1960
Dr. Tom Ellison was a finalist in the 55+ 3.0 doubles division at the 2024 York Community Charity Classic Tennis Tournament. He is the owner of E innovations Inc., in Fort Mill, S.C.
1966
Paul Pittman has been inducted into the Southern Tennis Hall of Fame. Pittman’s passion has been to grow tennis in his hometown of Florence, S.C., where he settled after retiring from the U.S. Army as a lieutenant colonel. Pittman has served as a United States Tennis Association volunteer on the local, state and section levels. He’s been honored through the years for his work with the USTA, which began in 1990. He co-founded the Ron James Youth Tennis Program, which has introduced more than 1,200 children to tennis since 2021. He’s also served on the tournament committee of the McLeod for Health Florence Open, a women’s Pro Circuit event, raising funds and coordinating media. The 30-court Dr. Eddie Floyd Florence Tennis Center public tennis facility is another example of his collaborative efforts with other tennis lovers in the area.
1985
In October, Howard Coker, president and chief executive officer of Sonoco, was the keynote speaker at the University of North Carolina’s Kenan-Flagler Business School. Coker serves on the Wofford College Board of Trustees.
1987
Crete United, a nationwide multiservice building solutions provider backed by Ridgemont Equity Partners, recently announced that James Woodward would be joining the company as senior vice president of human resources. He will lead the organization’s HR function and provide strategic direction to the CEO and executive leadership team. He has more than 25 years of experience in the field, including senior leadership roles at Gaia Herbs, Dentsply Sirona, Amazon and Lowe’s companies. He will be based at Crete United’s headquarters in Charlotte, N.C.
1994
In October, the South Carolina History Newsletter, accessible via YouTube, interviewed Tally Johnson in a segment titled “Ghost Stories of South Carolina.” Johnson is the author of “Ghosts of the South Carolina Upcountry,” “Ghosts of the South Carolina Midlands,” “Ghosts of the Pee Dee,” “Civil War Ghosts of South Carolina” and “Creek Walking.”
1997
Kris Burris was interviewed in a live episode from the North Carolina Community College System Conference. Burris is vice president of student success and enrollment management at the College of The Albemarle. She shared how COA addresses enrollment challenges, fosters student success and reaches underserved communities. Burris also serves as the NC Reconnect lead, an adult learner research affiliate for the Belk Center, a member of the state’s career coach advisory board and the northeastern representative for the state’s student development administrators association.
1999
David Daniel and his wife, Anne, cofounded the business Be Here Now LLC (Brunswick, Maine) in 2016. The business focuses on helping people develop greater mental and spiritual fitness so they can better navigate an increasingly fast-paced and uncertain world. The pair primarily work with CEOs, C-suite executives and executive teams but are open to working with anyone who wants to focus on improving their mental well-being. Visit fullyintegratedleadership.com for more info.
2003
Verde Clean Fuels, a company specializing in innovative liquid fuels processing technology in Houston, Texas, has named George Burdette chief financial officer. His previous roles include CFO positions at Arbor Renewable Gas and Itafos as well as head of project finance at First Solar.
2005
Adam Regenthal has been promoted to president of Colite, a global leader in full-service sign manufacturing, based in Columbia, S.C. He has been with the company for 19 years, working through the ranks in sales, marketing and project management.
2008
The U.S. attorney’s office recognized Kinli Barr Abee as a 2024 recipient of the Ernest F. Hollings Award for excellence in state prosecution. Abee has served as assistant deputy attorney general in the office of South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson since July 2013. She works primarily with the special victims’ prosecution team, handling cases involving human trafficking, sexual assault, domestic violence and child abuse. Prior to her work at the state level, Abee served as a prosecutor in the South Carolina seventh judicial circuit. Dr. Kimberly Piersol was recognized as the 2024-25 Graduate of Distinction from Florida State University, where she earned her Ph.D. in neuroscience in 2015. She is an assistant professor at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.
2009
Fashion industry pro Abigail Linton joined GenTeal in August as the upscale clothing brand’s new CEO. Linton has extensive experience in the field, with brands such as Greyson Clothiers, Onward Reserve and Peter Millar, and she is looking forward to expanding existing partnerships as well as new product development for GenTeal.
2010
In June Austin Webb founded Troupe, an artificial- intelligence-powered product marketing platform. He serves as chief executive officer of this first-of-its-kind platform dedicated to giving product marketers comprehensive data so they can measure and scale success. The company is based in the Raleigh-Durham- Chapel Hill area of North Carolina.
2014
Kayla Bethea was promoted to major in the U.S. Army. She is a part of the 345th Military Intelligence Battalion in Augusta, Ga. She has been working as an academic services program manager with the University of Colorado Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences and will soon be deployed overseas for nine months.
Alexandria Dawson was honored as one of Flint and Genesee County’s 40 Under 40. She is the associate vice president of marketing and communications at the Community Foundation of Greater Flint (Mich.). Over her 10-year tenure with the organization, Dawson has managed a youth and gender equity grantmaking portfolio, cultivated future philanthropists and managed online giving campaigns. Dawson shares her expertise on national stages at conferences on leadership and philanthropy.
Orthopaedic surgeon Dr. Paul Inclan has joined the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Department of Orthopaedic Surgery. Inclan’s focus is on complex knee surgeries, ACL reconstruction and hip preservation. He joins UAMS after completing his sports medicine fellowship at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York, where he worked with professional sports teams including the New York Giants.
Michelle Lynn “Shelly” Strickland and Alejandro Gabriel Piferrer were married on Aug. 3 at Belin Memorial United Methodist Church in Murrells Inlet, S.C. The wedding was officiated by the Rev. Dr. Mike Alexander Jr. ’73. The couple lives in Homosassa, Fla., where Shelly is a realtor and travel agent.
2015
Carolyn Harvey McMurry and Kit McMurry welcomed their daughter, Eleanor Marie, on March 23, 2024. The family lives in Mount Pleasant, S.C. Carolyn is a senior manager with PwC; Kit is development manager with OTO Development.
2016
Katherine Whisenhunt and Thom Quinn celebrated their first wedding anniversary on Nov. 4, 2023. They were married in Greenville, S.C., but live in the Washington, D.C., area, where Katherine works as an associate for the law firm of Crowell & Moring.
2018
Emily Arden Lee married John Frank Riley Jr. on April 6 in Columbia, S.C., at Eastminster Presbyterian Church. Arden is the daughter of Jamie Lee ’78.
Michal Busbee Mosteller will pursue a Master of Arts degree in the history of art and archaeology at the Institute for Fine Arts at New York University. She will focus on postmodern Latin American art and has been appointed development officer of the Graduate Student Association. Her husband, Taylor Diggs Mosteller ’15, has accepted a pharmacist position at Mount Sinai Medical Hospital in Manhattan.
2019
In October, Molly Humphries served as a Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk representative for Zeta Tau Alpha Fraternity and the American Cancer Society’s Greenville, S.C., walk team. This is her second year serving in this capacity.
Mattie Weldon Zanin has started a new position as special events planner with Roper St. Francis Healthcare in Charleston, S.C. She had been serving as associate director of admission and campus visitation at Mercer University.
2020
Catie Cronister has started a new position as a clinical data scientist with Community Health Systems in Nashville, Tenn. She is an inventor on a pending patent for Oncocyte, her previous employer, and works as a data science consultant with BOOST, recently helping the company integrate volleyball knowledge into its narrative-generating pipeline. Cronister is the vice president of membership with the Nashville Junior Chamber.
Elizabeth Vaughn Harrell and William Douglas Gray II were married in Charleston, S.C., on Oct. 13. Elizabeth is a marketing coordinator with Spence Inc., and William is a clinical research associate at IQVIA.
M’Kenzy Walters has accepted a new role as a fraternity housing corporation property manager for Kappa Alpha Theta Headquarters. She is pursuing a Master of Science degree in organizational psychology at the University of Hartford in West Hartford, Conn.
Curneisha Williams is the director of new teacher development at Meeting Street Schools. Her focus is on launching a teacher fellows program and ensuring that teachers are meeting the needs of families in the Jasper and Beaufort County areas of South Carolina. Williams says she’s excited to be back in her home state doing the work she loves.
2021
A litigation attorney with Shuler Killen in Sumter, S.C., Jake Dippold has been recognized as a “Top 10 Under 40 Young Professional” in the Sumter community.
Hotel Management’s 2024 “Thirty Under 30” list showcasing rising stars in the hospitality industry included Sarah Keim, director of sales for OTO Development/AC Hotel Spartanburg. She oversees sales and marketing efforts.
2022
Anne Darby Keating was awarded the Book Award for the highest grades in family law and criminal law during the spring semester at Regent University School of Law. Keating is scheduled to graduate with the Class of 2025 from the university.
