Spotlights

UNC Charlotte alumnus Kerr Putney has been named as the new Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department police chief effective July 1, 2015. Putney earned his bachelor’s degree in criminology at UNC Charlotte and has been with CMPD since 1992, currently as deputy chief.

When UNC Charlotte alumna Sayra Brynn embarked on a career in public relations, she never anticipated working alongside construction sites, nor did she envision how much she would enjoy the work. Brynn serves as the public and community relations specialist for the Charlotte Area Transit System, and her work is dedicated to the LYNX Blue Line Extension.

In his work with The Chicago Council on Global Affairs, UNC Charlotte alumnus Andy Morimoto draws upon skills he honed at UNC Charlotte, as he works on a broad range of international, political, and economic issues.

After over three decades in the criminal justice profession, Concord Police Chief and UNC Charlotte alumnus Guy Smith retired on March 1, 2015.

At age 27, UNC Charlotte alumnus Reverend Brandon Fisher is the youngest pastor in his AME Zion Church district, and also is licensed to practice law in North Carolina and Washington, D.C. He has embraced social activism, recently challenging a new generation of leaders.

As a boy, UNC Charlotte alumnus David Gwilt perched on his family’s Syracuse, N.Y. porch, listening to stories shared by his great-aunt Peggy, who lived to age 99, and other relatives. Decades later, he has tapped his interest and knowledge of psychology and gerontology as the host of Radio 4 the Ages™,

For his work in helping to revitalize a challenged Charlotte neighborhood through urban design and planning, Dylan McKnight, a UNC Charlotte urban design and community planning graduate, received a top honor.

Scholarship benefactor Jason Bonsall wants people to know that he does not consider himself to be unique, or special, or extraordinary. He’s just a regular guy who has found a way to help others. He has done so by starting a scholarship fund while an undergraduate philosophy major at UNC Charlotte.

Robin Emmons never anticipated the fame her social justice advocacy would bring to her Charlotte-area nonprofit, Sow Much Good. Emmons nurtures her national and regional honors as intentionally as she does the bees, chickens, and produce on her farm sites. They are a way to further the cause and increase awareness of food access and issues of social justice in marginalized communities.

The innovation leaders of tomorrow can be found in the writing classes of today. Of this, Henry Doss is sure. For students to realize their potential, however, they must first grasp the power of language and reflection, Doss believes. Doss (B.A. ’77) has devoted much of his time to this vision in his two years as the volunteer Executive in Residence with the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences.