“Award/Recognition” Class Notes
Eve Lindemuth Bodeux (Grad ’89)
Eve Lindemuth Bodeux (Grad ’89) was elected as secretary for the American Translators Association at the organization’s annual conference, held in Miami in October 2023. She will serve a two-year term from 2023 to 2025 as an officer and member of the Executive Committee.
The ATA is the largest professional association for translators and interpreters in the world, with over 8,000 members in more than 100 countries. Bodeux is a Certified Translator and has been active in the translation industry for over 25 years.
Ashley-Ruth Bernier (Col ’04, Educ ’04)
Ashley-Ruth M. Bernier (Col ’04, Educ ’04) wrote a short story, “Ripen,” that was included in The Best American Mystery and Suspense 2023, edited by Lisa Unger and Steph Cha.
Bernier has been writing short fiction set in her home island of St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, since she was an undergraduate student at UVA. Bernier returned to the Virgin Islands after graduating from UVA, but currently lives in North Carolina with her husband and children.
Rayotis Perkins (Col ’88)
Rayotis Perkins (Col ’88 CM) received a ‘Hoos Making a Difference’ honor by the Virginia Football Alumni Club. Dr. Perkins was nominated for his positive contributions as a leader and dedication to community service.
Dr. Perkins played football as a defensive tackle during the 1980’s for the late coach George Welsh. After his collegiate career, he continued his passion for football as a free agent with the National Football League to include brief stints with the Dallas Cowboys and Arizona Cardinals.
Dr. Perkins is currently an assistant principal and athletic director with Tolleson Union High School in Phoenix.
Steven Nesbit (Engr ’80 CM)
Steve Nesbit (Engr ’80, ’82 CM) was one of six American Nuclear Society members elevated to the rank of Fellow in September 2023. The ANS past president (2021–2022) and founder of LMNT Consulting LLC was recognized for being a prominent and effective leader and spokesperson for the beneficial use of nuclear technology. The society highlighted Nesbit’s work to dispose of surplus weapons plutonium by converting it to mixed oxide fuel and using it in commercial nuclear reactors.
Elizabeth Meyer (Arch ’78 CM)
Beth Meyer (Arch ’78, ’82 CM), the Merrill D. Peterson Professor of Landscape Architecture in the UVA School of Architecture, was appointed the inaugural faculty director of the UVA Morven Sustainability Lab in November 2022. She received the Thomas Jefferson Award, the University’s highest faculty scholar honor in June 2023.
Porter Echols (Col ’85)
P. Burks Echols III (Col ’85 CM) and Ann Carter “Boo” Refo Echols (Col ’86 CM) celebrated the graduation of their daughter M. Carter Echols (Com ’22 CM) from the McIntire School of Commerce in May 2022 and look forward to celebrating the graduation of their daughter Sarah B. Echols (Col ’24) from the College of Arts and Sciences in May 2024. The family – including June W. Echols (Educ ’73 CM) and Porter “Pete” B. Echols, Jr. (Col ’55, Med ‘58 CM) – gathered for a photo with their collection of UVA diplomas in July of 2022. Sarah held the Medical School diploma that was earned by her great grandfather, Porter B. Echols, Sr (Med 1925) as a marker until she earns her diploma in May 2024.
Anne Marie Seibel (Col ’94)
Anne Marie Seibel (Col ’94 CM) is serving as chair of the American Bar Association’s Litigation Section for the 2023-24 bar year. She and her husband, Steven Rowe (Col ’94 CM), chief scientific officer of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, live in Birmingham, Alabama.
Nayna Agrawal (Col ’98)
Nayna Agrawal (Col ’98) has had plays staged this year at the Signature Theatre in Washington, D.C., the Great Plains Theater Conference in Omaha, Nebraska and the Studio Tenn Theatre Company in Nashville, Tennessee . She also received Kuma Kahua Theatre’s annual playwright award. The Theatre is based in Hawaii and, in addition to a monetary award, offers the winning playwright the opportunity to have their work staged.
Patricia Sasser (Col ’99 CM)
Patricia (Anyaso) Sasser (Col ’99 CM) was selected to be a Fulbright Specialist for a tenure of three years (2023-2026) by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and World Learning. During her tenure, she is eligible to be matched with approved two-to six-week projects designed by host institutions in over 150 countries globally promoting international exchange and understanding.
Andrew Lee (Med ’89 CM)
Dr. Andrew G. Lee (Col ’85, Med ’89 CM) was recently awarded the 2023 Secretariat Award from the American Academy of Ophthalmology. The annual award from the AAO recognizes special contributions to the Academy and to the field of Ophthalmology as determined by the AAO Senior secretaries. Dr. Lee has previously received the honor award, the senior honor award, and the life achievement award from the AAO.
Morgan Flowers (Col ’19)
Morgan Flowers (Col ’19 CM) has been recognized with a 2023 CoVaBIZ Next Gen Award. The awards recognize successful young professionals making a difference in their industries in Coastal Virginia.
