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Earl V. Echard graduated from Freedman High School in 1960. He continued his education at Northwest Institute School of Medical Technology in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He served two years in the United States Army including a tour in Vietnam as a combat infantryman. In recognition of his service, he was awarded three Purple Hearts and a Combat Infantry Badge. On his return from Vietnam, he served as an anesthesiology technician. Echard graduated from the Duke University Physician Assistants Program in 1973.
Earl Echard is renowned for his dynamic career as a physicians' assistant. Among his accomplishments are co-founder of and charter member of the North Carolina Academy of Physician Assistants; founding member of the Committee on Diversity on which he has served for 25 years; primary care provider for 20 years at the homeless shelter in Durham, North Carolina; continued involvement with the Duke University Physician Assistants Program as speaker and Alumni Committee member. He also serves on the recruitment, diversity retention and fundraising committees. Additionally, he co-authored a book entitled Alternative Healthcare Delivery in 1984. Earl Echard has received special recognition of appreciation from Duke University for his services and accomplishments. He has been recognized by the Lincoln Health Center in Durham, North Carolina, for his work with the Homeless Shelter.
Additionally, the American Academy of Physician Assistants has recognized him for his involvement with the Committee on Diversity and his role as a founding distinguished member. Echard has made his mark on numerous physician assistants through sharing the importance of the physician assistants' heritage as in the 2003 "White Coat Ceremony" for Duke's first year physician assistant students. This ceremony is identified as a rite of passage for many physician assistants and medical schools throughout the country. Echard was recently interviewed for "The Story," produced by the UNC Public Radio Network and aired nationally on January 22, 2009, sharing his distinguished walk of life through his work with the homeless and the incarcerated. Earl Echard has received many honors. He was nominated for the American Academy of Physician Assistants Inner City Physician Assistants of the Year in 1995. He was honored as Duke University's Alumnus of the Year in 2003 and was placed in Duke's Hall of Fame. He received the Most Outstanding Physician Assistants' Award from the American Academy of Physician Assistants in 2004 in recognition of work with the homeless and with inmates in the prison system.
After 27 years of service, Earl Echard retired in 2005 as a physician assistant for the North Carolina Department of Corrections in Butner, North Carolina. In reflecting on his career he shares, "I never wanted to be recognized; I only wanted to be appreciated." He is married to Laura Miller Echard and they have a daughter, son, and four grandchildren.
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Maurice P. Hartley attended East Harper Elementary School, Davenport School, Lower Creek Elementary School, and graduated in 1958 from Oak Hill High School. He received a BA Degree in Psychology from Carson-Newman College and a MA Degree in Guidance and Counseling from Appalachian State University. In 1975, he received his Doctorate in Counseling Psychology from Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey.
Following employment in public schools in Tennessee, Florida and North Carolina, Dr. Hartley joined the faculty at Rutgers where he served more than thirty-one years. His distinguished career includes more than seventy published articles on public policy education, coalition and consensus building, human systems management, cooperative education, career development and student retention. He served as principal investigator for over $2.5 million in grants for research, training and program development. He developed and directed the Cooperative Education Program, which is known nationally and internationally for its high academic standards and the quality of communication between the college and area businesses.
As Associate Dean for Special Programs and Director of Teacher Education, he chaired the Teacher Education Program Advisory and Oversight Committee that created the opportunity for students to participate in a five-year science teacher education program leading to a Master's Degree. He led and directed the development of Project Choice, a comprehensive program integrating academic and student services to improve retention, especially among minorities and students from disadvantaged backgrounds. He was president and executive vice-president of the North American Cooperative Education Association and served two terms as editor of The Journal of Cooperative Education.
Dr. Hartley received numerous awards for his teaching and leadership. Some of the most notable awards include the Warren I. Susman Award, which is the highest award for excellence in teaching at Rutgers University; the Cook College Leadership Award for Outstanding Contributions to Teaching and Advising; the Professor of the Year Award; and the Cook College Eleventh Annual Award for Academic Professional Excellence in Teaching.
He retired in June 2006 and was named Professor Emeritus by Rutgers University. He currently lives in Lenoir where he serves as the vice-president and president-elect of Habitat for Humanity. He and his wife Beverly have two daughters, two sons, eight grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren.
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A 1971 graduate of Lenoir High School, Dr. Glenn Sherwood Harman continued his education at NC State, graduating in 1975 with a BS in Pulp and Paper Science and Technology. Dr. Harman received an Armed Forces Health Professions Scholarship and began medical school at UNC Chapel Hill, graduating in 1979. He completed his Internal Medicine Residency at West Virginia University Hospital in 1982 and then began active duty in the US Air Force on the Internal Medicine staff at Clark Air Force Base, Republic of Philippines.
In 1985, Dr. Harman transferred to Wilford Hall USAF Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas, the Air Force's largest medical facility. Beginning as a Fellow on the Medical Oncology and Hematology team, Dr. Harman rose quickly through the ranks and became Chairman of Oncology and Hematology in 1992 and served as Consultant to the Surgeon General for Medical Oncology and Hematology from 1992 to 1995. From 1995 to 1997, Dr. Harman joined the University of Iowa School of Medicine as Associate Professor and in 1999 became a Consultant of Medical Oncology and Hematology at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, where he continues to work.
