Alumni

Although Lindsey McAlpine (‘90) was pursuing a double major in business and psychology at UNC Charlotte, he always knew real estate development would play an outsized role in his professional future.

“I was actively working in real estate and anxious to go out in the business world,” he recalled. “I started my first development company between my junior and senior year in college.”

The UNC Charlotte 49er Alumni Forum, scheduled for Thursday, April 28, will bring successful alumni, many of whom have started their own small businesses in the greater Charlotte region, back to campus to share stories of their successes and failures, and they will offer advice to students and others on how to start a business.

“Alumni Entrepreneurs: Educated at Charlotte | Founded in Charlotte” will feature panelists Rachel Brown (’14), Bryan Delaney (’03), Torrie Savage (’05) and Brian Zapata (’03, ’07, ’12).

Alumni are among the most valuable advocates for their alma mater, and the UNC Charlotte Alumni Association recently recognized eight individuals for outstanding contributions to their professions, their communities and to the University.

UNC Charlotte alumnus Bobbie Cavnar of Gaston County is the North Carolina Teacher of the Year for 2016-17.

Cavnar, an English teacher, completed a master’s degree in English at UNC Charlotte in 2011. This is his 17th year in the teaching profession; he has taught since 2003 at South Point High School in Belmont.

“Bobbie sees public education as the one thing that is equal and fair in a child’s life,” said State Superintendent of Public Instruction June Atkinson. “He sees teachers as the equalizers, the keepers of America’s promise of equal opportunity.”

A UNC Charlotte professor and four alumni were recognized as rising local leaders on the Charlotte Business Journal’s annual “40 under 40” list.

Robert Cox, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering in the Lee College of Engineering, was recognized for his work in spearheading a team of engineers to create a successful startup company, Sine Watts.

Buddy Aldridge worked in facilities management for nearly 30 years before retiring in 2000. He passed away in 2015, but his legacy of service to the University will be enshrined forever as part of the Niner Walk Brick Program.

Alumni, faculty, staff, students and friends of the University can purchase an authentic piece of the Belk Tower.

Belk Tower mementos are acrylic cubes that measure 4-by-4-by-4 inches and are seated on a blackened cherry wood base with mirror. A portion of the tower is inside the cube (each piece will vary in size and color).  A 4-by-6-inch frame that features a tower photo and historical facts is included.

UNC Charlotte’s gold and silver anniversary Classes of 1966 and 1991 will be in the spotlight for the first Alumniner Weekend, but this event will be an opportunity for all alumni and their family and friends to return to campus, too.

Scheduled for Friday, April 8, through Sunday, April 10, Alumniner Weekend will include reunions for Greek organizations, the Student Government Association and student media participants.

The Council for the Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) bestowed grand champion status on two initiatives led by the offices of University Communications and Alumni Affairs in the Division of University Advancement. The projects were chosen the best from among more than 1,000 competing entries.

The video “Big Ideas, Big Future” and Niner Connection, a redesigned online community for UNC Charlotte alumni, were named Grand Award winners during the recent CASE District III conference in Nashville.

Forbes has named Chris Tyler, a 2015 mechanical engineering Ph.D. graduate of the Lee College of Engineering, to its 2016 30 Under 30 list.