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Top Alumni of 2008 Recognized
Eight alumni received the Alumni Association’s highest annual honors over Homecoming weekend. Inducted into the Alumni Hall of Fame were: Glen Ballard (BA 75) of Beverly Hills, Calif.; T. Michael Glenn (BBA
77) of Memphis; John Grisham (JD 81) of North Garden, Va.; Ed Meek (BSJ 61, MA 63, PhD 74) of Oxford; and Shepard Smith (87) of New York, NY. Herb Dewees (BA 65, JD 68) was posthumously recognized with the Alumni Hall of Fame Award.
Carole Lynn Meadows (BSC 60, MBEd 64) of Gulfport received the Alumni Service Award for service to the university and the Alumni Association over an extended period. Brian Sanderson (BBA 95, JD 98) of Gulfport received the Outstanding Young Alumni Award.
The Alumni Association hosted a reception for the honorees on Friday, Oct. 3, at 6 p.m. in the Gertrude C. Ford Ballroom at The Inn at Ole Miss. A dinner program for the awards recipients followed the reception at 7 p.m.
Hall of Fame Awards
Six-time Grammy Award winner Glen Ballard is one of popular music’s most accomplished producers/songwriters and arrangers. His records have sold more than 150 million records worldwide, and he has worked with a diverse array of the finest singers and artists in the business, from Aretha Franklin to Van Halen and Aerosmith.
Among the many highlights of his producing/writing/arranging career are the ten times platinum debut of Wilson Phillips, multi-platinum No Doubt record “Return of Saturn” and The Dave Matthews Band multi-platinum “Everyday” which he co-wrote and produced.
One of Ballard’s biggest successes involved chart-topping, multi-platinum album “Jagged Little Pill” (33 million worldwide) which Ballard co-wrote and produced for Alanis Morissette. The 1995 record was named ‘Album of the Decade,’ by Billboard and was the top selling artist debut album of all time. For the original album Ballard received Grammys for Best Rock Song (“You Oughta Know”), Best Rock Album, Best Video and the prestigious Album of the Year.
Ballard started his career working as a staff producer/songwriter for the legendary Quincy Jones, during which time he worked with Teddy Pendergrass, Patti Austin, Jack Wagner and The Pointer Sisters.
Ballard has most recently had success writing for film. The song “Believe” from Polar Express won him a Grammy, and nominations for a Golden Globe and Academy Award in 2005. He also wrote the hit “Ordinary Miracle” performed by Sarah McLachlan, with Dave Stewart (Eurythmics) for the 2006 film Charlotte’s Web. In 2007 Ballard co-wrote “A Hero Comes Home”, performed by Idina Menzel, with Alan Silvestri for the film Beowulf. Ballard continues this successful relationship with Silvestri by writing songs with him for the upcoming Hannah Montana Movie and the Robert Zemeckis film A Christmas Carole.
He continues to build his vast musical legacy by recently producing such albums as Annie Lennox’s Songs of Mass Destruction and Idina Menzel’s I Stand, and writing songs for the upcoming musical Ghost.
Herb Dewees joined The University of Mississippi Alumni Affairs staff at the Medical Center in 1976, then moved to the Oxford campus a year-and-a-half later to work with various alumni chapters on alumni activities and fundraising. During his early tenure, chapters were developed for each school and college, as were “order” programs to provide them with financial support.
He was appointed executive director in 1990 and served in that capacity until his retirement in 2004. While Dewees was executive director, the association renovated its alumni center, celebrated its 150th anniversary and broadcast its first alumni meeting nationally live via satellite from the Oxford campus. Though the association’s accomplishments were many under his leadership, the one of which he was most proud was its inclusiveness.
Many in the association say it was Dewees’ vision and leadership that transformed the Alumni House into the Triplett Alumni Center. Completed in 1997, the $4 million renovation was paid for by contributions from Ole Miss alumni and friends.
In recognition of his commitment to providing scholarships to Ole Miss students, the Alumni Association’s board voted in 2007 to name its scholarship fund the Herbert E. Dewees Jr. Alumni Association Lineal Descendant Scholarship Endowment.
Dewees, a Paul Harris Fellow in the Oxford Rotary Club, participated in fund-raising campaigns for his church, First Presbyterian, and Oxford Medical Ministries.
Dewees received teh Law Alumnus of the Year award for 1989-1990. A month before retiring in 2004, he received the Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award for exhibiting the character, humanitarian and spiritual qualities evident in the life of Sullivan, a Southerner who became a prominent 19th century lawyer, businessman and philanthropist.
A Meridian native, Dewees ran track and played football for Meridian High School. He received undergraduate and law degrees from UM where he was also a member Kappa Alpha Order.
Dewees died in January 2008 after losing a battle with cancer. He is survived by his wife, Dixie, and two sons: Michael Dewees and wife Mary Alice of Big Sky, Mt., and Brad Dewees and wife Audrey of Oxford.
