Congratulations, 2019 40 Under 40!

40 Under 40 Logo

We’re proud to announce the 40 Under 40 Class of 2019 today! This program, in its ninth year, celebrates the achievements of successful UGA graduates under the age of 40–a set of alumni who are leading the pack in their industries and communities. These young leaders will be recognized during the ninth annual 40 Under 40 Awards Luncheon Sept. 13 in the Tate Student Center on campus. If you’re interested, please join us for this special event.

Each Honoree Stands Out

The 2019 class includes a few names you might recognize:

  • Allison R. Schmitt, a gold medal-winning Olympic swimmer
  • Malcolm Mitchell, Super Bowl champion and children’s author
  • Will Carr, a correspondent for ABC News on a national level

But even if you don’t know the names of everyone on the list, you’ll still be impressed at the caliber of these graduates working in everything from law and politics, to health care, nonprofit and food and beverage. For example, Tim Fleming is Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp’s chief of staff and Catherine Marti is a cardiologist at Piedmont Heart Institute focused on heart failure and transplant cardiology.

“We are excited to unveil this year’s class of 40 Under 40 and welcome them back home to Athens for the awards luncheon in September,” said Meredith Gurley Johnson, executive director of alumni relations. “I am always amazed by the excellence of our young alumni. These outstanding individuals exemplify leadership in their industries and communities.”

The Competition

Talk about a competitive selection process: nominations for 40 Under 40 were open from February to April, and more than 400 alumni were nominated for this year’s class. Honorees, of course, must have attended UGA and they have to uphold the Pillars of the Arch: wisdom, justice and moderation. Additional criteria are available on the 40 Under 40 webpage.

“The achievements of our nominated alumni each year make it hard to narrow down the list to just 40 honorees, and this year was no exception,” said Johnson. “We are proud of all of these outstanding young graduates. Their drive and focus inspires the UGA community.”

Ok, Ok, Show Me the List!

This year’s 40 Under 40 honorees, including their city, title and employer, are listed below in alphabetical order:

The Event

As we said earlier, if you’re interested in attending the 2019 40 Under 40 Awards Luncheon in Athens on Friday, September 13, please register today! *If you’re an honoree, please use the registration link provided to you by the Alumni Relations team.

AthFest through the years

With year 23 of AthFest taking place this weekend, we asked for your favorite memories from years past. Check out the post below to reminisce on some #TBT pics! We’ve included important details for the weekend at the end of this post.

AthFest 2009:

“My high school’s ET club ran second stage every year – I fell in love with Athens my first trip.” – Virginia Luke (AB ’17)

Photo from Virginia Luke

 

AthFest 2012:

“Seeing Emily Hearn perform! Crazy to see a fellow Bulldog and friend on the Pulaski Stage. Her songs are just so fresh and fun to sing and dance to!” – Laura Bayne (AB ’11, MPA ’19)

Photo from Red and Black

 

AthFest 2016:

“Seeing Family and Friends and Kishi Bashi up close was a dream come true” – Ally Hellenga (ABJ ’16)

Photo from Kishi Bashi’s Facebook page

 

AthFest 2018:

“The music is awesome, but my favorite part was the open-air Artist Market. They have booths up and down Washington Street with a ton of cool vendors, and you could buy unique, local items.” – Caitlyn Richtman (ABJ ’19, AB ’19)

Photo from AthFest Educates

Additional Information:

Cost:

All of the outdoor stages are free! If you want to purchase a Club Crawl wristband, it’s $25. Be sure to check each club’s age restrictions.

Schedule:

This weekend’s schedule is jam-packed.

Parking and Stage Map:

This post was written by Communications Intern Bailey Carreker

College of Pharmacy dean, alumna is committed to success of others

The UGA Alumni Association is proud to spotlight Kelly Smith (BSPH ’92, PHARMD ’93), dean of the UGA College of Pharmacy, who returned to her alma mater in late 2018.

Commemorating the 75th Anniversary of D-Day

Joseph Lee Parker, Jr.

