Alumni Engagement

Guy graduated from Eckerd in biology with honors and went on to obtain his Ph.D., with honors, in medical microbiology and immunology from the University of South Florida’s College of Medicine. He was the director of the Laboratory of Immunosuppressive Retrovirology at All Children’s Hospital in St. Petersburg, where his lab focused on understanding the ability of HIV to be transmitted from mother to fetus and the development of the drug-resistant virus in HIV+ children. Later, he served as a clinical assistant professor in the Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology at the University of South Florida College of Medicine and as an assistant and then associate professor of molecular physiology at Eckerd College.

Guy is a senior member and principal investigator at the Tampa Bay Research Institute, where he is investigating the mechanisms by which molecules created in pinecones modulate the immune response to cancer, vaccines and allergens, and slow the progress of Alzheimer’s disease. Based on insights gained from working with pinecone extracts, his lab recently synthesized, isolated and identified drug-like molecules with the potential of being used therapeutically to modulate immune responses in a variety of pathological conditions. He has been published in numerous scientific journals and books and has been awarded several national and international patents based on his discoveries. Guy received the Sigma Xi Research Award in 1990; the first Baxter Diagnostics Microscan Young Investigator’s Award in 1992 for his outstanding contributions to medical microbiology; and in 2002, Eckerd College’s Robert A. Staub Distinguished Teacher award.

Scott graduated from Eckerd with a degree in economics and then worked in Admission at Eckerd for three years He went on to obtain his master’s in higher education from the University of Michigan in 1993, then worked with the Great Lakes Colleges Association for five years before returning to Eckerd to serve in myriad roles for 13 years—ending as the director of gift planning and administration. Scott served for six years in advancement at University of the Pacific in California before returning to Florida in 2018. He is now the associate vice president for development at Broward College.

Scott is delighted to have followed his sister, Sherri Copeland ’86, to Eckerd and proud that his brother Keith ’91 followed him. Scott’s service to Eckerd started as a student when he conducted tours for prospective students, served as an overnight host and held positions on scholarship selection committees. He always is willing to support the College in any way needed. Over the years, he has served on reunion committees, hosted events, volunteered as a digital ambassador and represented Eckerd as a peer-to-peer fundraiser. He and his wife, DeeLynn, are Arts Fellows. They also support the Eckerd Fund and the Dean Mark Smith Scholarship and Engaged Learning Fund, and were early donors to the Hallin Family Scholarship. With the Collier Match, they were pleased to help establish the Tom and Signe Oberhofer Endowed Scholarship for Economics upon his mentor Tom’s retirement from Eckerd. The Riviniuses are members of the 1958 Society with 35 years of consecutive giving.

An award-winning mixed media artist, Betsy graduated from Eckerd’s Program for Experienced Learners and went on to obtain her MFA from the University of South Florida. Her work resides in permanent collections, both private and corporate, notably: Tampa Museum of Art, Gulf Coast Museum and Neiman Marcus Collection. Her exhibitions comprise Denis Bibro Fine Art, NYC; Brevard Art Museum; Boca Raton Museum; and Tampa Museum—with solo shows at Merrick Gallery, The Arts Center and currently at Eckerd’s Cobb Gallery through February 27. Betsy received the Pinellas County Arts Council Artist Resource Fund Grant (1999 and 2004), and she was the 1996 Pinellas Artist in Residence. She also was the “Art Lady” on Kid’s Place at Vision Cable TV. Among her teaching credentials are inspirational projects for vulnerable individuals, namely her Gorgeous Mosaic Project, for which she worked with teen runaways and middle schoolers to create collaborative art and a sense of belonging.

This award Betsy is receiving honors the memory of her cherished teacher, Professor Emeritus Jim Crane—creator of the Visual Problem Solving course and founding faculty of Eckerd’s Visual Arts Program. During her time in graduate school at USF, Jim invited Betsy to teach Visual Problem Solving, which she continues to teach, honoring his legacy.

Molly graduated from Eckerd with a degree in environmental studies. As an undergraduate, among other things, she studied dance and gender studies at the University of Ghana; spent a month of language immersion in Salamanca, Spain; and participated in a service learning project in a Burmese refugee camp in Thailand. As a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar, she went on to obtain a postgraduate diploma in development studies from the University of the South Pacific. Her time in Fiji led to the creation of The Fiji Organic Project, working with stakeholders in the sugar cane industry on transitioning to organic production. She then spent six months living in a tent as a farm apprentice at the Center for Agroecology at University of California, Santa Cruz, earning a certificate in ecological horticulture. In 2007, she returned to her hometown of St. Louis to grow the good food movement there.

Molly is the founder and CEO of EarthDance Organic Farm School in Ferguson, Missouri, which stewards 14 acres of urban farmland. It is considered the oldest organic farm west of the Mississippi. EarthDance advances food justice by training organic farmers and gardeners of all ages, providing connection to healthy food and the land, and cultivating vibrant community. With over 500 graduates, thousands of past program participants, and a wide cross-sector community of followers, EarthDance has left an indelible mark in the greater St. Louis region, inspiring hundreds of gardens and dozens of new farm enterprises. The organization also is considered a national leader in urban agriculture, as EarthDance integrates climate-smart agriculture with experiential, multigenerational education and community-building, with equity at its center. In 2014, Molly was appointed to the Ferguson Human Rights Commission. In 2011, she was the first recipient of the Young Food Leader award as part of the Natural Resources Defense Council’s annual Growing Green Awards.

