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Two Arnold graduates recognized by The State
January 15, 2009
Two Arnold School graduates with a shared interest in teen pregnancy prevention are among The State newspaper's 20 under 40 list for 2009.
The newspaper's business news editors selected Forrest L. Alton, executive director of the S.C. Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy and Rozalynn B. Goodwin, director of policy research and lobbyist for the S.C. Hospital Association, from a field of 80 nominees.
Forrest L. Alton
Alton, 31, studied in the Department of Health Promotion, Education, and Behavior and finished in 2004. Goodwin, 31, studied in the Department of Health Services Policy and Management and finished in 2001.
The two were among a dozen USC graduates featured in an annual special section of The State that recognizes 20 Midlands professionals under age 40 for their business talents and community involvement.
Alston is a native of upstate New York. He earned a bachelor's degree in health promotion from Coastal Carolina University in Conway where he was a 2008 distinguished alumnus.
Alston said studying adolescent health issues was a highlight of his career at Coastal where another Arnold School graduate, Dr. Sharon Thompson, professor and coordinator of health promotion, influenced and mentored him.
Other influences from the USC faculty included Dr. Mary Prince, Dr. Suzan Boyd, Dr. Donna Richter, Dr. Skip Valois and the late Dr. Murray Vincent.
"You learn at some point that you were given two ears for a reason and when you're around wonderful people like these you listen, soak it all in, work hard and try to do the right thing," Alton said.
"He was already an emeritus professor by the time I got there, but I count Murray Vincent as a dear friend and mentor," Alton said." Dr. Vincent, who died last year, was a nationally recognized expert on the issue of teen pregnancy prevention.
Rozalynn B. Goodwin
Goodwin is a native of Mt. Carmel, a crossroads community of 231 people in McCormick County. As a teen growing up in a close-knit family, she developed an interest in health care as she saw her great-grandmother age and then move away to a nursing home.
She won a scholarship to Lander College in nearby Greenwood, where she earned a bachelor's degree in health care management.
At the Arnold School, she found wonderful mentors in Dr. Saundra Glover, now associate dean for health disparities and social justice, and Dr. Suzan Boyd, former director of the Arnold School's MHA program and later executive director of the S.C. Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy.
Goodwin and Alton share a connection to Dr. Boyd. Her influence led them both to join the SC Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy where they now serve as the executive director and board member respectively.
Before joining the SCHA, Rozalynn worked in strategic planning and system development with Palmetto Health and in health and human services policy research in the office of former Gov. Jim Hodges.
Church and family also are important to her. She is an elder at the Right Direction Christian Center where she worships along with her husband, Michael and two-year-old daughter Gabrielle.
She also is founder of The Motherhood Priority, a group to “advocate for working mothers with business and government to establish policies that enable mothers to be the primary caregivers of their children while supporting their households financially."
