The Elon Alumni Association will honor three distinguished graduates of the university with this year’s association awards. The awards will be presented at 11 a.m., Saturday, Oct. 30, at the Alumni Association gathering in Whitley Auditorium on campus.
Faye Gordon Humphrey of Charlotte, N.C., will receive the Service to Church and Society Award. A 1961 Elon graduate, she has been a kindergarten teacher for more than 30 years in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg public schools. Humphrey has held leadership roles in the Southern Conference of the United Church of Christ and currently serves as president. She also served as president of Southern Conference Women from 1990-1994 and was named Woman of the Year by that group.
Humphrey earned a bachelor’s degree in Christian education and a master’s degree in early childhood education from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.
Jerry Lee Michael of Auburn, Ala., is the Distinguished Alumnus of the Year. A 1966 Elon graduate, Michael holds a bachelor’s degree in chemistry. He is recognized as an international expert on the impact of forest management on water quality and aquatic ecosystems. He has written more than 100 journal articles, presented more than 50 papers at international conferences, and served as technical reviewer for The Journal of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry and The Canadian Journal of Forest Research.
Michael is professor of forest ecology in the School of Forestry at Auburn University and also works as a research ecologist with the U.S. Forest Service. He holds a master’s degree in plant taxonomy form the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a doctorate in tree physiology from Colorado State University.
The Young Alumnus of the Year Award will be presented to 1994 graduate David L. Wyrick of Greensboro, N.C. Wyrick earned a bachelor’s degree exercise/sport science.
As a research associate at Tanglewood Research in Greensboro, Wyrick has secured more than $3.5 million in grants from the National Institutes of Health to help young people avoid the dangers of alcohol and drug abuse. He has made 29 presentations at international conferences, authored four research papers and written a book titled “Alcohol Use and Harm Prevention: A Resource for College Students.” He has served as a reviewer for Prevention Science, the leading international journal dedicated to the science of alcohol and drug abuse prevention.
The impact of his work is felt in local schools, where Wyrick has created four drug prevention programs for students. He teaches as an adjunct professor of public health education at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and has volunteered his time as a Sunday school teacher, basketball coach and as a member of the Guilford Health Partnership. He earned a master’s degree in public health education and a doctorate in educational research methodology at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
The Alumni Association promotes active participation in university events by its approximately 24,000 members. The association is governed by a national executive board, which is composed of 60 members who each serve three-year terms.
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