Distinguished Alumni Academy
2000

Anthropology: ALLEN P. McCARTNEY
Allen P. McCartney, an Arkansas native, received his B.A. degree with high honors in sociology/anthropology from the U of A in 1962. He earned his M.A. (1967) and Ph.D. (1971) degrees from the University of Wisconsin, where he specialized in Northern archaeology. McCartney has served on the Board of Governors of the Arctic Institute of North America and edits Arctic Anthropology, published by the University of Wisconsin Press. The author or editor of more than 50 journal articles and chapters, he joined the UA faculty in 1970. He served as Chair of the Department of Anthropology from 1978 to 1984, and later as the Director of the interdisciplinary Environmental Dynamics Ph.D. program, which he was instrumental in establishing.

Art: MERIDETH BOSWELL
Merideth Boswell grew up in Bryant, AR, and graduated from the U of A in 1977 with a BA in art. In 1986 she began decorating film sets in New Orleans, eventually moving to Hollywood to work with such directors as Oliver Stone, Tom Hanks, and Ron Howard. Her credits as set decorator include He Said, She Said, Cool World, Heaven and Earth, Natural Born Killers, In Dreams, Ed TV, and Apollo 13, for which she received an Academy Award nomination in 1995. She also designs interiors, furniture, and ceramic tiles; clients include Ron Howard, Tom Hanks, Beacon Pictures, and John Tyson.

Biological Sciences: HERMAN H. “HANK” SHUGART, JR.
A native of El Dorado, Herman H. "Hank" Shugart, Jr., is the W. W. Corcoran Professor of Environmental Sciences and the Director of the Global Environmental Change Program at the University of Virginia. Dr. Shugart earned bachelor's and master's degrees in zoology at the U of A and a doctorate at the University of Georgia. He is renowned internationally for his studies of forest ecosystems and is a leading authority in the development of predictive models of changing global environments. Elected to the Russian Academy of Science in 1999, Shugart is a Fellow in the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He is the author of 266 publications and is on the editorial boards of nine scientific journals.

Chemistry: W. VES CHILDS AND HOLLY HARTRICK CHILDS
W. Ves Childs and Holly Hartrick Childs met at the U of A. Ves earned his M.S. and Ph.D. from the UA Department of Chemistry. Holly earned her B.S. in chemistry in 1962. Both worked at Phillips Petroleum Company until Holly quit to raise a family and volunteer. Beginning in 1972, she spent 10 years organizing the state of Oklahoma in support of the Equal Rights Amendment. In 1980 she earned an M.E. in chemical engineering from Tulsa University.
In 1984 both Ves and Holly accepted positions at 3M Company in St. Paul, Minnesota, where she is a product development specialist in the Film/Light Management Center. A research project developed by Holly and her team received 3M’s Golden Step award for $10 million in sales the first year and the company’s highest award for recycling. Ves, with 25 publications and 49 U.S. patents, is a sought-after speaker on such topics as understanding electrochemical fluorination.

Communication: DONNA AXUM WHITWORTH
While a student at the U of A, Donna Axum Whitworth was crowned Miss America 1964. She received her BA in 1966 and her MA in 1969, both in speech and drama. Her extensive professional experience as a college teacher, executive producer/TV hostess, TV spokesperson, speaker, and author is complemented by civic and government service, notably on the Advisory Committee for the Oklahoma Commission on the Status of Women, the Governor’s Commission on the Employment of the Disabled in Arkansas, and the Advisory Committee on the Arts for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Her service to the U of A includes leadership roles in the Arkansas Alumni Association and the National Development Council.

English: BARRY HANNAH
Born in Clinton, MS, and a resident of Oxford, MS, for almost 20 years, Barry Hannah chose the U of A for his 1966 MA in English and his 1967 M.F.A. in fiction. His writing and teaching credits are impressive: Director of English Honors at Clemson University; Writer-in- Residence at Middlebury College in Vermont, University of Alabama, University of Iowa, and University of Montana; Acting Director of the Iowa Writing Workshop; script writer for director Robert Altman; and, since 1982, tenured Writer-in-Residence at the University of Mississippi. He has published in Esquire, Harper's, The New Yorker, Spin, Rolling Stone, and George. The author of 12 novels, Hannah is the recipient of the Robert Penn Warren Lifetime Achievement Award in Fiction.

Journalism: MORT STERN
As night city editor of the Denver Post, Mort Stern brought his journalism students from the University of Denver to the Post at night for "reality training," sometimes taking them along on assignment. A member of Phi Beta Kappa and Omicron Delta Kappa, he received his BA degree in 1947. He earned an MS from Columbia University and a Ph.D. from the University of Denver. In 1973, Stern established the School of Communication at the University of Alabama, becoming its first dean. He held deanships and executive positions at the Universities of Colorado and Denver, serving as Chair of the Department of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley, where he remains an emeritus professor. Stern has been awarded a Nieman Fellowship and has served as a juror three times for the Pulitzer Prize competition.

Music: JERRY A. YOUNG
Dr. Jerry A. Young earned his BS in education from the U of A, then taught instrumental music in public schools before completing his MS and Ph.D. degrees in education at the University of Illinois. He is currently Professor of Tuba and Euphonium and Coordinator of the Wind and Percussion Area at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. Young is the complete artist, educator, and promoter of the tuba. As a faculty member of the Interlochen Arts Camp from 1983 to 1993, he founded the Interlochen Tubafest and performed regularly as a soloist and chamber musician. He is editor-in-chief of the TUBA Journal, a member of the Advisory Board for the Leonard Falcone International Euphonium and Tuba Festival, associate editor of The Tuba Source Book, and a performer with Symphonia, an 18-piece euphonium and tuba ensemble comprised of some of the finest artist/teachers in the US

Philosophy: SPENCER H. BROWN
His BA degree with honors in philosophy from the University of Arkansas prepared Dr. Spencer H. Brown for a brilliant career in medicine. He was awarded his M.D. degree from the University of Oklahoma School of Medicine in 1967, serving his general and cardiothoracic surgical residency at UCLA and his cardiac surgery residency at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Brown was listed in The Best Doctors in America, Central Region, in 1966, and is a member of the American Board of Surgery and the American Board of Thoracic Surgery. Elected to Phi Beta Kappa at the U of A and to Alpha Omega Alpha in medical school, Brown is the recipient of a Navy Letter of Commendation.

Psychology: DAVID E. JOHNSON
A Professor of Psychology at John Brown University in Siloam Springs, Dr. David E. Johnson was recently named president-elect of the Society for the Teaching of Psychology, the largest national organization devoted to the profession. He earned both his MA and Ph.D. at the U of A in experimental social psychology. A Fellow of the American Psychological Association, Johnson is the author of many published works on psychology and psychology education, including the Handbook of Demonstrations and Activities in the Teaching of Psychology, a three-volume set he co-edited. At JBU, he serves as Chair of the Department of Psychology and of the Division of Social and Behavioral Studies.