Flowers is development associate for The Lawson Companies, a vertically-integrated real estate firm based in Norfolk, Virginia specializing in the development, construction, and management of multifamily housing communities in Virginia.
Flowers is primarily accountable for third-party due diligence, architectural and civil design management, green building program implementation, permitting, and owner’s representative during construction.
William Sexauer (Com ’19)
Will Sexauer (Com ’19 CM) has been recognized with a 2023 CoVaBIZ Next Gen Award. The awards recognize successful young professionals making a difference in their industries in Coastal Virginia.
Sexauer is acquisitions manager for The Lawson Companies, a vertically-integrated real estate firm based in Norfolk, Virginia specializing in the development, construction, and management of multifamily housing communities in Virginia.
He is accountable for sourcing Lawson’s new development projects, evaluating financial feasibility, conceptual project design, the entitlement process, broker and seller relationships, and contract management.
James Guy (Col ’87)
James Patrick Guy II (Col ’87, Law ’90 CM) has been chosen president-elect of the southern chapter of the Energy Bar Association for the 2023-24 bar year and will serve as its president in 2024-25. He previously served as southern chapter president in 2010-11 and was the 128th president of the Virginia Bar Association in 2016.
Guy is general counsel to Mecklenburg Electric Cooperative and its affiliates, EMPOWER Broadband Inc. and EMPOWER Telecom Inc. He also was appointed to the Virginia State Air Pollution Control Board by Gov. Glenn Youngkin in 2022 and serves as Board Chairman.
The Energy Bar Association (EBA) is an international, non-profit association of attorneys, energy professionals, and students active in all areas of energy law. EBA has seven regional chapters across the U.S. and one in Canada. The Southern Chapter comprises the states of Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia.
Paulette Morant (Col ’74 CM)
Paulette Jones Morant (Col ’74 CM) was featured as artist of the month in July 2023 at The Nelson Gallery in Lexington Virginia. Her exhibit From Where I Stand, a compilation of seascapes, public structures, florals and collections, was Paulette’s first solo photography exhibition. The opening reception was highlighted by the attendance of family, friends and a number of UVA alumni of various decades.
William Gentry (Col ’81 CM)
William C. Gentry (Col ’81 CM) of Gentry Law Firm LLC in Marietta, Georgia has been elected to serve as secretary of the 54,000-member State Bar of Georgia. Gentry was installed June 10 during the organization’s annual meeting in Savannah.
Gentry also serves on the state bar’s executive committee and has represented the Cobb Judicial Circuit on the Board of Governors of the State Bar. He earned his law degree from the University of Georgia School of Law and was admitted to the state bar in 1986.
His law practice focuses on family law, including divorce, high asset property division, child custody and alimony cases. He serves as chair of the state bar’s Senior Lawyers Committee and is a past president of the Cobb County Bar Association.
Edward Coleman (Col ’04)
Ed Coleman (Col ’04) has been named in the 2024 edition of Best Lawyers in America for his practice in insurance litigation and personal injury. Inclusion is by peer evaluation only and fewer than 6% of all U.S. lawyers are included in this annual publication.
Thomas Grant (Col ’92)
Thomas C. Grant (Col ’92) has been named to the 2024 edition of Best Lawyers in America® in the practice area of Commercial Litigation. Grant is a partner with Freed Grant LLC in Atlanta, where he focuses his practice on commercial litigation, commercial real estate, and insurance defense matters. He received his law degree at Emory University School of Law.
About Freed Grant LLC www.freedgrant.com
About Best Lawyers www.bestlawyers.com
Best Lawyers is the oldest and most respected peer-review publication company in the legal profession. Their lists of outstanding lawyers are compiled by conducting exhaustive peer review surveys in which tens of thousands of leading lawyers confidentially evaluate their professional peers.
Alvin Garcia (Col ’88, Nurs ’06 CM)
Cmdr. Alvin Garcia (Col ’88, Nurs ’06 CM) was selected for Commander in the Navy Nurse Corps. He is a pediatric nurse practitioner and clinical nurse specialist. He is attending the Naval Postgraduate School to obtain his executive M.B.A. degree.
Wolfgang Drechsler (Grad ’86 CM)
Wolfgang Dreschler (Grad ’86 CM) and co-authors Rainer Kattel and Erkki Karo have won the Academy of Management’s 2023 George R. Terry Award for their book How to Make an Entrepreneurial State: Why Innovation Needs Bureaucracy. The George R. Terry award is granted annually to the book judged to have made the most outstanding contribution to the global advancement of management knowledge during the last two years.
Mark Snell (Col ’97 CM)
Mark Snell (Col ’97 CM) was recognized in May 2023 by Atlanta Business Chronicle as the Atlanta CFO of the Year, Mid-Sized Private Company, in recognition of his efforts leading digital forensics company Grayshift through rapid growth and its strategic growth investment from Thoma Bravo.
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