Outstanding Black Alumni Award
The University of South Carolina presents this award to an alumnus or alumna distinguished in his or her chosen field.
Recipients are:
2009
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Taj Troy, '98, is a major in the S.C. Air National Guard and has previously been honored by the USC College of Hospitality, Retail, and Sport Management with an award for Technology Support and Training Management. Mr. Troy was active in the Air Force ROTC and was a resident advisor for two years. He joined the Air National Guard during his junior year. He became an F-16 pilot and flew 14 combat missions during Operation Iraqi Freedom, and was also the orientation pilot for a special flight with Carolina football coach Steve Spurrier. Mr. Troy is a licensed funeral director and assistant manager for Troy’s Funeral Homes Inc. in Mullins, S.C., and is very active in his community.
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2008
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Darrin Thomas, '87, will receive the Outstanding Black Alumni Award. The award is presented by the Black Alumni Council of the Carolina Alumni Association to an alumna or alumnus with a record of excellence in his or her chosen field. Thomas is the vice president of Thomas-McCants Media. He was the 1998 recipient of the Moore School of Business Distinguished Young Alumnus Award and serves on numerous local boards including the Greater Columbia Chamber of Commerce, the Boy Scouts of America, and Communities in Schools of South Carolina. |
2007
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Cassandra D. Youmans, '82 BS, '87 MD, played an active role in providing clinical service as an incident commander of one of the largest special needs shelters in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and in developing the public health Katrina Recovery Plan. She was the recipient of the USC School of Medicine 2007 Humanitarian Alumni Award and was featured in New Orleans City Business News Magazine as a minority New Orleanean who has made a difference in the community through their energy, ideas and commitment to excellence. She was listed in Augusta Magazine’s 2006 Success Guide as one of the most influential and successful women in the Central Savannah River Area. Dr. Youmans currently serves as the District Health Director for the East Central Health District. She resides in Martinez, GA. |
2006
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Reginald "Reggie" Lloyd, '93 law, is the first African American in more than 100 years to be named South Carolina's U.S. attorney, the state's highest ranking federal prosecutor. He is responsible for prosecuting federal crimes and representing the United States in civil cases. Ebony magazine has named The Honorable Reginald I. Lloyd one of the one-hundred most influential blacks in America. A recipient of the University of South Carolina School of Law's Compleat Lawyer Award, Mr. Lloyd joined the firm of Nexsen, Pruit, Jacobs and Pollard before moving on to the South Carolina Attorney General's office. He has served as Director of Research and Chief Counsel to the Judiciary Committee for the South Carolina House of Representatives. |
2005
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Michael L. Thurmond, ’78 law, is commissioner of the Georgia Department of Labor. Thurmond was the first African-American elected to the Georgia General Assembly from Clarke County since Reconstruction. During his legislative tenure, he was the only African-American legislator elected from a majority white district. In 1994, then Georgia Gov. Zell Miller selected Thurmond to direct Georgia’s historic Workfirst program, which helped more than 90,000 welfare-dependent Georgia families move into the workforce. Thurmond also is a distinguished lecturer in the University of Georgia’s Carl Vinson Institute of Government. |
2004
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Dr. Saundra Glover, ’84 MBA, ’91 PhD, is working to combat health problems among African Americans in South Carolina. An alumna of the Moore School of Business, Dr. Glover, now a member of the faculty of the Arnold School of Public Health, heads a $3 million project funded by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. Her research into the higher incidence disease in the black community is motivated by a desire to give back to the community and to help improve people’s lives. Dr. Glover foresees her work serving as a national model for addressing minority health disparities. |
2003 - Charles E. Jones, Jr. '91
2002 - Traci Young Cooper, '97
2001 - Awards were not handed out due to University's Bicentennial Celebration
2000 - John K. Waddell, '85
1999 - Aretha B. Pigford, '85
1998 - Sterling Sharpe, '87
1997 - Larry Lebby, '73
1996 - Vermelle Jamison Johnson, '76
1995 - Willie Lee Catoe, '78
1994 - Abigail R. Rogers, '79
1993 - Rick C. Wade, '84
1992 - Henrie Monteith Treadwell,
1991 - Charles P. Austin, '85
1990 - Clente Fleming,
1989 - Paul Livingston, '74
1988 - Heyward Bannister, '74
1987 - James Solomon, Jr.
1986 - I.S. Leevy Johnson, '68
1985 - Dorothy A. Manigault, '71
1984 - T.R. McConnell, CPA, '73
1983 - Luther J. Battiste, III, '71
1982 - Janie Shuler Fulton, '77
1981 - Oliver Washington, '72