Exceptional Alumni Honored at 2026 UMNAA Homecoming Awards Dinner

March 17, 2026

The UM National Alumni Association recognized the recipients of its 2026 Homecoming awards on Feb. 13 at its Homecoming Awards Dinner and Annual Business Meeting in Anna Irvin Dining Hall.

William F. “Bill” Denson III ’65 received the Distinguished Alumni Award. The Nathalie Molton Gibbons Awards went to Andrew Heaton ’04 and Liucija Smaizyte Wright ’15, MBA ’22.

William F. “Bill” Denson III

Standing among Montevallo’s most notable alumni is Bill Denson, the recipient of the Distinguished Alumni Award. This is the UMNAA’s highest annual honor.

While pursuing his political science degree at Alabama College, the Calera native reflected the spirit of a liberal arts education by playing baritone saxophone in the Wind Ensemble, getting involved with the Phi Alpha Theta history honor society and the Delta Theta Pi men’s leadership society, working in Carmichael Library and taking golf lessons.

In 1965, Denson earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science with highest honors and went on to earn his Juris Doctor from Emory University School of Law in 1968.

After working at a Birmingham law firm for a few years, Denson began a stellar 36-year career in the legal department of the Birmingham-based Vulcan Materials Company, one of the nation’s leading construction materials firms. Rising through the ranks to become senior vice president, general counsel and secretary, Denson provided executive legal leadership and corporate governance oversight and was instrumental in strengthening the company’s community engagement and philanthropic initiatives.

In addition to his corporate leadership, Denson demonstrated a lifelong commitment to the legal profession as an active member of the Birmingham Bar Association, the Alabama State Bar and the American Bar Association. He was formerly a director of Birmingham Kiwanis, chair of the Southeastern Corporate Law Institute, a legal education program of the University of Alabama and was an active participant in Leadership Birmingham, Leadership Alabama and the Alabama Historical Commission.

Receiving multiple scholarships at UM and Emory allowed Denson to achieve his professional goals. Throughout the years, Denson has made it a priority to give back to UM, chairing one of the first major capital campaigns in UM’s history in the 1980s and serving on the UM Board of Trustees from 1987 to 2000. In 2002, the University honored him with a Doctor of Humane Letters, an honorary degree awarded to those who have distinguished themselves through humanitarian and philanthropic contributions to society. He gave the Fall Commencement address in 2005 and served eight years on the University’s Foundation Board of Directors.

Denson and his wife, Debby, have provided financial support to UM scholarships for more than three decades and established the Deborah D. and William F. Denson III Recruitment Scholarship in 2011.

Upon accepting the award, Denson highlighted the meaningfulness of the words to UM’s alma mater, including “steadfast virtues win thee fame.”

“A part of our Montevallo experience is the inculcation of virtues,” he said. “Not that we had courses in virtue, but that we learned such virtues as truth and honor. In our world today, truth and honor are not mentioned nearly enough.”

Andrew Heaton

Andrew Heaton represents the very best of Montevallo: academic excellence, service to others and a lifelong commitment to community. His professional achievements, civic engagement and personal relationships reflect UM’s values in action and continue to inspire his fellow alumni, students and friends.

Earning the Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award during his senior year and serving as Gold Side leader, Heaton distinguished himself early on as a scholar and leader. He graduated from UM with a Bachelor of Business Administration with honors in 2004 and went on to earn both a Master of Business Administration and a Juris Doctor from Indiana University in 2009.

Emphasizing the importance of a liberal arts education as he accepted the Nathalie Molton Gibbons Alumni Achievement Award, Heaton said, “It means you don’t force an 18-year-old who doesn’t really know what they want to do into one rigorous path — you give them the opportunity to discover different ideas, environments and people. The embrace of that idea at Montevallo is what was so crucial to me.”

Heaton’s professional journey has ranged across the fields of law, business development and political strategy. At Fenwick & West LLP, he designed a business development program that generated more than $1 million in new revenue in its first year. He later pivoted to political consulting — in 2023, he founded Sagamore Hill Consulting, which focuses on legislative and political consultation for public/private organizations and political candidates.

Amid his career milestones, Heaton became a father to three adopted children, making him a father of four along with his oldest daughter, and passed the Georgia Bar in the same year. He also remains dedicated to his alma mater by returning to campus to speak with students, attending Homecoming and supporting the UMNAA Atlanta Area Alumni Club’s events and gatherings. Within his fraternity, Alpha Kappa Lambda, he has served on the Alumni Corporation Board, the National Executive Council and as director of the AKL Education Fund, working to strengthen alumni engagement and establish scholarships.

He expressed his gratitude to the UMNAA and his nominators for the award, saying, “Sometimes you go through life and you love things, and you don’t always know if those things love you back. To be able even for a moment feel a little bit of that love back is something I will cherish forever.”

Liucija Smaizyte Wright

Liucija Smaizyte Wright, winner of the Nathalie Molton Gibbons Young Achiever’s Award, knows firsthand the struggles of growing up in financial hardship. Today, she has built a distinguished career helping people confidently plan their financial future at Morgan Stanley, a leading global financial services firm.

Hailing from Lithuania, where she represented the Lithuanian tennis team at the Junior Olympics and was ranked the number one tennis player in the nation, Wright came to the U.S. on a full athletic scholarship. She transferred to the University of Montevallo in 2013, where she helped the tennis team reach the Peach Belt Conference championship for the first time in the school’s history.

“Tennis opened the door, but Montevallo gave me something deeper: a sense of belonging,” Wright said as she accepted her award. “Here, I learned that people will believe in you, challenge you and support you — sometimes before you believe in yourself. I learned that education is not just about achievement, but about character.”

Wright earned a Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance in 2015 and went on to earn her Master of Business Administration from UM in 2022.

In 2016, Wright was offered a position as a wealth advisor associate at Morgan Stanley, a leading global financial services firm, in Birmingham. She joined the SteelCrest Wealth Management Group in 2018, earned her Certified Financial Planner™ designation in 2019 and Certified Private Wealth Advisor® in 2026. She now serves the firm as senior vice president and financial advisor, creating and presenting personalized wealth planning solutions by building long-term relationships with clients to help them achieve their financial goals.

Beyond her professional success, Wright is deeply dedicated to community service and leadership development. She is actively involved in organizations that empower women through education, mentorship and access to opportunities. Wright is past president and treasurer of Alabama Women in Business, where she supports women entrepreneurs across diverse fields by fostering strategic partnerships and leadership growth. She is a board member of the Alabama Economics Club and a junior board member of GirlSpring, a nonprofit that provides girls ages 9 to 18 with positive role models, reliable information and inspiring experiences. She also became a private pilot in 2024 and serves as treasurer of the Alabama chapter of the Ninety-Nines, an international organization of licensed women pilots.

“Giving back has always felt personal to me,” Wright said. “Through my work with women and girls, I have seen how access, encouragement and someone simply saying ‘you belong here’ can shift an entire future. Impact doesn’t begin with having all the answers — it begins with caring enough to show up.”