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CLASSNOTES
also serves as an attorney. In that
role, she represents the interests
of children who may be living in
negligent or unsafe conditions.
Griffith has also devoted herself
to sharing her own journey with
bipolar disorder in an effort to
improve mental health awareness
and treatment.
Rebecca Roberts
has been
named by the international
publication
Intelligent Insurer
as
one of the “40 Influential Women
in Reinsurance.” She earned a
law degree from the University
of Alabama in 1993 and is
currently senior vice president for
Renaissance Reinsurance Ltd. in
Hamilton, Bermuda.
Dr. Melissa GibbonsWhetstone
earned a Ph.D. in early childhood
education from UAB in December
2013. She is now employed as
the children’s curriculum design
editor at National WMU (Women’s
Missionary Union) in Birmingham.
’91
Ana Clavell
is now the official
sports psychologist for the Puerto
Rico Shooting Federation. The
team has participated in various
Caribbean and Central American
tournaments, obtaining first or
second place in all of them, and
recently finished its participation
in the Pan-American Shooting
Championship in Guadalajara,
Mexico. Clavell has also been
invited by the Puerto Rico Olympic
Committee to be one of the
four sports psychologists to be
part of the medical team that
will accompany the PR national
delegation to the XXII Central
American and Caribbean Games in
Veracruz, Mexico, in November.
’93
A new book by
EricaWalker
,
Beyond Banneker: Black
Mathematicians and the Paths to
Excellence
, explores the formative,
educational, and professional
experiences
of African
American
mathematicians
in the U.S., past
and present. It
is available from
SUNY Press
and Amazon.
Another book
by Walker, especially targeted
to parents and educators,
Building Mathematics Learning
Communities: Improving
Outcomes in Urban High Schools
,
was published in 2012 by
Teachers College Press. A former
McWane Scholar at BSC, she is
now an associate professor of
mathematics education at NYC’s
Teachers College, Columbia
University.
Koethi Zan
is a rising star in
the world of crime writing. Her
international bestseller and first
novel about four kidnapped girls,
The Never List,
is currently being
adapted by CBS Television Studios.
Author and screenwriter A.M.
Homes will pen the script and
executive produce the drama,
which is expected to debut in the
near future. Zan will be on board
as a supervising producer. Her
book, published by Viking/Penguin,
has been translated into more
than 20
languages.
She was
formerly
senior vice
president
and deputy
general
counsel for
MTV.
Courtesy of Pieter Van Hattem
’94
“Beyond Land’s End,” a collection
of new oil paintings by
Will
Smith Jr.
that add to the cause
of wetlands restoration, was
exhibited in August at the Jean
Bragg Gallery of Southern Art in
Alum
News
’81
Dr. Francois Blaudeau
is one of
a growing number of professionals
who have opted out of the
traditional single-job track, crafting
two successful careers instead.
Blandeau studied political science
at Birmingham-Southern with the
goal of attending law school. But
on the road of life, he ended up
first at the UAB School of Medicine
and established himself as a top
physician and surgeon in private
practice before heading to law school.
He completed his residency in OB/GYN at Tulane University at
the world-renowned Charity Hospital. After several years caring for
patients who had suffered complications as the result of others’
malpractice, he decided to do more to help and enrolled in law
school. He received his law degree from the Birmingham School of
Law in 1998 and was admitted to the Alabama State Bar that same
year.
“I find that surgeons have pretty much the same characteristics
as trial lawyers,” Blaudeau said. “We’re aggressive and willing to
take on some tough stuff.”
Now a nationally recognized leader in minimally invasive
gynecological surgery, he continues to perform surgery at
the Alabama Surgical Institute in Birmingham, where he also
trains surgeons from around the country who want to learn his
revolutionary techniques.
Recently, Blaudeau was promoted to
of
counsel
attorney for
Heninger Garrison Davis’ Birmingham office, where he focuses
on medical device and pharmaceutical personal injury cases from
around the U.S. He founded the Southern Institute for Legal and
Medical Affairs to advocate for physicians’ and patients’ rights about
six years ago. He is also a fellow in the American College of Legal
medicine and has been associated with the law firm of Riley &
Jackson P.C. since 2001.
Blaudeau was a student-athlete at BSC and played soccer all four
years.
“Being able to travel and play ball as well as being a part of such
a strong institution academically has been very helpful to me in
my careers,” he said. “Professors O.C. Weaver ’35 [religion], Irvin
Penfield [philosophy], and Natalie Davis [political science] were just
incredible, and being around so many students and faculty who are
super bright helped me learn to think.”
His dual professions have made him uniquely qualified to not only
understand the medical aspects of a case, but to also navigate the
complex litigation process where medicine is involved. However,
thinking like a lawyer can be a mixed blessing, according to
Blaudeau.
“I tend to be shunned a bit by the medical community,” he said.
“Sometimes when doctors find out I do plaintiff’s work, they stop
talking to me.”
Blaudeau was born in Paris and is fluent in Spanish and French.
His parents were naturalized from North Africa; his siblings include
Dr. Jean Blaudeau ’80
of Bel Air, Md., and
Dr. Erick Blaudeau
’88
of New Orleans. He and his wife, Dr. Tamilane Blaudeau, an
exercise physiologist at UAB, have five children, including his step-
daughter,
Natalie HathcoxWilliams ’04
of Birmingham, and seven
grandchildren.