Class Notes

Robertson Allen married his partner of 11 years, Dorothy Cheng, in May 2016 at a wedding on the Olympic Peninsula, WA. Rob's book, based on his doctoral research and titled America's Digital Army: Games at Work and War, is scheduled to be published by the University of Nebraska Press in July, 2017.

Jennifer earned a Master of Music degree, specializing in piano performance, from Middle Tennessee State University. She graduated December 12, 2015.

Whitney Black Dee ’00 has joined Summit Pediatrics in Maryville, Tenn. She is certified by the American Board of Pediatrics and formerly worked at Maryville Pediatric Group.

Holds the Masters of Arts in Interpretation from Gallaudet University and is continuing work on her dissertation in the Gallaudet PhD program with concentrations in interpreting pedagogy and research. This is the first and only PhD program in the field of signed languages interpreting. She continues to work full time with Gallaudet Interpreting Services. Holds National Interpreter Certification (NIC) in interpreting from RID.org (Registry for Interpreters for the Deaf) in addition to other interpreting certifications. She was first certified nationally with RID (Certificate of Transliteration) as an MC senior.

VIEO Design’s Principal, founder, Lead Designer, and Lead Developer received another title in October 2014 when he was voted Knoxville’s Best Web Programmer for the 4th time. The Knoxville Big Wig Awards, from the American Advertising Federation of Knoxville, recognizes the people behind the best marketing and advertising in East Tennessee. The winners were announced at an awards gala on October 22, 2014.

Was recently promoted to the position of CIO (Chief Information Officer) with 21st Mortgage Corporation.

Murph Hutson graduates from Bethel Seminary in St. Paul, MN with his Masters of Divinity on May 25, 2019. He is finishing his pastoral internship at Luther Church of Hope in West Des Moines, Iowa, and hopes to be ordained in the ELCA this Fall. Murph (2000) and Joy Bailey Hutson (1999) celebrated 20 years of marriage with friends and family on June 26, 2019.

Jennifer Mason will serve as an interim District 3 Williamson County (Spring Hill, TN) commissioner. The Williamson County Commission unanimously appointed Mason on Sept. 11, 2018. Read more here: http://www.tennessean.com/story/news/local/williamson/2017/09/11/jennifer-mason-williamson-county-commission/652971001/

During the 34th Annual Daily Times Academic Awards on May 6, 2019, Penny Blackwood Ferguson ’69 and Adriel McCord ’00 were inducted into the Daily Times Wall of Fame, which recognizes professional achievement and community involvement. Ferguson is a nationally recognized teacher at Maryville High School, and McCord is vice president of First Tennessee Bank.

Adriel McCord will receive the 2024 Community Leadership Award on April 16.

Leadership Blount created the award in 2000 to recognize individuals for sustained actions and leadership that reflect a commitment to lifelong service.

McCord will be recognized at a Community Leadership Award Dinner on April 16 at the Clayton Center for the Arts for all Leadership Blount dues-paying alumni and special guests.

A native of LaGrange, Georgia, McCord came to Tennessee in 1996 to attend Maryville College, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in business and organizational management.

He began his banking career in 2001 and is currently vice president and private client relationship manager at First Horizon Bank in Maryville.

McCord began serving in the Blount County community early in his career as a volunteer for United Way of Blount County. For many years, he volunteered in United Way’s community fundraising campaign and later served on the board of directors. In 2020, he was recognized as “Board Member of the Year.”

In 2022 he and his wife, Nichole, served as co-campaign chairs for the 2022 United Way of Blount County community fundraising campaign.

Adriel McCord is a member of the Leadership Blount Class of 2004 and later served as a board member and board chair for Leadership Blount.

Currently he serves on numerous boards, including the Maryville College Board of Directors, Blount Chamber Partnership and Fellowship of Christian Athletes for the Smoky Mountain Area. He also co-chairs the Blount County MLK Celebration Committee, a committee he has served on for more than 15 years.

He previously served as board member for the Maryville City Schools Foundation.

In addition to serving in official capacities for local organizations, McCord has routinely given of his time to teach financial literacy to students in schools, the after-school program at the Martin Luther King Jr. Center in Alcoa, Project HOPE and the Richard Williams Jr. Leadership Academy.

McCord also has served as a small group co-leader at Foothills Church in Maryville, and he has volunteered his talents to serve as a master of ceremonies and DJ at many local community events.

Based on his commitment and service to the community, McCord has been recognized by many community organizations through the years.

He is the 24th recipient of the Community Leadership Award.

Leadership Blount educates and inspires current and emerging leaders to engage in active, lifelong service. The nonprofit’s programs include Leadership Blount, Discover Blount and Leadership Roundtable.

Emily Beth McLemore, 40, passed away suddenly and unexpectedly at her workplace on July 5, 2018. Emily was employed at Marriott International/Accenture for 17 years, where she had many friends and was described by her managers as a model employee. Emily was a graduate of Maryville High School and Maryville College. She was an environmentalist who loved nature, respected Mother Earth, and was a devoted cat mom. Emily very much loved spending time with her immediate and extended family. She was a wonderful, funny, and caring daughter, sister, and friend who cannot be defined in words. She is preceded in death by: grandparents, Willis & Ethel McLemore and Paul Kenneth Teffeteller and Jewel Sands Teffeteller Shamblin Cline. She is sadly missed by parents, Ronnie and Paula (Ms. Paula of JS Adventure Club) McLemore; sister and brother-in-law, Angela (McLemore) & Brian Lora. Our hearts are broken. We appreciate the love and support from our extended family, friends, and Emily’s coworkers, who will also greatly miss her. In lieu of flowers, please make donations to: Save the Manatee Club, 500 N. Maitland Ave., Suite 210, Maitland, FL 32751, Attn: Donations or The Arbor Day Foundation, 100 Arbor Avenue, Nebraska City, NE 68410. A gathering and reception will be held to share time with family and friends on Tuesday, July 10, 2018, from 5:00 until 7:00 PM at the Life Event Center, 1404 Tuckaleechee Pike, Maryville, TN 37803. Smith Funeral & Cremation Service, Maryville, 865-983-1000, www.SmithFuneralandCremation.com.

