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Media contact: Scott Troutman, executive director, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Alumni and Friends Society, 919.515.7857 or scott_troutman@ncsu.edu
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences names distinguished alumni
Dr. David A. Thompson and Robert Kendall Hill are recipients of the 2006-2007 Distinguished Alumnus Award from the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at North Carolina State University. The two were honored recently for their outstanding career achievements and for their commitment to the land-grant principle of service to community, state and nation.
Thompson, of Durham, holds a 1991 bachelor's degree in zoology from NC State. He received his medical degree from UNC-Chapel Hill. After serving as a clinical assistant professor of orthopedics for a year at UNC-Chapel Hill, Thompson resigned to pursue a fellowship in hand, microvascular and upper-extremity surgery at Duke University Medical Center. In July 2003, he co-founded the North Carolina Orthopedic Clinic in Durham, as a part of the Duke University Health System. He currently holds an academic appointment as assistant clinical professor in the Division of Orthopedic Surgery at Duke University.
Thompson has served the U.S. Army as a combat medic, assistant platoon leader, infantry platoon leader and ambulance platoon leader. From 1996 to present, Thompson has served as a physician with both the U.S. Army Reserve and the U. S. Naval Reserve. He currently holds the rank of lieutenant commander and was recalled to active duty at Camp Lejeune from June 2005 to July 2006, where he cared for active duty troops .
Hill, a Kinston native, earned a 1962 bachelor's degree in horticultural science from NC State. He is the co-owner of Tull Hill Farms Inc. in Kinston, an operation of more than 4,500 acres producing tobacco, sweet potatoes, soybeans, cotton and several other crops. Hill is recognized as a leader and innovator among agricultural producers in North Carolina. He has served six terms on the board of the North Carolina Sweet Potato Commission, including four terms as president, and served as the state's representative to the U.S. Sweet Potato Commission.
In the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Hill initiated and supported such pioneering research as the micropropagation program for sweet potatoes. He was instrumental in the creation of the college's Specialty Crops Program, helping to obtain funding for the program and securing resources for the Cunningham Research Station in Kinston, which is the center for the Specialty Crops Program.
The college also named Outstanding Alumni Award winners from several departments:
Dr. Barbara Blakistone (M.S. 1976, Ph.D. 1982, Food Science)
Blakistone, of Wormleysburg, Pa., is recognized as a leading researcher in aseptic sterilants and packaging technology. She currently serves as director of technical and regulatory affairs for the National Fisheries Institute. The author of more than 30 publications, Blakistone is a fellow of the Institute of Food Technologists – the international association for food professionals – a prestigious distinction conferred for outstanding contributions to the science of food processing and distribution.
Dr. Rebecca Bullard-Dillard (B.S. 1990, Biochemistry)
Bullard-Dillard, of Orangeburg, S.C., is associate professor and chair of the department of biology at Claflin University. An author of more than 13 publications, she is a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Society of Microbiology and the National Science Teachers Association. In 2002 and 2003, Bullard-Dillard was named a South Carolina Governor's Distinguished Professor for Claflin University.
Dr. John W. Ezzell Jr. (M.S. 1973, Ph.D. 1976, Microbiology)
Ezzell, of Sharpsburg, Md., is a prominent leader in the field of bioterrorism and biodefense and one of the world's leading experts on anthrax. He currently serves as senior scientist with the Diagnostic Systems Division of the U.S. Army Medial Research Institute. With more than 50 publications, Ezzell is nationally recognized for his work, and he has served as a subject matter expert to a number of organizations including the FBI, EPA and United Nations.
James T. Hill Jr. (B.S. 1959, Agricultural Economics, Animal Industry)
Hill, of Kinston, is president and co-owner of Tull Hill Farms Inc. He is a former member of the board of directors of the North Carolina Tobacco Growers Association and serves on the board of directors for the Flue-Cured Tobacco Cooperative Stabilization Corporation. Hill was appointed by President Bill Clinton to the Presidential Tobacco Commission; the work and report of this commission eventually led to the 2004 tobacco buyout.
Vernon Leroy Jackson (B.S. 1953, Agronomy)
Jackson, of Raleigh, built a successful career training fertilizer dealers in the use of soil tests and efficient use of fertilizers. After leaving the Cooperative Extension Service in 1955, he served in various capacities with several fertilizer companies, the National Cotton Council and the Carolina Cotton Growers Association. In 1990, Jackson was appointed executive secretary and treasurer of the Plant Food Association of North Carolina, from which he is now retired.
