Alumni & Friends

Meet Our Alumni

• <span class="lw_item_thumb"><a href="/live/profiles/2855-bradley-seay"><img src="/live/image/gid/68/width/345/height/225/crop/1/src_region/36,0,588,551/6565_Bradley_Seay.rev.1563898067.jpg" alt="Bradley Seay, E&H Class of 1989" class="lw_image" width="345" height="225" data-max-w="552" data-max-h="551"/></a></span><div class="lw_widget_text"><h4 class="lw_profiles_headline"><a href="/live/profiles/2855-bradley-seay"><p> Bradley Seay is an arborist who is committed to knowing not only the trees but also their environs.</p></a></h4><div class="lw_profiles_description"><p> If you follow Bradley Seay’s Facebook page, you might wonder if he’s in a Disney nature documentary. Little birds sit on his shoulder. He gets up close and personal with frogs and turtles. And he’s Bradley-on-the-spot when it comes to naming plants and wildflowers.</p><p> Bradley lives in Maryland, and is an arborist with Bartlett Tree Experts. He says his time in the forest has solidified his passions for the outdoors and turned him into a true nature buff.</p><p> He left Emory & Henry with plans of being a nature photographer. He had dreams of being one of those guys who set up in a remote and wild region of the world, hiding under a shrub, looking patiently through the viewfinder for hours until he caught a breathtaking shot that would be seen around the world. What really happened was that he ended up at Kmart doing family portraits. “It just wasn’t what I had in mind.”</p><p> As he began to put aside dreams of becoming a nature photographer, he had the opportunity to join the crew of Schiller Trees in Charlottesville. He soon felt like this was a different, but important, way that he could be connected to nature. He soon joined Bartlett, and now, all these years later, he seems so suited for the role that it’s hard to imagine him as anything else.</p><p> His duties are varied, and include everything from evaluating the health of trees to offering consultation on best use of forested property to trimming older trees correctly to finding the right spot for new trees. </p><p> He emphasizes that it is really important to evaluate whether you’re putting in a tree that is suited for the region and the climate where it is being planted. “A tree is an investment of time and energy as well as money – so we want to make sure a property owner will spend the next 10 years watching a tree flourish, not watching it slowly die. Some of the most emotional discussions I have to have are when I have to tell someone that a beloved tree is not going to make it.”</p><p> So, while Bradley isn’t making a living taking photos of his beloved natural surroundings, he is making sure everything is picture perfect for those who love trees.</p></div><a href="/live/profiles/2855-bradley-seay" class="link-with-arrow gold">Keep reading</a></div>
• <span class="lw_item_thumb"><a href="/live/profiles/1953-chris-kolakowski"><img src="/live/image/gid/68/width/345/height/225/crop/1/src_region/0,0,1500,1499/3488_Kolakowski_Chris_0501.rev.1520631894.jpg" alt="Chris Kolakowski, Class of 1999" class="lw_image" width="345" height="225" srcset="/live/image/scale/2x/gid/68/width/345/height/225/crop/1/src_region/0,0,1500,1499/3488_Kolakowski_Chris_0501.rev.1520631894.jpg 2x, /live/image/scale/3x/gid/68/width/345/height/225/crop/1/src_region/0,0,1500,1499/3488_Kolakowski_Chris_0501.rev.1520631894.jpg 3x" data-max-w="1500" data-max-h="1499"/></a></span><div class="lw_widget_text"><h4 class="lw_profiles_headline"><a href="/live/profiles/1953-chris-kolakowski"><p> Chris Kolakowski is the Director of the MacArthur Memorial in Norfolk, VA. </p></a></h4><div class="lw_profiles_description"><p> Christopher L. Kolakowski was born and raised in Fredericksburg, Va. He received his BA in History and Mass Communications from Emory & Henry College, and his MA in Public History from the State University of New York at Albany.</p><p> Chris has spent his career interpreting and preserving American military history with the National Park Service, New York State government, the Rensselaer County (NY) Historical Society, the Civil War Preservation Trust, Kentucky State Parks, and the U.S. Army. He has written and spoken on various aspects of military history from 1775 to the present. He has published two books with the History Press: <em>The Civil War at Perryville: Battling For the Bluegrass</em> and <em>The Stones River and Tullahoma Campaign: This Army Does Not Retreat</em>. In September 2016 the U.S. Army published his volume on the 1862 Virginia Campaigns as part of its sesquicentennial series on the Civil War. He is a contributor to the Emerging Civil War Blog, and his study of the 1941-42 Philippine Campaign titled <em>Last Stand on Bataan</em> was released by McFarland in late February 2016. He is currently working on a book about the 1944 India-Burma battles.</p><p> Chris came to Norfolk having served as Director of the General George Patton Museum and Center of Leadership in Fort Knox, KY from 2009 to 2013. He became the MacArthur Memorial Director on September 16, 2013.</p></div><a href="/live/profiles/1953-chris-kolakowski" class="link-with-arrow gold">Keep reading</a></div>
