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Alumni
Association holds 17th Annual Dinner; Crawford
named Outstanding Alumnus
CLICK
HERE FOR PHOTOS FROM THE DINNER
 Morrow,
Ga., April 21, 2009 –
The Clayton State Alumni Association “Welcomed Home” 130
alumni and friends for its 17th Annual Alumni Dinner on
Saturday, April 18th at the Student Activities Center
Ballroom.
The highlight of the event
is the naming of the Outstanding and Distinguished Alumni
Award winners, where an alumnus is honored from all five of
the respective Colleges and Schools, including an Overall
Alumnus of the Year. This year’s Overall Alumnus of the Year
was Hugh “Tim” Crawford, a 1984 graduate with a degree in
business administration.
Along with Crawford, other
honorees were: Dr. Wendell A. Turner, Distinguished College
of Arts & Sciences Alumnus; Sheila L. Rambeck, Distinguished
College of Professional Studies Alumnus; Robin M. Stanton,
Distinguished School of Nursing Alumnus; and Jeremy C.
Brooks, Distinguished College of Information & Mathematical
Sciences Alumnus.
“What a wonderful evening
and incredible list of award winners,” said Gid Rowell,
Director of Alumni Relations. “Their accomplishments are an
exceptional reflection of Clayton State University. Our
Alumni Dinner has evolved into a really special occasion and
the ‘signature event’ of our Association.”
In addition, the Alumni
Association made special presentations to both Dr. Thomas K.
Harden and College of Professional Studies Associate Dean
Benita H. Moore.
Dr. Harden, who will be
leaving CSU to become the next President at the University
of Wisconsin Green Bay, was honored for his support. In
recognition of his establishment and participation in the
Association’s Annual Pancake Breakfast during Homecoming,
the organization presented him with the “Perfect Pancake
Award.” Each of the last nine years, Dr. Harden and School
of Business professor Dr. Michael H. Deis have flipped
pancakes at the breakfast for guests, and they have a
contest to determine who can make the perfect pancake.
For Dr. Moore, who will
also be leaving the University at the end of the semester,
the Association recognized her with the establishment of the
Dr. Benita H. Moore Scholarship in her honor. A 1974
graduate of Clayton State, Benita has been a huge supporter
of the Alumni Association during her 25 years at Clayton
State. She was a charter member of the Association’s Board
of Directors in 1991 and also served as the interim Director
of Alumni Relations at one time.
“This year our Dinner was
extra special, since we had the opportunity to recognize
both Dr. Harden and Dr. Moore, two great supporters of the
Alumni Association,” said Rowell. “They both made great
contributions to the growth and success of our
organization.”
Outstanding Alumni
Award Winners
Crawford is a native of the
south side of Atlanta and currently resides Douglasville,
GA. After graduating from Clayton State, he attended Georgia
State University where he earned his Bachelor’s Degree in
Accounting. He and his wife Sabrina have four children and
two of their daughters are enrolled at Clayton State.
For the past six years,
Crawford has been the President and Co-Owner of Heritage
Cadillac Saab in Morrow, which was the 2007 Clayton County
Business of the Year. Sabrina is also in the business and
serves as co-owner and service director of the dealership.
Offering his time back to the
community is very important to Crawford. He is a member and
volunteer for many organizations including the Clayton,
Henry, and Fayette County Chambers of Commerce, the Clayton
County Rotary Club, a Board member of the Keith Brooking
Children’s foundation and is a member of the Clayton State
University Board of Trustees. Crawford is also a long time
supporter of the Clayton State Athletic Association. He
also gives his time to the Court Appointed Special Advocates
for Children and Habitat for Humanity.
When asked why he gives so
much of his time to others he states, “As someone who has
experienced success in many aspects of my life, I consider
it a responsibility and a privilege to give back to others
who are less fortunate. As a business owner, I understand
supporting the community that supports my business and how
the cycle contributes to the success of all.”
Dr. Turner graduated in
1976 from Clayton Junior College with an Associate in Arts.
He began school at Clayton in 1975 as a joint enrollment
student, receiving credit for his studies both as a senior
at North Clayton High School and a freshman at the College.
Later, he continued his
studies, receiving a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry in
1978 from Georgia Tech. He earned his Doctor of Medicine
from the Medical College of Georgia and completed his OB/GYN
Residency at the Medical College of Georgia from 1982 to
1986.
Dr. Turner has practiced
medicine in Gainesville, GA, since 1986 and recently founded
Gainesville Gynecology. He is a Diplomate with the American
Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology and a Fellow of the
American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology. He is also a
member of the Medical Association of Georgia, the Hall
County Medical Society, the Ninth District Medical Society
and the Georgia OB/GYN Society. He has published several
articles during his residency covering the topics of Feto-Maternal
hemorrhage, Neuro-Endocrine Carcinoma of the Cervix and
research on estrogen receptors.
