DISTINGUISHED ALUMNI RECOGNIZED

The Harlan County School District is recognizing outstanding graduates of the county’s schools.  The program honors graduates of Harlan County Schools who have made a difference at home, in the state, across the nation and around the world.   Ceremonies have taken place at home games during the football and basketball seasons.  The following individuals have been recognized by the Harlan County Schools as Distinguished Alumni for their successes.

  Honorees include:

The late Jim Hampton was a 1951 graduate of Evarts High School.  He entered the University of Kentucky at age 16 and served our country in the United States Army as a Morse-Code interceptor.   He returned to UK on the GI bill where he received a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism. While at UK he served as editor-in-chief of the Kentucky Kernel and was later named to the Kentucky Journalism Hall of Fame.  He received a Masters degree from Stanford University.
During his 21 year tenure as editor of the Miami Herald Jim and his staff won two Pulitzer prizes. One, in 1983, was for a year long campaign to free Haitian boat people that were indefinitely detained for illegal immigration.
Jim worked for the Associated Press, The Courier-Journal and was writer and editor for the National Observer. He covered such stories as the 1968 presidential campaign and the anti-war demonstrations at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
After retirement, Jim served as director of the Miami-based Inter American Press Association, was a free-lance writer, investigative reporter and served by invitation as editor-in-residence at DePauw University.
Accepting the award in honor of Mr. Hampton is his sister, Alice Gross.

     The Honorable James E. Keller is a 1959 graduate of Hall High School. He attended Eastern Kentucky University and the University Of Kentucky College Of Law, receiving his Juris Doctorate in 1965.  He spent  11 years in private practice and served as Master Commissioner of Fayette Circuit Court from 1969 until 1976 when he was appointed Circuit Judge for Fayette County, a position he held for 22 years.  He served two terms as the Chief Circuit Judge, was Co-Chair of the First Fayette Family Branch of the Fayette Circuit Court, and volunteered as a Drug Court Judge.  He twice was elected President of the Kentucky Circuit Judges Association.  In 1999, Justice Keller was appointed to the Kentucky Supreme Court and was subsequently elected in 2000 to a full term as the Court’s representative of the Fifth Supreme Court District.  He retired from the Kentucky Supreme Court in 2005. 
He served as Chairman of the Lexington- Fayette Urban County Criminal Justice Commission and was a member of the Gubernatorial Task Force on the Delivery and Funding of Quality Public Defendant Services.  He was chairman of the Chief Justice’s Task force on Mental Health Proceedings and co-founded Kid’s Time, Parents Education Clinic, Mediation Center of Kentucky and Fayette County Drug Court. Justice Keller is the recipient of numerous awards.
He currently serves as Special Counsel to the law firm of Gess, Mattingly, and Atchison in Lexington, Kentucky.

   Cawood Ledford,  “The Voice of the Wildcats,” was a 1943 graduate of Hall High School and served our country as a U.S. Marine during World War II.  Cawood was a graduate of Centre College and returned to Hall to teach English. He began his broadcasting career at WHLN in 1951 and began calling UK football and basketball games for WLEX Radio in 1953. In 1956 he began a 22-year career with WHAS Radio and in 1967 became the Wildcats’ official play-by-play announcer.  In 1976, Cawood began calling games for the NCAA Radio Network, broadcasting the NCAA Final Four on that network for 18 years.  During his tenure with NCAA Radio, Cawood was named the nation’s top college basketball announcer four times. 
Cawood is the most honored and celebrated broadcaster in the history of college sports.  During a career that spanned five decades, he was voted Kentucky’s Sportscaster of the Year 22 times and was named sportscaster of the year 21 times by the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association.  He was inducted into the Kentucky Journalism Hall of Fame in 1982, the Kentucky Athletic Hall of Fame in 1987, and the National Basketball Hall of Fame in 1994.  He began his career with UK during Bear Bryant’s last football season and ended his career with Kentucky’s historic loss to Duke.  When his jersey was hung in the rafters of Rupp Arena, he became the first non-player or coach to receive that distinction.
In addition to his work with UK Athletics, Cawood covered minor league baseball, the World Series, the Masters, and the heavyweight boxing championship, including coverage of former champion Muhammad Ali.   He called the Kentucky Derby for 22 years and won the industry’s prestigious Eclipse Award three times.   After retirement he founded Cawood Ledford Productions in Lexington and authored eight books.
Accepting the award is his wife, Frances.

