Alumni

UNC Charlotte double alumna Michelle Plaisance ’09 M.A.T. ’14 Ph.D.  has been named dean of the School of Humanities at Greensboro College. Plaisance has taught English and Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) at the college since 2014, also serving as director of the TESOL program. Upon graduation from UNC Wilmington with a bachelor’s degree in Spanish in 1992, teaching was not a career of interest for Plaisance. She experimented with a variety of jobs before discovering a passion for TESOL through the lens of a parent to her two daughters.

The UNC Charlotte Alumni Association is giving 49ers the opportunity to stay active and healthy, while supporting students in need, by participating in the Niners Go the (Social) Distance Virtual 4.9K Race.

As thousands trade “social distancing” for social protest, the unrelenting arithmetic of a roving pandemic and spasms of racialized violence has thrust the world into a resounding dry heave: “[We]…Can’t…Breathe.” This is the battle cry of an indignant generation.

Michael Desjardins ’16 M.A. ’19 Ph.D. said the training he received in the geography program at UNC Charlotte led him to a dream position at Johns Hopkins University.“I wouldn’t want to get the training anywhere else,” said Desjardins, a postdoctoral fellow in epidemiology at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, of his studies at UNC Charlotte. “I’m extremely happy with my advisors, the friends I’ve made, the support from other professors, the classes I took. All of that led to me being at Johns Hopkins, which was a dream.”

Sheen Jamaal ’16, a New York City-based dance artist, recently co-organized the peaceful protest “Dance for George.”According to an article in the New York Times, the event was a tribute to George Floyd, who died while he was handcuffed and forcibly restrained by officers from the Minneapolis Police Department, and to call attention to the work of black artists at the heart of the dance and entertainment industries.

For Kelley Earnhardt Miller ’94, her new book is both educational and therapeutic. In it, Earnhardt Miller, daughter of NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt and a businesswoman in her own right, offers important lessons for being successful in business. But writing “Drive: 9 Lessons to Win in Business and in Life” also helped Earnhardt Miller heal as it forced her to delve into her complicated relationship with her father, which shaped her as a businesswoman.

As communities relax COVID-19 restrictions, a recent study by UNC Charlotte geographer Eric Delmelle and two of his former doctoral students could provide decision-makers with timely data about spikes in COVID-19 cases to help guide their decisions.

Cato College of Education alumna Emily Wagoner ’14 is the 2019-20 Cabarrus County Schools Teacher of the Year.

Atom Power, the standout energy company co-created by UNC Charlotte alumnus Ryan Kennedy ’04, was recently recognized as part of Fast Company’s World Changing Ideas Awards.

Before he graduated from UNC Charlotte with a degree in Mechanical Engineering, Eric Duncan ’20 was working for Germain Racing, a NASCAR team based in Lexington, North Carolina.