Dr. Joseph Lee Parker Jr. served in the 6th Beach Battalion. Photo via the U.S. 6th Naval Beach Battalion.

75 years ago today, over 160,000 Allied troops landed on the beaches of Normandy, France, to fight Nazi Germany. Known as “D-Day”, thousands of soldiers were killed and wounded, but Allied victory allowed for the beginning of the end of Hitler’s regime.

The UGA Alumni Association would like to share the story of Dr. Joseph Parker Jr. (BS ’38), an alumnus originally from Waycross, Georgia, who served as a United States Naval physician and was a part of the invasion of Omaha Beach on D-Day.

Parker was a member of the 6th Naval Beach Battalion. After the invasion, he treated wounded Allied and German troops for 21 days on the beach. In 2011, alongside 16 fellow World War II veterans, Parker was presented with the Legion of Honor medal from the French government.

Prior to joining the U.S. Navy, Parker earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Georgia and went on to earn a medical degree from the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta. While at UGA, Parker lettered in swimming, and was a member of Sigma Nu fraternity. His children and grandchildren continued his Bulldog legacy and also attended the University of Georgia.

When Parker passed away in Greensboro, Georgia, on September 27, 2012, at the age of 95, he was the longest surviving Navy physician who served at Omaha Beach.

Dr. Parker in 2004. Shot by Allen Sullivan of the Athens Banner-Herald.

A Bureau of Medicine and Surgery interview from 1999 with Dr. Parker is available.

On this anniversary of an important day in our history, the Bulldog family would like to thank those who have served in the United States military, living or deceased.

We appreciate your service and we will never forget the sacrifices you made.

Eric Baker: Out of This World

Eric Baker

Eric Baker (ABJ ’90) is an Imagineer for The Walt Disney Company, with credits including just-opened Galaxy’s Edge.

*In honor of Galaxy’s Edge officially opening in Disneyland on May 31, UGA is highlighting Eric Baker (ABJ ’90), a Grady graduate and creative director with Walt Disney Imagineering.

This story originally ran in the Summer 2019 issue of Georgia Magazine.

A long time ago in a galaxy not so far, far away …

A young Eric Baker ABJ ’90 was making his own Star Wars playsets because store-bought versions weren’t good enough. The son of an art teacher and a building contractor, Baker made his own Yoda masks from forms he sculpted, molded, and casted with help from his mom.

Now, he’s a creative director with Walt Disney Imagineering, working on the Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge-themed lands opening in Disneyland this summer and Walt Disney World this fall.

“I love taking these worlds and bringing them from film to something people can actually go see and touch and really be a part of,” he says.

Baker attended the University of Georgia where he studied telecommunications and theatrical design. He knew he wanted to make films, so he learned model building, special effects, and set design through his course work. As a student, his first job in the industry was at Cable 13 doing Larry Munson’s makeup for his Tuesday night show.

TV Career
From the Earth to the Moon

Baker’s work on the Tom Hank’s mini-series “From the Earth to the Moon” earned him an Emmy nomination.

After graduation, Baker found work at Nickelodeon doing props on the hit show Clarissa Explains it All, coming up with games to gross people out for Double Dare, and testing pool games for Nickelodeon Guts.

That led to other film and TV work including The Mickey Mouse ClubSesame Street 3D MovieBad Boys 2, and the Tom Hanks mini-series From the Earth to the Moon  (which earned Baker an Emmy nomination).

But after 20 years in film production, the industry was changing, so Baker took an entry level model-building job with Universal Studios’ creative department.

 

 

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter
The Wizarding World of Harry Potter

Baker built concept models for Universal’s Harry Potter theme parks in Florida, California, and Japan.

They asked him to build a castle—which turned out to be Hogwarts. For the next two years, Baker built concept models for Universal’s Harry Potter theme parks in Orlando, California, and Japan.

The worlds are fully immersive, from taking the Hogwarts Express train from Platform 9 ¾ to drinking a cold butterbeer on the giant benches of the Leaky Cauldron. The worlds are layer upon layer, from haunted portraits to fountains that come alive with a souvenir wand.