Daniel Lee Miles, 43, of Knoxville became one with the Force on July 24, 2021. He is preceded in death by mother, Mary Miles; maternal grandfather, William Kenneth Goodman; paternal grandparents, George and Wilma Miles. Daniel is survived by wife, and love of his life, Mandi Miles; father, Don Miles; grandmother, Virginia Goodman; mother-in-law, Phyllis Presley; and his pug, Cash. Receiving of friends on Saturday, July 31, 2021, from 1:00 pm to 2:00 pm and a celebration of life at 2:00 pm at McCammon-Ammons-Click Funeral Home. In lieu of flowers please donate to the local ALS Association or Team Gleason. Daniel will be missed greatly by his amazing group of friends and family. Special thanks to Dr. Randall Trudell and his amazing staff, Blount Hospice, and UT speech pathology department. “May the Force be with you. Always”.

recently earned his PhD in Quantitative Methods in Education from the University of Minnesota. He works as a Data Scientist in the Minneapolis Public Schools.

Lt. Col. David Moss welcomed home from Iraq With yellow ribbons and banners lining the neighborhood street where he once learned to ride a bike, Lt. Col. David Moss received a hero's welcome Monday afternoon after a six-month deployment in Iraq. Neighbors stood in the bitter cold and cheered as Moss' SUV slowly cruised down Southview Drive in Maryville. Pulling into the driveway of his childhood home, his parents greeted him with open arms. "Welcome home!" cried a family across the street. A young boy waved an American flag. Moss, 41, standing in camouflage fatigues, beamed with joy. The member of the Tennessee Air National Guard had been back in the country for less than 48 hours. Inside his parents' home, a Christmas tree and holiday decorations remained – his parents' way of giving him a late Christmas. His three young children had presents under the tree. It was family, Moss said, more than McDonald's or cold weather, that he missed while in Iraq. He missed all three of his children's birthdays, his parent's birthdays, his 15th wedding anniversary, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's – not to mention the children's soccer games, gymnastics exhibitions and church plays. Though he kept in touch with video calls, the seven- to eight-hour time zone difference made it difficult, Moss said, certainly more so than when he was deployed to Cuba. But Moss said he is used to it. "Tie up the boots and go, just get it over with," he said of his attitude toward deployment. Moss is the commander of the 241st Engineering and Installation Squadron of the Tennessee Air National Guard. For the service members under his command at Camp Taji in Iraq, he made sure they could stay up on holidays to call their families back home. Normally, Moss is stationed in Chattanooga. He and his wife, Tosha, and their three children live in Harden Valley. His hometown neighborhood in Blount County welcomed him all the same. "I hope he's not going back overseas," one neighbor said to Moss' father, Dean. "Not anytime soon," Dean said.

age 43, of Erwin, passed away on Tuesday, November 12, 2013 at his home. Born April 19, 1970 in Washington County, TN, he was a son of Bobby and Sue Davis Baucom and biological father Mickey Sparks. J. J. was graduate of Unicoi County High School and received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Maryville College. He was a faithful member of Hulen Baptist Church, had worked at NFS, taught Spanish at Unicoi County High School, was an assistant football coach in 2000 and had worked at McDonalds for the last 2 years. He was a former football player at UCHS and at Maryville College, played Basket Ball at UCHS and was a Hot Shots Hoops champion. He is preceded in death by his paternal grandparents, Bynum and Geneva Sparks, Maternal grandparents Mina and Orley Davis, his brother Anthony “Tony” Sparks and very special uncle, Ronnie “R. D.” Davis.

Recently promoted to Vice President of Finance for The Dollywood Company, which includes oversight of Accounting, FP&A and Information Technology for Dollywood, Splash Country, DreamMore Resort and HeartSong Resort.

Recently accepted the position of Director of Finance at Dollywood’s DreamMore Resort that is set to open in July 2015 in Pigeon Forge TN.

has been named assistant principal at Carpenters Middle School.

Carpenters Middle School assistant principal chosen for leadership academy Courtney Whitehead, assistant principal at Carpenters Middle School, is one of 25 chosen this month for the 2017 Governor’s Academy for School Leadership. April Herron, principal of Middlesettlements Elementary, will serve as her mentor. This is the second year for the one-year fellowship program for assistant principals to cultivate and develop future school leaders. The academy is a partnership among the state, Vanderbilt University’s Peabody College and local school districts to build a pipeline of highly trained principals to improve school performance. Each assistant principal is paired with an experienced principal mentor and will attend monthly group training sessions and a weeklong summer institute at Vanderbilt. The apprentice will intern three days a month at his or her mentor’s school. Upon completion of the academy, participants will be expected to pursue placement as a school principal in their district or region. Participants were nominated by their district’s director of schools and selected through an application and interview process conducted by representatives from the Governor’s Office, the Tennessee Department of Education and Vanderbilt University.