{"id":11079,"date":"2024-01-17T09:30:48","date_gmt":"2024-01-17T14:30:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/?p=11079"},"modified":"2024-01-18T13:47:28","modified_gmt":"2024-01-18T18:47:28","slug":"alumni-luminaries-presented-with-2023-alumni-awards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/2024\/01\/17\/alumni-luminaries-presented-with-2023-alumni-awards\/","title":{"rendered":"Alumni Luminaries Presented with 2023 Alumni Awards"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Georgia Southern University\u2019s Alumni Association celebrated the achievements and dedicated service of outstanding alumni at the 2023 Alumni Awards ceremony. Georgia Southern President Kyle Marrero highlighted their remarkable service, business acumen and overall excellence. He also emphasized the growing network of more than 146,000 Georgia Southern and Armstrong alumni, whose success stories enhance the University\u2019s reputation as a center for excellence. During the ceremony at the Statesboro Convention & Visitors Bureau, Director of Alumni Relations Ava Edwards expressed gratitude for the alumni who led with distinction in their respective fields.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The 2023 award winners include:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Ronny Just (\u201984)<\/strong>
MARVIN PITTMAN AWARD<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Recognizes Georgia Southern alumnus\/alumna who exemplifies the University\u2019s \u201ccore values as expressed through collaboration, academic excellence, discovery and innovation,
integrity, openness and inclusion and sustainability.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Georj Lewis, Ed.D. (\u201907)
TALON AWARD<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Recognizes excellence in career, alma mater service and community service.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Cecilia Arango (\u201902)
GEORGE & LUCY ARMSTRONG AWARD<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Recognizes an Armstrong alumnus\/alumna who exemplifies the University\u2019s \u201ccore values as expressed through collaboration,
academic excellence, discovery and innovation, integrity, openness and inclusion and sustainability.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Commissioner Russell McMurry (\u201992) and
Michelle McMurry (\u201991)
THE SWEETHEART AWARD<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Recognizes a couple who are both alumni and who, together or separately, have supported the University through philanthropy, service or professional work.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Matt Wise (\u201908)
ALUMNI SERVICE AWARD<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Recognizes the alumnus\/alumna, who through volunteerism and\/or philanthropy, has made the greatest contribution to the
advancement of the University.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Retired Maj. Gen. Randall V. Simmons, Jr. (\u201995)
COMMUNITY HERO AWARD<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Recognizes alumnus\/alumna who has shown remarkable achievements in local, regional, national and international
service.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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John Havenar (\u201922)
OUTSTANDING SENIOR AWARD<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Recognizes the graduating senior who has earned the highest GPA while completing all academic hours at the University.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Additionally, Alumni-Owned Business Awards
were presented to the top alumni-owned businesses:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Mary Githens (\u201908)
Latin Chicks Restaurant and Mint To Be Mojito Bar<\/strong><\/h4>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Paul Newman (\u201905)
Statesboro Real Estate<\/strong><\/h4>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Mark Clayton, DDS (\u201917)
Coastal Oral & Maxillofacial<\/strong><\/h4>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Georgia Southern University\u2019s Alumni Association celebrated the achievements and dedicated service of outstanding alumni at the 2023 Alumni Awards ceremony. Georgia Southern President Kyle Marrero highlighted their remarkable service, business acumen and overall excellence. He also emphasized the growing network of more than 146,000 Georgia Southern and Armstrong alumni, whose success stories enhance the University\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26,"featured_media":11088,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[86],"class_list":["post-11079","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni","tag-fall-2023"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11079","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/26"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11079"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11079\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11088"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11079"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11079"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11079"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}