• <span class="lw_item_thumb"><a href="/live/profiles/2718-leilani-tizon"><img src="/live/image/gid/68/width/345/height/225/crop/1/src_region/369,0,1305,938/6484_file3-1.rev.1560975311.jpg" alt="Leilani Tizon, E&H Class of 2018" class="lw_image" width="345" height="225" srcset="/live/image/scale/2x/gid/68/width/345/height/225/crop/1/src_region/369,0,1305,938/6484_file3-1.rev.1560975311.jpg 2x" data-max-w="936" data-max-h="938"/></a></span><div class="lw_widget_text"><h4 class="lw_profiles_headline"><a href="/live/profiles/2718-leilani-tizon"/></h4><div class="lw_profiles_description"><p> Leilani Tizon (E&H Class of 2018) is in a plum job: but she’s quick to point out that she worked hard to get there. “People who say they’re jealous of what I’m doing don’t really understand just how hard it was to get here.”</p><p> When Leilani was a senior at E&H she was led to believe her internship would turn into a full-time job so she thought she was graduating ahead of the curve.  But the company she was interning with decided not to fill her position full-time, and she was suddenly in a world of career uncertainty.</p><p> But Leilani doesn’t take anything lying down: and she started a personal networking campaign that was street-savvy and textbook-worthy. “I had a part-time job that only required 25 hours a week, so I spent the rest of my week networking like it was hobby! I went to networking events and lunches and one day the right door opened.”</p><p> Everyone she met was impressed with her energy, and even if they didn’t have a job open they remembered her when having conversations with friends and colleagues. Eventually, she got a call saying a friend of a friend had a job that sounded just right for her skill set.</p><p> She is the Marketing Communications Coordinator for the currency management solutions division of <a href="https://vimeo.com/295234250">Giesecke+Devrient Currency Technology</a> – and she is the youngest employee among 12,000 employees worldwide (500 in the U.S.). The company specializes in currency counting machines around the world – and they do a lot of business in casinos. “I spend a lot of time traveling to trade shows – and I’m heading to Las Vegas next month for another show.”</p><p> Leilani has a great perspective on the pressures and expectations put on young professionals her age. “Some people think people in my generation are demanding an unrealistic salary, but if we are going to live in metropolitan centers like Washington D.C. we can’t afford to live on meager earnings. We have to be our own best promoters in order to survive in this economy.”</p><p> She is grateful to the professors in the E&H Mass Communications division because they, as she said, “prepared me for things I never anticipated!” And she is grateful for an internship that gave her real-world experience. “I work with people who went to bigger universities who weren’t required to do an internship – but I’m so glad they made us do one!”</p><p> Leilani ended up at Emory & Henry because she wanted to be far enough away from home that she could fail on her own without her parents being close enough to swoop in and save the day. “I had real meltdowns as a student – but I learned how to take care of myself. And now I’m in a high-stress job where I’m still figuring things out; but every day is a blessing!”</p><p> Her best advice to current students? “Believe in yourself and promote yourself: you cheer for you!”</p><p><a href="https://archive.org/details/OntheDuckPondWall/Leilani+Tizon.mp3" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Listen to an interview with Leilani</a> on WEHC-FM radio….the Emory & Henry College and Community station! </p><p><img width="1000" height="882" alt="Leilani Tizon, E&H Class of 2018" src="/live/image/gid/68/width/1000/height/882/6486_file1-5.rev.1560977950.jpg" class="lw_image lw_image6486 lw_align_right lw_column_width_full" data-max-w="875" data-max-h="772"/></p></div><a href="/live/profiles/2718-leilani-tizon" class="link-with-arrow gold">Keep reading</a></div>
• <span class="lw_item_thumb"><a href="/live/profiles/155-"><img src="/live/image/gid/2/width/345/height/225/crop/1/src_region/0,0,450,490/27_abe1975e59116cf763b1821b22668003_f74661.rev.1491319536.jpg" alt="Dr. Ken Noe poses with one of his Auburn grad students, Peter Thomas (E&H, '08). In addition ..." class="lw_image" width="345" height="225" data-max-w="450" data-max-h="490"/></a></span><div class="lw_widget_text"><h4 class="lw_profiles_headline"><a href="/live/profiles/155-"><p> Dr. Ken Noe ’79 Writing Book on the Weather’s Impact on the American Civil War</p></a></h4><div class="lw_profiles_description"><p> When Dr. Ken Noe (’79) was growing up in Elliston he remembers that weather played a huge role in the work done on his grandfather’s farm. “If rain was coming, we dropped everything else to put up hay.” He thinks this experience planted a seed in the back of his mind about the impactful influence of weather. Later, his interest in weather grew when he took a geography course at Emory & Henry with Dr. Ed Bingham.</p><p> But even he could never have predicted that he would now be writing a two-volume book on weather’s impact on the American Civil War.</p><p> Ken is the Draughon Professor of Southern History at Auburn University. He is the author or editor of seven books, and he has published scads of articles, essays and chapters about the Civil War. He is a decorated history professor serving at West Georgia College before heading to Auburn. He was a Pulitzer Prize entrant and won the 2003 Kentucky Governor’s award, the 2002 Peter Seaborg Book Award for Civil War Non-fiction, and the 1997 Tennessee History Book Award. He has won several teaching awards, has served as president of the Alabama Historical Association, and is serving on the Advisory Board of the Society of Civil War Historians. He has even been a consultant for the NBC series <em>Who Do You Think You Are? </em></p><p> But in all his prolific writing and research and publishing even he is surprised that his biggest and most industrious work to-date will be about weather.  “Meteorologists are still trying to work out why the weather during the Civil War was so unusual. They dealt with incredibly snowy and rainy winters and droughts in the summer that affected Southern food supplies. There were dust storms, flooded rivers, and only two hurricanes. It had a profound effect on many campaigns.”</p><p> His research on weather has already taken several years, and he still has a few years left before he publishes. And even he was amazed to realize just how much information he had accumulated. “Very little has been written about Civil War environmental history. It is only now becoming part of the conversation about Civil War history.”  </p><p> Ken says that even in a field of study like Civil War history where so many things have been written, there is still new area for research and a lot of topics that haven’t been covered.  He has grad students asking new questions about the role of religion, the prison industries during the war, the role of friendship, and one young man, who is an E&H grad, is looking into camp life.</p><p> Even though we have just passed the 150^th anniversary of the American Civil War, Ken points out that this conflict still has implications for current events; and he marvels that most conversations over the past 18 months have quickly moved from history to current topics like the Confederate flag, U.S. prisons, and race relations. He says his field has gotten so tangled with politics that there is a declining interest in Civil War history among the public. “But this event still has much to teach us. It was a great turning point in American History and opened up questions that are still being answered about equality of humankind, the status of women, states’ rights. I don’t know how we can answer all these questions unless we go back to the beginning.” He consistently stresses to his students the importance of going back to primary source information rather than depending on how the stories have been told and passed down.</p><p> Ken actually majored in education at Emory & Henry and still remembers panicking when he realized he didn’t want to be a junior high school teacher. “I had a lot of electives leftover and started taking history classes late in my college experience. I realized what I wanted to be was a historian and teach at a higher level.” A conversation with Patsi Trollinger (’72) reassured him that most alumni do not stick to work within their major. And a conversation with Dr. Gene Rasor in the history department led to a phone call which ended with Dr. Rasor telling Ken he had an interview with the history department at Virginia Tech.</p><p> The rest, as they say, is history.</p></div><a href="/live/profiles/155-" class="link-with-arrow gold">Keep reading</a></div>
• <span class="lw_item_thumb"><a href="/live/profiles/1863-beau-blevins"><img src="/live/image/gid/68/width/345/height/225/crop/1/src_region/0,0,1500,2100/3381_BeauPhoto14_4.rev.1519761977.jpg" alt="Beau Blevins, Emory & Henry Class of 2005" class="lw_image" width="345" height="225" srcset="/live/image/scale/2x/gid/68/width/345/height/225/crop/1/src_region/0,0,1500,2100/3381_BeauPhoto14_4.rev.1519761977.jpg 2x, /live/image/scale/3x/gid/68/width/345/height/225/crop/1/src_region/0,0,1500,2100/3381_BeauPhoto14_4.rev.1519761977.jpg 3x" data-max-w="1500" data-max-h="2100"/></a></span><div class="lw_widget_text"><h4 class="lw_profiles_headline"><a href="/live/profiles/1863-beau-blevins"><p> Beau Blevins is the Director of Government Consulting for the Virginia Local Government Finance Corporation.</p></a></h4><div class="lw_profiles_description"><p> Beau serves as Director of Government Consulting for the Virginia Local Government Finance Corporation.  In this capacity, he advises localities on finance-related matters and leads business development and government relations efforts.  Beau previously served as the Director of Intergovernmental Affairs for the Virginia Association of Counties (VACo) for six years, where his chief duties included local government relations and advocacy in the areas of tax and finance.  In addition, he served as a Senior Budget Advisor at the Virginia Department of Planning and Budget under the Kaine and McDonnell gubernatorial administrations.   </p><p> Beau most recently served on Governor Ralph Northam’s transition team for finance and tax policy. In 2013, he was appointed by Governor Terry McAuliffe to serve on the Board of Visitors to George Washington’s Mount Vernon, a post he still holds today. Beau is a graduate of the <em>LEAD VIRGINIA </em>program.  He holds a Master’s in Public Administration from George Mason University and a B.A. in Political Science from Emory & Henry College.</p><p> A 2005 graduate, Beau credits Emory & Henry for teaching him the importance of public service and relationship building. More importantly, E&H is where he established many lifelong friendships.</p></div><a href="/live/profiles/1863-beau-blevins" class="link-with-arrow gold">Keep reading</a></div>
