Chronicles – Fall 2019

David Plaspohl (’77) has accepted the position as systems engineer/implementation specialist at Sound Payments in Savannah.

J. Douglas Parker (’81) has retired after a 30-year career with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. He has also self-published the book, A Killher Plan: Behind The Crime Scene Tape, which explores a murder he investigated in 1997.

Keith Hammond (’83) has retired from the Cherokee County recreation department ending a 36-year career in parks and recreation. He continues the 37th year of his officiating career, having worked multiple GHSA Football State championships. Hammond currently serves as a GHSA contest liaison and as the chairman of the Football Playoff Evaluation Board. 

Jennifer Payseno (’85) of Seattle was elected president of the King County Bar Association, Washington State’s largest voluntary bar association. 

Kevin Stafford (’86) has accepted the position as regional account manager, HIV-Briovarx at UnitedHealth Group in the Atlanta area.

Deana Tanner Bibb’s (’87) Proper Pepper Pimento Cheese placed third in the flavored cheeses category at the 2019 American Cheese Society national judging and competition. She competed in a field of 257 companies and 1,742 products. Bibb is the founder and owner of Proper Pepper, based in Sandersville, Georgia. She started her small-batch crafted business in 2015 after winning the Flavor of Georgia contest with her Get Back Jack flavored pimento cheese. Since then, the company has grown to include more than 150 retailers and restaurants in Georgia, Florida, Texas and North Carolina. 

Sara Plaspohl (’92, ’10) has been appointed associate dean at Georgia Southern’s Waters College of Health Professions.

Robert McCall Jr. (’92) has been named district engineer for the Southeast Georgia District by the Georgia Department of Transportation. His office is responsible for more than 400 employees and provides executive oversight for DOT operations and district activities on interstates and state routes in the 26 counties that comprise District Five in southeast Georgia.

Mitchell Posey (’94, ‘95) has been promoted to inspector with the investigative division of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. He is responsible for the administrative oversight of a regional office, two drug offices and several specialized work units including a newly formed gang task force.

Matt Wilson, Ed.D., (’94, ’98) senior director of philanthropy for Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, was recently recognized by the National Association of Athletic Development Directors with its Rising Star Award.

Carl B. Robinson III, Ed.S., (’98) has been appointed as the new principal of Pine Hill Middle School located in the Richmond County School System of Georgia.

Rebekah Faulk Lingenfelser (’05), a newspaper columnist, food blogger and finalist on Food Network’s popular show “Food Network Star,” has released her debut memoir, Some Kinda Good: Good Food and Good Company, That’s What It’s All About. The 283-page book features recipes, restaurant reviews and more than 100 color photographs. In addition, the public relations alumna serves up several short stories detailing her family traditions and hard-won life lessons. Lingenfelser also writes about her appearances on “Food Network Star,” the ABC cooking competition “The Taste,” and her journey through Savannah Technical College’s Culinary Institute of Savannah. Some Kinda Good is available in bookstores and among major online retailers.

Zakiyyah Weatherspoon(’05, ’11) was named recipient of the 2019 American Association of Nurse Practitioners® Georgia State Award for Nurse Practitioner Excellence. This prestigious award from the AANP is given annually to a nurse practitioner (NP) and NP advocate in each state. The American Association of Nurse Practitioners® is the legislative leader for some 248,000 licensed NPs in the U.S., and Weatherspoon was recognized for her work as the events coordinator for the 110-strong South Georgia Association of Nurse Practitioners.

Tyler Keylon (’11) has been named vice president of marketing for Ewing & Company, LLC in Atlanta. The life insurance executive will lead the company’s marketing and design strategy.

Robert Nix (’12) has been appointed solution delivery manager at Deloitte in Atlanta.

Laura Pallini (’13) has been appointed program specialist-success coach at Central Georgia Technical College in Warner Robins, Georgia.

Alton Standifer (’12, ’14) has been named assistant to UGA President Jere Morehead. His primary responsibilities are centered on student affairs, diversity relations and community engagement.

Destinee Andrews (’15) has been appointed judicial law clerk for the Honorable Chief Magistrate Judge Karen Wells Roby of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana in New Orleans.

Lucero Aradillas (’15) has accepted the position as academic program manager in the School of Modern Languages at Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta.

Paul Vogel (’15) has been appointed director of bands at Oglethorpe Charter School in Savannah.