Huntsville Area Resident Among UA Graduates

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The University of Alabama awarded some 2,250 degrees at spring commencement exercises held Friday, May 17, in Coleman Coliseum on the Tuscaloosa campus.

Outgoing UA President Andrew Sorensen gave the commencement address during two University-wide commencement ceremonies. Sorensen was recently named president of the University of South Carolina and will assume that position in July.

During the ceremonies, acclaimed author and scholar Dr. Henry Louis Gates Jr. was awarded an honorary doctorate of humane letters. Gates is the W.E.B. DuBois Professor of the Humanities and chair of Afro-American studies at Harvard University and director of the W.E.B. DuBois Institute for Afro-American Research.

Also, the late Frank M. Johnson Jr. received the Hugo Black Award, posthumously. Johnson, who died in 1999, is remembered for his historic contributions to civil rights issues of the last century while a U.S. District Court justice. The Black Award, named in honor of the late Supreme Court Justice and UA alumnus Hugo Black, recognizes distinguished service to the people of Alabama and the nation and is the highest award given by the University.

With this graduating class, UA has awarded more than 181,000 degrees since its founding in 1831 as the state’s first public university. UA holds commencement ceremonies three times a year.

The following students from the Huntsville area were listed as candidates to receive degrees:

JURIS DOCTOR DEGREE

ATHENS — Ta’Kisha La’Nete Guster, Adrian Carrie Payne

DECATUR — William Matthew Hancock, Mitesh Bansilal Shah

HARVEST — Letonya Faye Moore

HAZEL GREEN — Curtis Daniel Upton

HUNTSVILLE — Andrew Douglas Dill, Trisha Louise Mellberg, Ralph Christopher Mitchell, Brian Edward Monroe, Laura Elizabeth Robertson

OWENS CROSSROADS — Lisa Maria Geldmeier

PISGAH — Shannon Kay Wright

SOMERVILLE — Edward Lynn Alley

MASTER’S DEGREE

ALBERTVILLE — Robin M. Gregg, Richard Monroe Johnson, Susan Renee Priest, Kelly Matthias Revell, Beth Ann Todd, Jason Brian Watts, Carl David Wright Jr.

ARAB — Laura Hamlin Leak

ARDMORE — Elizabeth Kay Eubanks

ATHENS — Dennis A. James, Benjamin Tyler Johnston

BOAZ — Shannon Lee Burke, Kathy D. Cooley, Theresa Marie McCormick, Vicky Lynn Scott

DECATUR — Jared Daniel Cress, Erin Lee Maziek, Holly D. Mote, Emily Bennett Ray, Zackrey Lee Whaley II

FLAT ROCK — Billy Wayne Duncan

GUNTERSVILLE — Matthew Scott Holaday

HARTSELLE — Karen Renee Howell

HARVEST — Haley Marie James

HAZEL GREEN — Darel Edward Veal

HUNTSVILLE — Grace Alayne Allen, Deborah Kay Bramblett, Carissa Ann Callan, Deborah Darlene Carpenter, Pamela Coleen Delozier, Anna Lee Dunn, Melissa Ann Evans, Laura Nicole Heaven, Jennifer Beth Johnson, Kristal Lamb, James Todd Lee, Steven Allen Lee, William P. Ondocsin, Ronald Douglas Reed, Youilite Arniece Spears, John Bartlett Traylor, Amber Walker, Avis Bearthes Williams

MADISON — Sharon Elaine Daly, Jan Martin Heering, Kevin Paul Heering, Jeannette A. Lessels, Corinda Marlene McCluskey, Melanie T. Pickens

MERIDIANVILLE — Mary E. Bagwell, Jennifer Susan Cardwell, Jon Michael Cardwell

SCOTTSBORO — Byron Keith Buchanan,Victor Layne Griggs, Carlisa Jean Smith

SECTION — Craig Staton Robbins

BACHELOR’S DEGREE

ALBERTVILLE — Nicholas Randall Duckett, Karen Lynn Ellis, Suzanne E. Freshwater, John Michael Hahn, Lugene Coriell Haughton, Valerie Nicole Henley, Melissa Anne Lowery, Amanda Leigh Moore, Adam Jerrell Terrell, Joseph Charles Yount

