LIVINGSTON – The University of West Alabama and the UWA National Alumni Association presented its first Emerging Leader awards during Homecoming to recognize its outstanding alumni from the last decade. The awards honor graduates in each UWA college or division who show promise for success and leadership in such a way as to reflect honor on the University.

Kristy Doggette of Toxey, Ala., is a 2000 graduate of the College of Business. Doggette’s career in the university setting began with her direction of the then newly established Small Business Development Center at UWA. Also teaching accounting courses, Doggette established the Center’s first strategic plan and teamed with area partners to allow the organization to begin its service to the region.

While at the University of Alabama Birmingham, Doggette served as business officer for the Academic Programs and Policy department before moving to the Alabama Small Business Development Consortium. She was instrumental in the awarding of grants for the Small Business Administration and the Department of Defense.

Since her return to UWA, Doggette has assisted in the development of an online accounting degree program and serves as a faculty mentor to accounting students. A product of UWA’s Honors Program, Doggette is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the Alabama Society of Public Accountants.

Dr. Julian Magee, a 2004 graduate from Jackson, Miss., was honored by the Julia S. Tutwiler College of Education. Magee’s career in athletic training began in Livingston on the sidelines of Tiger athletic events, assisting in care, coverage, and rehabilitation of cheerleading, men’s basketball, and football. Since his graduation, he has continued to serve the Tigers through Champion Sports Medicine.

Magee directs the Tuscaloosa clinic, overseeing its daily operations and educating the region on the importance of orthopedic medicine. He provides training and rehabilitation services to Stillman College and Shelton State Community College and also serves as a clinical instructor in both UWA and University of Alabama’s Athletic Training Education programs.

Magee holds the Alabama State Board’s certification for licensed physical therapist, is a NATABOC certificed athletic trainer and is licensed by the Alabama Board of Athletic Trainers. He serves as a mentor to young males through BOUNCE (Brothers Outreach to Underprivileged and Needy Children Everywhere) in Birmingham.

Dr. Cinnamon Brown is a 2000 College of Liberal Arts graduate from Fulton, Mo. Brown is an assistant professor of history at Westminster College in Fulton, Mo. Her first stay in Livingston was as an undergraduate in UWA’s honors program. More recently, she completed a visiting professorship in the Department of History and Social Sciences in 2009.

Brown holds a master’s and doctorate in history, both from University of Tennessee. She was a Jerry and Edgar Wilson Research Fellow in 2008 and has earned several other research awards, including the Charles O. Jackson, W. Bruce Wheeler, Colonial Dames, and Bernadotte Schmidt Research Awards.

Brown’s research covers a wide gamut of history from African-American and Women’s History to Louisiana and Asian History.

Robert G. Upchurch, a 2002 graduate from Tuscaloosa, Ala., received the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics award. He has practiced law since 2005 in Tuscaloosa. His areas of practice include civil, business, employment, and banking litigations, insurance defense, and education law.

While at University of Alabama’s School of Law, Upchurch served as junior and senior editor of the Alabama Law Review and on several court boards. A member of the UWA National Alumni Association’s Executive Council in recent years, he currently serves as vice president of the Association.

In his spare time, Upchurch offers his legal experience to the Alabama State Bar Volunteer Lawyers Program to provide free legal services to low-income Alabamians. He is also active in Volunteer for Team Focus, a summer program for young men lacking father figures.

John D. Lundeen of Chelsea, Ala., received the Ira D. Pruitt Division of Nursing award. Lundeen graduated from UWA’s Ira D. Pruitt Division of Nursing in 2001 and has spent the years since in service to the field of nursing through classroom instruction and clinical practice. He holds Samford University’s master’s in nursing education.

Lundeen has practiced nursing at some of the region’s most respected health care facilities including Riley Memorial Hospital in Meridian, Miss., and in Birmingham at Brookwood Medical Center and UAB Hospital. In recent years, he has served as a clinical instructor at Birmingham’s Jefferson State Community College and at Samford University’s Ida V. Moffett School of Nursing.

Lundeen is a member of Phi Kappa Phi and National Scholars Honor Societies and Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing. While a student, her served as president of the Nursing Student Association at UWA. In his free time, he participates in Asbury United Methodist Church mission projects.