Birmingham-Southern College honored the 2019 Alumni Award Recipients during the festivities of homecoming weekend. The Distinguished Alumni, Outstanding Young Alumni, and Rising Star awards recognize graduates who have achieved outstanding success in their chosen professions. The awards were presented at the Alumni Awards Brunch on Saturday, Oct. 19 in Bruno Great Hall of the Norton Campus Center.

With grandparents, parents, an aunt, three uncles, and a sister all being BSC alumni, Graham Spencer ’16 was the definition of a legacy student. After graduating from Homewood High School in 2012, Spencer made the transition to BSC, where he majored in political science.

Political science professors such as Dr. Natalie Davis, Dr. Larry Brasher, Dr. Bob Slagter, and Professor Kim Lewis make up a short list of the people who meant a great deal to Spencer during his time at BSC. His educational interests were on the history of politics and the manifestation of policy in the day-to-day, as well as how data makes a difference and can be a predictor to the outcome of races.

“BSC has a knack for selecting superb individuals, not only on the student side, but also the faculty and staff who are working with students,” Spencer says.

While on campus, Spencer worked to connect with as many of these individuals as possible. Beyond his extensive involvement with Sigma Chi, he also was a member of the BSC Honor Council, a Southern Ambassador, a member of Quest II, BSC’s student programming board, and enjoyed his time working in the president’s office. Spencer is engaged to Ashley Bice ’15.

Following graduation, Spencer began working at the Education Advisory Board (EAB), a Washington, D.C.-based organization that provides best practice research and consulting for institutions across the country. Due to his big ideas and impressive work ethic, he was quickly promoted from associate to director.

This promotion allowed Spencer to co-found and launch EAB’s global research partnership, designed to serve tuition-driven instructions and help drive progress on institutional challenges, such as enrollment, student success, and operational efficiency.

In the future, he is hoping to explore leadership opportunities, while making the most of his time.

“I have learned that given how finite of a resource time is, if you are dedicating time to something, why not try to do it in the bet way you can,” Spencer says. “Eventually, it would be a dream to come back to BSC and serve in some way.”