Alumni Notes 1975 - 1979

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Jan Foster Taylor BA 1973 MA 1975 mjftaylor@aol.com We were relatively unharmed by Katrina but continue to be saddened by the losses of others in our region. We have two children, a son 22 and a daughter 20. Both are at Harvard University. I have recently been appointed to the Eudora Welty Foundation Board and still do volunteer tutoring and work with various literary groups and the University Press of Mississippi, and the Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters. September 2005
Kirk Mallory Reynolds B.A. in English 1974 MA English 1979 kreyno9149@netscape.net After I left Auburn, I received a Ph.D in English at the University of South Carolina in 1987. In 1988, I began working for MCI in Washington, DC, doing regulatory work. While working at MCI, I went to night law school at American University (1993-1997), received the J.D. degree in December 1997, and in February 1998 passed the Maryland Bar Exam and the New Jersey Bar Exam. I worked as an attorney at MCI from 1998 until May 2005, when I was hired as an attorney at VeriSign in Dulles, VA, where I currently work. I live in Alexandria, VA with my wife Ann and my 14-year old daughter Hannah. September 2005
Melanie Whatley Barstad BA 1975 mbarstad@hcsus.jnj.com Melanie Barstad is President, Acute Care for Johnson & Johnson Health Care Systems Inc. with responsibility for sales to large hospitals, hospital systems, distributors and group purchasing organizations. She assumed this role in June 2002 and serves as a member of the JJHCS Management Board. Previously, Ms. Barstad served as Vice President, Sales and Marketing for JJHCS, a position she assumed in January 2002. Prior to this position, she was the WW General Manager for the Vascular Access business of ETHICON Endo-Surgery and was a member of the ETHICON Endo-Surgery Management Board. Ms. Barstad began her career with Johnson & Johnson in 1986 as a sales representative with the Patient Care Division. During her career, she has held numerous positions of increasing complexity and responsibility in sales, marketing, product development and general management, including assignments at Johnson & Johnson Medical and ETHICON, Inc. Before joining Johnson & Johnson, Ms. Barstad worked for Proctor & Gamble and Pitney Bowes in sales and sales management. Ms. Barstad is a member of the Johnson & Johnson's Women's Leadership Initiative steering committee; she previously served as the chair of the Medical Devices & Diagnostics WLI segment of Johnson & Johnson companies. She is currently the co-chair of the Coalition to Protect America's Health Care and Vice President of the Association of periOperative Registered Nurse (AORN) Foundation. Ms. Barstad also serves on the board of both the JFK Johnson Rehabilitation Committee and the Solaris Health System. Ms. Barstad is also a Blue and Gold Officer for the US Naval Academy. Ms. Barstad holds a bachelor of arts degree from Auburn University and had completed the Senior Executive Development Program at Columbia University. October 2005
Jan Foster Taylor BA 1973 MA 1975 mjftaylor@aol.com We were relatively unharmed by Katrina but continue to be saddened by the losses of others in our region. We have two children, a son 22 and a daughter 20. Both are at Harvard University. I have recently been appointed to the Eudora Welty Foundation Board and still do volunteer tutoring and work with various literary groups and the University Press of Mississippi, and the Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters. September 2005
Jim Warren BA 1976 warrenj@wlu.edu The degree in English helped me, since I went on to get advanced degrees in English at Yale (PhD in 1982). I've been teaching at Washington and Lee University since 1984. My main areas are 19th century American literature and environmental literature. I also teach literary theory, and of course we all teach compositon and lower-division literature. Southern literature is one of my recent lower-division interests. These teaching and research interests grew on my after I left Auburn, I think, though I recall reading Whitman in Professor Current-Garcia's course on American Poetry my senior year and being blown away by the voice. September 2005
