Wofford Alumni Association to honor two alumni, distinguished attorney

Awards program set for Oct. 29 as part of Homecoming Weekend

SPARTANBURG, SC – October 11, 2011 – The Wofford National AlumniAssociation will honor two alumni and a distinguished South Carolinaattorney during Homecoming Weekend 2011 activities, Oct. 28-30. The awards will be presented at 11 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 29, in Leonard Auditorium in Main Building. The program is free and open to the public.

Recipients of the awards are chosen by the Wofford Alumni ExecutiveCouncil, whose president is Molly Hughes Cherry ’93 of Charleston, S.C.

Dr. Henry G. Kelley ’52
Distinguished Service Award

A native of Greenville, S.C., Henry Kelley ’52 earned his M.D. degree atthe Medical College of South Carolina in 1956. After an internship,service in the Navy Medical Corps, and completing a master’s degree andresidency in surgery, Kelley arrived in Spartanburg in the late 1960swith a vision of making the local general hospital a regional center forthoracic medicine. He worked for more than a decade to secure thenecessary state and professional association approvals as well asorganizing and equipping a surgical suite and Intensive Care Unit.Finally in 1981, Kelley performed the first open heart surgicalprocedure in Spartanburg. In recent years, an average of 250 pacemakershave been installed, surgeons have performed 500 cardiac operations, and4,000 people have received heart catheterizations.

Joel W. Collins Jr.
Distinguished Citizen Award

Joel W. Collins Jr. grew up in Chester, S.C., where he took as a rolemodel the Honorable Edward K. Hardin ’32, a respected jurist, UnitedMethodist lay leader and Wofford trustee. After graduating from theUniversity of South Carolina School of Law in 1968, Collins served inthe Judge Advocate General’s Corps, receiving the Bronze Star Medal inVietnam. He also was an assistant professor of law at West Point. As anassistant United States attorney, he prosecuted criminal cases in SouthCarolina before joining private practice. On April 1, 1984, he and StanLacy formed the firm of Collins & Lacy. For many years, Collins hasbeen a passionate advocate for South Carolina higher education. Woffordis particularly grateful for his leadership in the establishment of theEdward K. Hardin Pre-Law Society in 2010.

Curt McPhail ’96
Young Alumnus of the Year

Curt McPhail ’96, program officer at the Mary Black Foundation inSpartanburg, has earned a reputation as being one of the Upstate’s mostknowledgeable and sensitive experts about a range of community healthissues. In 2006, McPhail and a group of friends founded globalbike withless than $1,000 and a vision to use the transformative power ofbicycles to create positive social change in the developing world,providing those in need with access to health care services. Theorganization has grown rapidly into a major international success story.Its latest ventures included the Kilimanjaro Initiative, which beganwith a giveaway of 78 bicycles to youth and youth mentors in Nairobi. Itincluded a 400 km bike ride from Kenya to Tanzania, and ended with anascent to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro.