Outstanding Alumnae

FAQ

Who Are the 2020 Winners?
Who Are the Past Winners?
What Do the Awards Recognize?
What Is the Nomination Process?
How Are Selections Made?
Who Served on the 2019-20 Committee?
Do You Still Have Questions?

 

Who are the 2020 Winners?

Distinguished Career

Elizabeth Davis ’85

Elizabeth B. Davis, Agnes Scott class of 1985 and University of Georgia School of Law class of 1989, is a lawyer with a diverse practice. Beth advises clients across the country regarding various regulatory programs and requirements affecting their operations. Developed over the last 30 years working for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and some of the largest law firms in the world, Beth’s practice encompasses environmental, consumer product safety, and food, drug and medical device issues focusing on compliance, permitting, import and export, and enforcement defense. Beth helps her clients understand the requirements that apply to their businesses, address any issues they may have while developing a productive relationship with regulators and learn how to comply efficiently with the requirements going forward, all so they can focus on getting their products on the market.

Beth devotes time outside of the office to causes she values. She has served on the Board of Directors of United Cerebral Palsy of Georgia, the Suzi Bass Awards (Atlanta’s professional theatre awards) and the National LGBT Bar Foundation, for which she currently serves as secretary. She is an active member of her firm’s Diversity Committee and LGBT+ affinity group and a regular speaker and author on issues related to her practice and diversity and inclusion. Through this work, Beth strives to improve her community and create safe spaces and opportunities for those who might not otherwise have them.

At home, Beth is married to Deadra Moore, also a member of the class of 1985, and a professional stage and screen actor. Dee and Beth have a son, Walker, a talented artist preparing for college in the fall.

 

Service to the College

Adele Dieckmann McKee ’48

Adele Dieckmann McKee graduated from Agnes Scott with a double major in music and Latin after serving as vice president of student government in her senior year. She was also a member of Phi Beta Kappa, Mortar Board and Eta Sigma Phi classical society.

She received a master’s degree in Latin from Wellesley College in 1949, and in 1955 earned a master’s in sacred music from Union Theological Seminary’s School of Sacred Music. McKee is also a Fellow of the American Guild of Organists. 

Her first job was as a teacher of Latin and music theory and as chapel organist/choral accompanist at the Northfield School for Girls in Massachusetts. In 1955, she returned to Atlanta where for a time she taught Latin at the Westminster Schools while becoming director of music/organist of Trinity Presbyterian Church. The latter soon became a full-time position where she stayed for 27½ years. In 1985, she became organist/choir master at St. Luke’s Presbyterian in Dunwoody.

She served on the National Council of the American Guild of Organists and the National Board of the Choristers’ Guild. In 1970, she was elected to be the first national president of the Presbyterian Association of Musicians. Her last work in music was as a volunteer at the Atlanta Young Singers of Callanwolde, where she was president of the board for four years, guiding fundraising resulting in an endowment fund of a quarter-million dollars. She was married to Dean G. McKee, former president of the Biblical Seminary in New York and later professor of Biblical exposition at Columbia Theological Seminary.

Adele served as an integral member on the Alumnae Board from 2013-2018. Most recently, she spearheaded a plan for older alumnae to donate their rings to sophomores in need, as a living gift or a bequest. Adele is the fund contact for the Christian W. Dieckmann Music Fund which was created in 1961 by friends of Christian Dieckmann. She also is the fund contact for the Dabney Adams Hart Class of 1948 Scholarship which provides tuition-relieving assistance to students. As well as serving as class secretary and serving on her class' reunion planning committee, Adele has hosted her class at her home for every reunion except one. Adele also is a current Summit Career Connect volunteer, serving to help students build career literacy, hone professional skills and develop a professional network.

 

Service to the Community

Shula Edelkind ’98

Shula Edelkind is foremost a mother who raised three children with symptoms including ADHD, asthma, otitis media and Tourette’s.  She began volunteering for the Feingold Association in the 1980s because their diet program had turned her medicated child into a loving and successful boy, while relieving all the other symptoms mentioned above as well as her own migraines.

Her desire to increase awareness of the Feingold Program nationally led her to suggest and implement improvements in the organization’s structure, create their first website, their first internet message board, their first information book, a monthly email newsletter and an online library of ADHD-related scientific studies.  A need for more knowledge led Shula to study biopsychology, graduating with high honors from Agnes Scott in 1998.  She is a member of the Psi Chi honors society and has a certificate of attendance from the Center for Mind-Body Medicine. When one of the Feingold Association’s medical advisors was attacked by his medical board for going “outside the standard of care,” she assisted his lawyer while raising half a million dollars for his successful defense.  She is currently studying for her master's degree and intends to pursue a Ph.D. in Psychology at Walden University.

Over the years, Shula has been a speaker and/or exhibitor at multiple professional conferences and various parent support meetings about ADHD, autism, Tourette’s, violence, etc. in the United States and Canada.  She has testified before the White House Commission on Alternative Medicine and the 2011 FDA hearing on synthetic food dyes.  This year, at the request of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, she compiled over 500 studies on food dyes and health for the 2019 California OEHHA.  Shula feels extremely grateful to have found her path.