T. Michael Glenn is executive vice president of Market Development and Corporate Communications for FedEx Corporation. Glenn also serves as president and chief executive officer of FedEx Services. In this role, he leads all marketing, sales, and communications across the FedEx operating companies and is responsible for the FedEx Office and Global Supply Chain Services business units.
In addition, Glenn is a member of the five-person Executive Committee, which plans and executes the corporate strategy. He also serves on the Strategic Management Committee which oversees operations of the corporation.
Before FedEx Corporation was formed in January 1998, Glenn was senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing, Customer Service and Corporate Communications for FedEx Express. In that position, he was responsible for directing all marketing, customer service, employee communications and public relations activities. Glenn joined FedEx in 1981 and has held several leadership positions in the Sales and Marketing divisions.
He currently serves on the Board of Directors of Pentair, Inc., Renasant Bank, Autism Speaks, and the United Way of the Mid-South. He is also Chairman of the Board of Madonna Learning Center, a school for special needs children and serves on the executive committee of Christ United Methodist Church where he and his family are members.
Born in Memphis, Tenn., Glenn is married to Donna Hatley Glenn and they have three children; Hatley, 19, Tucker, 17, and Katherine, 13. He earned his bachelor's degree from the University of Mississippi and his master’s degree from the University of Memphis.
John Grisham was born in Jonesboro, Ark., in 1955. He graduated from Southaven High School in 1973 and received his undergraduate degree in accounting from Mississippi State University in 1977. After graduating from law school at Ole Miss in 1981, he went on to practice law for nearly a decade in Southaven, specializing in criminal defense and personal injury litigation. In 1983, Grisham was elected to the Mississippi House of Representatives and served until 1990. From 1988 to 1990, he served as vice-chairman of Committee on Apportionment and Elections. He was a member of the State Democratic Executive Committee from 1988 to 1990.
While still working in Desoto County, Grisham was inspired to start a novel. He spent three years writing A Time to Kill and finished it in 1987. The book received some good reviews but initially sold only moderately well. His next book would be a different story. Completed in 1988, The Firm was his break-out hit.
In 1990, before the novel was published, Paramount Pictures purchased the film rights. Since then, Grisham has gone on to be recognized as one of the world's bestselling novelists, and many of his novels have been scripted into successful movies.
In addition to A Time to Kill in 1989, Grisham has written: The Firm, The Pelican Brief, The Client, The Chamber, The Rainmaker, The Runaway Jury, The Partner, The Street Lawyer, The Testament, The Brethren, A Painted House, Skipping Christmas, The Summons, The King of Torts, Bleachers, The Last Juror, The Broker, The Innocent Man, Playing for Pizza and The Appeal. Publishers Weekly declared Grisham "the bestselling novelist of the 90s" in a January 1998 profile.
Grisham and his wife Renee divide their time between homes in Charlottesville, Va., and Oxford. They have two children, Ty, 25, and Shea, 22.
When he's not writing, Grisham devotes time to charitable causes, including taking mission trips with his church group. He also keeps up with his greatest passion, baseball, by serving as the local Little League commissioner.
Ed Meek is former assistant vice chancellor for public relations and marketing and president and CEO of Oxford Publishing Inc.
A native of Charleston, at age 24 Meek was the youngest person ever to be appointed to head a department, University News Service, at Ole Miss.
After receiving undergraduate and master's degrees from Ole Miss, Meek received the first Ph.D. in Communications awarded by the University of Mississippi. He was a member of the faculty of the Department of Journalism and served as director of public relations and resource development for many years. As resource development director he secured millions of dollars in federal grants, including some $26 million to establish a satellite based literacy educational program.
He chartered the student chapter of the Public Relations Society of America at Ole Miss, was one of the founders of Mississippi College Public Relations Association and the Mississippi Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, Sigma Delta Chi.
In 1983 Meek formed Oxford Publishing, which founded and published eight trade magazines primarily in technology and hospitality, and established the largest beverage and food show in the Western Hemisphere held annually in Las Vegas. He also founded the Tupelo Furniture Market, which became one of the nation’s largest market centers.
Meek is the author of numerous articles and professional papers on public relations, marketing and technology and is author or co-author of several books on Mississippi artist Theora Hamblett. Meek has been active in a wide range of civic and community events including president of the Oxford Jaycees, Civic Council, and director of the Oxford-Lafayette Chamber of Commerce. He is an Eagle Scout and has been active in fundraising programs supporting Scouting. He also serves on the Board of the Sky Ranch for Boys and was named to its Hall of Fame.
Meek and his wife Becky, also a UM alum, reside in Oxford and have two daughters, Cindy Sinervo and Kelleye Houston and five grand children.
A native of Holly Springs, Shepard Smith currently anchors a FOX News Channel (FNC) evening newscast, "FOX Report," which ranks in the top five programs in cable news and has been No. 1 in the 7 p.m. timeslot for more than 60 consecutive months.
Reporting nearly 70 stories in an hour, The Washington Post has compared Smith to a news NASCAR driver, “racing through the news at breakneck speed.” He also hosts an afternoon fast-paced news/interview program, "Studio B with Shepard Smith." Both programs are geared towards utilizing Smith’s pull-no-punches attitude to cover the stories of the day.
