Class Notes, Fall 2020

Wally Sweat (BBA ’74) of Easton, Pa., was promoted to chief technology officer at Astadia, a company helping organizations modernize mainframe applications. He previously served as the company’s managing partner.

Charlie Thackston (BBA ’78, MBA ’79) of Atlanta was named a leading sales consultant in the category of sales training and coaching by Selling Power magazine. He is founder and president of SOAR Performance Group, a consulting and training company.

Carey Phelps (BBA ’79) of Greenville, S.C., retired from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. He was with the company for 36 years.

Peter Stoddard (BBA ’79) of Cumming published “Lewis Grizzard: The Dawg That Did Not Hunt.”

Joe Beverly (BBA ’80) of Atlanta founded The Cranium Incubator, a virtual startup which helps underrepresented founders receive business knowledge, mentoring, and exposure to investors. He is president and chairman of Corporate Payroll Services.

Dave Malloy (BBA ’80) of Stone Mountain retired as divisional sales manager of Classic Accessories after 13 years with the company and 40 years working in the consumer products industry. He previously worked for Chaney Instrument Co., General Time Corp., Schering-Plough, and Chesebrough-Pond’s Inc. During his career, he was involved in sales, sales management, key account management and worked as a trade marketing manager. Dave’s wife, Samille (BSEd ’81, MEd ’83), also attended UGA, as did their two daughters, Ann (BSA ’13) and Mattie (BSEd ’15, MEd ’17). He has one granddaughter, Zoey, who he hopes will be a future Bulldog one day.

Greg Anderson (BBA ’81) of Jacksonville, Fla., joined JAXUSA Partnership as VP of business development. JAXUSA is the economic development division of JAX Chamber. Most recently, he was a community development director for TIAA Bank.

John Schraudenbach (BBA ’81, MAcc ’82) of Duluth was named a trustee to the UGA Foundation. He served as a partner at EY in Atlanta before retiring in June 2019.

Howard Young (BBA ’82) of Atlanta was named a trustee to the UGA Foundation. He is president of General Wholesale Beer Co., a multi-generational family business.

Jim Dinkins (BBA ’84) of Atlanta was named a trustee to the UGA Foundation.

Lewis Massey (BBA ’84) of Norcross co-founded Impact Public Affairs in Atlanta.

Grace Elizabeth Hale (BBA ’85, MA ’91) of Charlottesville, Va., released her book “Cool Town: How Athens, Georgia, Launched Alternative Music and Changed American Culture.” She is the Commonwealth Professor of American Studies and History at the University of Virginia.

Todd Shutley (BBA ’85) of Chamblee was named EVP and chief specialty banking officer at Ameris Bank. Before joining Ameris Bank, he was EVP and head of commercial industry specialty and advisory for SunTrust Bank, now Truist Bank.

Scott Wilkins (BBA ’86) of Atlanta was named a senior wealth advisor at Wilmington Trust. He previously served as co-founder and partner at BAZATI.

Richard Buttimer Jr. (BBA ’87, PhD ’93) of Concord, N.C., was named dean of the Coggin College of Business at the University of North Florida. Buttimer previously served as director of the Childress Klein Center for Real Estate and the John Crosland Sr. Distinguished Professor in the Department of Finance in the Belk College of Business at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.

Dave Morgan (BBA ’88) of Alpharetta was named CFO of Cendyn, a company specializing in customer relationship management, sales, and revenue strategy for the hospitality industry. He previously served as CFO of Influence Health.

Kim Stamper (BBA ’89) of Alpharetta was named a trustee to the UGA Foundation. She is a retired marketing professional.

Lloyd Inman Hodges (AB ’90) of Savannah was appointed to the board of directors of EMC Engineering Services Inc., a multi-disciplined consulting engineering firm. He serves as president and CEO of Hodges Management Co., president of the Executives’ Association of Savannah, and president of the Southeastern KFC Franchisee Association.

Jim McLendon (BBA ’90) of Atlanta joined Stifel Investments as a managing director/investments, where he offers clients a blend of experienced investment guidance and personal service. He has worked as a financial advisor and Certified Financial Planner for nearly 27 years, with training on the duties of good faith and standards of care, insurance reviews, tax strategies, as well as estate planning issues and retirement planning.

Reece Cohen (BBA ’91) of Sandy Springs was named Lender of the Year by Atlanta Agent magazine. As a producing branch manager with Atlantic Bay Mortgage Group, he is a Diamond Award winner with the Mortgage Bankers Association of Georgia and was Atlantic Bay’s Mortgage Banker of the Year for the Southern Region for 2018 and 2019.

Vernon “Trey” Googe III (BBA ’91, JD ’94) of Atlanta was elected an advisory trustee to the UGA Foundation and will assist the board in defining and achieving goals. He is president and CEO of Yancey Bros. Co.

