Alumni Association Names Top Alumni of 2016

The Ole Miss Alumni Association will award seven distinguished alumni with its highest annual honors as part of Homecoming 2016. Created in 1974, the Hall of Fame honors select alumni who have made an outstanding contribution to their country, state or the University of Mississippi through good deeds, services or contributions that have perpetuated the good name of Ole Miss.

Inductees into the Alumni Hall of Fame for 2016 are: David E. Brevard (BA 78) of Tupelo; James L. Cox, M.D. (63) of Atlanta; Thomas C. Meredith (EDD 71) of Oxford; Thomas J. “Sparky” Reardon (BAEd 72, PhD 00) of Oxford; and Constance Slaughter-Harvey (JD 70) of Forest.

T. Michael Glenn (BBA 77) of Memphis will receive the Alumni Service Award for service to the University and the Alumni Association over an extended period. Patrick Woodyard (BA 10) of Nashville, Tennessee, will receive the Outstanding Young Alumni Award, which recognizes alumni who have shown exemplary leadership throughout their first 15 years of alumni status in both their careers and dedication to Ole Miss.

The Alumni Association will host a reception for the honorees on Friday, Sept. 30, at 6 p.m. in the Gertrude C. Ford Ballroom at The Inn at Ole Miss. A dinner for the award recipients will follow the reception at 7 p.m. Those interested in attending the dinner should register in advance by calling the Alumni Association office at 662-915-7375 before 5 p.m., Friday, Sept. 16. Cost of the dinner is $50 per person, or tables of 10 are available for $450.

Hall of Fame Awards

David E. Brevard is president and chief executive officer of B & B Concrete Co., Inc., a concrete materials supply company with plants located throughout north Mississippi. He is also vice president of Concrete Industries, Inc., a real estate firm with ready-mix concrete plant holdings in north Mississippi.

Brevard is a 1974 graduate of Tupelo High School. At Ole Miss, he was a Carrier Scholar, a member of Phi Delta Theta fraternity and a member of the Hall of Fame. He earned a master of business administration degree from the University of Virginia in 1981.

Brevard is a former chairman of the board of Mississippi Methodist Senior Services and of the Health Care Foundation of North Mississippi. He is a former president of the Northeast Mississippi Community Relations Association, of the Tupelo Kiwanis Club and of the Mississippi Concrete Industries Association. He also is a former founding board member for the Northeast Mississippi Habitat for Humanity.

Brevard is very active in the First United Methodist Church of Tupelo. He is a past president of the District One Ole Miss Alumni Club and a past president of the University of Mississippi Alumni Association. He served as chairman of The Inn at Ole Miss Campaign Committee; member of the Chancellor’s Trust and Pacesetters Committee for the Commitment to Excellence Campaign; member of the Campaign/Committee Chairs for the Momentum Campaign; and as an executive committee member for the University of Mississippi Foundation. He received the Alumni Association’s Alumni Service Award in 2009.

Brevard is married to the former Shawn Robson Stewart of Glendale, Ohio. They have two daughters.

Dr. James L. Cox was born and raised in Fair Oaks, Arkansas. He was recruited to Ole Miss by Johnny Vaught and from 1960-64, played baseball and freshman basketball, was president of Alpha Epsilon Delta and was a member of the Phi Delta Theta Fraternity. After turning down baseball contracts from the San Francisco Giants and L.A. Dodgers, he enrolled at UT Medical School in 1963. He received his medical degree in 1967 and was awarded outstanding student in his graduating class.

Cox trained in cardiothoracic surgery at Duke University. He spent the majority of his career as the first Evarts A. Graham Professor of Surgery and chief of the Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery at Washington University School of Medicine and Barnes Hospital in St. Louis. In 1997, Dr. Cox became the chairman of the Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery at Georgetown University. He later became chairman and CEO of the World Heart Foundation.

