The Athens State University Alumni Association honored eight individuals including its Distinguished Alumnus of the Year as part its annual Alumni Awards Banquet on Saturday.

The Alumni Association selects award winners who have contributed successfully to their professions, their communities and to the University. The honorees include:



Lydia Malvina Hammerly Distinguished Alumnus of the Year

Sheriff Mike Blakely

Mike Blakely was born Nov. 1, 1950, to James and Jewell Blakely. He grew up on a family farm in the Pleasant Grove Community of northwestern Limestone County. He is married to his college sweetheart, Debbie McElyea. They have one son, Andy Blakely, and two grandchildren, 7-year-old Luke Johnson and 20-month-old Ben Blakely.

Mike graduated from West Limestone High School in 1968. In 1969 he was appointed as an Alabama State Trooper Cadet. He attended Calhoun Community College until May of 1971 when he enlisted in the United States Marine Corp Reserves. Upon graduation from boot camp in Parris Island, S.C., in 1971, Mike received a meritorious promotion and graduated at the top of his class. In May 1972 Mike graduated from the Alabama State Police Academy and served as an Alabama State Trooper until January 1983 when he was sworn in as Sheriff of Limestone County. While serving as an Alabama State Trooper, he served as a sniper with the Troopers Special Operation Group. In 1974, he organized the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 62 in Limestone County and served as its first president. While working as a State Trooper, he attended Athens State College and graduated in 1981 with a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice. Mike enlisted in the Alabama National Guard and graduated in 1981 from the Alabama Military Academy in Ft. McClellan, and received a commission of 2nd lieutenant. He also served as Company Commander of Delta Company of the 1343rd Engineering Battalion. The Athens Jaycees selected him in 1982 as “Outstanding Law Enforcement Officer of the Year.”

In 1983 he established the Limestone Sheriff’s Rodeo,which has raised over a half-million dollars for the purchase of equipment for the Limestone County Sheriff’s Office. As well as serving on many state boards and committees for law enforcement and juvenile interest, in 2002 he received the “Glenn Blackwell Person of the Year Award” from the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Limestone County. Mike’s free time is spent trail riding with his friends.

Loraine B. Pabst Commitment to Teaching Award

Dr. Robert Burkhardt



Dr. Robert Burkhardt has worked in the Athens State University Library since 1977. He and former library director James D. Ballew offered the first formal course in library instruction in 1978, and that class has remained in the catalog since. Robert was appointed library director upon Mr. Ballew’s retirement in 1994.

During Robert’s tenure as director, the card catalog was computerized, a new library building was constructed, and a Friends of the Library organization was formed.

Robert also serves Athens State University as accreditation liaison with respect to the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.

He is on the advisory council for the Network of Alabama Academic Libraries and the board of directors for the Library Management Network.

He is completing a term as president of the Alabama Two-Year College Library Association and a three-year position as an officer for the College, University, and Special Libraries section of the Alabama Library Association.

He has served on accreditation teams for various institutions and participated in the leadership institute for librarians held at Harvard University.

He holds a bachelor’s degree in English from Auburn University, a master’s in library science from the University of Tennessee, and the Ph.D. in librarianship from the University of Alabama.

He has lived in Athens since 1984 with his wife Carla. Their daughter Madeline was born in 1993 and is a seventh-grader at Athens Middle School. His mother has resided in Huntsville for over 60 years.

Outstanding Alumnus Achievement in Arts and Scienes Award

Bonny O’Brien-Fannell



Bonny graduated from Butler High School in 1982 and decided radio was somewhat like theatre.

She decided that would be her major when she attended Calhoun Community College in 1982.

She had to intern at a radio or T.V. station before she could get her associate’s degree in radio and television so she tried both and was offered a job in radio. She’s been doing it ever since.

She’s news director and half of the John and Bonny Morning Show on Lite 96.9. She’s married to Ryan Fannell ,a firefighter with the City of Huntsville.

