Class News: June 2023

Welcome to the June 2023 edition of Class News, our monthly snapshot of the personal and professional milestones and adventures of your fellow Tars.

Each month we’ll share a collection of the most recent submissions, so don’t forget to keep us up to date on your latest news.

Across the Arts

Veteran music educator Mark Malone ’77 wrote the newly published biography William Levi Dawson: American Music Educator, a book celebrating the African American composer and Alabama native. Malone, a creator of arts-integrated curricula for the Mississippi Arts Commission, will also present the William Dawson lecture and recital at Rollins on September 12, 2023.

Last month, Shannon Barry O'Grady ’98, theatre director at Salisbury High School in Allentown, Pennsylvania, and her department won the Air Products Education and Community Impact Award for their production of 9 to 5: The Musical. The annual award goes to the theatre department that best connects a production with areas of academic study and/or a community project or event.

Em Johnson ’14 and Katherine Waddell ’14 have created First Bloom Films with their debut feature, Balloon Animal, now available on Amazon, Vudu, and cable services. The film was accepted into over 26 film festivals throughout five continents, winning three nominations and 12 awards. Waddell received her MA from SCAD, and Johnson earned an MFA from Columbia College Chicago.

Gatherings & Milestones

Jack Myers ’69 ’70MBA, Ruth Lawrence duPont ’70, John Myers ’94 ’96 MBA, Molly duPont Schaffer ’97, Sarah duPont-Robbins ’98, Sophie Hendriksen ’27, and Jack Myers ’27 all celebrated together during the Trinity Prep 2023 high school graduation in Winter Park, Florida.

Steven Wilson ’70 has recently written about his lifelong struggles with bipolar disorder in Teetering on a Tightrope, My Bipolar Journey. Available on Amazon and through Barnes & Noble, the memoir includes many personal experiences during his undergraduate years at Rollins.

Endowed teaching chair and humanities professor Mary Ann Murdoch ’06MLS received a GiveWell Foundation grant to facilitate and build a permanent, walkable labyrinth at Polk State College. On April 27, Holt music student Frank Faine conducted a dedication and blessing of the completed labyrinth.

Amy Calandrino ’07, a recipient of one of Orlando Business Journal’s 2023 40 Under 40 awards, recently earned the prestigious SIOR (Society of Industrial and Office Realtors) Designation and was named in the financial real estate company Otso’s 2023 listing of the Most Influential Women in Commercial Real Estate.

Onward & Upward

Richard Woltmann ’66 and Jena Donofrio Hudson ’97 have worked together at the nonprofit legal-aid firm Bay Area Legal Services for several decades. As Woltmann, president and CEO, retires after 43 years, Hudson will carry on his legacy as deputy director.

Sherard Tatum ’81 has been named president-elect of the American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery and will take office in October.