Class Notes: October 2023

This collection includes news from October 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.

To register your child or grandchild for BSC’s Seedlings Program, find more information here. Children will receive a special birthday card each year from the Office of Alumni Engagement, as well as invitations to age-appropriate events if they live in the Birmingham area.

Bill Connor ’82, CEO of AmFirst Federal Credit Union, has been selected as an honoree for the Birmingham Business Journal’s 2023 CEO Awards in the Large Company category. A business major at BSC, Connor was a member of Theta Chi.

Lori Johnson Goodson ’01 was named a managing partner at the Birmingham office of Ernst and Young LLP. She has previously worked as an accountant at the same firm, as well as at Wilson, Price, Barranco, Blankenship, and Billingsley. An accounting major at BSC, Goodson was also a member of Kappa Delta.

Cole Kirkpatrick ’21, Travel Advisor at Classic Travel Connection, has been named one of five “Future Leaders to Watch” in the industry by Travel Age West. Kirkpatrick specializes in European travel. He has been at his current company since January. At BSC, Kirkpatrick majored in religion and was a member of Sigma Chi.

Dr. Joseph “Bill” Hamer, Jr. of Birmingham on October 9. A highly educated man, Hamer earned degrees from Lambuth College, the University of Memphis, the University of Georgia, and a certification from Harvard Institute for Management. He was a passionate educator, teaching at Lancaster Community College, Montevallo, and Birmingham-Southern in the business department. He also served as Senior Vice President of Human Resources at Protective Life for twenty-five years. Hamer and his wife, Beth, were active members of Canterbury United Methodist Church. He was also a die-hard fan of the Atlanta Braves and Georgia Bulldogs. He is survived by his daughter, Elizabeth Hamer Nall '99.

Samye Sue Luquire ’57 of Tuscaloosa on October 2. After graduating from Phillips High School, she enrolled at BSC, where she earned a degree in sociology and was a member of Alpha Omicron Pi. From 1975 through 2016, she served as Healthcare Benefits Administrator at Phifer Wire Products. Luquire was an active and beloved member of the congregation at Forest Lake United Methodist Church in Tuscaloosa

Dr. Tennant S. McWilliams ’65 of Fairhope on October 23. Son of legendary BSC history professor Richebourg Gaillard McWilliams, he was a member of the tennis team and Sigma Alpha Epsilon in his time on the Hilltop. McWilliams went on to earn his MA from the University of Alabama and Ph.D. from the University of Georgia. He went on to become a celebrated and widely published historian, writing many books focusing on Southern history – including one that was released earlier this year. McWilliams also spent many years working at UAB, most notably as dean of the School of Social and Behavioral Sciences from 1991-2008. He is survived by his brother, Burk McWilliams ’69.

Ron Mims of Birmingham on October 14. A longtime member of the Birmingham Water Works Board, and former pastor of Green Liberty Missionary Baptist Church, he spent thirty years with the Water Works. Mims entered senior leadership in 2002 – and soon after left to pursue ministry in 2004. In 2015, he returned to the Water Works as a board member and was unanimously elected to serve as board chair. Mims earned a history degree from UAB and a Master of Public and Private Management from BSC.