The work Baker did for Diagon Alley in Orlando (which has 106,000 props) was such a game changer that the Themed Entertainment Association created a new award for it: the Paragon award, which won’t be awarded again until someone tops the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

And Baker is up to the challenge.

Star Wars
Galaxy's Edge

Galaxy’s Edge opened in Disneyland on May 30, and Disney World’s version will open August 29.

Disney took notice of Baker’s work and offered him the job he’d dreamed of since he was a young Padawan: Star Wars. Now he’s overseeing construction of thousands of pieces of props and set dressing for the immersive Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, which means a lot of flying between Florida and California (commercial, not on an X-wing).

He’s visited the Star Wars film sets and Skywalker Ranch where he photographed some of the original props from the film, which was another dream come true for him. “Star Wars changed my life,” he says.

But ultimately, his job comes down to using the Force for good.

“I love going to work in the morning to see the look on kids’ faces the first time they come into the park. That’s the most rewarding thing I do: making people happy.”

 

Bringing UGA to Charleston and Savannah

On May 21 and May 22, the UGA Alumni Association brought Athens to Savannah and Charleston to remind local alumni that their Bulldog community is wherever they are.

Want to see what the night was all about? Check out our Instagram highlights of both receptions:

Savannah

We kicked things off at the Perry Lane Hotel on its Peregrin Rooftop. Over 150 alumni and friends joined us for a memorable evening overlooking historic Savannah.

UGA alumni and friends converse on Perry Lane Hotel's rooftop.

While we were greeted with high temperatures, the stunning venue and an amazing turnout meant great conversations took place between Savannah alumni–from those who grew up there to those who had lived there for only a few weeks.

UGA Alumni and friends gather at the Perry Lane Hotel overlooking historic Savannah.

Nothing finer than a rooftop full of 150 new friends in red and black, right?

UGA Alumni from Savannah pose for a photo.

View Savannah Photo Gallery

 

Charleston

The next evening in Charleston we greeted local alumni with air conditioning, and shrimp and grits in part of the renowned Cigar Factory called The Cedar Room.

UGA alumni and friends gather in the Cedar Room in Charleston, SC.

Behind the scenes, our Charleston Alumni Chapter President Stephen Scates filmed a shout-out for our Instagram story highlight (linked to above).

UGA Charleston Chapter President Stephen Scates records a video for Instagram.

Executive Director of Alumni Relations Meredith Gurley Johnson (BSFCS ’00, MED ’16) shared news from campus, including announcing the UGA Mentor Program, a university-wide mentorship program that will connect students with alumni (alumni can begin signing up in mid-June).

Executive Director Meredith Gurley Johnson presents at UGA in Low Country event.

Somewhere between the giphy station and tacos, the Bulldog community in the Low Country grew a little closer. If you missed either of these receptions, make sure you’re aware of future events by signing up for your local chapter listserv on the Savannah or Charleston chapter pages.

Reception attendee laughs during remarks.

View Charleston Photo Gallery

 

Upcoming Events

Looking for the next fun chance to connect with fellow Bulldogs? The Savannah Chapter will host a UGA Night at the Savannah Bananas on July 16. The Charleston Chapter is hitting the water with their third annual sunset cruise on June 14 with local BBQ catered by Home Team–sign up today so you don’t miss out!

 

Docebo unlocks a world of opportunity for UGA students

Rocio "Ro" Sanchez Lobato

Rocio “Ro” Sanchez Lobato (AB ’15, MS ’17) works as a customer success specialist at Docebo.

Athens is celebrated for all it is home to. It is the home of the Georgia Bulldogs, home to renowned restaurants and live music venues and the home and birthplace of public higher education. What most do not realize is that Athens is also home to the North American location for the global tech company, Docebo. And that office is a prime example of the many benefits of UGA’s corporate partnerships.

Docebo, Latin for “I will teach,” provides a learning ecosystem for companies and their employees, partners, and customers designed to increase performance and learning engagement. The company’s artificial intelligence-powered learning platform blends social and formal learning and helps over 1,500 companies around the world. Docebo’s newest office in downtown Athens is booming, hiring motivated young employees like Rocio Sanchez Lobato (AB ’15, MS ’17).