Mellanie Robinson (BBA ’91) of Woodstock was named an assistant professor of education at Dalton State College. She previously taught social studies, language arts, reading, and educational psychology at Reinhardt University.

Chris Allen (BBA ’92) of Studio City, Calif., was named CFO of Adventist Health Glendale Medical Center. He previously served as interim CFO and executive administrator for financial planning and decision support for Keck Medicine of USC.

Beth Deeley (BBA ’92) of San Francisco, Calif., was named one of the 2020 Women of Influence in Silicon Valley by the Silicon Valley Business Journal. She is partner and global vice chair of Latham & Watkins LLP’s Complex Commercial Litigation Practice.

Bridgette Walton (BBA ’92) of Macon was designated a Society for Human Resources Management Senior Certified Professional.

David Bebko (MMR ’93) of Alpharetta was named VP of marketing at Praetorian, a cybersecurity company. He is CEO of Two Shores Digital LLC and former VP of the NCR Corp.

Kendall Dunson (BBA ’93) of Pike Road, Ala., was inducted into the American College of Trial Lawyers. He is an attorney at Beasley Allen.

Warren Sutherland (BBA ’93, MAcc ’96) of Alpharetta was appointed principal executive officer at CCUR Holdings Inc. He will continue to serve as principal accounting officer and principal financial officer.

Scott Rockfeld (BBA ’94) of Mercer Island, Wash., released his children’s book “Sports Stars: Astronomy for the Sports Fan in All of Us,” which introduces kids to astronomy through their love of sports.

Seth Benefield (BBA ’95) of Fayetteville was named head of Bank of America Business Capital and Asset-Based Financing. He has been with the bank for 20 years, most recently serving as its national marketing manager.

Chris Cummiskey (BBA ’96) of Atlanta was named group CEO for Southern Energy Resources and EVP of Southern Company Services Commercial Development. He was previously EVP of external affairs and nuclear development for Georgia Power.

Bernd Muehlfriedel (MBA ’96) of Munich, Germany, was appointed by the Bavarian State Minister of Education, Science and the Arts to the advisory board for the Bavarian Elite Support Act, which provides financial and non-financial support to students in the region.

Tommy Breedlove (BBA ’97) of Roswell wrote “Legendary,” which was named a USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestseller. He is the founder of Choose Goodness.

Mike Harden Jr. (MBA ’97) of Hoschton was promoted to CFO at Free Chapel Worship Center. He previously served as its controller.

Amy Ellerbee Johnson (BBA ’97) of Marietta was named 2019 District Manager of the Year for Smith & Nephew Advanced Wound Management.

Jamie Adams (BBA ’99) of Greenville, S.C., was elected SVP and chief information technology officer at LifeWay Christian Resources. Previously she served as CIO at Mspark.

J.T. Johnson (BBA ’00, JD ’04) of St. Simons joined the real estate practice group at HunterMaclean law firm. He previously was a partner with Gilbert, Harrell, Sumerford & Martin.

Matt Pollard (BBA ’00) of Lafayette, Colo., was named VP of sales at Xentaurs, a digital transformation consulting services and enablement company. He previously served as SVP of sales at IntelliSource, a business process outsourcing company.

Greg Saulinskas (BBA ’00) of Roswell was promoted to CFO at Troutman Pepper. He previously served as its director of finance.

Paul Bunn (BBA ’01, MAcc ’01) of Ringgold was named chief administrative officer and EVP at Covenant Transport Services, a logistics company focused on expedited transportation along with warehousing and freight management/brokerage. He previously served as the company’s chief accounting officer.

Wesley A. Griffin (MBA ’01) of Concord, N.C., was named a business support consultant at Wells Fargo Bank, responsible for engagement portfolio reporting, capabilities development, and governance for the legacy Wholesale Business Process Management team. He is also co-founder and COO at Silver Medical Group PLLC.

Cade Joiner (BBA ’01) of Brookhaven was elected to serve a one-year term as vice chair of the Board of Regents for the University System of Georgia. He is founder of Shred-X Corp.

Scott Cook (BBA ’02) of Savannah was recognized as an associate principal of architecture, interiors, and planning at LS3P. This recognition was announced during a virtual LS3P shareholders’ meeting.

Song Keovongsak (BBA ’03, MBA ’10) of Smyrna was named commercial relationship manager at United Community Bank. He has worked in multiple banking roles including credit management, financial advisement, and business banking for SunTrust Bank, now Truist Bank.

Ashleigh Pushnig (BBA ’03) of Brookhaven was named CFO at SG Contracting Inc. She has 15 years of experience at SG Contracting.