An accomplished musician, Dr. Harman credits his talent to the musical education he received from Lenoir High School and community piano teachers. He has performed on piano with Robert Jeffery Arnold at Carnegie Hall in New York, across the United States and Canada, and in the Philippines and Hungary. He is also an internationally known oboist and is an active member and committee chairman in the International Double Reed Society. Dr. Harman has integrated his musical career with his lifelong love of figure skating and has become an international specialist as speaker and author on "Music and Figure Skating." He has also provided piano accompaniments for Miss America contestants and devoted countless hours volunteering his services as a judge in the Miss America Organization at the national, state and local levels.
From a fellowship in Bone Marrow Transplantation at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle in 1989 to the present top clinical ranking position at the Mayo Clinic, Dr. Harman's life and career illustrates one man's dedication to the well-being and delight of others through science, research and the arts. He is the son of Cecil and Helen Harman, long-time educators in the Caldwell County School System.
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Hugh Poe Sherrill graduated from Oak Hill High School in 1935. He enlisted in the US Army Air Corps in 1936, beginning more than forty years of distinguished service in the field of aviation.
After being discharged from the Army Air Corps, he took a position with the Civil Aeronautics Administration in the weather observation network. He was later transferred to the Airways Facilities Division to work with the maintenance and technical operation of airports and traffic control facilities. From 1944 to 1948 Mr. Sherrill served in the US Navy Officers Uniformed Services for technical support of the United States Navy Air Transport Service in South America. He also served as Coordinator and Liaison Maintenance Officer for Bermuda and the West Indies.
In 1958, Mr. Sherrill accepted a position with the Office of International Development in Colombia to develop a modern navigation and traffic control system. He returned to the Federal Aviation Administration and served in various positions including Chief of the Area Facilities Section and Chief of the Atlanta Office. He retired in 1976 after 40 years of service having come through the ranks from the position of technician to Chief Officer of one of the largest airport facilities in the United States.
Throughout his years in aviation, Mr. Sherrill served as an aviation consultant supervising the design, installation, and purchase of millions of dollars in equipment that provided for the smooth operation and safety for airports in various parts of the world. The Malaysian government called upon Mr. Sherrill to design and supervise the installation of equipment leading to the certification of the airports for international travel.
He received numerous awards for his service in the field of aviation. One of the most notable awards was the Golden Key to the locks of the Panama Canal by the Governor of the Canal Zone. Mr. Sherrill was recognized for resolving airspace restriction problems by the government of Panama. These restrictions would have prevented instrument flights to Howard Air Force Base. He also received an award for being a Master Aviation Advisor and he was presented a Distinguished Service Award by the Federal Aviation Administration. He was a member and served as president of the Airport Rotary Club in Atlanta, Georgia, where he received both the Distinguished Service Award and the Rotarian of the Year Award for his outstanding efforts in the area of international service.
Mr. Sherrill died May 21, 2004. He is survived by his wife, Marjorie Hale Sherrill, two daughters, and one grandson.
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Janice Carlton Swab graduated as the valedictorian from Kings Creek High School in 1959. She earned a BS Degree in Science Education in 1962 from Appalachian State Teachers College. She then completed her Master's Degree in 1964 and her PhD in Biology at the University of South Carolina in 1966. While at USC, she became a member of Phi Beta Kappa and was inducted into the Society of Sigma Xi, a society devoted to the promotion of research science.
She began her teaching career as an Assistant Professor of General Zoology at Clemson University in 1966-67 and was an Associate Professor of General Biology at Queens College in Charlotte from 1967-78. While at Queens, she served as speaker for Faculty Recognition Day, began her serious research studies of rushes, grass-like plants, all over the world, and began receiving grants for her personal research and for the college.
The course of Dr. Swab's research has been directed by her philosophy: "The more places a botanist can visit, the more effective one is in teaching and in research. There is no substitute for seeing and studying the plants in their natural environments." She spent five months as a visiting scholar in Australia and ten months in Russia as a National Academy of Sciences representative for the US-Soviet Scientist Exchange Program. In 1978-79, she served as an Associate Professor of General Biology at USC. She was the Chairperson of the Department of Science at Saint Mary's College in Raleigh from 1979-1990. During this time she taught as a Fulbright Scholar in Egypt, Sudan and Zambia. From 1980 to 2008, she served intermittently as an Adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Botany and Biological Science Interdepartmental Program at NC State University. She also served as a Professor of Biology at Meredith College from 1992 to her retirement in July 2008. She says, "One benefit of being a teacher is that you always have an audience to tell your travels to."
Her research and teaching travels have indeed taken her around the world to Cuba, Tahiti, Easter Island, New Zealand, New Caledonia, Australia, Italy, Greece, Ireland and China. Three exhibitions based on her travels and research have been shown at Meredith College. In 1977, she authored the Guide to Graduate Study in Botany for the United States and Canada and in 2005 she wrote Eating in the Cochabamba Area of Bolivia: A Spanish-English Dictionary to the Foods Encountered in This Area. She has made flora contributions to many publications, written journal articles, and presented papers at scientific meetings since her graduate school days. Her book reviews appear in a variety of journals. Her research interests are Systematics of Family Juncaceae (Monocotyledonae), Russian Botanical Literature and Scientific Methodology in Education and Curriculum Development. She received fellowships and grants for research travel from 1963 to 2007, and she has served on many boards, committees and professional societies in the field of biological science.
Her community activities include Conservation Council of North Carolina, Friends of State Parks, NC Botanical Garden, NC Museum of Natural Sciences and she was a charter member of the NC Environmental Defense Fund. She is married to Edward C. Swab and they reside in Raleigh.
