Five honored with Belk College Alumni Awards

Thursday, October 13, 2016

As part of UNC Charlotte’s Homecoming celebrations, the Belk College of Business honored five alumni and friends for their accomplishments, service and dedication to the college during its first Alumni Awards presentation, Thursday, Oct. 13.

“The Belk College is proud to honor five superior individuals this year during UNC Charlotte Homecoming. The award winners support the Belk College as volunteers, advocates and donors, while serving as leaders in the business community. All of our awardees have achieved so much, both personally and professionally in their lives. They are recognized leaders among our strong and growing Belk College network of more than 28,000 alumni in Charlotte and throughout the world,” said Belk College of Business Dean Steven Ott.

Robert Niblock (’84) received the Distinguished Alumni Award, presented to alumni for extraordinary leadership and accomplishments. Niblock is the chairman, president and chief executive officer of Lowe’s Companies Inc. He holds a bachelor's degree in accounting from the Belk College of Business. In 2015, he announced a $2.5 million gift to name and support the Robert A. Niblock Student Center for Professional Development.

Julie Harris (’00) was presented the Distinguished Service Award, which is given to a member of the Belk College community for outstanding service to the college. She is Bank of America’s enterprise credit data, allowance and reporting risk executive. A member of the Class of 2000, majoring in finance with a focus on financial analysis and accounting, Harris serves as vice chair of the Belk College of Business Board of Advisors, on the UNC Charlotte Foundation Board and is a founding member of the Belk College Women in Business Advisory Board.

Bryan Delaney (’03) and James Hartsell (’02) were the Distinguished Young Alumni Award recipients. Delaney is the executive vice president of sales and co-founder of Skookum, a digital transformation company. Delaney earned a B.S.B.A. in Management Information Systems. Hartsell is Skookum’s chief executive officer and co-founder. He also earned a B.S.B.A. in Management Information Systems. They have grown Skookum from a small startup into a high-performing software development and digital transformation company.

Maria Avedon received the Honorary Alumni Award. She is senior vice president for human resources, communications and corporate affairs at Ingersoll Rand. Avedon served on the Belk College of Business Board of Advisors as both the vice chair and chair, and she has been prominent in helping to guide and develop the college’s Executive Education Program, especially in business analytics during the time that the University established the Data Science Initiative.

Click here to read more about the Belk College of Business Alumni Award recipients.