She has three kids, two stepchildren – 11-year-old Ryan, Jr. and 10-year-old Alicia – and the newest addition to the family, 9-month-old Dana. She graduated from Athens State University in 1997 with a degree in political science.

Outstanding Alumnus in Achievement in Education Award

Martha Chandler



Born and reared in Limestone County, Martha Garner Chandler went to work for the Limestone County Board of Education for what was to be only a summer job after she graduated from Clements High School. However, that summer job as an audio-visual aide for the media library that she helped organize turned into four years part-time work while she attended Athens College and later into a 35-year teaching career.

Martha graduated from Athens College in 1970 with a bachelor’s degree in education. Within a year after graduating, she earned graduate credit in a summer abroad, studying at Birkbeck College at the University of London. She taught at Tanner High School for three years before she took a leave of absence to earn a master’s in English in 1974 from George Peabody College for Teachers in Nashville. When she returned to teaching, she taught at Elkmont a year before returning to Tanner. She has taught all levels of English from grades 7-12. In addition, she has taught Spanish I and II, Mass Media, and Humanities and served as an itinerant Spanish teacher serving Clements and Tanner and as an English instructor at Calhoun Community College Night Division.

As a secondary teacher, she has worked with students outside of the classroom in directing senior class plays and organizing activities.

Her professional responsibilities range from Southern Association of Schools Self-Study Co-chairman to cooperating teacher for ASC interns and member of countless committees related to advanced courses, academic honesty, textbook selection, LCS Language Arts Consortium, LCS scholarship selection, and school improvement.

Martha is the daughter of Bertha Garner and the late Alfred Garner; wife of Donald Chandler; mother of Grant Chandler, a junior at Mississippi State College, and Morgan Chandler, a freshman at the University of South Alabama; and caretaker for a Yorkshire terrier named Iris.

She plans to retire this year and hopes to pursue education-related interests part-time.

Outstanding Alumnus Achievement in Business Award

David Poole



Subsequent to graduating from Athens State College in November 1981, David Poole was promoted to a regional audit position over the state of Texas with the Sherwin-Williams Company. Within a short time he joined the corporate audit department at Sherwin Williams World Headquarters in Cleveland, Ohio. In this position he managed a team of 15 field auditors and approximately 800 store audits over much of North America.

In 1986, David joined Jefferson Federal Savings and Loan as the branch manager in Athens.

In 1988 he was promoted to manager of a larger branch in Birmingham and then to director of audit and later to statewide administrator. The savings and loan crisis in the late 1980s ultimately resulted in the demise of Jefferson Federal ,leading to an unexpected career change.

In 1991 David joined Colonial Bank Group as its Information Systems Director; however, within a year, he decided this was not a career that he wanted to pursue. This was a beginning to a very different career path that he would never come to regret.

In 1992 David became the clinical director and business manager of a local non-profit, Big Bend CARES, Inc, in Tallahassee, Fla., serving more than 350 patients with HIV disease. This rewarding position exposed David to the field of social work and the complex science around a much misunderstood and controversial communicable disease called HIV. Within a year of joining Big Bend CARES, he was asked to apply for a position with the Division of Disease Control in the Florida Department of Health. David became the state administrator for all patient care services for patients with HIV disease and/or hepatitis. He managed a budget of over $140 million, helped facilitate care and support services to over 14,000 patients annually throughout Florida, and served under Governors Chiles, McKay and Bush during his 12-year public health career.

In 2003, David received an award from Governor Bush for his work with mentoring in the Tallahassee school system, and was asked to stand with the governor during a press conference highlighting the benefits of school-based mentoring program and Big-Brother Big-Sister Programs.

Also in 2003-2004, David and his team at the Department of Health received a national award in Washington, D.C., for their pharmaceutical assistance program that was considered one of the models in the nation. He also joined a small national team that spent more than two weeks visiting Brazil in an effort to share best practices around treating patents with HIV disease.

In January 2005, David joined a small but successful worldwide bio-pharmaceutical company, Gilead Sciences, based in Foster City, Calif. As the Director of National Accounts for the Community Division, David’s responsibilities include managing a team of liaisons that cover the entire U.S. David and his team provide assistance and build community partnerships with non-profit organizations, community health centers and public health departments that serve patients with HIV disease and hepatitis.