ARAB — Jeffery David Hyatt, Richard Andrew Lescarini

ATHENS — Meredith Grey Bass, Lindsey Michelle Brooks, Joshua Dwight Collins, Alana Brooke Garrett, Julie Alana Jenkins, Thomas Lebrian Johnson, Kimberly Arleen Mason, Robert Ernest Norton, Shawn Peyton Pack

BOAZ — Brian Mack Elrod, Lindsay Carol Evans, Shea Nicole Jimmerson, Jason Whitt Jones

BRIDGEPORT — Sarah Ellen Ragan, Amber Dawn Wilkey

DECATUR — Kane Oliver Belew, Jennifer Rebecca Blackwood, Angela Michelle Bledsoe, Eric Hanson Chism, Clark Christopher Grissom, Kimberly Anne Johnson, Bart Justin Kirkham, Meredith Anne Leach, Sean Wesley Newberry, Tara Jill Parker, Christopher Glen Paul, Jason K. Spry, William Mathews Stewart, Bryan Mitchell Summerlin, Daniel Paul Svarney, Virginia Lile Terry, Ginny Love Vickery, William Chadwick Wallace

DUTTON — Rusty Dewayne Hughes

ELKMONT — Joseph Melvin Thompson

FLAT ROCK — Troy Keith Prichett

GRANT — Brandy Noelle Maples

GUNTERSVILLE — Janice Lee Stewart

HARTSELLE — Cameron Seth Black, Tara Michelle Conway, Christopher Van Howell, Justin Todd Nesmith, Stephen Bryant Quattlebaum, April Lynn Smith

HORTON — Holleigh Rebecca Grimes

HUNTSVILLE — Troy Lance Bennefield, Kristina Marie Brecciaroli, Amanda Dawn Burkett, Sarah Noel Campbell, Jeremy Ray Carter, Edward Lee Coker, Christine Chandler Cummings, Amanda Anne Dillon, Felecia Renee Edwards, Lindsey Taylor Emerson, Adam Kendrick Fears, Jennifer Greer Gray, Kelli Lashelle Gray, Cassandra Melissa Hand, Amy Elizabeth Hayes, Andrea Rae Jacks, Charles Walter Kilgore, Wesley William King, Charles Hayes Knapp, Erin Michelle Magers, Angela Katyal Malhotra, Kayla Lynn Massey, Stacey Michelle Mathis, Timothy Emmett O’Connor, Aaron Matthew Olson, Amy Leigh Paetz, Sarah Elizabeth Roach, Jennifer Ashley Rockwell, Corey Lee Spiers, Matthew Charles Supko, Dustin Wayne Sutton, Katherine Ann Thomas, Lee Chisholm Tibbetts, Lisa Michelle Trahan, Michael Aaron Vanhook, Brian Nickolas Walker, Rebecca Connolly Wells, Kelley Suzann Whatley, Adam Edward Wiggins, Rachel Elizabeth Woo

LACEYS SPRING — Matthew Shannon Chunn, Kimberly Yvonne McQuiston

MADISON — Tiffany Nicole Feagin, Justin Blake Phelps, Stephen Andrew Wade, Jenny Michele Whitworth

MERIDIANVILLE — April Michelle Strickland

NEW MARKET — Corey Law Hopkins, Amanda Carol Johnson

OWENS CROSSROADS — Samuel Maxwell Brewster, Pamela Layne Childers, David Aaron Hovis

PISGAH — Jonathan Eric Millican

SCOTTSBORO — Ashley Marie Wilborn, Jonathan Bradley Wilson

SECTION — Rachel Rebekah Hardman

TRINITY — Amanda Kay Allard, Sabrina Dianne Lentz, James Richard McCulloch

UNION GROVE — Michelle Renae Parker