During his surgical career, Cox was the 81st president of the American Association for Thoracic Surgery, chairman of the Residency Review Committee for Thoracic Surgery, director of the American Board of Thoracic Surgery and board member of numerous professional organizations.

Cox is best known for his work in the field of cardiac arrhythmia surgery and the development of the eponymous “Cox-Maze Procedure” for the treatment of atrial fibrillation. Variations of his procedure are performed in over one-half million patients per year worldwide.

Cox received several scientific achievement awards throughout his career. He lives in Atlanta and serves as a senior consultant to eight medical device companies and on the board of directors of four of them.

Thomas C. Meredith has served as the head of three university systems and as a university president during his 41-year career in higher education. He has been the Commissioner of Higher Education for Mississippi’s eight universities; the chancellor of the University System of Georgia, responsible for the state’s 35 public colleges and universities; the chancellor of the University of Alabama System; and president and professor of education at Western Kentucky University. He also served as a vice chancellor at the University of Mississippi. Since 2008, Meredith has served as a Senior Fellow for the Association of Governing Boards in Washington, D.C., helping university presidents and governing boards in 23 states and Puerto Rico.

Meredith holds a B.A. from Kentucky Wesleyan College, an M.A. from Western Kentucky University, an Ed.D. from the University of Mississippi, and he completed the Institute for Educational Management at Harvard University and the Higher Education Roundtable at Oxford University.

Meredith was president of the National Association of Systems Heads, an organization comprised of the chief executive officers of the 52 public higher education systems in the United States. He also served as chair of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities, the first head of a university system to serve in that capacity.

Meredith holds two honorary doctorates and has been recognized by his alma maters including the naming of a building in his honor at Western Kentucky. He has twice been selected as the Ole Miss School of Education Alumnus of the Year.

Dr. Meredith’s wife Susan (BA 72), and sons Dr. Mark Meredith (BS 97, MD 01) and Matthew Meredith (BA 00) are an Ole Miss family.

Photo by Robert Jordan/Ole Miss Communications

A 1968 graduate of Clarksdale High School, Thomas J. “Sparky” Reardon served the University of Mississippi in several positions within the area of student affairs. Most notably, he served as the Dean of Students from 2000 until 2014. Prior to that he served as coordinator of Pre-Admissions, assistant director of Student Activities, associate director of Student Services, and associate dean of students. Reardon received his BAE from Ole Miss in 1972 and his Ph.D. in 2000. Additionally, he earned an M.Ed. From Delta State University in 1976. He retired from the University in 2014.

As an undergraduate, Reardon served as sports editor and managing editor of the Daily Mississippian, vice President of the senior class, and president of the Order of Omega.

Sparky has spoken to thousands of students at numerous universities, conferences, and conventions. Reardon received the Bob Schaeffer Award for long-term outstanding service to fraternities and was named the Southeastern Interfraternity Conference Advisor of the Year. He has received the Kappa Alpha Order Interfraternal Accolade and the Phi Kappa Psi Ralph E. “Dud” Daniel Award. In 2008, Phi Delta Theta inducted him into the Legion of Honor and presently serves as a member of the General Council of Phi Delta Theta. He was featured in the History Channel’s “History of Fraternities.”

Reardon initiated the adoption of the Ole Miss Creed in 2000 and served as co-chair of the Creed Committee. He received the initial Thomas Frist Award for Outstanding Service to Students and was honored by the Class of 2008 with a scholarship in his name.

Reardon resides in Taylor, Mississippi and serves on several local, regional and national boards.

Constance Slaughter-Harvey, former Assistant Secretary of State and General Counsel, is founder and president of Legacy Education and Community Empowerment Foundation, Inc. Slaughter-Harvey was the first African American female to receive a law degree from the University of Mississippi and first female African American to serve as judge in Mississippi. The Black Law Student Association at the University of Mississippi School of Law was named in her honor and she received the Law School’s Public Service Award, becoming the first female and first African American to be so honored. She was adjunct professor at Tougaloo College for more than 36 years. She is Scott County Bar president and Scott County Youth Court prosecutor.

