Kudos! September 2024
September 4, 2024
By
W&M Alumni Magazine
Congratulations to William & Mary alumni who are making moves in the world! This is where we celebrate awards, job changes, promotions, recognition and other career and civic engagement news we collected between June 1-Aug. 30. For more updates from your classmates, check out the Class Notes at magazine.wm.edu/class-notes and in the print edition of the W&M Alumni Magazine!
If you would like to submit an item for Kudos, email the W&M Alumni Magazine staff at alumni.magazine@wm.edu. We will also share your news with your class’s reporter.
Awards and Recognition
Mackenzie Corcoran ’21 earned a rare “triple tab” by completing three of the U.S. Army’s most demanding courses: the Ranger School, Sapper Leadership Course and Hawaii-based Jungle Operations Training Course.
Anna Jay ’15 was profiled in the entrepreneur-focused Canvas Rebel Magazine about her jewelry business in Massachusetts.
Connie Greene Nyholm ’81, owner and CEO of Virginia International Raceway, was featured in Virginia Business Magazine’s 2024 Virginia Women in Leadership Awards.
Lisa LaBanca Rogers ’82 received the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators 2024 Golden Kite Honor Award for Nonfiction Text for Younger Readers. The award recognized her picture book with illustrator Il Sung Na, “Beautiful Noise: The Music of John Cage,” published by Random House/Anne Schwartz Books.
Job Changes and Promotions
Jeremy Hopkins J.D. ’02 was recently featured in the Best Lawyers in America 2025 list. He is a partner at Cranfill Sumner in Raleigh, North Carolina.
Richard Long M.Ed. ’18 was named vice president for university advancementt at Christopher Newport University. Long had most recently served as development director for the UVA Health Children’s Hospital and has also served as director of development for alumni engagement and corporate sponsorships at William & Mary.
James Noel III J.D. ’10 was promoted to president of development at The Franklin Johnston Group, a leading Virginia Beach multifamily development, and property management firm.
Robert Pontz ’86 has joined Saxton & Stump law firm as a shareholder and the chair of its Bankruptcy and Financial Restructuring Group and a member of the Business and Corporate and Banking and Financial Services Groups. He is based in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
Joanna Suyes ’89 became president of the Virginia Trial Lawyers Association at VTLA's annual convention in April. Joanna is the founder of Suyes Law in Richmond, Virginia, and focuses her practice on Social Security disability matters.
In June, Thomas W. Taylor M.B.A. ’15, was named superintendent of schools for Montgomery County Public Schools in Maryland. In his former role as superintendent of Stafford County (Virginia) Public Schools, he was named superintendent of the year for Region 3 of the Virginia Association of School Superintendents. He had previously won the honor as superintendent of Middlesex County schools in 2016.
Olivia Roberts ’10 has joined Foran Glennon law firm in Denver. Olivia focuses her practice on complex commercial litigation and insurance coverage matters. She has extensive experience advising insurance carriers on issues such as bad faith claims and premises liability cases involving first and third-party defense.