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CLASS NOTES
complete the term of a retiring
judge. Patrick has returned to the
private practice of law in Jasper,
Ala. He joined the law firm of
Nelson, Bryan & Jones, where he
works alongside
Gina Cross ’89
as a
plaintiff’s attorney.
’88
Since serving as wing chaplain
for the 165th Airlift Wing of
the Georgia National Guard in
Savannah, Ga.,
Rev. Major Thomas
“Brannon” Bowman Sr.,
has
been awarded the Air National
Guard Samuel Stone Award for
Outstanding Chaplain of the Year.
Bowman became the wing’s first
full-time chaplain in 2012. He
holds a master’s in music from
Auburn University and a master
of divinity from Birmingham
Theological Seminary. He is
married to
Carol New Bowman ’88
.
’89
Kacy O’Brien Donlon
, a founding
shareholder of the Tampa law firm
of Wiand Guerra King, was named
Outstanding Member of the Year
by the Business Law Section of the
Florida Bar at its annual meeting in
June 2015 in Boca Raton. Donlon
has been a part of the 5,000-plus
member section since 2000 and
has been on the executive council
since 2004; she has also chaired
several committees.
Dollar General Corp. promoted
Rhonda Taylor
to executive vice
president, general counsel in 2015.
Prior to joining Dollar General,
Taylor, who holds a JD from the
University of Virginia, specialized in
labor law and employment litigation
at Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak &
Stewart in Nashville.
’93
Fred Smith
has grown his real estate
practice, The Fred Smith Group, to
include 10 top producing agents
focusing on the Birmingham metro
area. He and his wife, Holly, have
three daughters: Lily, a senior
high school student, who will be
attending Rhodes College in the
fall; Isabel, a first-year high school
student; and Darby, who is in the
fifth grade. All are in the Mountain
Brook school system.
’94
Paul Arthur
is president of Nokuse
Education, Inc. and director of the
E.O. Wilson Biophilia Center—an
environmental education facility—
in Freeport, Fla.
Dr. Thomas Cox
, associate
professor of history at Sam
Houston State University, was
selected by the Organization of
American Historians to receive a
2015 China Residency at Renmin
University of China. Cox earned a
master’s degree and Ph.D. in history
from the State University of New
York at Buffalo. He is the author of
Gibbons v. Ogden, Law, and Society in
the Early Republic.
Dr. Todd Green
received tenure
and was promoted to associate
professor of religion at Luther
College in Decorah, Iowa, in 2015.
His second book,
The Fear of Islam:
An Introduction to Islamophobia in
the West
, was published by Fortress
Press that year. Green is currently
spending his sabbatical year as a
Franklin Fellow at the U.S. State
Department, where he advises on
Islamophobia in Europe.
Rod Kanter
of the Birmingham
law firm of Bradley Arant Boult
Cummings LLP, has been elected
as a regular fellow to the highly
selective American College of
Bond Counsel, which recognizes
attorneys based on their skills,
accomplishments, and high
standards of professional and ethical
conduct in the practice of bond
law. Kanter earned his J.D. from
Vanderbilt University Law School.
Lloyd “Rusty” Lane
joined Moore
Colson in Marietta, Ga., as a director
in the firm’s consulting practice.
He has more than 20 years of
experience in accounting, business
operations, tax compliance, and
litigation support in the public
and private sectors. A resident of
Dallas, Ga., Lane is an MBA graduate
of UAB and a veteran of the U.S.
Marine Corps. He is also a member
of the Georgia Society of CPAs’
Fraud and Forensic Services Advisory
Council and the Georgia Chapter of
Certified Fraud Examiners’ Student
Affairs Committee.
After a successful career with Regions
Bank,
Scott Reed (MPPM)
took on
the task of starting his own bank in
2007 in the midst of the financial
crisis. Oakworth Capital Bank is
now one of the fastest growing banks
in Birmingham. Reed and his wife,
Robin, have three children.
’95
Dr. Leigh Ann Peters Berte
,
associate professor of English at
Spring Hill College in Mobile, was
selected as the Edward B. Moody, S.J.
Teacher of the Year for the 2015-16
school year. The award is given to a
faculty member who has displayed
excellence in the fulfillment of the
teaching mission of the college.
Carolyn Hembree’s
debut poetry
collection,
Skinny
, was published by
Kore Press in 2012. Her collection,
Rigging a Chevy into a Time Machine
and Other Ways to Escape a Plague
,
won the 2015 Trio Award and 2015
Rochelle Ratner Memorial Award.
Hembree is an assistant professor
at the University of New Orleans
and serves as poetry editor of Bayou
literary magazine.
’96
Meg Williams Fiedler
of
Montgomery was named assistant
clerk of the Alabama Court of Civil
Appeals in fall 2014.
’98
Coastal Bank and Trust named
Alan Nickelsen
as executive vice
president and commercial banker
for Florida’s Escambia and Santa
Rosa counties in 2015. A resident
of Pensacola, Nickelsen has 20
years of community banking and
commercial and consumer lending
experience.
J. Michael Thomason
, who
earned a master’s degree from Troy
University, is a realtor at LAH Real
Estate in Homewood, Ala. He is
a board member of the nonprofit
group, Wish2Enrich, and is a
member of the National Association
of Realtors, Alabama Association
of Realtors, and Birmingham
Association of Realtors. He and his
wife, Angela, have four children and
attend Vestavia Hills Baptist Church.
Carolyn Hembree. Photo by Lynda Woolard.
48 / ’southern