ABAC alumni to be recognized April 7

TIFTON — The Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College Alumni Association will recognize outstanding alumni and induct an honorary alumnus at the organization’s annual dinner, set for April 7 at Gressette Gym on the college campus.

Alumni award winners for 2017 include Ben Copeland of Lakeland, Distinguished Alumnus; Gerald Long of Bainbridge, Master Farmer; Monika Griner of Moultrie, Helen Brown Sasser Award; Elizabeth Rowland of Virginia Beach, Va., J. Lamar Branch Award; William Bowen of Tifton, Outstanding Business Leader; Dr. Julie Rucker of Tifton, Outstanding Educator; Suzette Alexander of San Antonio, Texas, Outstanding Health Care Professional; Sam Watson of Moultrie, Outstanding Young Alumnus; the family of Abbie Jones Mulkey of Colquitt County, Family Legacy Award; and James Lee Adams of Camilla, Honorary Alumnus.

Copeland, president of Patten Seed Company in Lakeland, attended ABAC 1962-64. He is a member and a past chair of the State Board of the Technical College System of Georgia and a founding member and a former president of the Georgia Sod Producers Association. He was named to the University of Georgia Agriculture Hall of Fame in 2014.

Long, a 1969 ABAC graduate, operates GW Long Farms and Long Cattle Company. A Georgia Farm Bureau member since 1970, he was elected president of GFB last year. He’s also a member of the Georgia Cattlemen’s Association and serves as treasurer of the Georgia Beef Board.

Griner, director of the school nutrition department for the Colquitt County Board of Education, was honored in 2013 with the Georgia Department of Education Outstanding Achievement Award in School Nutrition. A 1988 ABAC graduate, she was Miss ABAC in 1987 and is a member of the alumni association.

Rowland works for the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture as the director of human resources and attended ABAC in 2004-05. She originated NASDA’s Next Generation, a program designed for college students to learn about agriculture policy.

Bowen, a 1985 graduate, is the fourth-generation owner of Bowen-Donaldson Home for Funerals and the fifth-generation owner of Bowen Farms. He is also a managing partner in Fulwood Family Partnership, which is involved in real estate and farming. Bowen has served as chair of the ABAC Foundation Board of Trustees, president of the Tifton-Tift County Chamber of Commerce, and on the board of Tift Regional Health Systems.

Rucker, the dean of instruction at Tift County High School, attended ABAC 1988-89. The Tift School System Teacher of the Year in 2015 and TCHS Teacher of the Year in 2014, she received the Excellence in Teaching Award from the Tift County Foundation for Educational Excellence in 2008.

A 1967 ABAC graduate, Alexander was a member of the original class of nursing students that received associate’s degrees from the institution. She worked for the Veterans Administration as a registered nurse 1983-2006 in a variety of locations. In 2004, she received a Special Contribution Award from the Under Secretary for Health Veterans Health Administration for assistance with the restructuring of the Central Texas Health Care System Long-Term Care Operations.

Selected Freshman Legislator of the Year by the Georgia Chamber of Commerce in 2014, Watson is state representative for House District 172. The 1999 ABAC graduate is managing partner of Chill C Farms and the Moultrie Melon Company.

Fourteen members of the Abbie Jones Mulkey family have attended or are currently attending ABAC.

Adams, a longtime Mitchell County farmer and agricultural leader in Georgia, is a former trustee on the ABAC Foundation board and a volunteer with the Foundation’s Ag Summit initiative. The Camilla resident hosted an ABAC Alumni Association Regional Roundup at his home in 2015 and is a member of the ABAC 1908 Society. He was the Lancaster/Sunbelt Expo Southeastern Farmer of the Year in 2000. A Georgia Tech graduate, Adams is also a former member of the Governor’s Committee on Science and Technology.