• <span class="lw_item_thumb"><a href="/live/profiles/1892-emily-wallace"><img src="/live/image/gid/68/width/345/height/225/crop/1/src_region/125,132,340,347/3398_Emily_wallace.rev.1519914812.jpg" alt="Emily Wallace, E&H 2004." class="lw_image" width="345" height="225" data-max-w="215" data-max-h="215"/></a></span><div class="lw_widget_text"><h4 class="lw_profiles_headline"><a href="/live/profiles/1892-emily-wallace"><p> Emily Wallace is a writer, illustrator, humorist – and an expert on Duke’s Mayonnaise and Pimento Cheese. </p></a></h4><div class="lw_profiles_description"><p> Emily Wallace is a freelance writer and illustrator with a <strong><em><a href="https://www.indyweek.com/indyweek/a-brief-history-of-pimento-cheese/Content?oid=2567371" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">master’s in pimento cheese</a></em></strong>. No, really.</p><p> She serves as deputy editor of <em><a href="http://southerncultures.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><strong>Southern Cultures</strong></a> </em>at UNC-Chapel Hill, and has written and illustrated work for other publications including <em>The Washington Post</em>, <em>Southern Living</em>,<em> The Oxford American,</em>and<em> </em><em>GOOD</em><em>. </em> In 2015, Wallace was nominated for a James Beard Award in humor writing for her written/illustrated essay, “Ham to Ham Combat: The Tale of Two Smithfields.” She lives in Durham with her muppet (dog) Rubick.</p><p> An English and Art double-major at Emory & Henry, she is as well-known for her art as she is for her writing. “An Elaborate Excuse for a Pun: Illustrations by Emily E. Wallace,” is currently on view at Wilson Library Special Collections, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (Feb. 2018). You can see some of her <strong><a href="http://eewallace.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">illustrations on her webpage</a></strong>. Don’t expect to view leftover seasonal candy the same again. </p></div><a href="/live/profiles/1892-emily-wallace" class="link-with-arrow gold">Keep reading</a></div>
• <span class="lw_item_thumb"><a href="/live/profiles/792-bronie-reynolds"><img src="/live/image/gid/68/width/345/height/225/crop/1/src_region/0,0,499,543/565_bronie.rev.1505403379.jpg" alt="Bronie Reynolds (E&H '84) poses with Mike Young (E&H ’86)" class="lw_image" width="345" height="225" data-max-w="499" data-max-h="543"/></a></span><div class="lw_widget_text"><h4 class="lw_profiles_headline"><a href="/live/profiles/792-bronie-reynolds"><p> Did you ever wonder who picks the best referees in the country? Turns our Bronie Reynolds (right, E&H ’84) is one of those people.</p></a></h4><div class="lw_profiles_description"><blockquote><p> She picks the refs who make the big calls. </p></blockquote><p> Bronie Reynolds (E&H ’84, E&H Hall of Fame basketball point guard) laughs with glee as she recalls how Dave Thomas used a dust spray around the edges of the E&H basketball court. “He took such good care of the King Center…and we all knew if you got much beyond the court lines during a game, you’d slide all over the place because he had dusted over there!”</p><p> These days Bronie is looking at basketball from a different vantage point. She is one of a handful of people who evaluate basketball referees. She works for Charlene Curtis – former basketball standout and Hall Of Famer from Radford University who selects and assigns the Women’s Basketball Officials for the ACC, Big South, Southern and Colonial Conferences.  Bronie has known Ms. Curtis for a long time. “Coach Curtis, as I refer to her since I worked under her as her Graduate Assistant Coach at Radford University in 1984, is also responsible for the evaluation of the officials for those conferences.  She has to hire Neutral Observers, like me, to help her fulfill the expectations of each conference to have the best officials on the floor for every game. “</p><p> During the summer, she attends a camp where new officials try to break into conferences like the ACC and current officials try to vie for a better spot on the referee totem pole. Bronie says it’s very competitive. “Every year they’re all evaluated – so they have to be on their best game. They have to stay in shape physically, they must know the rules, and they need to appear invisible on the court. There is always someone trying to get their spot.”</p><p> She has a “day job,” too. She is Business Manager for Blue Spiral Consulting and an Insurance Consultant for Blue Ridge Insurance Services. However, throughout the year she watches tapes of games and attends games, and she gets to watch a lot of her favorite sport. “I get paid to watch basketball! Who can complain about that!?”</p></div><a href="/live/profiles/792-bronie-reynolds" class="link-with-arrow gold">Keep reading</a></div>
• <span class="lw_item_thumb"><a href="/live/profiles/2685-katelyn-shaver"><img src="/live/image/gid/68/width/345/height/225/crop/1/src_region/0,0,720,720/6354_katelyn_Shaver.rev.1557175245.jpg" alt="Katelyn Shaver at San Jacinto Battleground/Battleship TEXAS State Historic Site." class="lw_image" width="345" height="225" srcset="/live/image/scale/2x/gid/68/width/345/height/225/crop/1/src_region/0,0,720,720/6354_katelyn_Shaver.rev.1557175245.jpg 2x" data-max-w="720" data-max-h="720"/></a></span><div class="lw_widget_text"><h4 class="lw_profiles_headline"><a href="/live/profiles/2685-katelyn-shaver"><p> Katelyn Parks is using a liberal arts preparation to connect her to every aspect of the National Park where she’s employed.</p></a></h4><div class="lw_profiles_description"><p> Katelyn Shaver’s “world of work” gives her a job description that covers a lot of areas: </p><p> -Inspecting reproduction period weapons.</p><p>             -Dressing in period outfits and acting like a person from the 1830s.</p><p>             -Public Speaking: Educating about history, lifeways, and skills from the 19^th Century.</p><p>             -Writing: Writing text for exhibits, waysides, publications and grants.