    Marilyn Joyce Schraeder, is a 1965 graduate of Loyall High School. With degrees from UK and Indiana University,  she began teaching in the Harlan Independent School District in 1969 and became the 6^th director of the Harlan Musettes, a position she has now held for 41 years.  Under her direction, the Musettes have received national and international recognition for exceptional musicianship. In 1974, her choir received a gold medal for their performance in the International Choral Festival in Rome, Italy, making them the first group ever to receive the highest possible honor in that competition. In 1979 Miss Schraeder prepared the Musettes to receive the “Best in Class” award at Six Flags Over Georgia.  That same year her choir completed a performance tour in England and Wales.  In 1993, Miss Schraeder’s was chosen to bring her choir to the International Choral Festival in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and in 1994, Miss Schraeder’s choral group was selected to represent the state of Kentucky in Washington, D.C. .
In addition to serving as director of the Musettes, she has spent the past 41 years as accompanist of the Harlan Boys Choir.  In 1970, she  founded the Harlan Elementary Choir where she utilized her expertise as a nationally certified Orff Music instructor for elementary aged students. In addition to her professionalism in the classroom, Miss Schraeder is well respected by her colleagues across the state holding various leadership positions in regional and state choral organizations and has been honored with numerous awards for her work with choral music education in the state.

        Lawanna Miracle Scoville is a 1969 graduate of James A. Cawood High School.  Mrs. Scoville was ahead of her time when it came to her academic studies. As a female growing up in the late 60’s she pursued areas of study that had historically been male dominated by rigorously pursuing a knowledge of the sciences. At the age of 12, Lawanna won the Harlan County Science Fair where she met future husband, John Scoville, from Evarts.  She continued to pursue her interest in science by winning the Southeast Kentucky Regional Science Fair, receiving a scholarship to Cumberland College as the grand prize and becoming a three-time finalist at the International Science and Engineering Fair. Her research was published in Science World Magazine.  While attending James A. Cawood High School, Lawanna was featured in Seventeen Magazine as one of the seventeen girls showcased in the magazine’s 1969 Outstanding Teenage Edition.   In the same year, Lawanna was chosen as The Kentucky Mountain Laurel Princess and Miss Southeastern Kentucky. 
Mrs. Scoville graduated from Cumberland College Summa Cum Laude in three years.  She received her Masters Degree from Union College and Rank 1 from Eastern Kentucky University. She entered the teaching profession and served the students of Harlan, Bell, and Laurel County for 31 years until her recent retirement.  During her tenure with Laurel County Schools, Mrs. Scoville received the Kentucky Academy of Science Teacher of the Year Award. In 1989 she was presented the Presidential Award for Science Teaching and in that same year, was chosen by World Book Encyclopedia as the World Book Science Teacher of the Year.  In 1990 Mrs. Scoville’s teaching excellence led to the Selby Foundation of Sarasota, Florida naming her as Chair for Academic Enrichment which resulted in a year in Florida where she inspired children and teachers in the area of science. 

        Dr. Dan L. Stewart is a 1968 graduate of James A. Cawood High School. He currently serves as Professor of Pediatrics and Assistant Director of the Division of Neonatal Medicine at the University of Louisville.  He initially completed his training in pediatrics at the Medical College of Virginia. Previously, Dr. Stewart has served in a variety of capacities, including as chairman of the Department of Pediatrics at East Tennessee State University. 
    Remaining active in his advocacy for children, Dr. Stewart has worked with multiple national and international organizations.  Dr. Stewart is a past President of the Kentucky Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics and chairs the committee on Pediatric Advocacy in Kentucky.  He is also a board member and past president of the Kentucky Pediatric Society Foundation.  Additionally, Dr. Stewart has worked to promote improvements to neonatal care internationally, and he has traveled extensively in this regard to countries such as Romania, Moldova, and Vietnam.    Having authored over 50 publications and multiple abstracts, Dr. Stewart has pursued a diverse research agenda during his academic career.  Dr. Stewart has particularly focused on innovative work involving extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, inhaled nitric oxide therapies, and high-frequency ventilation.  Dr. Stewart is a frequently invited speaker and has received multiple awards.  Most recently, Dr. Stewart was the recipient of the Marion Downs Award.

