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Karen Burroughs Jones ’74 Distinguished Alumni Award
Celebrating our alumni leaders
The Distinguished Alumni Award was established in 1983 to recognize graduates who have made significant contributions to their professions and/or their communities over an extended period of time, thus reflecting honor upon the College of Charleston. In 2024, the award was re-named in honor of the Alumni Association’s Executive Secretary Emerita, Karen Burroughs Jones ’74, who dedicated more than 30 years in service to our alma mater.
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2026 Distinguished Alumna
Dr. Tracy Taylor Smith ’08
Dr. Tracy Smith is a nationally recognized scientist and leader in tobacco control and cancer prevention whose work has shaped public health policy and improved clinical care. After graduating from the college, she earned an M.A. from the University of North Carolina Wilmington and an M.S. and Ph.D. from the University of Pittsburgh before returning to the Lowcountry. She is now a Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Medical University of South Carolina and Co-Leader of the Cancer Prevention and Control Program at Hollings Cancer Center, South Carolina’s only National Cancer Institute–designated cancer center.
Dr. Smith’s research has shaped national tobacco regulation and informed the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s efforts to reduce the addictiveness of cigarettes. She also leads innovative clinical trials evaluating new approaches to smoking cessation, with a particular focus on populations disproportionately affected by tobacco-related disease, including people with cancer and those receiving treatment for substance use disorders.
In addition to her research, Dr. Smith is a dedicated mentor who is passionate about developing the next generation of researchers. She and her husband are raising their two daughters in Charleston, where they enjoy spending time outdoors and on the water.
Distinguished Alumna or Alumnus Past Recipients
1983 – Pierrine Smith Byrd ’22 *
1983 – Willard N. Hirsch ’24 *
1983 – F. Mitchell Johnson ’37*
1983 – Gus H. Pearlman ’33 *
1983 – John Arthur Siegling ’28 *
1984 – Louis E. Condon ’50 *
1985 – George B. Buell ’22
1985 – Paul M. Macmillan ’03 *
1986 – Frances Smythe Edmunds ’39*
1986 – Carl J. Likes ’37 *
1987 – James B. Edwards ’50 *
1987 – Richard H. Gadsden ’50 *
1988 – C. Desmond Koster ’43 *
1988 – E. Lawrence Powers ’38 *
1989 – Richard F. Dame ’64 *
1990 – Myrtle Craver Riggs ’46 *
1990 – Frank W. Ryan ’40 *
1991 – Margaret Virginia Smith Townsend ’40 *
1992 – Frances Gooding Buell ’24 *
1993 – William H. Grimball ’38 *
1994 – John A. Hamrick ’37 *
1995 – Solomon Breibart ’36 *
1996 – Louis D. Rubin ’44 *
1997 – Hall T. McGee, Jr. ’35 *
1998 – Angelo Peter Creticos ’42 *
1998 – Peter C. Gazes ’42 *
1999 – H. Biemann Othersen, Jr. ’50
2000 – Suzanne Fair McCall ’79
2001 – Marjorie E. Peale ’36 *
2002 – David A. Caldwell ’76
2002 – Anne Bellinger Villeponteaux ’58 *
2003 – William E. McLeod ’06 *
2003 – Nadine Orsoff Vogel ’85
2004 – Jeanne Fowler Stiglbauer ’76
2005 – R. Keith Sauls ’90
2005 – Jean Rouse Spell ’58
2006 – James F. Hightower ’82
2007 – Joseph W. Cabaniss ’47 *
2008 – H. Davis Adkisson IV ’84
2008 – Morris D. Rosen ’42 *
2009 – Arlinda F. Locklear ’73
2010 – Charles T. (Bud) Ferillo, Jr. ’72
2010 – Sharon Brock Kingman ’80
2011 – Neil W. Draisin ‘65
2012 – Mel Marvin ’62
2013 – George B. Rabb ’51 *
2014 – Mariana Ramsay Hay ’82
2015 – Brucie Howe Hendricks ’83
2016 – Michelle Asha Cooper ’95
2017 – Stephanie B. Wheeler ’03
2018 – Patricia Ricketts Scarafile ’66
2019 – Roland A. Cruickshank ’94
2020 – Donnetta Lavinia Grays ’99
2021 – Melissa Siegel ’03
2022 – Stephen C. Osborne ’73
2023 – Matt Tuerk ’02
2024 – Cheryll Novak Woods-Flowers ’81
2025 – Arlinda F. Locklear ’73
* Deceased