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May 7, 2008
Greenville Tech presents awards

During Greenville Tech graduation ceremonies held May 6, alumni awards were presented. Nell Stewart was named the 2008 Outstanding Alumni Award recipient, and Gale B. Crawford was presented with the 2008 Honorary Alumni Award.

Stewart, formerly of DowBrands, owns Stewart’s Unlimited, a firm offering emergency preparedness plans for business, industry, and public buildings. She attended Southern Business University in Atlanta, and later graduated from Greenville Tech and Lander University. Active in many community causes, Stewart has served as a Guardian Ad Litem for 16 years, protecting the interests of children by making recommendations to the courts about what she deems appropriate to the situation. She has also worked with the criminal justice community for more than two decades, volunteering, raising money for worthwhile causes, and serving as president of CrimeStoppers. She is a member of the South Carolina School Improvement Council Board of Trustees and was the founding president of the Greenville Better Business Bureau. Fortunately for Greenville Tech, she has made time in her hectic schedule to give back, serving as a life member of the Greenville Tech Foundation Board and as a past president of the board.

Crawford owns Crawford Properties with her husband Earl, specializing in new home construction, subdivision development and commercial real estate development.  Only the second woman to be inducted into the South Carolina Housing Hall of Fame, she served two consecutive terms as President of the Home Builders Association of Greenville, and was named Builder of the Year in 1996. In 1999, Greenville HBA established an endowed carpentry scholarship in her name at Greenville Tech. The National Association of Home Builders inducted Crawford as a Life Member of the Board of Directors in 2002. She served on Greenville County Council from 1995 to 1998.  In 2000, she joined the Greenville Tech Foundation Board, and in 2004, was inducted into the Greenville Tech Entrepreneurs’ Forum. Crawford has served as Student Housing LLC President, leading the campaign to construct apartments at Greenville Tech, a first for the state technical college system. She is currently a member of the Greenville Area Commission for Technical Education, Greenville Tech’s governing board, and was recently elected secretary-treasurer.

President’s awards were also presented. These are given to graduating students who have continually maintained a high academic rating and who have demonstrated exceptional leadership, character and service to Greenville Tech and the community. Receiving the 2007-2008 President’s Award for degree programs was Traci Trouton-Burr who came to Greenville Tech in 2004 to prepare for the GED. With that milestone behind her, she decided to begin taking college classes. A year later, she was invited to become part of the Greenville Technical College Honors Program. While a student, she became involved with Phi Theta Kappa, the international honors society for two-year colleges, and was elected president of the Greenville Tech chapter and later vice president of the Carolinas region. Through Phi Theta Kappa, she was nominated to the All South Carolina State Academic Team.

“Traci came to Greenville Tech looking to obtain her GED but will be leaving behind a legacy of hard work and commitment to all those students who will follow in her wake,” said James R. McDonald, department head for Criminal Justice, in nominating her for the award. “She is truly an inspiration.”

Trina Small, a graduate of the Small Animal Care program, received the 2006-2007 President’s Award for diploma or certificate programs. A graduate of Furman University with a major in Health and Exercise Science and a concentration in Pre-Medicine, she completed Massage Therapy classes at Greenville Tech along with pre-requisites for medical school.

“In my 10 years as department head and instructor, I have never had a student so deserving and qualified for the President’s Award,” wrote Carolyn Talley-Porter, Massage Therapy Department Head, in her award nomination.