Nickie Snow Jefferson is a 1984 graduate of Cumberland High School where she was an all-conference and all-state Lady Skin basketball player. Prior to attending Cumberland she played varsity ball the last year of Lynch High School where she received All-Conference honors as an 8^th grader.  Mrs. Jefferson received a basketball Scholarship to Lincoln Memorial University where she played for 4 years and still holds the record for most assists and steals.  After receiving her Bachelor’s Degree in nursing in 1989 from LMU, she completed her master’s work at the University of Tennessee where she became a licensed Family Nurse Practitioner in 1996.  She went on to teach nursing at LMU and Tennessee Technology Center and was a staff nurse for 7 years at Fort Sanders Hospital.  From 1999 to 2005 she was a nurse practitioner in family practice.  In 2005, she opened her own HealthCare practice and is currently Owner and Operator of Jefferson Healthcare Services where she manages the daily operations and provides for pre-employment physicals, house calls and Nurse Practitioner services to Long Term Care Facilities specializing in geriatric care.   Mrs. Jefferson is extensively involved in her community where she works with the Knoxville Chapter of Jack and Jill of America, a service organization that provides programming designed to empower African American youth.  She is also involved with Shades of Hope, a shelter that provides resources for women and children of domestic violence. 

Annie V. Saylor is a 1969 graduate of James A. Cawood High School. She is an expert in radar multiscatterer target and background models for real-time and digital simulations used to test tactical missile systems.  She serves as a test conductor for radar data collection, including both ground vehicle and missile targets.
In 1983, she with four other business partners formed Simulation Technologies . She currently is the chief executive officer of the company which performs engineering and support services to the U.S. Army.
She is a community columnist for The Huntsville Times in Alabama. She has taught mathematics classes at Calhoun College as an adjunct professor, at the University of Alabama at Huntsville as s an assistant professor, at the University of Kentucky as a graduate assistant. She also served as a mathematics assistant at Cumberland College. In addition, she has been active in volunteer activities with the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill, serving as a Board member from 1994-1999. She has been a board member and officer with the Alabama Alliance for the Mentally Ill and the Huntsville Alliance for the Mentally Ill.
Saylor has received numerous recognitions for her volunteer work in mental health. She has been the recipient of numerous honors for her professional skill and determination, including the 2009 IEEE Huntsville Engineer of the Year, the 2002 Huntsville Association of Technical Societies Outstanding Engineer, the 1991 Jaycees Outstanding Young Alabamaian and Huntsvillian.

   Freddie Maggard is a 1987 graduate of Cumberland High School. He is the national Guard Bureau Director of Community Outreach, responsible for program management in all aspects of Army and Air National Guard Outreach in 54 states and territories in support of the Total Force Readiness Program. He has been a career public servant both as a Kentucky National Guard Officer and now in his position with the National Guard Bureau. His prior duties included state marketing director, recruiting command advertising director, medical recruiting officer and numerous other leadership positions.
 While maintaining strict academic standards, Maggard was a 12 time letter winner and finished his athletic career with numerous local, state and national awards. On the football field, he was honored as a first team all-state quarterback and defensive back. He was a three-year starter on the basketball team and was selected to several all-state teams on the baseball diamond as a four-year starting pitcher and outfielder.  Following his senior season, he was drafted to play professional baseball by the Kansas City Royals.
During his stay at Cumberland, the Redskins twice won regional football championships and advanced to two state championship games. The basketball team earned two 52nd District titles. The baseball team won four district and region titles, including the school’s first trip to the Final Four.
Following high school graduation, he accepted an athletic scholarship to the University of Kentucky.  He went on to be a three-time Academic All Southeastern Conference selection as the starting quarterback and team captain. At the end of his career, he was the seventh ranked quarterback in school history while earning a communications degree and graduating with honors. In addition to being named to the Athletic Director’s Advisory’s Committee, he earned the distinguished Academic Achievement Award. 
He resides in Lawrenceburg. He is married to Chief Warrant Officer Jennifer Maggard who currently serves as a US Army Aviator stationed at Fort Rucker, AL. He is the father of one son, Claiborne Wesley.
His hobbies include writing, high school and college football, and walking with his Great Dane, Chief..
Maggard is a member of the Anderson County Fire Board, National Guard Border Bowl Committee, National Guard Monument Committee, Harrodsburg Bataan Memorial Committee, and active member of the Hope Community Church, focusing on Appalachian Missions.

   The Honorable G. Wix Unthank , is a 1940 graduate of Loyall High School.  Judge Unthank was born in 1923 in Tway. He was the son of Green W. Unthank and Estelle Howard Unthank, who were one of Harlan County’s oldest families.
Immediately after graduation from high school, he served as a paratrooper in the US Army. He served in World War II as a member of the 509th Paratrooper Battalion, and was a recipient of the Purple Heart along with a Meritorious Achievement medal as a result of an injury he received in 1943 from a German hand grenade after paratrooping into enemy territory.
He did his undergraduate work at the University of Kentucky, including two years of law school, and received his Juris Doctorate from the University of Miami at Coral Gables, FL in 1950. He then passed the bar in Florida and Kentucky and began the private practice of law at Cumberland.
Judge Unthank is married to Marilyn Ward Unthank. Residents of Harlan, they are longtime members of the Harlan Presbyterian Church.  
He held several judgeships during his career, including Harlan County judge from 1951 to 1958; Private practice attorney for 28 years, Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky from 1966-1969; Commonwealth Attorney from 1979-1980, U.S. District Court Judge for the Eastern District of Kentucky in Pikeville from 1980-1987 and senior judge for the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky in London. He continues to serve the judicial system today.