</p><p>             -Biology: Working with the prairie/marsh restoration and wildlife.</p><p>             -Community service: Working with Texas Master Naturalist volunteers.</p><p>             -Transportation: Driving different types of vehicles and us various tools.</p><p>             -Art:  Making supplies for interpretive programs.</p><p>             -Public Relations: I usually get asked to help with traffic control.</p><p><a href="https://www.ehc.edu/live/image/gid/68/height/672/src_region/88,105,645,854/6353_katelyn_shaver_2.jpg" class="lw_preview_image"><img width="500" height="672" alt="Katelyn Shaver at San Jacinto Battleground/Battleship TEXAS State Historic Site." src="/live/image/gid/68/width/500/height/672/crop/1/src_region/88,105,645,854/6353_katelyn_shaver_2.rev.1557175245.jpg" class="lw_image lw_image6353 lw_align_left lw_column_width_half" data-max-w="720" data-max-h="960"/></a>As a Park Ranger I – Interpretation/Volunteer Coordinator at <a href="https://tpwd.texas.gov/state-parks/battleship-texas">San Jacinto Battleground/Battleship TEXAS State Historic Site</a>, Katelyn’s job description could probably be summed up by this single quote: “It is not an experience I expected to have but there we are.”</p><p> Katelyn became passionate about the world of park interpreters after working a stint at the Petersburg National Battlefield site. She is now in one of the country’s most unique parks, far from Petersburg, because she understood that to get a job or a promotion in the National Park Service, she had to be willing to move.</p><p> Katelyn double-majored in English, with a focus on creative writing and literature, and History and minored in Sociology. . She took classes in psychology, biology, and anthropology.  She’s now in a job that requires her to use a wide range of skills and experiences. “I had some good history professors at EHC that helped grow my interest in the field. Every NPS site is unique and so the requirements for jobs at them differ; we ‘wear many hats’ in my profession and so the skills I learned from different subjects have proved to be useful in the long run.”</p><p><img width="200" height="267" alt="Katelyn Shaver at San Jacinto Battleground/Battleship TEXAS State Historic Site." src="/live/image/gid/68/width/200/height/267/6355_katelyn_and_dg.rev.1557175347.jpg" class="lw_image lw_image6355 lw_align_left lw_column_width_half" srcset="/live/image/scale/2x/gid/68/width/200/height/267/6355_katelyn_and_dg.rev.1557175347.jpg 2x, /live/image/scale/3x/gid/68/width/200/height/267/6355_katelyn_and_dg.rev.1557175347.jpg 3x" data-max-w="720" data-max-h="960"/>You’ll see a lot of articles these days about how people don’t appreciate the value of a liberal arts degree. The “connected learning” experience offered by places like Emory & Henry might seem like it isn’t getting you to your job goal fast enough. Katelyn Shaver is a perfect example of why having a broad range of skills and experiences can prepare you for what you don’t see coming.</p><p> She just celebrated her five-year work anniversary, and she is well-versed in the fascinating history of her park. Fun fact: this park site is considered the birthplace of Texas because the last battle of the Texas Revolution occurred here on April 21^st, 1836: the same year Emory & Henry was founded.</p></div><a href="/live/profiles/2685-katelyn-shaver" class="link-with-arrow gold">Keep reading</a></div>
• <span class="lw_item_thumb"><a href="/live/profiles/1229-michael-payne"><img src="/live/image/gid/68/width/345/height/225/crop/1/src_region/0,0,270,270/1710_michael_payne.rev.1513720647.jpg" alt="Michael Payne attended Emory & Henry College." class="lw_image" width="345" height="225" data-max-w="270" data-max-h="270"/></a></span><div class="lw_widget_text"><h4 class="lw_profiles_headline"><a href="/live/profiles/1229-michael-payne"/></h4><div class="lw_profiles_description"><p> Michael is a licensed and Certified Athletic Trainer (ATC) working through Doctors Hospital of Augusta, Georgia. As part of an outreach program, he works mostly with the athletes at a 6A high school in Georgia, but also work through the Physical Therapy Department with prehab patients. As an athletic trainer, he is responsible for collaborating with physicians to provide preventative services, emergency care, clinical diagnosis, therapeutic intervention and rehabilitation of injuries and medical conditions in the athletic setting.</p></div><a href="/live/profiles/1229-michael-payne" class="link-with-arrow gold">Keep reading</a></div>
• <span class="lw_item_thumb"><a href="/live/profiles/1748-brian-wolfe"><img src="/live/image/gid/68/width/345/height/225/crop/1/src_region/0,0,600,771/3168_brian_wolfe.rev.1518208834.jpg" alt="Dr. Brian Wolfe" class="lw_image" width="345" height="225" data-max-w="600" data-max-h="771"/></a></span><div class="lw_widget_text"><h4 class="lw_profiles_headline"><a href="/live/profiles/1748-brian-wolfe"><p> “I wholeheartedly believe in approaching a patient’s care as a partnership.”