Disney World: Randy Elrod ’82 and Jennifer Elrod ’11
Family vacation to Disney World. Clemson Tigers Randy Elrod ’ 82 and Jennifer Elrod ’11 (current grad student earning Master’s in Nursing Administration and Leadership) with Tigger!
Archive for month: May, 2016
Utah: Steel Bridge Team National Competition
The attached photo is of the 2015-2016 Steel Bridge Team atop the “Y” in Provo, Utah. The “Y” is a famous landmark for students and alumni at BYU. We were there competing in the ASCE National Competition of Steel Bridge Teams. There were 48 schools from 5 different countries. Our team took first place in the regional competition (for the second year in a row) back at the end of March to earn our position at Nationals. We took 23rd out of 48 this year at Nationals, of course we expected nothing less than #1! Nevertheless that was the result and we are honored to have had the opportunity to attend.
The Steel Bridge Team is a creative inquiry for Civil Engineering majors. We designed, fabricated, and painted the bridge all on our own. Which is not all that common among all the schools in the nation believe it or not. A lot of schools contract professional fabricators or machine shops to design and build their bridges. However, we as Clemson students hold ourselves to the highest standard, “The Best”.
In the picture the members are (from left to right): Dr Weichiang Pang (advisor), David McCullough 16′, Jonathon Broyles 18′, Joe Capriola 16′, Nathan Flaugher 17′, Mike Chute 16′, Shawn Waters 16′, Tom Sharp 17′, Ryan Hull 17′, and Nick Andryusky 17′. Not pictured are Nora 16′ and Taif Albayati 18′. They were unable to attend because they were visiting family out of the country, but are still very much apart of the team.
Some links about the competition, the “Y”, and our Facebook page if you are interested.
http://www.aisc.org/content.aspx?id=780
http://yfacts.byu.edu/Article?id=155
https://www.facebook.com/CUSBT
Iceland: Carey Molin Gully, M.D. '98 and daughter Celia Peyton Gully
Carey Molin Gully, M.D. ’98 and daughter Celia Peyton Gully at the Blue Lagood in Iceland. The two traveled to Iceland in May of 2016.
Cheering on Tigers in Japan
Steve Bellamy ’74 and Jim Shuler ’74 visited Kobe, Japan. #TravelerTuesday
Summer Term abroad in Germany, Stefan Topper, Class of 2016
Our son Stefan took a summer term in Germany attending classes in Luneburg. One weekend he went with friends to visit southern Germany’s Alps and went to the top of the famous Eagles Nest. There he showed his “Tiger Pride”.
MY CLEMSON: Eric Mac Lain ’15
Dr Pepper ACC Football Championship Game in Charlotte, N.C., Dec. 6, 2015. (Photo by Jason E. Miczek, theACC.com)
My name is Eric Mac Lain, and this past December, I became a Clemson alumnus. It was a day I thought would never come, but now that I am reflecting on it, I realize it happened in what seemed to be a blink of an eye.
My experiences at Clemson were second to none. I was very fortunate to have been a team captain during our special 2015 football season (14-1), losing only to Alabama in the National Championship. I graduated with a B.S. in health science and was able to start my master’s program in athletic leadership. This past fall, I had the honor of introducing Vice President Joe Biden when he spoke at Clemson.
More important than all of that, I found my future wife at Clemson. We met freshman year because she and my roommate were family friends, and I tagged along to a cookout. We became good friends and started dating two years later. So the phrase Clemson family is very real to me! Her father and other relatives went to Clemson, and both of our brothers now attend Clemson. It is safe to say that orange will run in our bloodlines for many years to come.
There is something special about Clemson that’s not true about every other University. As soon as we aren’t at Clemson or at least nearby, we miss it. I can attest to this because I have been away this spring training for the NFL, and cannot wait to be back in Tiger town.
I’m Eric Mac Lain and this is MY Clemson. CU soon!
You probably saw Eric Mac Lain during the coverage of the Orange Bowl and the National Championship as he was being interviewed by what seemed like every reporter in the country. Click on the photos below to see more about Eric’s life at Clemson.
