Category: Alumni Profile

Making the short drive from his family’s home in Calera to attend classes each day as a UM student, Bill Denson ’65 felt as if he was entering a new world filled with opportunities and promise. Although Montevallo was only a few miles away from his hometown, Denson had never experienced anything like the atmosphere… Continue reading Alumni Profile: Denson’s decades of giving allows others to follow in his footsteps

As a high school student in Florida, Greg Key ’82 had never heard of the University of Montevallo until a chance connection between his high school principal and the UM baseball program led him to the beautiful brick-lined Montevallo campus.   When then-UM head baseball coach Bob Riesener offered Key a tryout for the UM baseball… Continue reading Donor profile – Greg Key ’82

​The performing arts industry was one of the hardest-hit sectors during the COVID-19 pandemic, as demand for in-person performances ground to a halt beginning in March 2020. However, many of UM’s theatre alumni have shown incredible resilience as they have found success and adapted to a new normal. Rebecca Aparicio ’07 Major: Musical theatre Current… Continue reading Performing through the pandemic

Your name:  Cynthia Kay Todd Your home:  Hoover, Alabama Your hometown: Calera, Alabama Education: Bachelor of Business Administration Degree, majoring in business management at UM in 1988 Master of Arts Degree in Public and Private Management Degree at Birmingham-Southern College in 2007   Educational achievements at UM:  I served in leadership roles during college — most notably president of Alpha Kappa… Continue reading Alumni Profile: Cynthia Todd

University of Montevallo alumna Elisabeth French ’93 has become the first female African American presiding judge in the state of Alabama after she was recently selected to serve at the helm of the Jefferson County judicial system. She will replace Judge Joseph Boohaker who is retiring at the end of February.   The presiding judge is selected by the… Continue reading UM alumna becomes first female African American presiding judge in Alabama

While talking with other members in her cohort in George Mason University’s Schar School of Policy and Government, University of Montevallo alumna Emily Bowen discovered her liberal arts background gave her an uncommon advantage. The well-rounded and balanced nature of the education she received at Montevallo provided a perfect foundation for the myriad topics covered… Continue reading Alumni profile: Emily Bowen ’19

Dr. Kristin Henson ’88 has built a successful career in the veterinary and pharmaceutical fields over the past few decades, and she attributes her education at the University of Montevallo for laying the foundation for all of it.   Henson is a director at Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where she is… Continue reading Alumni Profile: Dr. Kristin Henson

Your home: Oak Mountain area of Shelby County Your hometown: Born in Alabaster, Alabama Education: B.A. in mass communication with an emphasis on public relations. Tell us about your family: I’ve been married now for 21 years to Margaret Hahn (Dunaway) Class of 1995. We have two children, my oldest daughter, Harper Dunaway, is a… Continue reading Alumni Profile: Jim Dunaway ’88