</p><p> –Dr. Brian Wolfe, ’97</p></a></h4><div class="lw_profiles_description"><div class="container"><div class="row"><div class="col-xs-8 col-sm-9"><div class="row"><div class="col-sm-5" id="clinicalLocinfo"><p> Brian Wolfe graduated from E&H in 1997. He received his medical degree from  Johns Hopkins University in 2001. He has been on the teaching faculty for Temple University Hospital and Vanderbilt University Medical Center. He is now affiliated with the University of Colorado Hospital in Aurora, Colorado. He interned at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center Program, and was Chief Resident, Internal Medicine, in 2005. </p><p> Dr. Wolfe has received the AANP Advocate State Award for Excellence, awarded for promoting the role of the nurse practitioner. He has received the Excellence in Clinical Innovation from the University Colorado Hospital Medical Staff for development of a post-graduate training program for physician assistants and nurse practitioners in hospital-based medicine. He received the Temple University Junior Faculty Residency Teaching Award. And in 2007, he received the award for Best Patient Advocate to the Vanderbilt University Emergency Department.<br/><br/> Brian’s philosophy about medicine is a personal one: “I wholeheartedly believe in approaching a patient’s care as a partnership. When a person is admitted to the hospital, this can be a stressful and disorienting experience. My role in the physician-patient partnership is to 1) understand a patient’s concerns and who he is she is as a person, 2) bring state-of-the-art care to the bedside, 3) communicate with the patient, the family, and the patient’s other physicians in a high level and meaningful manner.”<br/></p></div></div></div></div></div></div><a href="/live/profiles/1748-brian-wolfe" class="link-with-arrow gold">Keep reading</a></div>
• <span class="lw_item_thumb"><a href="/live/profiles/1747-art-scott"><img src="/live/image/gid/68/width/345/height/225/crop/1/src_region/0,0,492,492/3154_Art_Scott.rev.1518207659.jpg" alt="Arthur Scott" class="lw_image" width="345" height="225" data-max-w="492" data-max-h="492"/></a></span><div class="lw_widget_text"><h4 class="lw_profiles_headline"><a href="/live/profiles/1747-art-scott"><p> Art Scott is with the National Association of Counties.</p></a></h4><div class="lw_profiles_description"><p> Arthur Scott serves as Associate Legislative Director for the National Association of Counties (NACo’s) lobbying on a broad range of issues including next generation telecommunications, technology, cyber security, agriculture and rural economic development. Arthur also serves as Political Outreach Manager for NACo developing and leveraging strategic partnerships to help address key county priorities in Congress and the Administration. Additionally, Arthur designed and managed NACo’s 2016 U.S. Presidential Election initiative “Counties Connect America.” Other responsibilities include staffing NACo’s Northeast Region Caucus and the National Association of County Intergovernmental Relations Officials (NACIRO).</p><p> Prior to NACo, Arthur served as Assistant to the Chief of Staff in the U.S. Senate. During his time in the Senate, Arthur managed all federal appointment processes including judicial nominations and coordinated political and civic outreach initiatives across the Commonwealth. Arthur also managed the grassroots outreach programs for congressional campaigns during the 2008, 2010 and 2012 election cycles. Taking a leave of absence from his position in the Senate, Arthur helped design and execute field programs to address the diverse geographic and demographic landscapes of Virginia. A native of rural Southwestern Virginia, he graduated from Emory & Henry College in 2007 with a B.A. in Geography and minor in Business Management. Before moving to Washington, D.C. in 2008, Arthur operated in several capacities within the economic development community in Southwest Virginia including an internship with Lenowisco, the regional planning district commission.</p></div><a href="/live/profiles/1747-art-scott" class="link-with-arrow gold">Keep reading</a></div>
• <span class="lw_item_thumb"><a href="/live/profiles/2082-nathan-grinstead"><img src="/live/image/gid/68/width/345/height/225/crop/1/src_region/138,51,766,679/4183_IMG_2845.rev.1527692777.jpg" alt="Nathan Grinstead, E&H Class of 2011." class="lw_image" width="345" height="225" data-max-w="628" data-max-h="628"/></a></span><div class="lw_widget_text"><h4 class="lw_profiles_headline"><a href="/live/profiles/2082-nathan-grinstead"><p> Nathan Grinstead (E&H ’11) is an inspector for the Department of Environmental Quality.</p></a></h4><div class="lw_profiles_description"><p> Nathan Grinstead is an inspector with the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ). He conducts above ground and underground storage tank inspections to ensure compliance with federal and state laws and regulations. </p><p><br/> It is a job that requires more than a casual acceptance of a little dirt and tight spaces. He also has to have great people skills. He spends a great deal of his time interacting with other environmental agencies and cooperating with local government officials.</p><p><br/> He says his coursework at Emory & Henry gave him a solid foundation for upholding the laws and regulations of the DEQ, as well as an appreciation for the importance of his work regarding environmental impacts. “I gained a wealth of knowledge pertaining to water quality and the importance of biological diversity. My work experience at the DEQ has given me a full understanding of how important it is to have clear and concise regulations that protect our environment. My current position allows me to enforce those regulations to ensure facilities and stakeholders remain in compliance, helping to prevent future pollution incidents from occurring. I continue to expand my knowledge every day and strive to be a committed public servant to protect citizens of the Commonwealth and the environment.”</p></div><a href="/live/profiles/2082-nathan-grinstead" class="link-with-arrow gold">Keep reading</a></div>