Clemson Club Events: Baltimore/Washington, D.C., Club
Members of the Baltimore/Washington, D.C., Clemson Club had the unique opportunity to go bowling at the Truman Bowling Alley Washington, D.C., on February 10, 2016. Once housed in the White House where the present-day Situation Room is located, the alley is now located in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building (EEOB). Thanks to Mike Palmer ’97, these Tigers enjoyed a tour of the EEOB and two hours of bowling on the most historic and exclusive lanes in the world.
Pictured: Back row: Mike Palmer ’97, Mark Derrick ’91, David Rochester ’68, Catherine Rochester, Ken Bowen ’86, P’18, P’18, Michael Coakley ’91, Spencer Neal ‘95. Front row: Rachael Neal ’97, Elizabeth Jackson ‘06, Elizabeth Bowen P’18, P’18, Beth Coakley ’93 and Holly Cirrito ’95.
Photo from the club’s 6 Degrees of Clemson event:
Fore more information about the Baltimore/Washington, D.C., Club, go to www.clemsonclub.org/.
Passing it on: Emily Wallace encourages the next generation of underrepresented students
Emily Wallace ’72 has been breaking down barriers and cutting new paths since she was a student at Clemson, and now she is helping the next generation follow in her footsteps. Wallace and her husband, Jack, have established an endowed scholarship through the College of Engineering and Science. The scholarship targets groups who are underrepresented in science, technology, engineering and math.
“As a manager in technology, it’s hard to find women in technical backgrounds,” Wallace says. “But it’s not just women. It can be hard to find men, too. I’m trying to encourage more students in technical backgrounds.”
Wallace serves as senior director of the Knowledge Management Center at SAS, a software development company based out of Cary, North Carolina, that employs 15,000 worldwide. Emily and Jack Wallace were among the first 100 employees when they began working at the company 34 years ago.
The husband-and-wife team returned to campus in November for Legacy Day and to see the Tigers play Wake Forest in the last home football game of the season. Their itinerary included a meeting with Serita Acker, the program director for Women In Science and Engineering (WISE). The program offers support to female engineering and science majors, ranging from mentoring and networking to test banks and tutoring.
“I’m a strong believer in the WISE program,” Wallace says. “I love Serita. I wish we had the program when I was here.”
While at Clemson, Wallace became the first female director of the student radio station, WSBF. As a female math major, she was in a distinct minority. The experience helped prepare her for what was to come. “It gave me a lot of independence,” she says. [pullquote]“Being among a minority of female students helped me develop a thicker skin and to deal with people who did not see my viewpoint.”[/pullquote]
Tigers football head coach Dabo Swinney and his wife, Kathleen, helped inspire the Wallaces to give back. “I was so impressed with what they are doing for the community and academic programs, it made me feel like I should do more,” Emily says.
While on campus, the Wallaces also toured the Watt Family Innovation Center, a state-of-the-art building designed to link students and industry. “I was blown away,” Emily says. “I want to come back as a student.”
Griffin to lead childhood obesity research as GHS Faculty Fellow
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 30 percent of adolescents and close to 27 percent of low-income preschool children in South Carolina are already overweight or obese. Public health sciences faculty member Sarah Griffin is looking to be part of the solution. Recently named a Greenville Health System (GHS) Faculty Fellow, she will help lead GHS-Clemson research in childhood obesity and pediatric population health management.
Griffin will work with the GHS Children’s Hospital Department of Pediatrics to examine the effectiveness and costs of obesity prevention efforts associated with three GHS initiatives: the Greenville Memorial Childcare Center; the New Impact childhood obesity treatment program; and GHS health clinics at Berea, Lakeview and Tanglewood middle schools in Greenville.
“With ever-increasing childhood obesity rates, it is vital that researchers develop evidence-based prevention practices and provide scholarship on the effectiveness of these practices,” Griffin said.[pullquote] “Healthy interventions that change weight-related behavior and prevent or treat obesity benefit everyone: children, their families, health care systems and the community as a whole.”[/pullquote]
Griffin is the third Clemson faculty member to be named a GHS Faculty Fellow. Each fellow is strategically embedded in a GHS department, shifting their focus from their regular teaching duties to developing a comprehensive research agenda with their GHS department.