the death of cancer cells in triple-negative breast cancer, colon cancer, prostate cancer, ovarian cancer and lung cancer.
2015
Shelby McKeown was promoted to senior associate at Edison Partners, a growth equity firm. Supporting all phases of the investment process, McKeown contributes to initial analysis, due diligence and transaction execution. She’s held commercial credit and strategic corporate development roles at Bank of America, Lowe’s Home Improvement and Simplex Venture.
2016
Matthew Waldman married Joyce Bolden on July 26 in Salisbury, Md. Waldman is a seventh-grade social studies and special education teacher at Woodbridge Middle School in Bridgeville, Del.
Dr. Ashton Young Walker joined Medical Arts Dentistry in Savannah, Ga. Walker graduated with honors from the Dental College of Georgia, where she also completed her general practice residency. She has experience in comprehensive and cosmetic dentistry, prosthodontics, oral surgery and sedation dentistry.
2018
Prima Sisinni joined PROP Food as its director of development and communications. She previously served as director of admissions and outreach at the International School of Minnesota and held patient and donor relations positions at NMDP (formerly Be the Match).
2021
Ross Campbell joined the Sumter, S.C., office of Smith Robinson law firm as an associate. He practices in the areas of tort claims act litigation, medical malpractice, insurance defense and general litigation. Campbell had previously worked at the law firm as an intern and then a clerk during law school. He and Mary Helen Garrett were married Sept. 27, 2025, in Columbia, S.C. Mary Helen is a retention coordinator with Central Carolina Technical College.
2022
Nora Crouch graduated from Wake Forest University School of Divinity in May. She was ordained as the Rev. K. Eleanore Crouch in August and has begun her new job as a hospital chaplain at Duke Raleigh Hospital.
Sarah Deaton was named to Hotel Management’s “Thirty Under 30” list for 2025. The magazine’s annual list recognizes emerging young leaders in the hospitality industry for their dedication and professional achievements. Deaton currently serves as creative services manager for OTO Development in Spartanburg.
Chris Hatchell advanced to Ph.D. candidacy in chemistry at Clemson University after publishing his first peer-reviewed research paper in Review of Scientific Instruments in June and presenting his doctoral research at an international conference in Barcelona, Spain, in July. He would like to thank his wife, Tess Hall Hatchell ’20, and Wofford’s chemistry department for their support.
Marley McCormick and Joshua Congdon ’20 were married on June 7 in Sumter, S.C. McCormick is an audit senior at Elliott Davis, and Congdon is a mortgage originator for Integrity Home Mortgage Corporation. The couple resides in Columbia, S.C.
Ally McDonough received a master’s degree in history (museum studies) from the University of New Hampshire. She is now attending Simmons University in Boston to pursue a Master of Library and Information Science with a concentration in archival management.
2023
Larson Heitzenrater accepted a position as admission counselor at St. Andrew’s- Sewanee School, a private boarding and day school in Sewanee, Tenn. Heitzenrater will oversee the school’s varsity boys basketball program and coach the middle school boys soccer team.
Joanna Miller is an assistant librarian at Queens University of Charlotte. She received her Master of Library and Information Science with a concentration in archival management from Simmons University in Boston, Mass.
Anna Norris and Kenneth Winterfeldt were married on Aug. 16 in Boone, N.C. In attendance to celebrate were many graduates from Wofford’s classes of 2022, 2023 and 2024.
Will Terrell (trail name Willpower) completed the 2,197-mile Appalachian Trail after setting out on March 16 from Springer Mountain, Ga., and finishing atop Mt. Katahdin in Maine.
FACULTY AND STAFF
Dr. Johnathan Davis, assistant professor of biology, published a paper with Katelyn Boyle ’27, Abigail Zagar ’27 and Katie Stewart ’26 titled “Reduction of crayfish activity and light avoidance in response to artificial light at night” in the microPublication Biology journal.
Dr. Cynthia “Cissy” Fowler, professor of sociology and anthropology, co-authored the article “Rhythms for Living: Fluid Cultural Adaptations within the Dynamic Watersheds of Eastern Indonesia” with Indonesian scholars Blajan Konradus, Sri Widinugraheni and Agustinus Dasion. The paper was published in the Indonesian journal Forest and Society.
Dr. Ramón Galiñanes Jr., director of undergraduate research and postgraduate fellowships, was selected to serve as a reader for the Luce Scholars Program, a prestigious leadership development fellowship that provides professional experiences in Asia.
Dr. Kristy Hammett, assistant professor of education, presented “Relational Pedagogy in Action: Student Voices on What Makes Learning Matter” at the 32nd annual Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Summit on Sept. 18.
Dr. Alysa Handelsman, associate professor of anthropology and community sustainability specialist, will have an article published in a special issue of The SoJo Journal: Educational Foundations and Social Justice Education titled “The Role of Ethnography and Hip-Hop in Community-Based Research: Toward a Decolonial Pedagogy.” Handelsman was also named the 2025 Young Professional honoree by the Girl Scouts of South Carolina- Mountains to Midlands in recognition of her commitment to community-based work and her contributions to the design and implementation of youth-centered programming in Spartanburg.
Dr. Dawn McQuiston, professor of psychology, was invited to join the board of directors for South Carolinians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty.
The book “North of Main,” co-authored by Dr. Jim Neighbors, professor of English, alongside Brenda Lee Pryce and Betsy Teter, was featured at Spartanburg Community College in its Wonders of Writing Symposium on Oct. 2. Neighbors and his co-authors were also recognized as Lifetime Achievement honorees by the Spartanburg chapter of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Inc. for their longstanding service to the community.
Dr. Patricia Nuriel, professor of Spanish, joined the advisory board for the new book series “Research in Latin American Jewish Studies,” published by De Gruyter Brill, Berlin.
Dr. Brian Pigott, associate professor of mathematics, co-authored a paper accepted in the International Journal of Quantum Information titled “Eavesdropping on the BB84 Protocol using Phase-Covariant Cloning: Experimental Results.”
Dr. Kaye Savage, professor of environmental studies, had an artwork accepted to the “Global Warming is Real” juried exhibition at the Encaustic Museum of Art in New Mexico. She also was the featured Swannanoa artist at the Peri Social House in Black Mountain, N.C., in August, and her handmade paper piece “Silver Linings” was exhibited at the Swannanoa Resilience Hub during the Hurricane Helene anniversary exhibition of the Swannanoa Artists’ Collective in late September.
Dr. Clayton Whisnant, Chapman Family Professor of Humanities and chair of history, was invited to the University of South Carolina to participate in a class discussion and lunch seminar revolving around his second book, “Queer Identities and Politics in Germany.”