The UNC Charlotte Alumni Association recognized alumni, faculty and friends of the University at the 2018 Alumni Awards celebration, held at the Hilton Charlotte Center City Friday, April 20.
Robert Qutub (’88) and Charles Shook (’76) received the Distinguished Alumni Award.
Qutub is chief financial officer for RenaissanceRe; he has held this position since August 2016 after retiring from MSCI Inc. as chief financial officer and treasurer. He also worked for Bank of America. Prior to UNC Charlotte, he served in the U.S. Marine Corps for three years, attaining the rank of corporal. He earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting from the Belk College of Business. He is chair of the Belk College Accounting Advisory Board and a friend and supporter of student veterans at UNC Charlotte.
Shook who completed a bachelor’s degree in architecture, is considered one of the nation’s top experts in place making. He focuses upon creation of new communities in suburbs and urban cores that reflect timeless patterns of building. He is founding partner and principal of Shook Kelly, and he started the first-ever local firm endowment at the University, the Shook Kelly Architectural Scholarship.
Jeanneine Jones from the Cato College of Education was this year’s recipient of the Distinguished Faculty Award. In her 25 years of service to the University, Jones has held leadership positions that led to tripling the size of her department in terms of students and faculty. She also helped to implement the Master of Arts in Teaching, developed a departmental advising center and launched innovative off-site programs to meet a variety of community needs.
Outstanding Young Alumni Award winners were Lauren Lowery (’09), DeAndrea Salvador (’13) and Meghan Stamper (’08).
A 2009 graduate with degrees in English and Philosophy, Lowery went on to obtain a Master of Public Administration from Georgia State University. She is the strategy and policy manager for the city of Norfolk Department of Neighborhood Development. In this role, she develops and implements neighborhood revitalization programs, including Generational Changes. This initiative is designed by and for young adults to enable them to engage their communities on various issues, such as gun violence, civil injustice, crime and civic engagement.
Salvador, who completed a bachelor’s degree in economics, created the nonprofit organization RETI, the Renewable Energy Transition Initiation. Its mission is to decrease the energy costs of economically disadvantaged families and fight energy poverty. In January 2018, she was selected as a TED Fellow; earlier this month, she hosted a TED Talk in Vancouver, Canada.
Communication studies alumna Stamper is director of Talent Pipeline Programs for Bank of America. She drives the bank’s Applied Technology Program in partnership with the University. She also supported the creation of the Bank of America Applied Technology Program Women in Business and Technology Scholarship. In 2015, she founded the Bank of America UNC Charlotte Alumni Network to foster opportunities for the bank’s 1,100 alumni to connect with each other and the University.
Judy Rose and the family of the late Betty Stancil were presented the Honorary Alumni Award.
Rose is completing a 43-year career with the University, retiring in June 2018. During her tenure as the University’s first female athletics director, Rose led the 49ers during a period of tremendous growth. The Charlotte 49ers added seven sports under her guidance, and the University constructed more than $100 million in modern athletics facilities. Sixty-six of the 69 endowed scholarships in the 49ers endowed scholarship program were established during her tenure.
Stancil spent 43 years at UNC Charlotte, starting her career in 1974 in the Placement Office. In 1990, she moved to the Office of Alumni Affairs, where she worked as an administrative assistant to the executive director. She retired from full-time work in 2003 but continued in a permanent part-time role until June 2017. She died on July 19, 2017. The past presidents of the Alumni Association created the Betty M. Stancil Scholarship Endowment in her memory. Members of Stancil’s family accepted the award.