ECU Alumni Association honors 2019 award winners

The East Carolina University Alumni Association recognized four alumni and two honorary Pirates at A Purple and Gold Evening, its annual awards ceremony on Oct. 25 at the Greenville Convention Center. The awards celebrate alumni and friends of the university who demonstrated outstanding merit and achievement, distinguished themselves as leaders for the university and adopted ECU as their own.
“We honor six men and women who bring tremendous distinction to the university as educators, business leaders and public servants. Through their career achievements and engagement with the university and the community, these Pirates have set a standard to which our students and fellow alumni can aspire. They represent the life-changing impact of an East Carolina University education. Congratulations to them all,” said Scott Francis, associate vice chancellor for alumni relations.
In addition to the dinner reception, the recipients were recognized on the field during ECU’s homecoming football game against the University of South Florida on Oct 26.

The 2019 Alumni Award recipients were (left) Wanda Montano, Robert Brinkley, Lauren Patterson and James Mullen. Ken Wilson and Christa Reiser (right) were named honorary alumni. (Photo, left, courtesy of the ECU Alumni Association. Photo, right, contributed)

2019 Alumni Award Recipients

Virgil Clark ’50 Distinguished Service Award

Robert Brinkley ’78
Major: Accounting, College of Business
Accomplishments: Brinkley is a partner with the law firm Womble Bond Dickinson, and for more than 20 years has been selected by his peers as one of the “Best Lawyers in America.” While at ECU, Brinkley was a four-year varsity letter winner on the baseball team. His leadership roles include serving on the ECU Board of Visitors, the Board of Directors of the ECU Foundation, and the ECU Board of Trustees, including one year as vice chairman and two years as chairman. He continues to serve ECU as a member of the Honors College Advancement Council.
Fun Fact: Received a Pirate Club membership as a graduation gift and has kept it ever since.
Quote: “East Carolina was in my blood long before I ever came here. It continues to be a place where students are allowed and encouraged to be the best versions of themselves.”
 

Wanda Montano ’74
Major: Social Work, College of Health and Human Performance
Accomplishments: Montano is the president of Undaunted Vision, LLC, a business consulting and coaching company. Montano serves on the Board of Visitors, is the chair of the Health and Human Performance Advancement Council and is a member of the Chancellor’s Society and the Leo Jenkins Society. She recently established the Wanda Montano Scholarship Endowment for Leadership Excellence.
Fun fact: Has purple hair and a house decorated in purple and gold.
Quote: “The thing that changed my life most was ECU. This university was and continues to be home to many first-generation college students. I was one.”
 

James Mullen ’74, ’80
Major: Psychology, Thomas Harriot College of Arts and Sciences; rehabilitation counseling, College of Allied Health
Accomplishments: Mullen is a founding member and past chair of the Thomas Harriot College of Arts and Sciences Advancement Council. After a successful career in rehabilitation, Mullen returned to ECU as the director for employment and clinical services. He was later appointed as the assistant vice chancellor for human resources, a position he held until his retirement in 2010. Mullen currently serves on the ECU Foundation Board of Directors and holds membership in many of the university’s philanthropic societies. He and his wife, Pam, established the Jim and Pam Mullen Study Abroad Scholarship for the Thomas Harriot College of Arts and Sciences.
Fun fact: Grew up in Greenville and went to elementary school and middle school on Fifth Street, and high school on Elm Street. It was inevitable he would attend ECU – on Fifth Street.
Quote: “My time at ECU was the most fulfilling and fun time of my life. ECU prepared me for life after college in so many ways, and for that I am forever indebted.”
 
Young Alumni Achievement Award

Lauren Patterson ’11, ’13
Major: Special Education, College of Education
Accomplishments: Patterson is a special education teacher at White Oak Elementary School in Apex. She serves as her school’s department chair for special education, is on the school improvement team and mentors new teachers in her spare time. Her commitment and passion were recognized when she was named White Oak Teacher of the Year in 2016. Patterson is now getting a master’s degree in school administration at ECU.
Fun fact: ECU was not on her radar at first. Her parents took her on a college visit “kicking and screaming,” but she immediately realized ECU was where she belonged.
Quote: “ECU means success, love, passion. It’s everything I worked for and everything I want to continue in life. I’m grateful to the amazing university that shaped me into who I am.”
 
Honorary Alumni

Christa Reiser
Accomplishments: Reiser, a retired sociology professor at ECU, was co-director of the women’s studies department, where she was instrumental in establishing programs and events highlighting issues important to women and families. In recent years, she developed new courses on the sociology of emotions and animals and society. Reiser and her husband, Ken Wilson, also established endowed scholarships for students in sociology.
Fun fact: Developed a course at ECU called Animals in Society, which studied the importance of pets in our culture.
Quote: A nominator said of Reiser, “She just excelled in teaching. Her whole heart was about helping students get the information they needed and helping them succeed.”
 

Ken Wilson (posthumous)
Accomplishments: Wilson enjoyed a 44-year career at ECU teaching sociology. Wilson helped establish ECU’s Survey Research Lab, now the Center for Survey Research. He also directed the Community Research Laboratory and served as chair of the ECU faculty from 1985 to 1987. He was ECU’s representative to the UNC Faculty Assembly from 1987 to 1993, and chair of the UNC Faculty Assembly from 1991 to 1993. Wilson also served as faculty advisor for Alpha Kappa Delta, the international sociology honor society, for 40 years.
Quote: A nominator said Wilson was a person “who gave selflessly with others in mind, body and spirit to improve the general welfare of ECU’s faculty, staff and students. He was a positive influence on anyone who came into contact with him.”
*Associate Sociology Professor Dr. Rebecca Powers accepted the honorary alumni awards on behalf of Reiser and Wilson, saying,“Neither Christa nor Ken sought any sort of recognition for their accomplishments … but they were committed to lifelong learning and educating others at ECU. They were a magnificent duo.”

 
-by Erin Shaw, University Communications
 
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