Rocio, affectionately known as “Ro,” is a customer success specialist for Docebo. A native of Marbella, Spain, Ro made a name for herself stateside as a member of the UGA women’s golf team. Like many collegiate athletes, she struggled when it came time to turn in the clubs.

“It is hard to see opportunities past sports,” Ro says. “It is very hard to expose yourself to something different.”

Ro Sanchez Lobato

Ro Sanchez Lobato’s (AB ’15, MS ’17) story is a demonstration of the strength of UGA’s corporate partners and partnerships.

Ro overcame these challenges with some help from UGA Athletics’ Career Development Program, a resource offered to athletes to help them transition from sports to careers. “Think of that thing you can do that no one else can,” says Leigh Futch, director of student athlete development and founder of The Georgia Way Network. Recalling these words helped Ro to find her niche at Docebo: bilingual communications. Because of her ability to speak fluent Spanish, Ro manages large accounts in South America.

Most students believe that they must leave Athens to find opportunity. Ro says Docebo is flipping that narrative by offering top-notch workforce experience and opportunities right here in Athens. With an abundance of full-time positions and internships in sales, account management, customer support and company implementation, Docebo provides new and exciting learning opportunities for UGA students and alumni alike.

“We need more companies like Docebo in Athens,” Ro states. “We are like a big family—we do stuff together outside of work. Someone is looking out for you and pushing you to be better. With Docebo, you learn so much.”

Before stepping into her current role, Ro had no formal tech training. Now, Ro teaches and talks about Docebo’s tech with the accounts she manages, and as a result, she encourages UGA students from all backgrounds to apply.

Beyond its hiring efforts, Docebo partners with the university in several ways. Last year, the company opened its doors to students for an open house. Docebo also regularly sends company representatives to speak in Terry College of Business classes and attend university-sponsored sales competitions. Additionally, Docebo serves on the advisory board of the Management Information Systems program.

Corporate partners like Docebo, who pour their resources into the classroom, create a cyclical effect, helping students to grow, learn, and become high-quality job-seekers like Ro.

If your company is interested in engaging with UGA’s talented students, please visit itstartswith.uga.edu/corporate.

(Docebo photos by Emily Dukes)

Twilight Criterium’s 40th weekend in Athens

On April 26, the annual Twilight Criterium will dash into Athens once again. With two days full of music, food and races, the weekend will continue to signify the official start of spring in downtown Athens. Since 1980, the Twilight Criterium has been a tradition that draws all kinds of cyclists into town for amateur and professional races. Including concerts, a 5K and plenty of activities for kids, Twilight weekend caters to college students, athletes and families.

If you’ve never heard of a criterium, don’t worry. The explanation is simple: it’s a closed circuit, or super short, track with lots of laps. It is similar to how a NASCAR race operates.

Twilight Criterium racers start their laps around downtown Athens.

Twilight Criterium racers start their laps around downtown Athens. Photo by Bear Cieri/Athens Twilight Facebook

When the event first started, there were only 40 racers and the criterium only included one men’s professional race. This year will feature the second annual “joy ride,” a 5-mile ride through Athens, and a 5K race. The main event takes place on April 27 and is the Twilight Criterium itself, an 80km race for men and a 40km race for women in the heart of downtown Athens. 2,000 people are expected to race this year.

The UGA Alumni Association caught up with Athens Twilight co-event director and Double Dawg Ashley Travieso, (BSED ‘05, MED ‘06). Ashley started at UGA in 2001 as a sports studies with an emphasis in sports communication. In undergrad, she was a member in the Georgettes in the Redcoat Band from 2001 to 2006, and was captain from 2002 to 2005. According to Ashley, she had no interest in cycling or even attending Twilight until co-founders Gene Dixon and Linda DePascale took her to lunch at Porterhouse and talked to her about becoming an intern for the event. The rest, as they say, is history.

