Contributed

Outstanding alumni were honored recently during LaGrange College’s homecoming festivities.

Winners of the Shackelford Alumni Achievement Award were Dr. Joy Baker ’02 of Thomaston; William Bray IV ’90 of Lawrenceville; Tommy Bohrmann ’04 of Cary, North Carolina; and Connie Lyle O’Brien ’71 of Lithonia.

Dr. Baker is a native of LaGrange. She earned her bachelor’s in biology (pre-med) at LaGrange College, and a bachelor’s degree in medical technology from the Medical College of Georgia. She went on to complete her medical degree and residency training at the Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta.

Currently, Dr. Baker practices general obstetrics and gynecology at Upson Regional Medical Center/Upson OB/GYN in Thomaston.

Bray earned a bachelor of science degree in physics from LaGrange College, a master’s in science education and an Ed.S in science education from the University of Georgia. He is currently pursuing his Ed.D in science education at UGA.

He is the principal of the Gwinnett School of Mathematics, Science and Technology, an accelerated science, technology, engineering and math high school in Lawrenceville. GSMST was awarded National Blue Ribbon School of Excellence designation in its 10th year and has been the top-ranked high school in the state every year since it first became eligible.

Bohrmann earned a bachelor’s in mathematics from LaGrange College, a master’s in mathematics from the University of Florida, a master’s in statistics from the University of Florida and a doctorate in interdisciplinary statistics from the University of Florida.

He is founder and director of Statistical Practice Roundtable Analytics Inc., working with emergency departments to use their data to improve operations, patient care and profitability. He’s also been a research and applied statistician with the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the scientific consulting firm Cardno ENTRIX and currently has academic research appointments at UNC Chapel Hill and East Carolina University.

O’Brien earned a bachelor’s in psychology from LaGrange College and master’s in social work from the University of Georgia.

Since 1979, she and her husband, John O’Brien, have worked in the U.S., Canada, England, Scotland, Wales, the Irish Republic, Australia and New Zealand to support people with disabilities to live, work and be connected in the community instead of institutions and other group arrangements.

Earning accolades as the Outstanding Young Alumnus was Dr. George Lankford of Raleigh, North Carolina. He earned a bachelor of science degree in mathematics and a minor in accounting from LaGrange College, a master’s in applied mathematics and a doctorate of philosophy in applied mathematics from North Carolina State University in Raleigh, North Carolina.

He is a software developed for Infinimetrics, where he is an automation engineer, developing and maintaining a large-scale framework for a complex billing system. Previously, he was a data scientist for Leidos. He has also served as a team member and project manager at Institute for Mathematics and its Applications Math-to-Industry Bootcamp in Minneapolis, Minnesota; an intern with SPAWAR Systems Center Atlantic in North Charleston, South Carolina; a precalculus algebra instructor at North Carolina State University; and a cryptographic design intern with the National Security Agency in Fort Meade, Maryland.