Campus News

Alumni Association will honor four individuals, one family at luncheon

The university’s Alumni Association will honor famed Georgia cartoonist Jack Davis,  retired UGA professor Tom Dyer and retired UGA vice president Hank Huckaby at the association’s annual awards luncheon April 13.

The association also will recognize Mary Virginia Terry, a major UGA financial benefactor, and the McWhorter family, whose affiliation with the university spans more than a century.

Davis, one of America’s leading illustrators, will receive the 70th annual Alumni Merit Award, which recognizes UGA alumni for lifetime loyalty and support of the Alumni Association  as well as professional leadership.

Dyer, retired professor of history and higher education, and Huckaby, former senior vice president for finance and administration, will receive the Faculty Service Award, which is given to faculty or staff members for distinguished service to the university. 

Terry, who with her late husband, Herman, are namesakes of UGA’s Terry College of Business, will receive the Friend of UGA Award, given to a non-graduate whose professional and public service benefits the university.

The McWhorter family is being honored as Family of the Year in recognition of many years of outstanding loyalty and service to their ­community, the ­university and the Alumni ­Association.

The awards banquet will be held at noon at the Georgia Center for Continuing Education Conference Center and Hotel.

Davis, an Atlanta native, won early recognition as one of the original artists for Mad magazine and his work has appeared in Time (36 cover illustrations), Newsweek, Sports Illustrated and Reader’s Digest. He has drawn illustrations for book covers and record albums, designed artwork for movies and television and created advertisements for leading corporations.

Dyer, who held the title of University Professor, joined UGA’s faculty in 1975 and served in a number of administrative positions including vice president for instruction, senior associate vice president for academic affairs, associate vice president for services and interim senior vice president for academic affairs and provost. He was director of the Institute of Higher Education from 2003 until he retired in December. Huckaby served as senior vice president for finance and administration from 2000 until his retirement last June. Previously he was director of the university’s Carl Vinson Institute of Government for three years. Before joining the university, he worked in state government for 22 years and was the state’s top budgeting and finance official.

Mary Virginia and Herman Terry have a long record of support of UGA and its business school, from which Herman received a degree in 1939.  In 1990, the couple gave the business school $6 million, at the time the largest cash gift in university history. 

Members of the McWhorter family have been attending UGA since the 19th century and according to UGA historian Nash Boney, more than
225 family members have passed through the university.