Campus scenes from the Old Well on April 17, 2024, at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
(Johnny Andrews/UNC-Chapel Hill)
Morehead-Cain Alumni landed new jobs, received accolades, earned advanced degrees, and more. Here’s who made a move this spring.
- Richard Vinroot ’63 of Charlotte received the 2023 Chief Justice’s Professionalism Award. The annual award recognized individuals who have demonstrated a “dedication and commitment to the principles of professionalism and public service” to North Carolinians. Richard is an attorney and partner at Robinson Bradshaw.
- Thomas Sayre ’73 opened a show, Four Walls, at Cameron Art Museum in Wilmington on April 26. The four-piece installation, featuring new and never-exhibited works, will run through February 16, 2025. The show invites audiences to question “the belief systems and symbols that underpin the ideals of church, nation, and creation.”
- Mike McIntyre ’78 of Raleigh spearheaded an event for the Scottish North American Business Council as part of the Scottish trade mission to North Carolina in April. The alumnus is Ward and Smith’s senior advisor for government relations and economic development and a retired U.S. Representative renowned for his advocacy of Scottish heritage. Mike also lead the expansion of the McIntyre-Whichard Legal Fellows Mentorship Program at UNC School of Law to include the Campbell Law School and North Carolina Central University School of Law. He co-founded the program in 2016 to support aspiring lawyers of diverse backgrounds.
- Robyn Hadley ’85 was recognized for Black History Month with two others at the women’s basketball game against the Pittsburg Panthers on February 15. The tribute, in honor of Carolina’s Black trailblazers, was organized by the Carolina Black Caucus and UNC Women’s Basketball.
- Ned Sharpless ’88 was named to the board of directors of the American Cancer Society. The alumnus is a professor of cancer policy and innovation at the UNC School of Medicine. He formerly served as director of the National Cancer Institute and acting commissioner of food and drugs for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
- Kevin Callaghan ’89 launched a travel company, The Olive Road. The company specializes in group travel experiences in lesser-known regions of Italy, France, and Spain.
- An Irish comedy movie produced by James Dean ’89, Apocalypse Clown, was featured at the Irish Film Festival Los Angeles 2024. The screening took place on March 17 for St. Patrick’s Day.
- Kristin Bruess ’90 was profiled in Business Insider for her career pivot from the finance world to the church. The alumna is an associate vicar at St. Mary’s London.
- Kathy Yount ’91 was named a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science for her research contributions to women’s health and empowerment, and the prevention of gender-based violence. The alumna is the Asa Griggs Candler Professor of Global Health and a professor of global health and sociology at the Rollins School of Public Health and the Emory College of Arts and Sciences.
- Malcolm Turner ’93, Jen Evans ’94, and Cristy Page ’96 are serving on the search committee for the next chancellor of UNC–Chapel Hill.
- Julie Padgett ’94 of Richmond, Virginia, qualified for and competed in the 2023 Ironman World Championship – Women in Kona, Hawaii. It was the championship’s first ever women-only race. Julie, a MOHS surgeon for the Bon Secours Surgical Dermatology Center in Glen Allen, finished in a personal best time of thirteen hours and seventeen minutes.
- Jonathan Gyurko ’96 published a book, Publicization: How Public and Private Interests Can Reinvent Education for the Common Good.
- Van Fletcher ’99 won the Ultraman Florida triathlon. The alumnus covered 320 miles over three days.
- Aaron Levine ’00 was named a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science for his research contributions to biomedical research policy. The alumnus is the associate dean for research and outreach in the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts at the Georgia Institute of Technology.
- Valerie Alter ’02 was named partner at Sheppard Mullin.
- Creighton Irons ’05 of Woods Charter School was named a 2024 Morehead-Cain Impact Educator.
- Philip Blackett ’07 published a book, Disagree without Disrespect: How to Respectfully Depate with Those who Think, Believe and Vote Differently from You.
- Ricky Hurtado ’11 joined the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation as a program officer.
- Clay Hackney ’15 joined Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz in New York City as an associate in the tax department.
- Benton Moss ’15 of NSV Development is serving as the project manager for a development project that will aim to revitalize downtown Rocky Mount, North Carolina.
- Agnes Ezekwesili ’20 matched into ophthalmology at Duke University. The alumna is an MD candidate at the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine.
- Richard Livingston ’21 returned to Chapel Hill to pursue a master’s of public administration from the UNC School of Government.
- Chapel Thrill Escapes, an alumni-launched nonprofit that builds escape rooms at UNC–Chapel Hill, expanded to a second location on Franklin Street in February. The startup was launched by Cameron Champion ’20, Dan Hirst ’20, Phil Smart ’20, and Hunter Davis ’21.
- Zianne Richardson ’23 won the Miss Indian North Carolina pageant for 2024–2025.
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