SUSAN YBARRA ’92 NAMED EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

On August 1, 2020 SUSAN YBARRA ’92 was appointed executive director of Furman’s Institute for the Advancement of Community Health (IACH). In this role, she leads the institute in connecting the Furman campus and the greater community to optimize health and quality of life. Ybarra also works with Prisma and expands and grows other partnerships to address social determinants of health. IACH’s creation and management of high impact learning experiences for students remains a key priority under Ybarra, who is committed to creating a more diverse and inclusive healthcare system. Ybarra spent 16 years in healthcare administration and practice management in the Rio Grande Valley region of Texas and the Upstate of South Carolina. She returned to Furman in 2008 as the health careers internship coordinator, playing a pivotal role in creating the Clinical Observation Program and expanding Furman students’ engaged learning opportunities in the local health community. Since then, Ybarra has served as associate director and director of operations for IACH.

1971

JENNIFRIED SNIDER MCNEAL published “Steven: A Runner’s Life: An Ultrarunner’s Journey” about her son’s experiences as an ultramarathon runner.

1979

JOHN S. GREEN published “Whimsy Park: Poems for the Whole Family” under the pen name Papa Green Bean.

1982

R.C. WEBBER’s anthology, “A Balm in Gilead: Eulogies of Comfort,” won the 2020 International Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society Book Award in the Non-Fiction Religion/Philosophy section.

1983

ROGER N. CASEY, president of McDaniel College, plans to retire in June 2021. One of the longest-serving college presidents in the state of Maryland, Casey took office as McDaniel College’s ninth president in July 2010, and oversees McDaniel’s campus in Westminster, Maryland, and the college’s European campus in Budapest, Hungary. Casey, a first-generation college graduate who majored in English at Furman, holds a Ph.D. in English from Florida State University. He previously served as provost and vice president for academic affairs at Rollins College in Florida and as associate dean and professor at Birmingham-Southern College in Alabama. Casey co-founded the Associated Colleges of the South’s Teaching and Learning Workshop, earned distinguished teaching awards from Birmingham-Southern and Florida State, and was nominated for the Carnegie National Professor of the Year.

1984

TOM BOUND, a lawyer, published his first novel, “SHARKANO,” intended for young adults. It is a horror/adventure story about a teenage girl, Lexi, who spends the summer with her father, a volcanologist studying a long-dormant volcano in Hawaii.

1987

CHRIS HILEY DONOHUE opened an immigration law firm in West Palm Beach, Florida, in July 2020.

1993

BEN HARTMAN was recognized as a 2020 Legal Elite by Georgia Trend, a statewide business publication.

1994

KELLY JACKSON DAVIS, a public relations instructor at the University of South Carolina, was inducted into the Public Relations Society of America’s College of Fellows. Davis was one of 15 public relations professionals in the nation selected for the College of Fellows this year.

1995

DEBORAH HARNISH LAROCHE was named program manager for the Lowcountry Region of Reach Out and Read Carolinas, providing medically based literacy intervention for children from birth to age 5.

1996

MAYA PACK was named the executive director of the South Carolina Institute of Medicine and Public Health.

2009

MELODY MCGOWIN became corporate counsel in April 2020 at Amazon in Seattle, supporting Amazon Web Services’ Sales and Marketing division. She was previously an associate attorney at the law firms of Pierce Bainbridge Beck Price & Hecht and McKool Smith in New York City.

HOW I GIVE BACK

“Many, many people – some known and others unknown to me – gave so that I could be blessed with an education from Furman. Now, it’s my time to contribute to the family of Furman students. I am blessed to participate through my giving in their and Furman’s future. It’s a joy to share. I am twice blessed.” -Robin E. Sullens ’83

Lauren Few ’06 and Taylor Hollenkamp

A PROPOSAL UNLIKE ANY OTHER

Lauren Few ’06, a psychology major who interned with The Riley Institute and played on the Furman women’s basketball team, hatched her plan to propose to Taylor Hollenkamp with a little help from The New York Times’ call to readers for “gratitude in six words.” Few’s six words? “Will you marry me, Taylor Hollenkamp?” They plan to marry in June.