1960s
Alumna honored for community service
Dr. Rebecca White Adams ’67 received the annual First Citizen of Chesapeake award from that city’s Rotary Club on Sept. 15. Adams has “devoted countless hours to charitable causes and community service projects in Chesapeake. ... In many ways, Rebecca Adams has contributed greatly to making her hometown a better place to live and work,” read the citation that accompanied the award for community service. She has chaired or served on the board of numerous organizations, including the Chesapeake General Hospital Foundation and regional boards for Habitat for Humanity, the Salvation Army, the March of Dimes and the Boy Scouts of America. She serves locally with the Chesapeake Care Clinic and the NAACP.
1970s
Alumna serves as U.S. Attorney
Nancy Stallard Harr ’74 was sworn in as U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Tennessee, effective July 2, after being appointed to the position by U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch. She had served as acting U.S. attorney since December 2015. She is the first woman to hold either position in the district. A graduate of the University of Tennessee School of Law, she began her career in private practice in 1984 in Blountville, Tennessee, and has worked since 1995 for the U.S. attorney’s office for the Eastern District of Tennessee, with offices in Knoxville, Greeneville and Chattanooga.
Eleanor Payne Singhas ’76 retired in June after teaching at Johnson-Williams Middle School in Berryville for 40 years. She began her career as a home economics teacher and later taught English, health and family life. Most recently, she taught seventh-grade math at the school, part of the Clarke County school division.
Susan Spivey Cohen ’77 retired in May after a 35-year teaching career. For the last 22 years, she taught at Green Acres Preschool in Portsmouth and for the last 10 years also was the preschool’s administrator. Before that, she taught first and second grade for a total of 13 years in the Portsmouth schools.
1980s
Alumnus achieves highest civilian rank
Troy Littles ’84 was promoted in November 2015 into the Senior Executive Service—the highest rank a government civilian can achieve—and currently serves as chief of staff of the Defense Security Service (DSS). Littles has worked since 2011 for the DSS, part of the Department of Defense, which oversees the protection of classified information in the hands of industry. The former Longwood ROTC cadet served as an Army military intelligence officer from 1984 until retiring at the rank of lieutenant colonel in 2009. He was deployed to combat in Desert Storm/Shield and Operating Enduring Freedom. He was awarded a Bronze Star in the First Gulf War. Littles and his wife, Karen Watson Littles ’85, have two sons.
Cindy Smith ’80 was inducted posthumously into the Appomattox Scholastic Sports Hall of Fame in September. Smith was a volleyball, basketball and softball standout at Appomattox County High School, from which she graduated with honors in 1976. She was a magna cum laude graduate of Longwood, where she played volleyball.
Toni Smith Clark ’82 in June became executive director of the Battersea Foundation, a nonprofit organization that operates historic Battersea Plantation in Petersburg. She was initially employed by the foundation as manager of outreach and special events. Clark recently obtained certification in Nonprofit Fundraising and Development and Nonprofit Marketing from the University of Richmond’s Institute on Philanthropy.
Mike Rowe ’85 joined CCB Bankshares Inc. as senior vice president-residential market executive for Clarksville and South Boston in August. He is treasurer of the Clarksville Community Players and a former president of the Clarksville Chamber of Commerce.
Deborah Marshall ’86 co-presented at the Tech & Learning Live @ Boston conference in April. Her topic was “Joining Forces: The Library and Career and Technical Education Department: 10 Years of Collaborations.” In June she was a guest blogger for Tech and Learning Live on “What Story Does your Data Tell?” Marshall is department chair of career and technical education at Granby High School in Norfolk.
1990s
Kristina Small Alcorn ’90 is the author of In His Own Words: Stories From The Extraordinary Life of Reston ’s Founder, Robert E. Simon Jr., published in April. The book, featured in the Washington Post, chronicles Simon, who established one of America’s first and most successful planned communities in the 1960s. Alcorn is a docent at the Reston Museum and a former environmental consultant.