Jennifer Barnaby (BBA ’04) of Atlanta was named a senior client strategist at BNY Mellon Wealth Management. She previously worked as VP, wealth advisor at Branch Banking & Trust Co.

Will Chappell (BBA ’04) of Myrtle Beach, S.C., was selected as a member of the South Carolina Financial Literacy Master Teacher Program by the South Carolina Treasurer’s Office. He is a social science teacher in Conway, S.C.

Teddy Gillen (BBA ’04) of Atlanta was appointed principal at Edgewood Healthcare Advisors, a division of EPIC Insurance Brokers and Consultants. He previously served as regional director with Southern Protective Group.

Caroline Gregory (BBA ’05) of Savannah was named a client advisor at Sterling Seacrest Partners. She previously served as a business insurance agent at BB&T Insurance Services.

Ben Lemoine (BBA ’05, MBA ’11) of Moreauville, La., was named CFO of Chartway Federal Credit Union. Most recently he served as VP of finance and treasury at San Diego-based Mission Federal Credit Union.

Min Lee (BBA ’06) of Brookhaven was named VP of operations at Reading Hospital. Most recently, she served as VP of operations for Emory Healthcare at Emory University Hospital Midtown.

Haley Chura (BBA ’07, ABJ ’07) of Bozeman, Mont., qualified for the Olympic Trials in the marathon at the California International Marathon in Sacramento.

Jones Krogh (BBA ’07, MAcc ’07) of Chattanooga, Tenn., was named partner at HHM Wealth Advisors. He has worked at HHM since 2014.

Ryan Halpern (BBA ’08, MAcc ’08) of Atlanta was promoted to partner at Brightworth, a wealth management firm. He joined Brightworth in 2013 as a financial planner and was promoted to wealth advisor in 2017.

William Benson (BBA ’09) of Nashville, Tenn., was named VP, private banking at Truxton Trust Co. He previously served as VP, relationship manager at CapStar Bank.

Kevin Golden (BBA ’09) of Gainesville, Fla., was promoted to senior manager at James Moore & Co. He has been with the company since 2017.

Kacey Kennickell Ray (BBA ’09) of Savannah was named a board member of the Savannah Music Festival. She is director of marketing and intelligent direct mail at Kennickell Group.

Elisabeth Duffy (BBA ’10) of Atlanta was named a practice manager at Bain & Co. She previously served as a case team leader.

Christian Ngo (BBA ’10) of Alpharetta was named SVP, commercial relationship manager to United Community Bank’s metro Atlanta team. He joins United from Truist where he led the bank’s commercial middle market banking sector in the Johns Creek and Alpharetta markets.

Charles Tyson (BBA ’10) of Riviera Beach, Fla., was named CFO at North Shore Medical Center and Florida Medical Center. He has been with Tenet Healthcare, North Shore Medical Center and Florida Medical Center’s parent company since 2010.

David Ussery (BBA ’10) of Martinez was named partner at SME CPAs. He has been with SME since 2015, previously serving as a manager.

Natalie Steele (BBA ’12) of Atlanta was promoted to VP of operations at Madewell Products Corp. She previously led the company’s research, development, and marketing department.

Jennifer Pizzo (MBA ’15) of Hoboken, N.J., is a senior analyst, agile coaching at McKinsey & Co. She previously served as senior scrum master on the Cloud Enablement team at Fiserv.

Joe Nedza (BBA ’16) of Braselton opened a brick-and-mortar operation in Athens for Nedza’s, a restaurant he founded in 2015 that specializes in bubble waffles, ice cream, doughnuts, and biscuits.

Mimi Messawer (BBA ’17) of New York City is an associate at Vista Credit Partners.

Jill Davis (BBA ’18) of Murfreesboro, Tenn., joined the marketing team at Engel & Völkers Buckhead Atlanta and Engel & Völkers Atlanta North Fulton. She recently served as marketing coordinator for Interparfums Luxury Brands in New York.

Campbell O’Steen (BBA ’18, MAcc ’19) of Albany was promoted to an associate II in Draffin Tucker’s health care practice, where he works with financial statement audits and other accounting services.

Jonathan Carreno (BBA ’19) of Cumming is the customer service manager for the division of iodine and lithium chemicals at SQM North America.

William Andrew Harris (BBA ’19) of Watkinsville received the Navy Club of the United States Military Excellence Award, the top award presented to the No. 1 recruit of their graduating training group. It is awarded to the recruit that best exemplifies the qualities of enthusiasm, devotion to duty, military bearing, and teamwork.

Kelsey Snelgrove (BBA ’20) of Dacula is a financial analyst at Textron Specialized Vehicles.

Tyler Williamson (BBA ’20, AB ’20) of Pelham is on the marketing leadership team at Acuity Brands Lighting.