• <span class="lw_item_thumb"><a href="/live/profiles/2706-zach-hupp"><img src="/live/image/gid/68/width/345/height/225/crop/1/src_region/438,0,1298,859/6403_IMG_3293.rev.1558644302.JPG" alt="Zach Hupp and fraternity brother, Dale McGlothlin, at Zach's advancement ceremony." class="lw_image" width="345" height="225" srcset="/live/image/scale/2x/gid/68/width/345/height/225/crop/1/src_region/438,0,1298,859/6403_IMG_3293.rev.1558644302.JPG 2x" data-max-w="860" data-max-h="859"/></a></span><div class="lw_widget_text"><h4 class="lw_profiles_headline"><a href="/live/profiles/2706-zach-hupp"><p> Zach Hupp is a public affairs specialist for the U.S. Coast Guard.</p></a></h4><div class="lw_profiles_description"><p> Zach Hupp is a Petty Officer 3^rd Class for the U.S. Coast Guard and serves as a Public Affairs Specialist.</p><p> “I work in the Public Affairs office of the First Coast Guard District with two other petty officers, and the three of us are the primary spokespeople for the Northeast region of the U.S., including Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, most of New York and parts of northern New Jersey. My team is responsible for telling the Coast Guard story; some days that means taking photos or videos of our cutters and stations around the Northeast, some days we are doing live on-camera interviews about cases involving the Coast Guard, and some days we are flying on helicopters as part of a response to a national disaster. With each of those things, we are the ones that make sure the Coast Guard looks good.”<br/><br/> Zach is no stranger to military service; his grandfather retired from the U.S. Marine Corps in 1970 after serving for over 20 years. “When I was in high school, I thought it would be cool to follow in his footsteps. But when I told him my plan, he sat me down and said, ‘I have seen what the Marines can do to a young boy, and I want more than that for you.’ To me, that meant I was going to college instead!”</p><p> So he landed at Emory & Henry, but his junior year he decided to join the Coast Guard.  But there was a hitch: he was carrying a little too much weight to meet the Coast Guard’s physical qualifications.</p><p> So, he finished his Emory & Henry Mass Communications degree, and then worked for awhile as a financial analyst for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission as a team-member of CGI Federal. He loved the work and his team, but he never stopped thinking about the Coast Guard, so he got in shape– and lost about 75 pounds.</p><p><a href="/live/image/gid/68/height/667/6402_IMG_3288.JPG" class="lw_preview_image"><img width="500" height="667" alt="Zach Hupp at his military advancement ceremony with his daughter Lennox, wife Olivia,  and frat..." src="/live/image/gid/68/width/500/height/667/6402_IMG_3288.rev.1558644278.JPG" class="lw_image lw_image6402 lw_align_left lw_column_width_half" srcset="/live/image/scale/2x/gid/68/width/500/height/667/6402_IMG_3288.rev.1558644278.JPG 2x, /live/image/scale/3x/gid/68/width/500/height/667/6402_IMG_3288.rev.1558644278.JPG 3x" data-max-w="2400" data-max-h="3200"/></a>In the Coast Guard, he has served on an 87-foot patrol boat (Coast Guard Cutter HERON) in Virginia Beach, VA. He has done a lot of Search-and-Rescue and Law Enforcement work and eventually was sent to school at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Charleston, SC to train and qualify as a Coast Guard Boarding Team member. “That qualification was my first real step towards law enforcement. I was also taking every opportunity to become as knowledgeable as I could about the Coast Guard.”</p><p> He was eventually deployed to Patrol Forces Southwest Asia (PATFORSWA), which is a forward-deployed unit consisting of six 110-foot patrol boats and a shoreside support unit based in Manama, Bahrain. Zach says he didn’t know what to expect there. “There is no real way to describe how hot it gets in the middle east, short of experiencing it first-hand. While there, I was stationed on Coast Guard Cutter MAUI with 21 other crew members. We patrolled the Arabian Gulf, often making stops in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Dubai, Qatar, and Oman. Some of our missions there included escorting Army and/or Navy vessels through the gulf, interdicting migrants and drugs, collecting pattern-of-life data, and building community with the local fishing fleet.”</p><p> Zach liked law enforcement, but he found himself taking pictures and videos in his spare time until one day he left the Middle East and went to the Defense Information School located in Fort Meade, Maryland. He took a course to become a Public Affairs Specialist, and transferred to Boston, Massachusetts, and that’s where he is stationed now.</p><p> “Being in public affairs for the Coast Guard is important to me because it lets me use my skills to tell people all of the great things that the smallest branch of the armed forces does. I have been able to meet senators, congressmen, and many other prominent political figures just in the first six months of being in Boston. I have prepared senior officers for on-camera interviews on national television. I get to write the press releases, take the pictures, and go on camera for major events in our area. I spent two weeks as gathering information and imagery during and after Hurricane Florence, traveling between the storm-ravaged Conway, South Carolina and the flooded towns of eastern-North Carolina. All of that comes back to being able to be a story teller, to be a voice when otherwise there may not be. I love being able to use my skills in a way that makes a difference, and as cliché as it sounds, I get to highlight the great things that the men and women of the Coast Guard do every day.”