 

Outstanding Young Alumna

Kaela Singleton ’14

Kaela S. Singleton is a doctoral candidate in the Interdisciplinary Program in Neuroscience at Georgetown University. She earned a B.S. in neuroscience and classical history & culture from Agnes Scott in 2014. While at ASC, she earned the National Institute of Health’s (NIH) esteemed Engaging Undergraduates in Neuroscience Research Fellowship, where she conducted research at Emory, Georgia State and Vanderbilt University, investigating how disruption in cellular and molecular programs lead to neurological disorders. In her time at Georgetown University, Kaela has won two prestigious fellowships in integrative neuroscience and neural injury to further her research career. In 2018, she earned the competitive Specialized Pre-doctoral to Postdoctoral Advancement in Neuroscience award from NIH, fully-funding her graduate research and postdoctoral fellowship, which she will complete at Emory University beginning in July 2020. To date, Kaela has published five scientific manuscripts and six abstracts, with two more under review. She has presented her research at 12 national conferences, winning awards for outstanding presentation and research at each conference. Her leadership and dedication go beyond presentations and publications. Kaela has taught numerous courses while at Georgetown University, mentored nine undergraduate students — all of whom are excelling in M.D. or Ph.D. programs — and served on multiple committees. She has earned numerous awards and fellowships for teaching, mentoring and research excellence from Georgetown, NIH and other institutions. Additionally, Kaela remains active in her service to the scientific community by participating in numerous panels centered on excelling in graduate school, outreach, and diversity and inclusion. Kaela believes that the formation of a successful scientist is similar to the formation of a brain cell, where both processes are driven by intrinsic and extrinsic factors that interact to create a mature and unique individual. Her goal is to aid in the development of students’ identities while continuing to investigate the molecules essential to a brain cell’s identity.

 

Who are the Past Winners?

Click here for a list of past winners. 

Read profiles on recent Outstanding Alumnae Award Winners:

2019 Outstanding Alumnae Award Winners

2018 Outstanding Alumnae Award Winners

2017 Outstanding Alumnae Award Winners

 

What Do the Awards Recognize?

Each year, the Agnes Scott Alumnae Association recognizes outstanding alumnae in four categories.

• Distinguished Career – Recognizes an alumna who has achieved excellence in their chosen profession.
• Service to the College – Recognizes an alumna who has volunteered their time and shared tremendous support for Agnes Scott College. (Current college employees are ineligible.)
• Service to the Community – Recognizes an alumna who has displayed outstanding service to the community, locally or globally. The alumna must not have received payment for their service.
• Outstanding Young Alumna – Recognizes an alumna who is under the age of 40, and who has been out of college 10 or fewer years, for early competence in their chosen field or area of service and exceptional promise for the future.

 

What Is the Nominations Process?

1. All nominations must be made electronically using the nomination form, and include a brief bio or resume; the nominator's letter (maximum of two pages in length); at least two, but no more than six, letters for recommendation (each one a maximum of one page in length); and supporting documents, not to exceed ten pages.
2. NOMINATIONS MUST BE RECEIVED ELECTRONICALLY BY OCTOBER 1.
3. Awards are presented and recipients recognized during Alumnae Weekend. 
4. All nominations must be made electronically using this nominations form (make that the link to the google form) and include a brief bio or resume; the nominator's letter (maximum of two pages in length); at least two, but no more than six, letters for recommendation (each one a maximum of one page in length); and supporting documents, not to exceed ten pages.

Nominations are accepted throughout the year by the Office of Alumnae Relations. Any alumna may be nominated for an award, regardless of class year (i.e., the alumna does not have to be in a reunion year to be nominated or to win). Nominations in any given year that are not selected are held for consideration for two additional years. After that point, nominations must be updated and resubmitted by a nominator to be considered.

 

How Are Selections Made?
 

First, the committee chair is appointed by the Alumnae Association president. The committee is comprised of up to three Alumnae Board members and at least one past award winner not currently serving on the board.     

The committee meets for a full day in which they collectively review each submission in each category and determine the awardees. Electronically submitted nominations are provided to committee members a minimum of one week in advance of the meeting, so that nominations can be thoughtfully considered and debated during the in-person committee meeting. Nominations submitted prior to the creation of the electronic submission process are reviewed during the meeting, prior to committee discussion of each nominee. Selections are made based upon the depth and breadth of the nominee’s fulfillment of the award criteria, as demonstrated by the information provided in the nomination packet.

 

Who Served on the 2019-20 Committee?

Pam Tipton ‘86 – Chair
Immediate Past President of the Alumnae Association, Alumnae Board Member, Inauguration Co-chair for President Leocadia I. Zak, Trustee, National Fund Chair, Class President (three 5-year terms)

Susan Hitchcock ’67
Past Alumnae Board Member, Past Alumnae Association President, Past Trustee, Past Chair of the Board of Trustees Student Affairs Committee, Athletic Advisory Board Member
Service to the College Award Winner, 2017

Vernita Bowden Lockhart ’76
Alumnae Board Member, Inauguration Co-Chair for President Leocadia I. Zak, National Campaign Steering Committee Member for The Greatness Before Us campaign

Whitney Brown ’07
Past Alumnae Board Member, Chair for the Greater Decatur Alumnae Chapter, Class President, Past Class Fund Chair

 

Do You Still Have Questions?
 

If you have any further questions, please contact the Alumnae Relations Office at alumnae@agnesscott.edu or 404.471.6323.