  Bob Harris is a 1967 graduate of Cumberland High School and received a degree in Business Administration from Cumberland College.  He served as Manager of Information Systems and Software Application Developer for Eastover and Manalapan Mining Companies where he worked with computer programmers and systems analysts from Arthur Andersen and Duke Power.  In 1983 Mr. Harris co-founded Data Futures where he currently serves as President. Data Futures employs 45 people with satellite offices in Tennessee and Georgia and has authored two software products. LunchBox is a USDA approved program for K-12 school nutrition management with installations in 41 states at over 4,000 sites.  CareScope is a specialized administrative software program for the health care industry to coordinate care for the uninsured and the underinsured.  In 2003 Mr. Harris was named Kentucky’s Small Business Person of the Year by the U.S. Small Business Association.

Charles “Perky” Bryant attended Black Mountain Elementary School and Evarts High School.  He has fond childhood memories of growing up in the Kenvir Number 2 Coal Camp.  The youngest of five children, Bryant extends gratitude to the Cloverfork school community and his family for supporting his dream of playing football and earning a college diploma which has allowed him to guide and nurture youth both athletically and academically for thirty-two years as a coach, physical education teacher, and school administrator. 
During Bryant’s days as a high school student-athlete at Evarts from 1956-1960, he excelled as a running back for Coach Charlie Hunter’s Wildcats and also played baseball and basketball for EHS.  Bryant is remembered by many for his outstanding performance on the gridiron at Evarts High where he scored 202 points his senior year to nearly lead the state in scoring.  His talents were recognized by several Division 1 schools as both the University of Tennessee and the University of Kentucky offered him full athletic scholarships.  Being a Kentucky boy, Bryant chose UK and began his college career under the direction of the legendary Kentucky Coach, Blanton Collier.
 Bryant arrived at UK in the fall of 1960, and began to live his dream of playing football at the University of  Kentucky.  He thrived in the blue and white as both a fullback and linebacker for the Wildcats.  While playing at the University of Kentucky, Bryant was a member of the team nicknamed “The Thin Thirty.”  During the 1962 football season, under the leadership of UK Coach Charlie Bradshaw, this team went from eighty-eight players to thirty players as many could not withstand the extreme physical and psychological demands.  The struggles and perseverance of this football team have recently been chronicled in a 2007 book by Shannon Ragland entitled The Thin Thirty.

        Dr. James T. Corum , a 1956 graduate of Cumberland High School, received his Doctor of Dental Medicine degree from the University of Louisville.  He served as Captain in the United States Air Force Dental Corp, and after several years in private practice was Dental Director for Kentucky State Health Department.  He was Commissioner of the Department for Environmental Protection Cabinet and currently serves as President of the Kentucky Woodland Owners Association. He has lobbied the state legislature advocating that Kentucky’s 8 billion dollar forest industry can generate 34 billion dollars of economic impact. He has authored legislation to prevent timber theft and has contributed to the Ford Foundation’s Regional Learning Project on exploring economic development in Appalachian Kentucky.   
Dr. Corum is the recipient of the American Dental Association’s Community Preventive Dentistry Award, The American Tree Farm Society’s Kentucky Tree Farmer of the Year, The Governor’s Conservation Achievement Award, and the Herman Baggenstoss Forestry Recognition Award.

