Media Advisory — UA’s Summer Commencement Exercises

Monday, August 11, 2003, 9:00 a.m., Coleman Coliseum

SPEAKER

Thomas C. Hubbard, U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Korea — A 1965 UA alumnus, Hubbard has spent his entire 34-year career in the U.S. diplomatic corps, holding his current position since Aug. 2001. Prior to that, Hubbard served for a year as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs. Before that, he served concurrently as U.S. ambassador to the Republic of the Philippines and to the Republic of Palau. He has served in postings throughout the Pacific Rim as well as in Washington and Paris. Hubbard will receive an honorary doctor of humane letters from UA.

AWARDS

Julia and Henry Tutwiler Award: Gloria Narramore Moody — Moody, a longtime patron of the arts, is the recipient of the Julia and Henry Tutwiler Award, UA’s most prestigious award for volunteer service to UA and the people of Alabama. A 1956 UA alumnus, Moody has devoted much of her life to the development and support of music at The University of Alabama and in the Tuscaloosa community. She and her husband, the late Frank Moody, were instrumental in providing and obtaining funds for the construction of the University’s School of Music building which bears the Moody name. An accomplished pianist, Moody began the Gloria Narramore Moody Foundation in 1990 to support the arts and music, particularly by providing Alabamians with the opportunity to see and hear the world’s best musicians. Artists have included bass Samuel Ramey, New York Metropolitan Opera soprano Benita Valente, cellist Yo-Yo Ma, pianist Emanuel Ax, and violinist Itzhak Perlman. Moody is president of the board of the Alabama Symphony Orchestra; chairman emeritus of the Tuscaloosa Symphony Orchestra; and a board member of Opera Birmingham. Moody also serves on the board of the Alabama Shakespeare Festival, the Birmingham Museum of Art, and the Alys Stephens Performing Arts Center.

GRADUATE FEATURES

For more information on these graduates or to set up interviews, contact Suzanne Dowling in Media Relations at 205/348-8324 or sdowling@ur.ua.edu.

Ann McAfee: After 38 years, UA Employee Earns Degree — Like a lot of women in the early 1960s, Ann McAfee decided to quit pursuing her college degree and instead get her “Mrs.” by getting married. Since then, by way of the “University of Life,” she found herself earning positions of increasing responsibility, including her current position as UA director of stewardship. She also had two children, divorced, remarried, and became a grandmother three times. But the unfinished business of the college degree was still a goal she wanted to reach. So, for the past seven years, she has been working and going to school to accomplish that goal. And on Aug. 11, she will graduate summa cum laude with a degree in interdisciplinary studies.

Jeanette Darcy: Gets Degree for her 50th Birthday — Turning 50 is certainly a milestone in anyone’s life, but for Jeanette Darcy the day will have even more meaning since she will be earning her bachelor’s degree in human development and early childhood education. Darcy, who quit school in the mid-70s – is a single mom to two (now grown) children – and took jobs in daycare centers, developing a desire to make helping children learn a career choice. With support from family and friends, she has achieved her dream. “Having choices was very important to me and without the degree, I didn’t have many. But I want people to understand that if you really want something, you have to work for it, and it’s worth the effort.”

Brynna Scott: Silently Earns Her Degree — When Brynna Scott receives her degree in business, she won’t hear the applause of her family and friends, but she might feel the vibrations. Scott is legally deaf and reads lips with such skill that she has been able to complete her degree at UA with little more extra help than a few note-takers in some classes and her family’s unconditional support.