Erich McMillan-McCall ’86 joined the board of directors at the Virginia Samford Theatre in Birmingham. He is the Founder and CEO of Project1Voice, a non-profit that advocates for issues that affect African American theater. A lifelong actor, his Broadway credits include roles in The Who’s Tommy and Chicago. He’s also made a variety of appearances on television – including in 30 Rock and All My Children. A dance major at BSC, he is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha.

Amanda Watts Hite ’99 was appointed to the Nashville Branch board of directors by the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. She has served as president of the STR hotel company in Tennessee since 2011 and sits on the board of the American Hotel and Lodging Association. At BSC, she was a business administration and marketing major, a Southern Stars dancer, and a member of Pi Beta Phi.

Chad Long ’05 was named Birmingham market president for FirstBank. Joining FirstBank in 2021, he most recently served as commercial banking market leader. With 19 years of experience in credit and commercial banking, Long will lead a team of relationship managers focused on furthering the bank’s position as a financial leader. At BSC, he was a business major and a member of Theta Chi, and later earned an MBA from UAB. Check out what Long has to say about his new role here.

Bridget Adams O’Neal ’18 of Birmingham was promoted to tax manager at Kassouf & Co., where she has worked since 2018. The valedictorian of her BSC class, she double majored in accounting and music and is currently pursuing an MBA from UAH.

Eva Thomas ’19 of New York City was hired by Citywire to cover the asset and wealth management industry. She has previously worked as a reporter at the Telluride Daily Planet in Colorado, Ignites, and Money Media, both publications of Financial Times. At BSC, Thomas was an English major and a member of Kappa Delta.

Denny Bearce of Birmingham on January 1. Born in Pittsburgh, he attended Brown University, earning a degree in geology. After graduation, he joined the U.S. Marine Corps, where he served as a teacher to incoming 2^nd lieutenants. That experience inspired Bearce to leave the Marines in pursuit of more education, earning his master's in geology at the Missouri School of Mines and his Ph.D. at the University of Tennessee. He taught at Eastern Kentucky University for a year before teaching geology at BSC for seven years. Bearce founded UAB’s geology program, retiring after 25 years. He loved hunting, fishing, and woodworking and was active at Highlands United Methodist Church, leading many service trips.

Dr. Harold Ceitlin ’69 of Birmingham on January 12. Born in Birmingham, he graduated from Shades Valley High School and began his undergraduate studies at Tulane before finishing at BSC. After graduating from dental school at UAB, he established a private practice that lasted for 44 years, serving generations of Birmingham residents. He was a longtime member of the American Dental Association, Alabama Dental Association, Birmingham District Dental Society, and the Academy of General Dentistry. Ceitlin was passionate about art, politics, and Alabama football.

Shirley Price Dovel ’69 of Cullman on January 22. Transferring to BSC from Montevallo, she graduated with a teaching degree in French and English, earned a master’s degree from UAB and taught at Good Hope High School, Cullman High School, Hueytown High School, and Ensley High Schools. In retirement, she loved to garden and cross-stitch. She was a member of First United Methodist Church in Cullman, where she played piano for many years.

Martha Spencer Hicks ’56 of Mountain Brook on January 25. A Birmingham native and graduate of Ramsay High School, she studied at Auburn University before transferring to BSC. She was a lifelong member of Independent Presbyterian Church, where she served as a deaconess and was a member of Questers Bible Study. She and her husband loved hiking on long weekends in Mentone, where they owned a cabin.

Terrell Barr Linton ’86 on January 3. A Cullman native, he graduated from BSC summa cum laude in economics and was a member of Omicron Delta Kappa and Kappa Alpha fraternity. After a Rotary Fellowship at the University of Bristol, he graduated from Yale University School of Law. He completed a clerkship for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, then practiced law in San Francisco and London, focusing his practice on mergers and acquisitions and working on privatization deals in Eastern Europe after the fall of the Iron Curtain. He also founded several companies, including a clean fuel technology company and a private equity firm. Linton served on the BSC Board of Trustees from 2017-2018 and on the international programs committee of the Norton Board of Advisors. Most notably, he established a fund at BSC that provides emergency grants to students facing financial crises. His survivors include his brother, Rand Linton ’91, and his sister, Kara Linton Roberts ’93.

Herbert Meisler of Mobile on January 30. A New Jersey native and University of Texas graduate, he co-founded The Rime Companies, an apartment construction and management company still in operation. Meisler served on the boards of Colonial Properties Trust, Central Bank of the South, and Altus Bank. A passionate philanthropist, he endowed scholarships at BSC and UAB and made generous contributions to the University of South Alabama, including the Fanny Meisler Trauma Center and Meisler Hall. He served five terms as president of the Mobile Jewish Welfare Fund and was named Man of the Year by the Mobile Jewish Community twice.