Timothy John Lockhart B.A., English 1977 MA English 1984 tlockhart@wilsav.com Partner in Charge of the Intellectual Property Group at Willcox & Savage in Norfolk, VA. As a Captain in the U.S. Navy Reserve, assigned to NR DIA HQ 0466, which drills one weekend a month at The Pentagon. Writing book reviews for "The Virginian-Pilot," the largest daily newspaper in Southeastern Virginia, and trying to find a publisher for my first novel, a private-eye mystery. Living in Norfolk, VA, with wife Anne and daughter Meg (four years old). September 2005
Celeste Waid Waid McNeill B.A. 1977 cmcneillrhs@aol.com After receiving my BA in English from Auburn, I worked in the construction industry as an office manager until I realized I was not using my degree or my love of literature. I returned to school & received a MS in secondary education, English emphasis, and have been teaching high school English for 16 years. This is truly where I should have been since graduating from Auburn. This past summer I stepped out of the box and took a post graduate class with the UofA--Alabama at Oxford program!! Wow, I spent a month with a whole bunch of "Bammer" folks and survived!! Dr. Bob Halli from UA Honors college was my professor, and we studied British Lit in its Landscape, or "Putting British Lit in its Place." We read four novels and two Shakespearean plays before arriving in Oxford where we were based for the course (Wadham College). Upon arriving we proceeded to travel to locations mentioned in the literature or where the literature was set. It was a thrilling course and just what I needed to "recharge" my teaching batteries!! I hope and plan to use my knowledge of the landscapes that influenced Jane Austen, Walter Scott, Phillip Pullman, William & Dorothy Wordsworth, William Shakespeare, and William Golding in my teaching strategies. Once you have witnessed one of Shakespeare's plays performed in the new Globe Theater you can never really teach Shakespeare as simply the written word!! I saw The Winter's Tale there in July, and this lesser known/studied play just came alive! We also experienced a wonderful presentation of The Comedy of Errors by the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford. Yes, I would say that the English education I received from Auburn professors like Hitchcock, Breyer, Mowat,the Drs Wright, and others nurtured this love of reading and literature that I now try to nurture in high school students! September 2005
Paula M. Mathis BA 1978 mathis_paula@yahoo.com I'm not a teacher. I have worked in public relations and marketing for 30 years in a variety of entities. I am an active member of the First United Methodist Church in Montgomery and serve on Assimilation Work Area, sing in the choir, and teach Bible school in the summer. I have never married. I enjoy 1 niece and 2 nephews. September 2005
Margaret F. Ingalls BA 1979 megingalls@aol.com I am rector of Holy Trinity Episcopal Church in Fruitland Park, FL. I've been here 12 1/2 years during which time we have established a grade 6-12 school for children with learning disailities. My newly ordained husband is helping us establish a new worship site for our church. Katy lives in MD and Sarah in VA. October 2005
Kirk Mallory Reynolds B.A. in English 1974 MA English 1979 kreyno9149@netscape.net After I left Auburn, I received a Ph.D in English at the University of South Carolina in 1987. In 1988, I began working for MCI in Washington, DC, doing regulatory work. While working at MCI, I went to night law school at American University (1993-1997), received the J.D. degree in December 1997, and in February 1998 passed the Maryland Bar Exam and the New Jersey Bar Exam. I worked as an attorney at MCI from 1998 until May 2005, when I was hired as an attorney at VeriSign in Dulles, VA, where I currently work. I live in Alexandria, VA with my wife Ann and my 14-year old daughter Hannah. September 2005
Timothy John Lockhart B.A., English 1977 MA English 1984 tlockhart@wilsav.com Partner in Charge of the Intellectual Property Group at Willcox & Savage in Norfolk, VA. As a Captain in the U.S. Navy Reserve, assigned to NR DIA HQ 0466, which drills one weekend a month at The Pentagon. Writing book reviews for "The Virginian-Pilot," the largest daily newspaper in Southeastern Virginia, and trying to find a publisher for my first novel, a private-eye mystery. Living in Norfolk, VA, with wife Anne and daughter Meg (four years old). September 2005