Faye Bruce ’94 was named supervisor of alternative education at the Halifax County schools’ STEM Academy in June. She had been principal of Halifax County Middle School since 2012 and previously was principal of Park View Middle School in Mecklenburg County.
Dr. Nancy Betler ’95 is the 2015-16 president of the North Carolina Association of Elementary Educators. Betler is the talent development facilitator at Eastover Elementary in Charlotte, North Carolina, part of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg school division.
Joe Hoffer ’97 is chief operating officer and vice president for Urban Hideaway Resort and Spa, a 250unit, villa-style “boutique” resort specializing in family vacations in Orlando.
Stuart Bowen ’98 became South Hill’s police chief in July. He had been a lieutenant with the Lynchburg Police Department, which he joined in 2001. He was named Officer of the Year at the end of his rookie year in 2002.
Jennifer Friend ’98 was named the 2014-15 Halifax County (North Carolina) Teacher of the Year.
Shawn Carr ’98 and Carrie Wessell ’00 celebrated their 15th wedding anniversary June 23.
Mary Chris Escobar ’99 is the author of two novels, the second of which, How to be Alive, won the 2015 Next Generation Indie Book Award in the Chick Lit category. Her debut novel, which she also called “lighthearted women’s fiction,” was Neverending Beginnings. She is a board member of James River Writers and is associate director of academic advising at Virginia Commonwealth University.
2000s
Veteran’s widow gets backyard makeover thanks to alumnus
Bobby Earley ’04 spearheaded a project in the Hampton Roads area this summer that provided a free backyard makeover for a servicewoman.
Earley, of Virginia Beach, is the Virginia field sales manager for Mike’s Hard Lemonade, which partnered with the Boot Campaign and local radio station FM99 for “Mike’s Give A Hero’s Welcome.” The Boot Campaign, whose sponsors include Mike’s Hard Lemonade, is a national nonprofit military charity that provided six backyard makeovers this year to active/retired service personnel or Gold Star families across the country.
Because of Hampton Roads’ large military population, Earley decided to replicate the effort locally and award a backyard makeover to one service person, which will be an annual project. Unlike the national project, in which contractors are paid to perform work, all of the materials and labor were donated by local sponsors.
One sponsor was Scott Prunty ’04, owner of Solid Structures Decks and Fences, which provided a 400-square-foot stone paver patio and outdoor kitchen.
After receiving more than 150 nominations, a panel selected Leanna Shipps of Hampton, a Navy communications specialist whose husband, Jess, was an Air Force veteran who committed suicide in 2015, attributed to PTSD. The renovation—which included a new irrigation system, flowers and grading—is valued at more than $60,000. The reveal was July 30.
Alum leads Marine warfighting experiment
Maj. Jason Dempsey ’05 oversaw an experiment this summer in which the Marine Corps tested new equipment that could be the future of warfighting.
The Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory, to which he is currently assigned, tested and evaluated more than 40 new types of technology in July and early August at Twentynine Palms, a Marine base in southern California.
The technologies included unmanned ground vehicles and aerial systems, a self-contained water purification system and energy-generating backpacks. Also tested were improvements to battlefield-related medical care.
“The technologies we experimented with will make the Marine Corps more efficient, more lethal and more survivable,” said Dempsey, who likened the testing to a “science experiment.”
The Fredericksburg native has served in Afghanistan, Djibouti, South Korea and Belize. He and his wife, Emily, have two children.
Alumnus leads biomedical research
Oscar Gonzalez ’07, a Hampton native, is a medical research scientist and laboratory manager of Karyopharm Therapeutics in Boston, a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company that is focused on developing novel drugs for treating cancer. He joined the company in May after working as a lab operations manager on Boston University’s medical campus, where he earned a master’s in bioimaging in 2015. Gonzalez is the principal author of a paper published in The Journal of Infectious Diseases in August. The paper is based on his work at BU, which focused on using antibodies to neutralize HIV-1. He also has done research on glioblastoma, the type of brain cancer that in 2014 took the life of Dr. Don Merkle, one of his favorite Longwood biology professors.