In collaboration with Dr.
William Greene, Dr. Turner, at the Lakeshore Surgical Center
in Gainesville, has developed a method to reverse the Essure
permanent sterilization procedure. This technique includes
microscopic reimplantation of fallopian tubes previously
blocked after the Essure treatment. This reversal procedure
offers options to women that might change their minds about
pregnancy. After this innovative treatment, Dr. Turner and
Dr. Greene documented the first pregnancy in the United
States occurring after Essure reversal.
In the community, Turner is also active as a Deacon a member
of the choir in his church, a volunteer coach and referee in
the Georgia Mountains Soccer Association, a Board Member of
the Court Appointed Special Advocates for Children and a
Board member and volunteer for the Crisis Pregnancy Center
at the Gainesville Care Center. Additionally, he has
traveled to Chile and Spain on several mission trips to aid
college ministries.
He and his wife, Beverly
Hancock Turner, have been married for 30 years and have
three grown children. His hobbies include golf, fitness
training and tennis.
Rambeck,
of Peachtree City, GA, is an attorney licensed in the State
of Georgia. Rambeck actually holds three Clayton State
degrees, a certificate in marketing and merchandising in
2001, an associate in marketing in 2002, and bachelor of
applied science in technology management in 2003. After
graduating magna cum laude from Clayton State, she graduated
from Georgia State University College of Law in 2006.
As
a non-traditional student with a husband and a child,
Rambeck began her college career at Clayton State in 2000 to
learn about marketing and advertising for her internet
business selling figure skating themed gifts and apparel.
“I don’t know that I
would have gone back to school if it wasn’t for the
website,” said Rambeck. “Law had always been a background
thought.”
Now
after getting her start Clayton State, she is licensed to
practice in the Superior Courts of Georgia, the Court of
Appeals of the State of Georgia, and the Supreme Court of
Georgia. She has also been sworn in to the Northern
District of Georgia Federal Courts and the Middle District
of Georgia Federal Courts.
Rambeck is also a member of the Christian
Legal Society, the Georgia Association for Women Lawyers,
and Phi Alpha Delta, a law fraternity.
Sheila is a member of the Fayette County,
Atlanta, Georgia and American Bar Associations. She is also
a member of the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy
Attorneys and the American Bankruptcy Institute.
Stanton,
of Locust Grove, GA, graduated with her nursing degree from
Clayton State in 1994. Currently, she is the CEO of Sacred
Journey Hospice in McDonough, a hospice formed to serve the
residents of Atlanta’s southern crescent. The facility is
owned and operated by an all nurse executive team. Sacred
Journey Hospice provides home care and assisted living
services as well as operating a 12 bed inpatient facility.
She gives back to the
community and is active in local nursing organizations.
Sacred Journey helps support a scholarship for a nursing
student every semester at Clayton State University, and
requests CSU nursing students for clinicals at its
facility.
One of the nursing
faculty members in her nomination said, “Robin exemplifies
professional nursing behavior, and is a wonderful
representative of the alumni that Clayton State has working
in the community.”
Stanton holds
certifications in Oncology and Palliative Care Nursing. She
is a member of National Hospice Palliative Care Organization
and Georgia Hospice Organization and she currently serves on
the board of the North Georgia Hospice Nurses Association.
After excelling as a student, Brooks, of Conyers, GA,
entered the software
development industry, taking a position at a research lab as
a lead developer. The company, Virtually Better, is known
worldwide as an innovator in the area of virtual reality
environments to address mental health needs of the public.
He actively worked with psychologists to develop virtual
environments to treat substance abuse, post traumatic stress
disorder and the fear of flying.
Later, Brooks became a
product development manager for 3d MD. During this time, he
designed and implemented medical visualization algorithms
which enables medical teams to visualize volumetric data. He
also worked to improve surgical simulation systems. His
work led to him receiving the Joseph E. Johnson Clinical
Award at the 2007 AAO Annual Session.
Brooks is currently
developing augmented reality applications that can be used
in surgical settings and is a student at Georgia State,
where he intends to complete his Master of Science in
Computer Science.
A Clayton State faculty
member stated in his nomination, “Jeremy is applying his
skills in ways that make an impact in the community. We are
proud of his accomplishments and look forward to seeing his
future role in both academic and industrial research. I have
known Jeremy for nearly 10 years and believe him to be an
excellent example of the caliber of student we are trying to
foster at CSU.”
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