Athens Twilight was the first of its kind. Since 1980, other twilight criteriums have been founded based off of Athens’ event, which now attracts racers from around the world. Ashley believes that people are drawn to Athens Twilight because “it’s the most insane criterium. The atmosphere is electric, there’s no other criterium in the world like it.” Everyone wants to win this particular race due to the exciting nature of the race itself and the crowd.

Women's pro/am race

This year, Twilight expects to have 2,000 racers. Photo by Adam Koble/Athens Twilight Facebook

Be sure to visit downtown this weekend to check out the festivities surrounding the criterium.

Athens Twilight's logo

This is the 40th year of Athens Twilight. Graphic per the Athens Twilight Facebook page.

Event highlight days/times per website schedule:

Friday, April 26:
Noon-9 p.m.: Twilight Expo
Location: 100 College Avenue – College Square
6-7 p.m.: BikeAthens Joy Ride
Location: College Avenue Parking Deck

6-9 p.m.: Pre-registration pickup & event registration
Location: 200 College Avenue Parking Deck – Bottom Level

Saturday, April 27:

There is a 5K on Saturday morning.

There is a 5K on Saturday morning. Photo by Bear Cieri/Athens Twilight Facebook

8-9 a.m.: Sparc Twilight 5K presented by Fleet Feet Athens
Location: College Avenue and Washington Street

10 a.m.-9 p.m.: Twilight Expo
Location: 100 College Avenue – College Square

7-8:10 p.m.: AOC Twilight Women’s PRO/AM presented by Terrapin Beer
Location: Downtown Athens – College Avenue and Washington Street

8:30-10:15 p.m.: AOC Twilight Men’s PRO/AM presented by Terrapin Beer
Location: Downtown Athens – College Avenue and Washington Street

London reception celebrates UGA, Oxford anniversary, alumni

University of Georgia alumni, friends and students assembled in London on Thursday, April 4, to celebrate UGA, honor the UGA at Oxford program’s 30th anniversary and cap off a tour of London that welcomed the newest UGA at Oxford students to the United Kingdom.

Twenty-two UGA students embarked on a tour of London that Thursday morning. Their stops took them to businesses around the city where alumni employees talked to them about what they do, where they work, the impact of their UGA education and more. These talks covered a wide variety of fields, from Risk Management and Insurance to Neuroscience—participating alumni work for Google; McGriff, Seibels and Williams; BNP Paribas; New York Times; City, University of London; Braincures; and Citibank. 

 After a day traveling the city, the tour party met with other alumni and friends at The Marylebone, where Kelly Kerner, UGA vice president for development and alumni relations, and Jamie McClung, director of the UGA at Oxford program, spoke to the crowd about what London and the Oxford program mean to UGA.

With the number of Dawgs in attendance that evening, one might have thought The Marylebone had moved to downtown Athens. 

Special thanks to the alumni who hosted and spoke with our students during their tour of London: Brian Benedict (ABJ ’04), Kevin Blackburne (BBA ’15), Denis Cruiziat (MBA ’88), Emmanuel Dray (MBA ’95), Justin Foster (BSFCS ‘10) Carrie Gibson (ABJ ’98), Krzysztof Potempa (BS ’02), Jane Singer (ABJ ’76), Scott Sink (BBA ’84), Chris Stanford (ABJ ’94) and Wes Walraven (BBA ’83). 

Bulldogs can be found the world over – find your local alumni chapter to to socialize, network, and volunteer with Bulldogs in your area. 

National Beer Day: Alumnus brewing for a cause

Matt StevensMatt Stevens (AB’03, MPA’14) is the Director of Community and Culture at Creature Comforts Brewing Co. in Athens. For National Beer Day we’re asking the questions everyone wants to know – from how Creature Comfort’s philanthropy started to Stevens’ top three favorite beers.

The fact that your role exists is unique. You’re clearly passionate about the Athens community, how did that come about?

My role tries to activate the same value with both an internal and external focus, that value being the question of how to use a company to add value to people’s lives. The external focus is, obviously, the community side. Before we’d ever brewed any beer—before there was Tropicalia—there was this value system. What we know how to do is brew beer. But why we do it, in part, is to add value to the community around us. We hope the city of Athens is better off because we’re here helping to support it.

