Sean Callebs, ’83, is an Atlanta-based national correspondent for CNN Newsource, the world's most extensively syndicated news feed service with more than 750 network affiliates and independent stations nationwide. In 1993 he won an Emmy Award for coverage of Midwestern floods, and was honored the same year with a gold medal at the New York Film Festival for a special on Alaska dealing with the after affects of the Exxon Valdez spill.

Before joining CNN, Callebs was an anchor and editor for WSAZ-TV in Huntington-Charleston, W.Va., and, before that, an anchor and producer for CNN and NBC affiliate WIS-TV in Columbia, S.C. 

The Community Achievement Award was presented to educator William Smith and speech pathologists Jaqueline “Jackie” Scaggs Frazier and Vickie Hinzman Pullins. This award is given to alumni for success in their fields of endeavor and personal contributions to their respective communities.

William Smith, assistant superintendent of Cabell County Public Schools, graduated from Marshall with a bachelor of arts degree in 1973 and a master of arts in 1976. He received a Gifted Education Certification in 1977 and an educational administration certification in 1989. He is responsible for, among other things, the development and implementation of the instructional program for pre-school through adult basic education; Title 1 programs; special education programs; and student services such as alternative education, at-risk student programs and drop-out prevention.

Smith received the Marshall University Black Alumni Association Achievement Award in 1985 and the Huntington Black Professional and Business Women’s Association Recognition Award for Contributions in the Field of Education in 1986. He is a member of the West Virginia State Department’s Education First Committee for The National Goals 2000, and a member of Leadership Tri-State. Among his numerous community activities are chairman of the board of advisers for Marshall’s Community and Technical College; chairman of the board for Tri-State Occupation and Industrialization Center (OIC); and a member of the Martin Luther King Symposium Committee, the Tri-State area Council of Boys Scouts of America, the HOSPICE of Huntington board of directors and the Huntington/Ironton Enpowerment Zone Inc.

Smith is also a member of the Yeager board of directors and his daughter Monique is a Yeager Scholar. He is married to Victoria L. Smith, ’75.

Jackie Frazier and Vickie Pullins graduated from Marshall with degrees in speech pathology in 1974. They both went on to earn their masters degrees in that field. In 1990 they decided to form a private practice in speech pathology in Charleston. Since then, LinguaCare Associates Inc. has been providing services to children in public school systems and to adults in nursing homes and hospitals. LinguaCare employs six full-time and nine part-time speech pathologists, serving four hospitals and nine county school systems. They also provide training to Marshall and West Virginia University students and continuing education programs to speech pathologists nationwide.

Frazier and Pullins are active in their communities supporting various programs to encourage children and youth.

Frazier is married to Barney Warren Frazier and has two children. Pullins is married to Charles Adrian Pullins and has three children.

The Distinguished Service to the Community Award was presented to businessmen Gary G. White and Joseph L. Williams Jr.

Gary White, ’97, is president and chief executive officer of International Industries Inc., a natural resources and manufacturing company with locations in five states, headquartered in Gilbert. He is a member and immediate past chairman of the Marshall University Institutional Board of Governors and second vice president of the Marshall University Foundation Inc. In addition, he serves as vice president of the Larry Joe Harless Community Center Foundation Inc.; chairman of the board of trustees of the Appalachian Hardwoods Manufacturers Association; and a member of the board of directors of West Virginia Media Holding LLC, RAF America’s Riverton Coal Company and The West Virginia Coal Association, among others.

White was appointed by former Gov. Cecil H. Underwood for his transition team in 1996-97 and by former Gov, Gaston Caperton to the West Virginia Board of Education.

In 2003 he was honored as the recipient of the City of Hope “Spirit of Life” award and was inducted into Marshall’s Elizabeth McDowell Lewis College of Business Hall of Fame.

White and his wife, Jo Ann, reside in Logan with their daughter.

Joseph Williams, ’78, is chairman, president and chief executive officer of BASIC Supply Company Inc. in Huntington. His also serves as director of First Sentry Bank in Huntington, Adams National Bank in Washington, D.C., and the West Virginia Capital Corporation. He is a member of the Marshall University Institutional Board of Governors, the Cabell Huntington Hospital Foundation board of directors and the State of West Virginia Workforce Investment Council.

Among his many awards and recognitions are the Marshall University Most Outstanding Black Alumni Award in 1984; Who’s Who Among Black Americans; a profile in The Herald-Dispatch’s “Movers & Shakers” feature (1988), and the paper’s “50 Most Influential People in the 20th Century” (1999).

Other accomplishments are founder and director of the Ebony Golf Classic, former member of the Huntington City Council and former mayor and assistant mayor of Huntington.

Williams is married to Shirley Ann Johnson Williams and they have four children.

The Carolyn B. Hunter Distinguished Faculty Service Award was presented to Dr. Marcia Harrison, professor of biological sciences. Harrison has been a member of the Marshall community since 1986. Her professional service to the community includes director of the West Virginia State Science and Engineering Fair, director of the West Virginia Junior Academy of Science and a member of the Educational Committee of the American Society of Gravitational Space Biology. On campus she is chair of the NASA Space Grant Committee, manages the College of Science Greenhouse and the teaching lab “Cell Central,” and serves on the advisory group for the new biotechnology building, among other responsibilities. She also excels as a mentor and advisor to her students.

The Hunter Award was created by the MUAA for the purpose of recognizing outstanding achievements and providing incentives for continued service from faculty to the community, the university and students in their respective fields. Award nominees were evaluated on their professional service to the community and their service to the university and its students.

Two Nancy Pelphrey Herd Village Scholarships will be awarded.

Michaelyn Ann Butcher, ’06, was presented with the Cheerleader Scholarship. A pre-communications disorders major, Butcher is active in a number of campus and community projects, including reading programs in elementary schools, campus blood drives, care packages to troops, Branches (domestic shelter), the Robby Page Memorial Walk, Sweat Equity Day and the Wild Dawg Safe Trick-or-Treat Night.

Nicholas Slate, ’05, will receive the Marching Band Scholarship. He is an integrated science and technology major. His activities and accomplishments include director of the Handbell Choir at Aldersgate and Barboursville First United Methodist churches; teaching assistant for Marshall IST courses; and assistant instructor for the Sissonville High School marching band. He is employed in Charleston, providing contract-based technology services.  
        

The Cam Henderson Scholarship Award went to John Ryan Stewart, a senior from Barboursville and a member of the Herd golf team. He is active in the Student Advisory Committee, the Golden Key Honor Society, and has made the Dean’s List ever semester in college while majoring in accounting and finance.

The Cam Henderson Scholarship was established by the Alumni Association in the name of legendary football and basketball coach Cam Henderson. It is given yearly to the student athlete who best exemplifies the spirit of scholarship while participating in athletics.
 

For more about the Boone County Club and other alumni clubs, please visit the MUAA Club Page.