Susan Dominick Doughton ’74 was included in the Birmingham Business Journal’s “Who’s Who in Law” for 2021. Doughton is a shareholder and attorney at Dominick Feld Hyde, P.C., and her practice focuses primarily on the legal needs of various types of individual and institutional health care providers including physicians and physician groups, nursing homes and assisted living facilities, hospice providers, and community mental health centers.

Steven A. Benefield ’80 was included in The Best Lawyers in America’s 2022 “Lawyer of the Year” list. This award recognizes one attorney in each legal field and location, and Benefield was featured for his work in business organizations, including LLCs and partnerships, as a senior partner at Phelps Dunbar LLP.

Carl Dean Monroe III ’82 retired in March 2020 after more than 30 years at the Department of Energy. Monroe recently met with Jennifer Lambert Herrin ’82, class chair, to begin planning their 40th class reunion in 2022.

Larry Read ’83 just celebrated 38 years in the real estate business. Read currently works as a realtor with Keller Williams Realty in Birmingham, following his previous experience at RealtySouth.

Rodney Ferguson ’86, president and CEO of Winrock International, has been named senior advisor to Concordia for the 2021-2022 term. Concordia, a nonprofit focused on building partnerships for a global community, chooses high-level senior advisors who share updates on their fields, help develop events, and build Concordia’s network of stakeholders and cross-sector partnerships. For more than eight years, Ferguson has headed Winrock, a recognized leader in U.S. and international development that provides solutions to some of the world’s most complex social, agricultural, and environmental challenges.

Mike Jones ’89, Alabama House Representative for District 92, plans to run for the Alabama Senate District 31 in 2022. Shortly after graduating from BSC and the University of Alabama School of Law, Jones opened a private practice in Andalusia in 1992 and served two terms on the Andalusia City Council, the second term as mayor pro tem. He was elected to the Alabama House in 2010 and has been re-elected twice.

Dawn Helms Sharff ’91 was included in the Birmingham Business Journal’s “Who’s Who in Law” for 2021. Sharff is managing partner for Bradley LLC, where she has worked since 2005, and represents developers, public companies, privately held entities, and individuals in all types of commercial real estate transactions, including the buying, selling, leasing, and developing of commercial real estate nationwide.

Valerie Abbott MPPM ’99 was reelected to the Birmingham City Council representing district three. Abbott has served as a city council member since 2001 and is active in the Birmingham community through the Glen Iris Neighborhood Association, the Magic City Civitan Club, the Birmingham Planning Commission, and the Regional Planning Commission of Greater Birmingham. She spent more than 40 years as a manager at AT&T.

Blair Schoenvogel ’01 won a 2021 Nappie Award for best Private School Counselor in the city of Mobile. Schoenvogel currently serves as the lower school counselor at UMS-Wright Preparatory School, where she has worked for 13 years.

Sonja Smith ’03 was reelected to the Birmingham City Board of Education representing District 8. Smith was elected to the board in 2017 and currently works at UAB as program manager for the Lifespan Comprehensive Sickle Cell Center. She also teaches piano, and, prior to her role at UAB, has worked at Birmingham Negro Southern League Museum, Enroll Alabama AIDS, and Malcolm X College in Chicago.

Sarah Jones Jenkins ’06’s short story, “Cavender’s Carnival of Curiosities,” was selected by Kepler Studio Productions for publication in “Roots: An Anthology.” The collection of stories was released in July, and the audiobook will be out later this year. Jenkins is a writer and actor based in Knoxville, Tenn.

Blake Harper ’11 joined Baker Donelson Bearman Caldwell & Berkowitz PC as an associate in the corporate practice group. Harper concentrates his practice in the areas of ERISA/employee benefits, mergers and acquisitions, corporate and real estate transactions, tax, nonprofit, and probate law. He is a Certified Public Accountant, previously working as an external auditor for a large regional accounting firm.

Megan Snider Bailey ’12 has accepted a position as assistant professor in the University of Alabama Honors College. Bailey holds a doctorate from UA in instructional leadership with a concentration in social and cultural studies of education.

Joseph V. Ronderos, Jr. ’14 was included in the 2022 edition of “Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch,” which recognizes lawyers who have been practicing for 10 or fewer years. Ronderos is an associate at McGlinchey Stafford and practices commercial litigation and financial services regulation law in the firm’s Nashville office.

Hunter Mims ’15 is the new head football coach at Berry High School in Berry, Ala., the rival of his high school alma mater, Northside High School. At Northside, Mims was valedictorian and star athlete – alongside his father, Larry Mims, Northside’s head baseball coach for 37 years –  before coming to BSC, where he studied math and played football. He returned to the U.S. in January after serving in the U.S. Marines. He is the youngest head coach in west Alabama high school football.

Dr. John K. Moriarty ’41 of Manassas, Va., on Aug. 1, 2021. Moriarty studied literature at BSC and entered the U.S. Air Force shortly after graduation. During World War II, he served as a pilot and squadron commander and later became commander of a Combat Cargo Squadron in the China, Burma, and India Theater of Operations, for which he was awarded the British Distinguished Flying Cross, two U.S. Distinguished Flying Crosses, and four Air Medals. Moriarty received his Ph.D. in government from Georgetown University, and he spent his career focused on lessening nuclear confrontation with the Soviet Union, reducing Cold War tensions, and creating balanced U.S. policy in the Arab-Israeli conflict.

Betty Loehr Smalley ’41 of Alpharetta, Ga., on Aug. 5, 2021. Smalley was born in Shanghai while her father was serving in the American Consular Service; her grandfather was a missionary, educator, and author in China. She entered BSC at the age of 16 and, after graduation, began working in the accounting department of Stockham Pipe Fittings, where she met her husband, Harold E. Smalley, Sr. They worked as partners before moving to Indiana, Connecticut, and Pittsburgh. In 1958, the Smalleys moved to Atlanta, where Harold was a Regent’s Professor at Georgia Tech. Smalley was an active member of Peachtree Road United Methodist Church and loved traveling, gardening, and taking her daily walks. She was interested in theology, philosophy, and social justice and put these issues into practice.

Col. Kenneth A. Seal ’51 of Salem, S.C., on August 21, 2021. Seal attended graduate school at Auburn University before enlisting in the U.S. Marine Corps and serving as a second lieutenant in the Korean War. He was awarded the Purple Heart, the Korean Service Medal with three stars, and the United Nations Service Medal. After discharge from the Marines, Seal joined the Marine Corps Reserves and began a 20-year career with the Naval Criminal Investigative Service. He used these skills during a one-year deployment in the Vietnam War. After a 30-year career with the Marine Corps Reserves, Seal retired as a colonel and started working for a private firm in government investigative services.

Hon. Bobby R. Aderholt ’57 of Haleyville, Ala., on Aug. 24, 2021. After graduating from BSC, Aderholt attended Cumberland School of Law and earned his J.D. from the University of Alabama School of Law. He joined the faculty of Cumberland, where he co-authored the eighth edition of “History of a Lawsuit” with Professor Sam B. Gilreath. Aderholt served as judge of the Court of Law and Equity in Winston County from 1962 to 1973 and later served on Alabama’s 25th Judicial Circuit for 31 years, before retiring in 2007. He also served as a pastor at Fairview Congregational Church in Hackleburg for 47 years. Aderholt’s wife, Mary Frances Brown Aderholt ’58, their son, U.S. Rep. Robert B. Aderholt ’87, and daughter-in-law, Caroline McDonald Aderholt ’90, are also alumni of the College. Read more about Aderholt’s impact here.

Nellie Cory Salter ’57 of Rainbow City, Ala., on Aug. 13, 2021. Salter studied English at BSC and earned her master’s degree from Emory University. She served as a librarian in Cherokee County School District, and she was a member of the United Methodist Church.

Clarke H. Gillespy ’62 of Birmingham on Aug. 11, 2021. Gillespy studied philosophy and lettered in swimming at BSC before attending Vanderbilt Divinity School. He enlisted in the U.S. Navy Reserve in 1965 and served as a lieutenant and admiral’s aide in California, Rhode Island, and Tennessee. When he returned to Birmingham in 1968, Gillespy began his 38-year professional career with SouthTrust Bank. He became deeply involved in the community when he served as vice president in commercial lending, and his passion for community service extended long past his retirement in 2006. Gillespy served on boards for organizations across Birmingham, including BSC’s Norton Board of Advisors as well as Children’s Aid Society, Visiting Nurses Association, Birmingham Children’s Theatre, UAB English Department, St. Martin’s in the Pines, Easter Seals Alabama, St. Vincent’s Hospital, Friends of the Botanical Gardens, and St. Luke’s Episcopal Church. He also served as president of the Redstone Club, president of Mountain Brook Club, and an active member of St. Luke’s.

Marianne Combs Hitchcock ’64 of Auburn, Ala., on Aug. 5, 2021. Hitchcock received her bachelor’s degree in English before working as a data analyst at the Redstone Arsenal Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville and earning her master’s degree in journalism from the University of Alabama. She then served as dean of women at Mauna Olu College in Paia, Maui, Hawaii, and as assistant dean of students at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In 1977, Hitchcock began her 27-year career at Emory University, first as dean of students at Oxford College of Emory. Later, she taught communication skills and trained research interviewers for Emory University School of Medicine’s Department of Cardiology. She moved to Alabama in 2017. Hitchcock was a faithful, longtime member of the Episcopal Church.

Angela “Angee” Kay Stevens ’11 of Pawtucket, R.I., on Aug. 1, 2021. Following her graduation from BSC, Stevens received her Master of Public Health degree from UAB and her Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Texas Tech University. During her doctoral research, she began a career focused on the interplay of impulsivity, impaired control, and problematic substance use in young adults and received many honors as a TTU student. She completed her residency at the Clinical Psychology Training Consortium in Brown University’s Warren Alpert Medical School. Stevens married Ryan Blake in 2019, and they enjoyed exploring miles of coastline, eating amazing food, and taking in the beautiful scenery in Rhode Island.

Margaret “Peggy” Sisson of Birmingham on Aug. 18, 2021. Sisson attended Howard College (now Samford University), where she met Howard Sisson, whom she married in 1945. The Sissons moved to Dunwoody, Ga., in the 1970s and stayed there until his retirement brought them back to Birmingham. Sisson was an avid reader, an excellent bridge player, and a fan of most all sports, particularly baseball, golf and football. She was a longtime member of Bluff Park United Methodist Church. Sisson was also a friend of BSC and a member of the College’s Arts Alliance, and she always encouraged her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren to do their best in academics. Her three children, Anne Sisson Smith ’67, William H. Sisson ’75, and Jane Sisson Seigel ’79, sons-in-law, Hon. Robert Smith ’66 and BSC Professor of Music Dr. Lester C. Seigel ’79, and grandchildren Amy McInerney Dillard ’90, Kerry McInerney ’92, and Daniel Seigel ’02 are all BSC alumni.