April graduated from Eckerd in philosophy and women’s and gender studies. She obtained a master’s degree in ethics from Yale University and is now a master’s student in William & Mary’s Clinical Mental Health Counseling program. She is a 2023 Child, Adolescent and Family Behavioral Health Fellow with North Carolina’s Foundation for Health Leadership & Innovation and The Duke Endowment. She plans to devote her clinical practice to supporting clients in the context of transformative social justice and trauma recovery.

As a queer and neurodivergent writer and editor, April focuses her research and writing on short-form nontraditional and hybrid writing that explores love and desire, food narratives, memory, parenting, mental and chronic illness, health disparities, and narrative medicine. Her work has appeared in numerous publications, and her fiction and essays have been honored by residency support from Vermont Studio Center and Rivendell Writers’ Colony. She is a Best American Essays, Pushcart Prize, Best Microfiction and Best of Small Fictions nominee—and the editor and compiler of Flare: An Anthology of Chronic Illness Told in Flash Narratives. She is devoted to promoting anti-racism, global climate change intervention, water and energy justice, global health, food security, child protection, LGBTQIA+ rights, and intersectional gender equity. April and her spouse, John Buhrmann ’94, live part-time on their sailboat, Daily Alice, and in Durham, North Carolina, in a blended family of three daughters between the ages of 24 and 12—and Rocket, the dog to whom they all belong.

Liz graduated from Eckerd with a degree in political science and journalism. As a student, she co-founded the Eckerd College chapter of Her Campus, the national online magazine, and was the editor-in-chief of Eckerd’s award-winning student newspaper, The Current. She has spent almost a decade in the communications and foreign policy fields, including six years as a United States Government spokesperson for the State Department and the White House in both New York City and Washington, D.C. She currently manages executive communications and engagement for PepsiCo.

Liz is a member of the 1958 Society and has volunteered with Eckerd in several ways, giving significant time through the Career Mentor Program. She also has written letters to prospective students, has served on the Alumni Leadership Council as well as several alumni panels, and is serving on her reunion committee.

Kevin graduated from Eckerd with a degree in management and was a member of the Triton intercollegiate sailing team and EC-SAR. He and his wife, Carol, own HWH Electronics, a marine technology company that has proudly served the Tampa Bay area for more than 65 years. HWH Electronics helps boaters with premier communication and navigation solutions as well as educational training to promote safe and enjoyable experiences on the water.

Kevin has philanthropically supported the Waterfront Program for over 40 years. He has led numerous committees and efforts related to community boating safety, Waterfront fundraising and alumni engagement. He also has provided years of marine technology expertise and training to EC-SAR and helped with procurement of the marine electronics used aboard Waterfront boats. Kevin recently became a Kadel Society member.

Eileen graduated from Eckerd with a B.S. in mathematics with honors. She went on to obtain a master’s degree in geophysics from Virginia Tech, after which she worked as a geophysicist for Amoco for 18 years. Later Eileen was a math instructor at Gateway High School and Aurora Community College. In 1995, while in Texas, she began volunteering with an organization addressing gun violence. After she took skills learned there to Colorado in 1999, she co-founded Colorado Ceasefire and currently serves as the president of its Legislative Action branch.

In her retirement, she remains busy as an activist for Ceasefire, which is the longest-serving statewide grassroots gun violence prevention organization in the state of Colorado, and has been instrumental in Colorado’s enacting 12 gun reform laws. She is proudest of the 2019 Extreme Risk Protection Orders (red flag) law and the 2021 Violent Misdemeanor Prohibition law. She and her husband, William McCarron, are members of the 1958 Society and the Kadel Society.

Mark received his undergraduate degree in mathematics and political science from Eckerd, where he was a member of the intercollegiate men’s basketball team. He earned a master’s degree in theoretical statistics from Florida State University in 1995 and a Ph.D. in industrial engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 1998. Mark then spent a year at the University of British Columbia as a postdoctoral fellow in the Center for Operations Excellence. He joined Cornell University as an associate professor in 2005 after teaching industrial and operations engineering at the University of Michigan. While at Cornell, he has worked as a senior associate dean for diversity and faculty development at Cornell’s College of Engineering and currently is the director of the School of Operations Research and Information Engineering. He has championed diversity efforts throughout his career, receiving the Mentor of the Year Award from the Sloan Foundation, the Harold R. Johnson Commitment to Diversity Award, and the Zellman Warhaft Faculty Commitment to Diversity Award. Among other recognition, he received the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers from the National Science Foundation in 2002 and was the featured Black History Month honoree of Mathematically Gifted & Black by The Network of Minorities in Mathematical Sciences in 2019.

Mark is highly regarded for his research in dynamic control of service systems, as well as his particular passion for resource allocation in controlled queueing networks. He recently was elected as the Maxwell M. Upson Professor of Engineering and was inducted as a 2021 INFORMS (The Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences) Fellow—one of the highest honors in the operations research profession—in recognition of his great impact in advancing minority issues, extended professional service to INFORMS, excellence in academic leadership, and research and teaching in stochastic modeling.