CCU Alumni of the Year honored
Five alumni of Coastal Carolina University have been named 2006 Outstanding Alumni of the Year
Derek Blanton
Distinguished Alumnus of the Year
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| CCU
President Ron Ingle and Derek Blanton '79 of Conway, who
was named the Distinguished Alumnus of the Year. |
Derek Blanton, class of 1979, was named the Distinguished Alumnus of the Year. This award is given to a graduate of Coastal who has made a significant contribution to his/her profession or community over a period of time.
Blanton is a magistrate and municipal judge for Surfside Beach. During his years at Coastal, where he majored in history and minored in business administration, Blanton was one of the founders of Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity and was involved in the History Club.
He earned a juris doctorate degree from the Thomas M. Cooley Law School in Lansing, Mich., in 1991. Blanton is active in the Surfside Area Rotary Club and serves on its board of directors. He was very involved in the Myrtle Beach All Aboard Committee, which saved and restored the old Myrtle Beach train depot. He also headed up the middle school dictionary program and worked as a Habitat for Humanity volunteer. Blanton is an enthusiastic supporter of Chanticleer sports.
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Mark
and Will Adkins
E.
Craig Wall Sr. College of Business Administration
Twin brothers Mark and Will Adkins both
graduated from Coastal in 1989 with bachelor's degrees in
business administration. Originally from Huntington, W.Va.,
they were active during their college years in Coastal's Business
Club and they started club football as an intramural sport.
Since graduation, the brothers have led successful careers
as partners in the real estate and development business. Their
company, the Waterford Group Inc., based in Cornelius, N.C.,
is a growing firm serving the Carolinas and Virginia and employs
a number of CCU graduates. In 2006, the Adkinses pledged a
total of $1.8 million for the proposed football field house
in Brooks Stadium-the largest donation ever made to Coastal
by alumni. They made a $300,000 donation in February 2006
and their pledge of $1.5 million was announced in November.
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Georgia Vaught Anderson
Spadoni College of Education
A native of Loris, Georgia Vaught Anderson
graduated from Conway High School in 1970 and was one of the
first Coastal Carolina graduates to earn a bachelor's degree
in 1974. At Coastal, she was president of the Student Government
Association and won the George C. Rogers Award for Outstanding
Service. In 1978, she graduated from the University of South
Carolina School of Law and married law school classmate David
Anderson. She served as an assistant public defender for Spartanburg
County from 1978 to 1983, when she transferred to the Spartanburg
County Solicitor's Office. After a brief stint as an assistant
solicitor she was appointed a full-time county magistrate.
Anderson became a Family Court judge in 1995.
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Joanne
Patterson
College of
Natural and Applied Sciences
Joanne Patterson entered Coastal as an adult, nontraditional
student after earning an associate's degree in criminal justice
from Horry-Georgetown Technical College. A single mother with
a full-time job, she graduated magna cum laude in 1995 with
a bachelor's degree in sociology. She worked in management positions
with the Myrtle Beach Housing Authority and Citizens Against
Spouse Abuse (CASA) before being named CASA's executive director
in 2001. Patterson is also active in the Community Coalition
and other organizations such as the South Carolina Coalition
Against Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault.Back to top.
Yasemin Saib
Thomas W. and
Robin W. Edwards College of Humanities and Fine Arts
Born in
Iraq and raised in Saudi Arabia, Yasemin Saib enrolled at Coastal
in 1991 as a political science major. While at CCU she participated
in internship programs at Oxford University in England, Trier
University in Germany and the University of the Bosphorus in
Turkey. She graduated from Coastal, summa cum laude, in 1995.
After earning a master's degree in technology from North Carolina
State, Saib moved to New York where she worked in marketing
and became active in Arab-America and Islamic philanthropic
activities. After 9/11, she became a prominent media commentator
and lecturer on Islamic issues, appearing on "Good Morning America"
with Diane Sawyer and the PBS series "Frontline." In 2003 Saib
moved to Dubai, where she works as a producer for the Al Arabiya
News Channel. |