Most recently, he provided live coverage of the conflict in the Middle East from the Israel-Lebanon border. Recognized as America’s second most trusted news anchor in a TV Guide poll, he has covered virtually every major news story over the course of his career, including the funeral of Pope John Paul II; Operation Iraqi Freedom; the Columbia Shuttle disaster; the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon and the subsequent war in Afghanistan; the Columbine school shootings and President Clinton’s impeachment trial. He provided extensive coverage of Hurricane Katrina from the French Quarter and reported on recovery efforts from Mississippi, including during the one-year anniversary of the storm. He also served as a witness to the execution of Timothy McVeigh in June of 2001.
Before joining FNC, Smith was a Los Angeles-based FOX News Edge correspondent where he covered a wide range of stories for the FOX affiliate news service, including the crash of TWA Flight 800, the Montana Freemen standoff, the 1996 presidential campaign, and the Oklahoma City bombing. Prior to his stint at FOX News Edge, Smith served as a news reporter for the syndicated program "A Current Affair."
Beginning his career as a reporter for WJHG (NBC) in Panama City, he went on to report for WBBH (NBC) in Fort Myers and WCPX (CBS) in Orlando. Smith’s last stop in Florida was at WSVN (FOX) in Miami before he headed to Los Angeles to join FOX News Edge.
Alumni Service Award
Carole Lynn Meadows earned a B.S. and a Master’s degree in Business Education from the University of Mississippi. She has more than 25 years teaching experience at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College. She also worked for five years as an investment broker with JC Bradford, now UBS.
Meadows is co-founder of the Lynn Meadows Discovery Center, the first children’s museum in Mississippi, and serves as chair of the building committee for the forthcoming WINGS Children’s Performing Arts and Education facility at the Center. She was awarded the Rotary International Paul Harris Fellow Award in recognition of her work for children.
Meadows was elected the first woman president of the Ole Miss Alumni Association in 1994 and was a 1999 inductee into the University of Mississippi Alumni Hall of Fame. She was a member of the search committees for vice-chancellor for student affairs, athletic director, and chancellor. She served as Annual Fund Chair for four years and currently serves as Chair, Alumni and Friends of the Inn at Ole Miss Campaign.
Her former community service includes serving as the president of the Gulfport Chapter of the National Association of Junior Auxiliaries, the first woman executive committee member for the Gulfport Chamber of Commerce, PTA president, Co-Chair, American Cancer Tennis Tournament and Chair, Mother’s March, Harrison County March of Dimes.
Meadows currently serves as secretary of the executive committee of the Gulfport Main Street Association, board member of the Gulf Coast Business Council and board member of Mississippi Council on Economic Education.
She and her husband, Joseph R. Meadows, are Sunday school teachers at First Baptist Church of Gulfport. The Lucedale native has made Gulfport her home since 1965. Their son, Joe, Jr., and his wife, Susan, live in Birmingham, Ala. The Lynn Meadows Discovery Center is named in memory of their daughter.
Two granddaughters, Victoria and Meredith (both current students at Ole
Miss), and their mother, Jonelle Meadows, call Gulfport home.
Outstanding Young Alumni Award
Brian Sanderson, 35, is president of the Gulf Coast Business Council, a private, non-profit corporation of over 200 of the top business leaders on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. The Business Council focuses on issues of public policy, which are important to the economic vitality and quality of life of the Gulf Coast, including affordable housing, land use practices, economic development, transportation, and leadership development.
Previously Sanderson served as deputy director of the Governor Haley Barbour’s Office of Recovery & Renewal where he offered policy advice and formulation to Governor Barbour, his staff, and state agencies and worked closely with local governments and community organizations. Before working with the Governor’s office, he served as general counsel to the Governor’s Commission on Recovery, Rebuilding & Renewal and practiced law with the firm of Butler, Snow, O’Mara, Stevens & Cannada, PLLC for six years. At Butler Snow he concentrated his practice in the areas of governmental affairs, public finance and commercial transactions.
Sanderson is a member of the Mississippi Bar and served as president of the state’s Young Lawyers Division through July 2008. He serves as second vice president and is a member of the Board of Bar Commissioners. He is a past president of the Federal Bar Association, Mississippi Chapter.
Sanderson is president of the board of directors, Boys and Girls Club of the Gulf Coast, was named the statewide New Board Member of the Year in 2004, and received the Kerly Award for outstanding service in 2006. He is past president of the Kiwanis Club of Gulfport and the Gulf Coast Ole Miss Club and currently is on the board of directors for the University of Mississippi Law Alumni Chapter. He has mentored for three years with Big Brothers Big Sisters. In 2005, he was selected as one of the Top 10 Business Leaders Under 40 in South Mississippi. Sanderson is a parishioner of St. Alphonsus Catholic Church in Ocean Springs and is engaged to be married in November to Marie Thomas of Jackson.
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