Robert B. Kornegay (A.A. 1982, Agriculture Institute)
Kornegay, of Mount Olive, is the marketing and member relations manager of Tri-County Electric Membership Corporation and co-owner of Kornegay Farms. He currently serves on the alumni advisory board of the college's Agriculture Institute, and he has been instrumental in helping guide that organization's success. Actively involved in the community, Kornegay is a governor-appointed trustee to James Sprunt Community College in Kenansville and serves on the boards of directors of the Duplin County Community Foundation and the Duplin County Education Foundation.
Zack F. Ladd (B.S. 1958, Agricultural Education)
Before retiring, Ladd, of Yadkinville, served 34 years as the Yadkin County agency manager of North Carolina Farm Bureau Insurance. He is a lifetime member of the Million Dollar Roundtable, the highest honor in the insurance industry. Within Farm Bureau, Ladd won the Honor Agency Manager Award nine times, still a company record, and grew the Yadkin County agency from one part-time agent and $12,000 in annual premium income to an agency with three offices, 14 agents and premium income of more than $7 million.
William S. Lamm (B.S. 1953, Agronomy; M.Ed. 1969, Adult Education)
Lamm, of Goldsboro, served North Carolina Cooperative Extension for nearly 30 years, including 11 years as Lenoir County director. He received the Distinguished Service Award from the National County Extension Agents Association, the Superior Leadership Award from NC State, and the RJR Award for Excellence in Tobacco Extension. After retiring from Extension in 1984, he pursued a 20-year career in agribusiness with Buckeye Cellulose and Cochran Corporation. During that time, he was a tireless worker for the tobacco industry as a member of the Regional Growth Regulator Committee.
Windell L. Talley (B.S. 1963, Poultry Science)
Talley, of Stanfield, began his farming career with the purchase of 90 acres of land in 1963. Today, Talley Farms Inc. is a diversified farming operation boasting 7,500 acres of crop land that will produce more than nine million hatching eggs and 800,000 meat birds this year. Talley also has served his industry in numerous leadership positions, including terms on the North Carolina Board of Agriculture, the National Turkey Federation Board and the North Carolina Agricultural Foundation Board.
Elijah J. Tyson (B.S. 1958, Agricultural Engineering)
A veteran of the Korean War, Tyson served Duke Power (now Duke Energy) for more than 40 years, retiring as manager of the Agricultural Engineering Division. Tyson, of Denver, N.C., has been a leader in the electric power industry and advancing its application to agricultural production. He held a number of leadership roles at the state and national levels in the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers, and he was named a fellow of the American Society of Agricultural Engineers.
Larry B. Wooten (B.S. 1973, Animal Science)
Wooten, of Raleigh, serves as president of the North Carolina Farm Bureau Federation, the North Carolina Farm Bureau Insurance Companies, and all affiliated corporations. He is recognized as a civic and agricultural leader in North Carolina, having served in a number of different organizations, including the Pender County Farm Bureau, the Pender County Board of Education, the North Carolina Board of Agriculture, and Governor Jim Hunt's Rural Prosperity Task Force and Ag Advancement Consortium Board.
Outstanding Young Alumni Award winners:
Erica Balmer Hanchey (M.S. 2001, Food Science)
After graduation Hanchey served as a product scientist for Frito-Lay, where she led the rapid development and launch of a product that exceeded market performance expectations by four times the original forecast. She was awarded the Frito-Lay R&D “Breaking the Bounds Award” and in 2004, was promoted to sensory research scientist. Now product development manager for H-E-B Grocery Company, Hanchey, of San Antonio, Texas, is dedicated to supporting the food science industry and NC State.
Amanda Pugh Patnaud (B.S. 1998, Microbiology)
As compliance engineer for Wyeth Vaccines, Patnaud works to determine root causes and proper corrective actions of manufacturing problems. She is a member of the North Carolina Regulatory Affairs Forum and the International Society for Pharmaceutical Engineering. Patnaud, of Morrisville, also is actively involved with NC State, returning to campus often as a guest speaker for the student Microbiology Club and College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Career Day, as well as to counsel students interested in the bio-manufacturing industry.
- Suzanne Stanard, 919.513.3126 or suzanne_stanard@ncsu.edu -
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