Eight outstanding honorees recognized by UNC Charlotte Alumni Association

Tuesday, April 25, 2017

Alumni and friends of the University are among the staunchest supporters of an institution, and this year, the UNC Charlotte Alumni Association recognized eight individuals as part of the Alumniner Weekend.

David Hauser (’77), Eric Reichard (’89) and Michael Shields (’80) received the Distinguished Alumnus Award.

Outstanding Young Alumnus recipient was Terry Brown Jr., a member of the Class of 2009, and Joanna Gammon (’05) and Gina Wilson (’10) were presented Humanitarian of the Year Awards.

The late Bill Ribarsky was named the Distinguished Faculty Award winner; his wife Barbara Schreiber accepted the honor on his behalf.

Longtime supporter of Charlotte 49ers athletics and retired employee, Celia Laney, received the Honorary Alumna Award.

Hauser, who earned an MBA from the Belk College of Business, worked for Duke Energy, holding various positions during his tenure, most notably chief financial officer. In addition to serving on the UNC Charlotte Board of Trustees, he was on the Foundation Board of Directors and the Belk College Advisory Board. The Hauser Alumni Pavilion is named for him and his wife Nancy (’77), and he is known to encourage other alumni to take ownership of their alma mater.

“If something is important to you, you should get involved,” said Hauser. “I encourage people to get involved — in the University and in whatever their other passions are in life.”

Reichard, who completed a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from the Lee College of Engineering, is chief operations officer for Rodgers Builders. He has led a number of construction projects built for the University, including UNC Charlotte Center City, Richardson Stadium and Levine Hall. In addition to overseeing the construction of the football stadium, Reichard has been a dedicated backer of the Charlotte 49ers, serving as president and chairman of the Charlotte 49ers Athletic Foundation Board.

Shields, who received a Bachelor of Science in Economics from the University, began his career at North Carolina National Bank, now Bank of America. Later, he found success on Wall Street, where he was an equity portfolio manager and co-manager of the Quality Growth Team. He was promoted to president and CEO of Campbell, Cowperthwait and served as chair of Campbell’s Investment Policy Committee. Now president and CEO of Piedmont Trust Company, Shields returned to campus to serve on the UNC Charlotte Investment Fund board.

Brown, this year’s Outstanding Young Alumnus, is a litigation attorney with Horack, Talley, Pharr and Lowndes, where he spends a majority of his focus on commercial business litigation and landlord-tenant cases. After earning a bachelor’s degree in political science, Brown obtained a Juris Doctor from Campbell University, where he served as president of the Black Law Students Association. He was policy director and treasurer for Mecklenburg County Commissioner Trevor Fuller’s re-election campaign, and he is active with the Urban League of the Central Carolinas Young Professionals. In May 2016, Brown was named one of Charlotte’s “30 under 30” for his work as a young leader driving change and innovation within the Queen City.

Humanitarian Award winners Gammon and Wilson were honored for their service to local and international communities. Gammon, known for her “servant leadership,” completed a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and has been active in the community and at the University since. She was an inaugural board member of the Charlotte Young Professionals and has been a member of the United Way Young Leaders and the UNC Charlotte Alumni Board of Directors. She’s volunteered with numerous organizations, including United Way, Salvation Army, Second Harvest Food Bank and Crisis Assistance Ministry. In 2014, she traveled with Samaritan’s Feet to Haiti, after the country’s devastating earthquake, where she washed the feet of orphans and other underserved persons who received a donated pair of shoes.

Wilson, who earned a Bachelor of Science in Nursing, has been involved in neonatal care in Tanzania. While enrolled in the Master of Science in Nursing program at Duke University, Wilson traveled to Tanzania and learned that a high percentage of babies born in that country died from breathing difficulties at birth. As a candidate in the nursing doctorate program at Duke, Wilson focused her dissertation on her work to reduce infant mortality in Tanzania. She’s raised money and organized events to fund supplies and is working with a charitable organization to educate midwives to minimize infant mortality rates.

Ribarsky, who died earlier this year, was recognized for his leadership in the field of data visualization. Few college professors have had the impact on their discipline in the way that Ribarsky did. He was one of the nation’s top experts in large-scale data visualization and data analytics, and his work is considered key to developing technology for the Big Data revolution. At the University, he was the Bank of America Endowed Chair in Information Technology, and he received the 2015 First Citizens Bank Scholars Medal.

Laney, this year’s Honorary Alumna Award recipient, has probably been to more Charlotte 49ers basketball games than anyone else in the last 40 years and can be found at nearly every football and basketball game, at tailgates, sitting in the stands, in the rain or cold, cheering on the teams. During a University career of more than than 38 years, Laney worked for three athletics directors, starting with David Walker and ending with Judy Rose, when she retired in 2016. Her support in administration and event attendance – along with the countless students she’s mothered through the years – illustrates her commitment. Upon her retirement, the Athletic Foundation established the Celia and Nick Laney Endowed Student-Athlete Scholarship in honor of her and her husband.

Photo: (left to right) Michael Shields, Gina Wilson, David Hauser, Barbara Schreiber (wife of the late Bill Ribarsky), Terry Brown Jr., Eric Reichard, Celia Laney and Joanna Gammon.

See more photos online.