</p><p> And it all started with a little Mass Communications 101 course at Emory & Henry.</p><p> “When I was at Emory, I started as a math major. It wasn’t until my 4^th semester that I took MCOM-101 with Dr. Teresa Keller and found out that communications was pretty fun! I switched majors. Because the classes at Emory make you so well rounded, I attribute a lot of my success in press releases to the fact that Dr. Kasoma never gave me an easy grade in Writing, Reporting, and Editing. I attribute my love for making videos to Dr. Keller always driving me to do better. I am thankful every day for the education I was able to get at Emory & Henry; from the professors who always saw through my excuses and knew I could give more effort, to the lifelong friends I met along the way. I always tell people that an education from Emory is more than ‘paying for a degree,’ but rather it’s the experiences of a small school in a beautiful area that makes it so unique. They say that a picture is worth a thousand words: In the end, my degree is but a few lines of text culminating from a million memories.”</p></div><a href="/live/profiles/2706-zach-hupp" class="link-with-arrow gold">Keep reading</a></div>
• <span class="lw_item_thumb"><a href="/live/profiles/1746-cathy-cuskey-large"><img src="/live/image/gid/68/width/345/height/225/crop/1/src_region/201,93,535,426/3153_cuskey_large.rev.1518207527.jpg" alt="Cathy Cuskey Large" class="lw_image" width="345" height="225" data-max-w="334" data-max-h="333"/></a></span><div class="lw_widget_text"><h4 class="lw_profiles_headline"><a href="/live/profiles/1746-cathy-cuskey-large"/></h4><div class="lw_profiles_description"><p> Cathy Cuskey Large (’93) used to avoid physics like the plague: so, of course, she is now flourishing as a Medical Physicist.</p><p> “I took physics in high school and just hated it. But I had a teacher at Virginia Highlands Community College who made me love it.”</p><p> So she transferred to Emory & Henry, graduated with a major in physics and a minor in math, and then headed to UT for a master’s in physics. While there she ventured into the engineering department to explore a more applications-based area of physics (less theoretic), and that’s where she first heard about medical physics. She’s never looked back.</p><p> She has worked at the clinic level where she had to implement logistics necessary to make it safe for cancer patients and health workers to be around radiation treatment. “We even have to take into consideration someone who might be working on the roof on a given day.”</p><p> Her work there involved everything from selecting proper building materials to measuring wall widths. These days she’s working for Phillips Medical as a consultant, and is writing algorithms for the administration of radiation. “It’s a great career, and there aren’t a lot of people doing this – so there are great opportunities for new grads.”</p></div><a href="/live/profiles/1746-cathy-cuskey-large" class="link-with-arrow gold">Keep reading</a></div>
• <span class="lw_item_thumb"><a href="/live/profiles/2547-christian-tripp"><img src="/live/image/gid/68/width/345/height/225/crop/1/src_region/0,0,855,832/6009_tripp.rev.1551228791.jpg" alt="Christian Tripp, E&H Class of 2018." class="lw_image" width="345" height="225" srcset="/live/image/scale/2x/gid/68/width/345/height/225/crop/1/src_region/0,0,855,832/6009_tripp.rev.1551228791.jpg 2x" data-max-w="855" data-max-h="832"/></a></span><div class="lw_widget_text"><h4 class="lw_profiles_headline"><a href="/live/profiles/2547-christian-tripp"><p> Christian Tripp is honing his acting craft.</p></a></h4><div class="lw_profiles_description"><p> Christian Tripp (E&H ’18) finished up his senior year at Emory & Henry in the usual way: plenty of studying, time with friends, and a ton of theater auditions. Well…maybe everyone doesn’t finish out college with auditions, but you do if you’re a theatre major.</p><p> To his delight, he was offered several jobs. Instead of stressing about finding a job, he was worried about how to choose between many great options. So he gave himself a deadline. “I told myself I would pick one on Friday. On Thursday I got emailed by the head of acting from the University of Alabama. He asked to see my audition package, I sent it via email, and the next day he gave me a full ride scholarship.”<br/><br/> He has also been offered two summer acting positions — one in Flagstaff, Arizona with the Flagstaff Shakespeare Festival (he’ll be Daniel De Bosola in <em>Duchess of Malfi</em>) and another in Camden, Maine with Camden Shakespeare Festival (he’s playing Horatio in <em>Hamlet</em> and Lucentio in <em>Taming of the Shrew</em>). So in the summer of 2019, he’ll be playing three supporting leads. Then he’ll head back to Alabama to start his second year of graduate school.<br/><br/> Christian is a true success story for the <a href="/academics/theatre/">E&H theatre department</a>, and he’s grateful for the experiences he gained as an undergraduate. “I feel that my time at Emory & Henry really prepared me to handle anything. I will be playing pretty heavy roles this summer back to back to back, and normally someone might pause at that. For me I see it as a great challenge I’m more than capable of handling.”</p></div><a href="/live/profiles/2547-christian-tripp" class="link-with-arrow gold">Keep reading</a></div>