   Regina Edwards is a graduate of Cumberland High School. She currently serves as an assistant United States Attorney for the Western District of Kentucky in Louisville. Her areas of practice include defensive litigation with emphasis in employment discrimination defense, immigration and defensive commercial litigation; and civil fraud with emphasis in health care and contract fraud. She recently was appointed to the Evaluation and Review Staff for the Executive Office of the United States Attorneys.
She received her Juris Doctorate from the Vanderbilt University School of Law in 1991, having received the General Motors Scholar award. Her undergraduate studies were at the University of Kentucky where she received a bachelor of arts in psychology and sociology. She received numerous awards including graduating with honors of a 3.5 GPA in sociology, and Who’s Who among Black American College students.
In her spare time she has pursued a degree in culinary education and received her Associate of Science Degree in the Culinary Arts Program from Sullivan University, graduating Summa Cum Laude. She received the President’s Cup for Academic Excellence.
She has appeared in two episodes of a TV series, “The Stranger” which aired on the Trinity Broadcast Network. She also had a featured role in the independent film “Clancy” which ran in eight U.S. cities in the South and Midwest.
In 2002, she opened her own business and currently serves as the chef and owner of Dish Catering and Event Management in Louisville.
She has made many presentations across the country, including delivering the keynote address at the Southeast Community College Commencement in 1997.
Despite her busy professional life, she finds time to give back to the community. She serves as a volunteer chef instructor for kids ages 9-12 in gourmet cooking classes at the Lighthouse Community Center in Louisville. She is a member of the board of directors of Walden Theatre and the Lighthouse Community Center. She is a member of numerous organizations including Volunteers of America, The Links Inc. Louisville Chapter of the National African-American Women’s Civic organization, the Legal Aid Society, National Bar Association, and American Bar Association.

        Jerry Dale Johnson is a 1973 graduate of James A. Cawood High School who has devoted his professional career to public service.  He currently serves as Chief Operating Officer and Senior Vice President of Pikeville Medical Center where he directs the daily operations of this acute-care facility that exceeds an annual budget of 500 million dollars, employees 1700 people and partners with 200 physicians.  Prior to assuming his role at Pikeville Medical Center, he served as CEO of Pikeville Medical Development Corporation, where he was responsible for finding and facilitating research opportunities and the development of third-party partnerships with other hospitals and statewide colleges and universities. He began his career with the Harlan County Judge-Executive’s Office where he worked as Special Programs Coordinator from 1986 until 1995 when he took a post with Governor Paul Patton.  While in Frankfort, Mr. Johnson served as liaison to the Natural Resource and Environmental Protection Cabinet as well as the Transportation Cabinet. He also served as Director of Constituent services where he provided for a 19-county area in Southeastern Kentucky and was instrumental in the development and implementation of a water resource initiative to provide public water to all citizens of Kentucky by the year 2020. Mr. Johnson was also the Commissioner for the Department of Coal County Development where he was responsible for managing over 150 million dollars in coal severance tax receipts. His work to promote the Appalachian region has been significant, serving with the Office of New Appalachian Development executing new job creation and community development strategies for the Eastern Kentucky Region and serving on the Appalachian Regional Commission.  In 2002, Mr. Johnson served as the assistant chief of staff to the governor of Kentucky and served on a state and national level as Chairman of the Kentucky Democratic Party. 

    James T. Morgan attended Wallins High School. His award is bestowed posthumously as a result of his passing last Friday, September 11, at the age of 84. Morgan and his radio station, WHLN, have been a tremendous asset to Harlan County and all of Southeastern Kentucky since its inception in 1941. The radio station has broadcast around the clock to provide invaluable and lifesaving information to residents during weather and other emergencies. Coverage of devastating floods in 1963 and 1977 has drawn the station national recognition.  It goes without saying that Morgan has been instrumental in the longtime success of this station. He was approaching 65 years of broadcasting service at the time of his death, having made him the oldest active broadcaster in Kentucky at the time of h is passing.  He was an active elder at the Harlan Christian Church. His devout faith was one of his tremendous personal qualities. He was the first full-term president of the Harlan County Jaycees, served  as  a past president of the Harlan Kiwanis Club, a 32nd Degree Mason, and was a charter member, past president and former chairman of the Board of Directors of the Laurels Inc. He had served on the board of directors of Harlan Community Television for at least the past four decades and held the position of president at the time of his passing.
He served in the U.S. Air Force.
Under his leadership and largely as a result of his skill, talent and determination, WHLN won the prestigious George Foster Peabody award in 1977 for news coverage of the massive flood that left so much destruction behind in Harlan County.  The station has gone above and beyond in its mission to cover snow storms, coal mining disasters and other tragedies – manmade and natural. The station has repeatedly been honored by the Associated Press for its work.
Many area youth started their own broadcasting careers while working at WHLN.
During his career, Morgan was nominated for many awards including the prestigious Marconi Award.  He was honored by Region IV office of the Environmental Protection Agency for early work to establish Solid Waste programs in East Kentucky. Mr. Morgan and WHLN received the East Kentucky Leadership Award in 2000. He received the 2003 Kentucky Broadcasters “Kentucky MIKE Award” for his outstanding personal contribution to the Kentucky broadcast industry through his service to the profession and community. He is known throughout the region for his inclement weather reports, reminding residents to feed the birds.