She is the recipient of ABA’s Margaret Brent Award and Mississippi Bar’s Susie Buchanan Award, which are the highest honors bestowed on female attorneys; the R. Jess Award, National Legislative Black Caucus Nation Builder Award, and Woman Lawyer of the Year. Slaughter-Harvey is a life member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., Magnolia Bar Association/Foundation, National Bar Association, American Bar Foundation, Mississippi Bar Foundation, NAACP and Girl Scouts. She was inducted into the Halls of Fame for Tougaloo College, National Bar Association and University of Mississippi School of Law. She is featured in a documentary, “Standing on My Sisters’ Shoulders,” which received honors and recognition at the Kennedy Center in New York in 2004. She received The Rabbi Perry Nussbaum Civil Justice Award in 2016 and the 2016 Heritage Award.

She is the mother of Constance Olivia Burwell (James) and the grandmother of James A. Emmanuel “Tre’” Burwell III.

Alumni Service Award

T. Michael Glenn is executive vice president of Market Development and Corporate Communications for FedEx Corporation. He is a member of the five-person Executive Committee, responsible for planning and executing the corporation’s strategic business activities.

Glenn also serves as president and chief executive officer of FedEx Corporate Services, responsible for all marketing, sales, customer service and retail operations functions for all FedEx Corporation operating companies including FedEx Office.

Before FedEx Corporation was formed in January 1998, Glenn was senior vice president, Worldwide Marketing, Customer Service and Corporate Communications. In that role, he was responsible for directing all marketing, customer service, employee communications and public relations activities for the world’s largest express transportation company.

Glenn joined FedEx in 1981 and, since 1991, has been the chief architect of the company’s marketing and brand strategy.

A native of Memphis, Tennessee, he earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Mississippi and his master’s degree from the University of Memphis. Glenn currently serves on the board of directors for Level 3 Communications and Pentair, Inc. In addition, he serves on the board of directors for Madonna Learning Center, a school for special needs children and adults, and Youth Programs, Inc., the host organization for the FedEx St Jude Classic, benefiting St Jude’s Research Hospital.

Glenn previously served as a member of the University of Mississippi Alumni Association Executive Committee and currently serves on the Athletic Committee. He was inducted into the University of Mississippi Alumni Hall Of Fame in 2008.

Outstanding Young Alumni Award

Patrick Woodyard is a 2010 University of Mississippi graduate of the Croft Institute and Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College. He holds a B.A. in International Studies (Global Economics & Business) and Spanish. While at Ole Miss, Woodyard was inducted into the Student Hall of Fame and served as the ASB director of community service, philanthropy chair and vice president of Sigma Chi Fraternity, founder/president of Hope for Africa (EDUganda), and founding member of Respect Mississippi.

After graduating, Woodyard pursued an opportunity through Peru Mission to work in microfinance in Northern Peru. While there, Woodyard was introduced to a massive community of shoemakers who possessed remarkable talent yet lacked access to the international marketplace. With a vision to support the Peruvian footwear industry and push the global fashion industry in a new, more sustainable direction, Woodyard co-founded Nisolo in late 2011.

Nisolo’s high quality leather shoes and accessories for men and women have been sold in all 50 U.S. states and over 60 countries. Through the ethical production of its products, Nisolo directly supports the livelihoods of more than 325 people across the globe and is considered to be one of the most respected brands on the forefront of the ethical fashion movement.

For his work with Nisolo, Woodyard was recently named a Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree, recognized as an “Innovator Changing The South” by Southern Living Magazine, and named a Global Accelerator Entrepreneur by the United Nations. Woodyard resides in Nashville, Tennessee with his wife, Sally Ward (BA 10), and serves as a founding board member of the Nashville Fashion Alliance and the Nashville Social Enterprise Alliance.

For more about the Ole Miss Alumni Association, visit: www.olemissalumni.com

To join the Ole Miss Alumni Association, click here.

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