Posted10/01/2007

Arnolds become honorary life members
 in the Carolina Alumni Association

Norman J. Arnold, the Columbia benefactor for whom the Arnold School of Public Health is named, and his wife, Gerry Sue Arnold, have been presented honorary life memberships in the Carolina Alumni Association at USC’s annual Homecoming gala on Sept. 28.

In announcing the award for the Arnolds, the alumni association noted that thanks to their generous endowment, “The Arnold School is better able to serve its students and the citizens of the state, as well as to promote the health of people wherever Carolina graduates settle. 

“For more than two decades, the Arnolds have focused on bringing healthful ways of eating and healthier lifestyles to the citizens of South Carolina. They have donated their time and significant financial resources to public and volunteer agencies in the Palmetto State.”

In addition to the Arnolds, the Alumni Association presented an honorary life membership to Ed Sellers, a Columbian and chairman and CEO of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of South Carolina.

Honorary life memberships are presented to non-alumni who support and serve the university.

The Alumni Association also recognized the 2007 Norman J. and Gerry Sue Arnold alumni award recipients.

The 2007 Norman J. Arnold award was presented in May to Dr. William A. Webster who earned his master’s degree in exercise science from USC in 1973. He has worked for 28 years at the Greenville (S.C.) Hospital System University Medical Center where he is director of clinical cardiology research.

The 2007 Gerry Sue Arnold Award was presented in May to Dr. Melinda L. Irwin, an assistant professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health at the Yale University School of Public Health. A researcher interested in physical activity, obesity and breast cancer prevention and prognosis, she received her doctorate from USC in 1999.

Webster and Irwin are among alumni from all of the university’s colleges and departments who have been honored in 2007.

The alumni association also presented Distinguished Alumni Awards to former U.S. Sen. Ernest F. Hollings of Charleston, longtime university trustee and vascular surgeon Dr. C. Edward Floyd of Florence and Nickelodeon executive Marva Smalls of New York City and Florence.

Dr. Hal H. Crosswell Sr., a Columbia ophthalmologist and humanitarian, was presented the Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award. FOX TV anchor Ainsley Earhardt McKinney, formerly of Columbia and a resident of New York City, received the Outstanding Young Alumni Award, and Dr. Cassandra Youmans, medical director of ambulatory care at the Medical Center of New Orleans, was honored with the Outstanding Black Alumni Award. Youmans lives in New Orleans.