As for my internal focus, we hope our employees view their work as more than “just a job.” We hope every hire is a lifetime hire. Not merely for retention purposes, but we look to invest in our people, and more than just professionally, but personally as well. It looks a lot of different ways, but that’s the basic framework: The simple question of how our employee experience can add value to our people. Great companies recognize that their employees can work anywhere. The fact that they’ve chosen to dedicate their careers to steward our brand demands that we endeavor to, in turn, invest back into them.

Share a little about the Get Comfortable Campaign.

Get Comfortable started in 2015, and initially it was just a slice of the year—from November to January. One of the first things we did once we had more bandwidth was to extend the campaign duration. We wanted this community impact work to be who we are, not just something we do. So today we launch the program every year in January and wrap mid-November, which gives us six weeks at the end of the year to close the books, to disburse funds, and then reload for the next year.

Creature Comforts SignThe program itself stems from our belief that companies have a role to play in the solutions of tomorrow. We cannot simply outsource social services work to the government or nonprofit agencies. Though both sectors absolutely have a role to play, the private sector has a responsibility as well. John Mackey, who founded Whole Foods, wrote a fantastic book a few years back titled Conscious Capitalism, wherein he makes the argument that companies can be capitalistic but also conscientious in the way they go about it. The Get Comfortable campaign, then, is our expression of this belief, our flagship program to participate in the civic wellbeing of our community.

Specifically, we hope this program helps to align the business community to resource the agencies who do our city’s most pressing work. We hope to make serving as simple, as strategic, and as effective as possible for local businesses.

For a full list of the partners and events, visit GetCurious.com.

What was your favorite UGA memory?

I am going to have to go with a sports memory—my father and grandfather played football here so Georgia football memories run deep. I would say being with my dad in Jordan-Hare back in 2002 when we clinched the SEC East for the first time in years. It was the David Greene to Michael Johnson in the fourth quarter with 15 yards and basically zero seconds to go—I leapt into my father’s arms. It was just one of those classic Georgia sports memories.

Favorite UGA professor?

Richard Neupert. I took his introduction to film course—that’s why I not only changed my major but also why I went on to grad school. I received my masters in film studies from the University of Edinburgh before returning to UGA for a now-defunct PhD. Dr. Neupert and I still cross paths from time to time since he still serves on the board of Cine. He is so community-minded, but he’s also this incredible scholar and I admire him greatly.

What are your top three favorite beers?

creature comforts

Arcadiana, it is a barrel-aged saison. Subtle, juicy, delicious. If you like a saison, you should totally try this one.

The Silent World is one of our lesser known releases. It’s a black lager, which is a very unique style. Given its inky black appearance, our brewers named it in homage to the classic Jacques-Yves Cousteau documentary from the 1950’s titled Le Monde du Silence. As a former film scholar, I obviously appreciated the nod to quirky cinema.

This year’s Get Comfortable IPA is a collaboration with Russian River. It was a dream to have Vinnie and Natalie Cilurzo come from California this past January to work with our team on that recipe. The result is staggering, one of our best IPAs to date. And of course, all the profits go toward a philanthropic end.

What’s one of your favorite places to grab dinner post-Creature Comforts?

Got to go with my gut, Seabear. In a city full of incredible dining, it remains my very favorite. 

Creature Comforts has expanded to the Southern Mill, which was previously a warehouse near Chase Street, what’s the future of Creature Comforts?

Opening the Southern Mill has given us tremendous new capacity. Throughout 2019 we are looking to continue expanding our distribution footprint statewide. For context, we opened our doors in April 2014 and from day one we were in only two markets, Athens and Atlanta, until last November. In November we opened Augusta and Columbus. And last month we opened up Savannah and more of coastal Georgia. So we’ve gone from two cities for four years to nearly the entire state in the last six months! The new tank capacity, then, has enabled us to release quite a bit more volume and, just as exciting, to create many new recipes through our innovation program. So both our customers and our brewers are pleased with the recent expansion.