ECU names outstanding alumni
(Oct. 13, 2004) — The East Carolina University Alumni Association has named four winners of the Outstanding Alumni Award 2004.
The four new Outstanding Alumni are: William “Carl ” Ealy ’76; William “Phil” Hodges ’79, ’84; R. Samuel Hunt, III, ’65, ’66; and Lucy Ervin Roberts ’65, ’73.
The Alumni Association’s Outstanding Alumni Award recognizes alumni who have at least five years of work experience and show outstanding and uncommon achievement in their profession, civic affairs or politics. Since the first award was presented to Pattie Simmons Dowell in 1940, 120 ECU alumni have been honored with the Outstanding Alumni Award, one of the most prestigious alumni awards offered by the university.
Carl Ealy received his bachelor’s degree in business in 1976 from ECU, but from a young age studied the fine arts with his father, an artist and art teacher. Ealy combined his love of nature with his artistic talent and is now an artist and owner of Pathway Art, Inc. in Charlotte. He creates art and poetry for Pathway Art Cards, which are sold in museums and botanical gardens throughout the country.
Phil Hodges received a bachelor’s and master’s degree in chemistry, both from ECU. In 1994, he founded Metrics, Inc., a successful pharmaceutical development and testing company located in Greenville. The company has grown from a staff of four people to more than 140 employees. The company was honored as one of the three runners-up for Small Business of the Year in 2001.
Sam Hunt received degrees in history from ECU in 1965 and 1966. He owns Hunt Electric Company in Burlington, NC, but many people may have a closer connection to him than they think if they’ve traveled through Alamance County, North Carolina on I-85-40 that is dedicated as the “Sam Hunt Freeway.” Hunt and his wife, Vicky, have recruited students through ECU Career Services.
Lucy Roberts graduated from ECU in 1965 with a bachelor’s in early childhood education and received a master’s in education administration in 1973. Today she works as the section chief of the Early Childhood, Division of Instructional Services at the Department of Public Instruction in Raleigh. She directs the statewide leadership of curriculum for pre-kindergarten, kindergarten, first and second grade. She has been an active member of numerous professional boards, commissions and civic organizations.
The ECU Alumni Association’s Outstanding Alumni Award honors ECU alumni for outstanding achievements in their chosen professions. Nominations are solicited year-round. The Alumni Association’s awards committee chooses up to four recipients at their board meeting in the spring and the awards are presented each fall at Homecoming. This year’s recipients will be honored at the halftime ceremony at the Oct. 9 football game in Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium.