chapelhillnews.com

Hollins University in Roanoke, Va., has presented its Distinguished Alumnae Award to bestselling novelist Lee Smith of Hillsborough and editor and publisher Shannon Ravenel of Chapel Hill.
Smith, a member of Hollins' Class of 1967, has published 11 novels and three collections of short stories over the past 40 years. Her 2001 novel The Last Girls, based on a Mississippi River journey she took as a Hollins student, was a New York Times bestseller. Her work has won numerous accolades and awards, including the Academy Award in Literature, the Lila Wallace/Reader's Digest Award, the Robert Penn Warren Prize for Fiction, and two O. Henry Awards.
Ravenel graduated from Hollins in 1960 and has been called "the patron saint of Southern literature" due to her mentorship of talented Southern writers. She inaugurated the New Stories from the South series and went on to co-found Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, where she nurtured young writers who could not otherwise get a foot in the publishing door. In 2001, she started her own Algonquin imprint, Shannon Ravenel Books. Ravenel has been honored with the Distinguished Achievement Award from the Council of Literary Magazines and Presses and recently was inducted into the Fellowship of Southern Writers for outstanding contributions to Southern letters.
Dr. Craig Burkhart, a resident physician in dermatology at UNC Hospitals, has been selected by the American Academy of Dermatology to receive its Member Making a Difference Award.
Burkhart is being recognized for his work in organizing a new dermatology clinic in Carrboro, in collaboration with UNC's Student Health Action Coalition (SHAC). SHAC provides free general medical care to those in need. As part of his recognition, Burkhart will be featured in the Members Making a Difference column in an upcoming issue of Dermatology World magazine. He also will be honored at an awards luncheon at the 2008 American Academy of Dermatology Annual Meeting.
In addition, Burkhart has received an AAD International Travel Grant to attend the Brazilian Society of Dermatology Annual Meeting in Fall 2007.

Mark Zylka, assistant professor of cell and molecular physiology in the UNC School of Medicine, has been named a 2007 Searle Scholar, which provides $240,000 over three years in support of his research on neural circuits and pain. The Searle Scholars award supports exceptional young faculty across the biomedical sciences and in chemistry. Co-recruited with the UNC Neuroscience Center, Zylka began his professorial appointment in 2006 and has already garnered a number of other awards.

Kane Robert Lopinski of Carrboro has been named to the dean's list for the fall semester at Western Carolina University. To make the list, a student must have a grade-point average of 3.5 and maintain a course load of 12 credit hours.

Alyson Gene Glenn and Raymond Calvin Olive, both of Hillsborough, have been named to the dean's list for the fall semester at Western Carolina University. To make the list, a student must have a grade-point average of 3.5 and maintain a course load of 12 credit hours.

Linda Cronenwett, dean of the School of Nursing at UNC-Chapel Hill, has received $1.09 million from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to fund the second phase of the Quality and Safety Education for Nurses (QSEN) project.
The project's long-range goal is to reshape professional identity formation in nursing to include commitment to quality and safety competencies recommended by the Institute of Medicine. The award will enable Cronenwett and project co-investigator Gwen Sherwood to continue work initiated last fall with an award of $590,532 for the first phase.

Andrew Bonds was named to the honors list for the second trimester at St. James School in St. James, Maryland. He is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Mark Bonds of Chapel Hill.

Brittany C. Snyder has been named to the merit list for the first semester of the 2006-07 academic year at Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio. She is the daughter of Christopher and Mary Fay Snyder of Chapel Hill. To be eligible for the list, a student must achieve a grade-point average of at least 3.45.

At the April 2 meeting of the Chatham County Board of Commissioners, 26 county employees received certificates and pins for at least 20 years of service.
The employees honored are: >30-Year Employees (30 years or more): Sandy Coletta, social services; Vicki McConnell, finance and assistant county manager; Reba Thomas, register of deeds. 25-Year Employees (with 25 years or more): Emily Foushee, management and information systems; Frances Wilson, tax; Keith Megginson, planning; Sharon Brookbank, social services; Howard McLeod, waste management; Gywn Johnson, health.
20-Year Employees (with 20 years or more): Libby Eubanks, sheriff's office; Patricia Robbins, social services; Linda Williams, facilities management; Cindy Snipes, social services; Patty Fox, social services; Freda Marsh, social services; Ethel Farrell, social services; Ann Alston, tax; Jack Dark, emergency operations; Mary Phillips, tax; Mark Ellington, management and information systems; Judy Thomas, social services; Kathy Scott, finance; Janet Scott, emergency operations; Karen Jones, tax; Virginia Ryan, environmental health; Kay Everage, planning.

Bo Zhang of Chapel Hill has been named a finalist and chosen to compete for a $50,000 college scholarship later this month at the 2006-07 Young Epidemiology Scholars Competition administered by the College Board. He is a student at Chapel Hill High School. Bo, who is guaranteed to win at least $2,000 for college, is among 60 high school juniors and seniors from across the nation who were named regional finalists and who will compete for the top scholarship in Washington, D.C., April 13-16.

Nadia Hoekstra, a student at East Chapel Hill High School, has received a $1,000 college scholarship as a semifinalist in the 2006-07 Young Epidemiology Scholars Competition administered by the College Board.

Kasey Christian of Chapel Hill was among 45 UNC-Asheville students who spent the recent spring break rebuilding in New Orleans as part of the Habitat for Humanity Collegiate Challenge to reconstruct homes devastated by Hurricane Katrina.

Oleg Alekseev Jr. was named to the dean's list for the first semester of the 2006-07 academic year at Bates College in Lewiston, Maine. To qualify for the list, a student must maintain better than a B-plus average and a minimum quality-point average of 3.66. He is the son of Oleg Alekseev and Victoria Alekseeva of Carrboro.

tool name

Find a Job