David attributes his successes to being raised in a town such as Athens with its wonderful people, public education and his education at Athens State University. He most importantly attributes his success to his family, especially his mother and father, Mary Jo and Hal Coffman, and his sister, Mae Poole Mason.



Clio Lovin Alumnus Loyalty Award

Mack Vinson



Mack Vinson graduated from Athens College in 1953 with a degree in business administration. He later went on to get his master’s in public administration from the University of Alabama.

Mack is active with the veterans programs in the area and has done extensive work with the United Nations as a consultant. His career has taken him across the globe to places such as Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; Santiago, Chile; Baghdad, Iraq; and Lusaka, Zambia.

He has supported the Alumni Association and Athens State University at many events throughout the years, including the Alumni Awards Homecoming Banquet, Flag Day, Fiddlers Convention, and the annual Christmas Concerts.

During his tenure on the board, Mack has served on several committees and most recently as chairperson of the Scholarship Awards Committee.

He has been a devoted supporter of the university for many years and is always willing to go the extra mile. Mack is married to Dorothy Jane Riggs.

Outstanding Staff Award

Tracy Hicks



Tracy Hicks is the daughter of Patricia Robinson Usery and Gerald Wayne Usery. She was born in Decatur in November of 1963. She lived the first few years in Elkmont and attended K-3 in Huntsville. She moved to Ardmore in the fourth grade, moving from Alabama to Tennessee and back to Alabama in the years that followed. Tracy graduated from Ardmore High School in 1982. She also attended Limestone Area Vocational Center, taking graphic arts her last three years in high school and receiving her certificate upon graduating. The trade she learned while attending school started her career in printing.

In 1983 she went to work at Calhoun Community College as camera/darkroom technician in Printing Services where she did printing, bindery, and darkroom work for Calhoun and Athens State College. In 1986 she was promoted to assistant supervisor of Printing Services. While employed at Calhoun Community College she served on the committee that formed grievance and harassment procedures.

In 1990 Tracy was employed by Athens State College as printing technician.

Tracy has grown and experienced many new opportunities at Athens State. She has also taught herself graphic design and received a Pyramid Award in 2000 for her work from the Alabama College System Public Relations Association.

Tracy has served on the Athens State University Staff Affairs Committee and is presently serving on the Staff Senate.

She is a member of Pleasant Hill United Methodist Church, where she served on the Pastor Parish Relations Committee from 2002-2006 and presently serves on the Trustees Committee.

In 1982 Tracy married Danny Hicks; they have two children.

Daniel Christopher (Chris) who is a freshman at The University of Alabama, and Amanda Dawn (Mandy) who is a freshman at Ardmore High School.

Tracy received an Award for Appreciation from the Retired and Senior Volunteer Program in 1998. She will receive the Honorary Membership of the Athens State University Delta Mu Delta Honor Society on April 15, 2006.

Tracy enjoys flower arranging, gardening and genealogy in her spare time. She is also a Mary Kay Beauty Consultant.

Deweese and Jim Beasley Alumnus Apreciation Award

Bob Labbe



Bob Labbe is a 1995 graduate of Athens State University with a degree in business administration. Bob has worked for the past five years as the Marketing/Public Relations Director for SportsMED Orthopedic Surgery and Spine Center.

He handles marketing duties for 18 surgeons with five locations across North Alabama.

He has been a member of the local media since 1972 and is an award-winning journalist in TV, radio and print.

Since 1995 he has been a freelance writer for the Huntsville Times and has been a writer for numerous other publications. For over 15 years, he has hosted a weekly, live radio program on WLRH-FM Public Radio in Huntsville titled “Reelin’ In the Years.” He teaches classes in broadcast journalism and marketing/public relations.

He offers his on-air talents in commercials for numerous businesses in the area.

Bob has been a certified high school football and basketball referee for over 15 years and is an avid record collector.