Class Notes: August 2023

This collection includes news from August 2023. Class Notes are published monthly on The BSC Blog to provide timely updates for friends and alumni of the College.

Submit career updates, weddings, births, and in memoriam news here.

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In the News

Two BSC alumni – Susan Dominick Doughton ’74, managing shareholder at Dominick Feld and Hyde and a BSC trustee, and Andy Robison ’99, managing partner at Bradley LLP – were named to the Birmingham Business Journal’s Who’s Who in Law 2023. Doughton was also interviewed by the Birmingham Business Journal about artificial intelligence, growth, and remote work. Read the interview here.

Six BSC alumni – Caroline Aderholt ’90, owner/manager of McDonald Farms Partnership; Harrison Bishop ’00, President and CEO of Amerex Corporation; Shannon Drake ’90, President and CEO of Leadership Greater Huntsville; Gregg McCormick ’04, Assistant General Counsel and Assistant Corporate Secretary at Vulcan Materials Company; Mac Taul ’97, President of Merchants Transfer Company; and Mark Taylor ’96, Head of Corporate Banking for Alabama and Mississippi at PNC Bank – are part of the Leadership Alabama Class of 2023-2024.

Three BSC alumni – trustee Brooke Tanner Battle ’96, CEO/Founder of Swell Fundraising, Hunter Renfroe ’08, Co-Founder and Principal of Orchestra Partners, and Jansen Voss ’02, Partner at Christian and Small, LLP – were named to the Leadership Birmingham Class of 2024.

Two BSC alumni – John Boone ’06, Co-Founder of Orchestra Partners, and Herschell Hamilton ’96, Co-Founder and CEO of BLOC Global Group – were named to the Birmingham Business Journal’s Who’s Who in Commercial Real Estate 2023.

Levi Levinson ’13, one of two muralists behind Bendy Knees Design, was interviewed in StyleBlueprint about her artistry and the work that her company has done throughout Alabama. Read the interview here.

Dr. Jessica Allen, Associate Professor of Psychology at BSC, was quoted in Gastroenterology & Endoscopy News in an article about the effects of narrative medicine on the treatment of short bowel syndrome. Dr. Allen has been on the BSC faculty since 2016. Check out the full article here.

1980s

Jim Newman ’86 will star as Bill on the 25th-anniversary tour of Mamma Mia! He has previously appeared in Broadway shows like The Who’s Tommy, Sunset Boulevard, and Curtains. He has also appeared in several TV series like Succession and And Just Like That. Newman graduated from BSC with a musical theatre degree.

Michael Timberlake ’89 of Timberlake and League in Huntsville was awarded “Lawyer of the Year” for personal injury litigation from The Best Lawyers in America 2024. A history major, he was also a member of Alpha Tau Omega.

1990s

Grover Robinson IV ’92 is the new Associate Vice President of Government and Community Relations at Pensacola State College. The former Pensacola mayor will serve as Pensacola State’s governmental affairs lobbyist and liaison to members of the Florida State Legislature. An economics major, he was a member of Theta Chi and received BSC’s Outstanding Young Alumni Award in 2007.

2020s

Trey Hines ’23 was named Man of the Year by the Southern Athletic Association, the first time ever that the conference’s highest honor was given to a BSC athlete. A three-year captain of the soccer team and business administration major, he was also selected as an Academic All-American. Hines currently serves as Sports Information Director at BSC.

In Memoriam

E.N. “Bud” Conaway ’49 of Mountain Brook on August 27. Moving to the Birmingham area when he was 3, Conaway and his three brothers grew up in the Ensley area. After graduating from high school, he enlisted in the U.S. Army, earning the rank of Master Sergeant and serving in the European theater of World War II. He was honorably discharged from the Army with a Purple Heart. Conaway attended BSC on the GI Bill, earning a degree in accounting, and had a long and distinguished career in accounting and the trucking industry, working at Standard Oil Company, Baggett Transportation Co., and as CFO for Deaton Truck Line Inc. Conaway served as president of Riverchase Country Club and Vestavia Country Club.

Jeanne Battle Owen Hagedorn ’54 of Vestavia Hills on August 9. She was passionate about community service, including volunteering at Brookwood Medical Center for 33 years. In winter 1960, she helped start a surplus food program in Jefferson County. Hagedorn was active in PTA, Girl Scouts, Temple Emanu-El, the National Council of Jewish Women, and Vestavia Hills Friends of the Library. In 1984, she received an award for Outstanding Community Service and Leadership from the City of Vestavia Hills.

Gene Hayes ’53 of Birmingham on August 8. A graduate of Fairfield High School, he sang in BSC’s a capella choir and theatre productions, and was a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon. After graduation, Hayes enlisted in the U.S. Air Force Aviation Cadet Program, training as a fighter pilot. He spent his active duty at Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma City and was honorably discharged with the rank of captain. He built a career in the insurance industry, working in sales, underwriting, and management, and also spent 16 years working for BBVA Compass. He continued his involvement in singing well into adulthood, directing church music and choirs part-time for more than 60 years.

Mike Newsom ’68 of Birmingham on August 28. Described in his obituary as “a Birmingham lifer,” he graduated from Ensley High School, BSC (where he was a member of Alpha Tau Omega), and Cumberland School of Law. He practiced many kinds of law, often providing pro-bono legal counsel to those who needed it. Newsom wasn’t motivated by money, but rather his desire to “set things straight.” In his final years, Newsom enjoyed watching his grandsons play sports. He was their biggest fan. His survivors include two sisters, Carol Newsom ’71 and Susan Finney ’75.