Seth Ewing ’00 became the director of membership and business development for the Association of Pool & Spa Professionals in July. He had been assistant vice president of business development and strategic partnerships for the National Association of Insurance & Financial Advisors.
Greg Preston, M.S. ’00, became executive director of Piedmont Community Services in July. He had been director of community support services for the Martinsville-based agency, where he has worked since 2000.
Julia Young ’00, a fifth-grade teacher at Deep Creek Elementary in Chesapeake, is one of six state finalists (from among more than 80 nominees) for the 2016 Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching, considered the top national honor for science and math teachers. The president next year will announce the winners, who will receive $10,000 and a trip to Washington, D.C., for recognition and professional development. The award is administered by the National Science Foundation.
Derrick Ellison ’01 was inducted into Loudoun County High School’s Athletic Hall of Fame in September. Ellison, who played professional baseball for 11 years in the minor leagues, is the area representative for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes in Loudoun County.
Matt Graham ’03 has been the head tennis professional at Greenbrier Country Club in Chesapeake since November 2015. He has coached tennis at three high schools in Chesapeake and is a technology integration specialist for the Chesapeake schools.
Janell Stinnett, M.S. ’03, became interim principal of Nelson County High School in August. She had been assistant principal since January 2013.
Stephanie Totty ’04 became assistant principal of Appomattox Middle School in July. She had been an instructional data coach for the Appomattox County schools. She completed a master’s degree from Old Dominion University in August.
Maureen Hains ’07 joined Kinsale Insurance as a marketing specialist in June.
Ginger Tinsley ’09 was promoted in June to director of membership and communications with MedChi, The Maryland State Medical Society. She has been with MedChi since 2013.
2010s
Kristen Gaines Kavakava ’10 is the first contracts administrator for ABS Technology. She manages governmental and private-sector leads for the Virginia Beach-based company, which she joined in 2012 as a marketing and communications associate.
Lauren Gabor ’11, MBA ’12, and Rogers Dey Cathey III were married June 25. Lauren was shortly thereafter promoted from account executive to senior account executive at Nexus Direct, a Norfolk-based international marketing firm.
Magie Wilkerson, M.S. ’11, was promoted to principal of Halifax County Middle School in June. She previously was associate principal.
Leah Easley Bindewald ’13 joined the Danville Pittsylvania County Chamber of Commerce staff as the membership account executive in June. She also serves as the client care coordinator for Mount Hermon Animal Clinic.
Ellen Burnett, M.S. ’13, was named an assistant principal of Smithfield High School in August. Before joining the Isle of Wight County school division, she was instructional coordinator for mathematics, art, science and music for the Mecklenburg County schools.
Dan Hughes ’13 joined the Siegfried Group as a senior associate in the Washington, D.C., metro area in June. The Siegfried Group is a national CPA firm. Hughes had been a senior associate with RSM.
Rebecca Swanson ’13 and Justin Gilkerson were married Oct. 1. Swanson is an elementary teacher in Augusta County.
Amber Ragsdale ’14, M.Ed. ’15, and Mark Stephen Barham Jr. ’16 were married July 9. She is a first-grade teacher at A.P . Hill Elementary in Petersburg. He entered Regent University law school in August.
Emily Duke ’15, M.Ed. ’16, is a fourth-grade teacher at Kraft Elementary in Hampton.
Jessica Billings ’16 joined the Wendt Agency as a graphic designer in July. The Wendt Agency is a full-service advertising agency in Great Falls, Montana.
Jennifer Cole, M.Ed. ’16, was named an assistant principal of Halifax County High School in July. She previously taught world history at the school for eight years.
Kaylee Crawford ’16 is a sixth-grade English teacher at Laurel Park Middle School in Martinsville.
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