2023
Caroline Payne has graduated from Louisiana State University with her Master of Health Administration degree. She finished with a perfect 4.0 GPA. She is an AmeriCorps member who works with St. Luke’s Free Medical Clinic in Spartanburg.
Legacy Early College celebrated #FacultyFriday with a shout-out to Meg Santos, a seventh grade science teacher. The post says that her passion for learning is infectious and encourages “scholars to reach for the stars.” Santos was one of the featured artists in Wofford’s inaugural Alumni Art Exhibition during Homecoming.
2024
Arnise Wright has started a new position as an enrollment counselor at Charleston Southern University in Charleston, S.C.
FACULTY
The first edition of a book edited by A.K. Anderson ’90, “Religion and Medicine from the Pre-Axial Age to Modernity: An Introductory Reader,” was published in July (Cognella Academic Publishing). A test version of the book was released in summer 2023.
Johnathan Davis was recognized as a 2024 Education Scholar by the Ecological Society of America. He published “Investigating the ecological value of migratory fishes on stream ecosystems in southern Appalachia” on the Quantitative Undergraduate Biology Education and Synthesis platform.
Jocelyne Sutton Franklin presented “Toward an Anticolonial Critique: Marie Vieux Chauvet’s Les Rapaces” at the conference Rasanblaj Fanm: Stories of Haitian Womanhood, Past, Present and Future in July 2024. She also interviewed Alexis Pauline Gumbs about her new biography of Audre Lorde. The conversation can be viewed at kwazmanvwa.com.
Natalie Grinnell has published an entry, “The Floure and the Leafe,” in the Palgrave Encyclopedia of Women’s Writing in the Global Middle Ages, September 2024.
Kimberly Hall co-edited a special issue of Teaching Media titled “Teaching with/around AI,” (vol. 9, no. 2). Her essay “Intelligence and Imitation: Teaching the Turing Test Now” is included in the special issue. She also co-authored the chapter, “Integrating GenAI in Higher Education: Insights Perceptions, and a Taxonomy of Practice,” published by Routledge in the edited collection, “Using Generative AI Effectively in Higher Education: Sustainable and Ethical AI for the Common Good.”
Kirsten Krick-Aigner published an essay in German on the Austrian artist Lisel Salzer and her life in exile in the United States for the museum catalog “Lisel Salzer, Lisl Weil, Hilde Spiel” for the summer 2024 exhibit at the Museum Zinkenbacher Malerkolonie in St. Gilgen, Austria.
Ingrid Lilly wrote the critical study notes and the introduction to the Book of Job as well as the essays “Leviathan: Reading the Time” and “Focus on Satan” in a study Bible for the updated NRSV (Westminster, 2024). She designed and published her website and blog this summer called “Biblical Bodies: Critical and Cultural Studies of Embodiment in the Hebrew Bible” (www.ingridlilly.com), and she also published “The Planet’s Apocalypse: Climate Change and Rhetoric of the End” in “Apocalypses in Context: Apocalyptic Currents Through History” (Fortress, 2025.)
In June Amanda Matousek presented “The Triumph and Trauma of Islands in Latine Storytelling” at the 13th International Conference on Chicano Literature and Latino Studies at La Universidade de Santiago de Compostela de A Coruña, España.
In collaboration with several Wofford students, Geoff Mitchell published a research article in the journal “mBio” on the evidence for phosphate-dependent control of symbiont cell division in the model anemone.
Jim Neighbors and co-authors Brenda Lee Pryce and Betsy Teter have published “North of Main: Spartanburg’s Historic Black Neighborhoods of North Dean Street, Gas Bottom and Back of the College.” The book, and an accompanying website, backofthecollege. org, is the culmination of seven years of research conducted primarily by a host of Wofford students and the collaboration of many members of the Spartanburg community, including more than 40 former residents and alumni of Cumming Street School.
Sheri Reynolds performed her essay “When in Rome” at Stories on Stage: It Happened on Vacation at the Hermitage Museum in Norfolk, Va. Her story “The Chiropractor’s Birthday Party” was a finalist for the Bath Flash Fiction Award and will be published in its upcoming anthology in December 2024.
Laura Barbas Rhoden’s translations of poems by Cypriot writer Nora Nadjarian were published in “Nueva York Poetry Review” (July 2024).
Rachel Vanderhill was chosen to be a Council on Foreign Relations Education Ambassador for the 2024-25 academic year.