Tags: Office of Development and Alumni Relations


Jack Hill

Jack Hill joined Franklin College's Office of Development in December 2025 as Director of Development - Strategic Initiatives. In this role, he helps lead major gift fundraising efforts and strategic development initiatives across the college.  Jack brings a decade of advancement and sales experience to Franklin, including three years in higher education and six years in private sector B2B sales. Most recently, he served as Associate…


Lynh Tran


Shirley Allen


Jack Loonam

Jack Loonam is an Associate Director of Development for the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences.  In this role, he oversees the Biological Sciences division, where he helps donors strengthen their lifelong relationship with UGA and Franklin College. Jack is a 2015 Terry School of Business graduate, where he was both a 4-year member of Army ROTC and a walk-on Football player from 2011-2014. After graduation, Jack served with the 1st…


Kethia Gates


Janie Bohannon


Hailee Talbot

Hailee leads efforts to foster strategic partnerships between the college and industry partners in Computing, Data Science, and Artificial Intelligence advancing philanthropic and research collaborations that support students, faculty, and emerging academic programs. Before joining Franklin, Hailee served in interdisciplinary roles that connected academic and corporate stakeholders through design strategy, storytelling, and engagement. She…


Jasmin Moore

Jasmin joined Franklin College of Arts & Sciences in May 2025 as an Associate Director of Prospect Management and Analytics. In this role, she leads data management, prospect strategy, and reporting to support fundraising initiatives. Jasmin holds a Bachelor of Science in Psychology, a Master of Public Administration, and is pursuing graduate studies in Industrial-Organizational Psychology at the University of Georgia.


Maria De Leon Ruiz


Grace Mercer

Grace joined Franklin College’s Office of Development in 2024, where she oversees annual giving efforts for the Lamar Dodd School of Art. In this role, she serves as a key liaison connecting alumni, faculty, students, and donors to advance the school’s mission. Grace brings a strong background in development, donor relations, and stewardship, honed through her previous role with Compassion First, an anti-human trafficking NGO. She also has…


Abby B. Fuller

Abby Bramblett Fuller serves as Director of Development for the Franklin College of Arts & Sciences at the University of Georgia. In this role, she leads efforts to secure vital resources and foster partnerships for the Physical, Mathematical, and Computational Sciences. Abby is dedicated to building meaningful relationships with individuals and organizations interested in making a philanthropic impact at both Franklin College and the…


Levi Hopkins Dean

Levi Dean joined Franklin College’s Office of Development in 2023 and is the development associate for Hugh Hodgson School of Music. In this role, he works as a liaison between many stakeholders associated with the Hugh including alumni, faculty, students, and donors.  Passionate about music education and improving the lives of everyone through connecting through music, Levi is also a PhD candidate in music education researching the…


Haley Avery


Aubrey Miller

Aubrey joined the Franklin College Development team in May of 2022 as an Associate Director of Development. Aubrey is charged with meeting with alumni and friends of Franklin College in order to secure resources and build a relationships with those that have an interest in making a philanthropic investment in the University of Georgia and the Franklin College. Prior to this role, she spent 6 years in the central UGA development office as a Major…


Melissa Roberts

Melissa Roberts joined Franklin College's Office of Development in 2022. Her focus is to manage major gift fundraising efforts that support Performing Arts at UGA, including Hugh Hodgson School of Music, Theatre and Film Studies and the Department of Dance. She also supports Native American Studies, Institute of African American Studies, Latin American and Caribbean Studies and African Studies. She serves as an Adjunct Instructor in UGA's…


Meredith Metcalf

Meredith joined Franklin College's Office of Development in 2019. She has over 15 years of fundraising and non-profit experience. In this role Meredith manages all fundraising needs in support of Franklin College's students, faculty and programs. Meredith is a proud graduate of the University of Georgia with her Master’s degree in Nonprofit Management and Leadership. 

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2018 New Student Orientation

First-year orientation sesssions began earlier this summer and continue today through the second week of August. First-year, transfer and inernational students are finding their way around campus, learning about UGA and becoming acquainted with the small city that is a major university! Welcome all! Remain calm. There is a great deal to learn, keep up with, organize and decide, but you can do it. Our staff and faculty are here to help and…

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DREAMS INTO REALITY

UGA giving features psychology major Savonte Wilson ’21, who is attending his dream school thanks to the Beth and Barry Storey Family Scholarship: “I always wanted to come to UGA—it was my dream school,” said Savonte. “I made the grades for it and everything: I had a 4.0 throughout high school. I was determined to come here.” Savonte, a Moultrie, Georgia, native, was accepted to the University of Georgia on St. Patrick’s Day 2017, but it…

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UGA 40 Under 40 Class of 2018

The University of Georgia Alumni Association has unveiled the 40 Under 40 Class of 2018: This program began in 2011 and celebrates the personal, professional and philanthropic achievements of UGA graduates who are under the age of 40. The honorees will be recognized during the eighth annual 40 Under 40 Awards Luncheon on Sept. 13 at the Georgia Aquarium. Congratulations to this year's class. For 2018, 17 Honorees…

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Six students receive Critical Language Scholarships

Bryana Shook These students join approximately 580 competitively selected American students at U.S. colleges and universities who received the award this year. ... The Critical Language Scholarship program provides scholarships to U.S. undergraduate and graduate students to spend eight to 10 weeks overseas studying one of 14 critical languages: Arabic, Azerbaijani, Bangla, Chinese, Hindi, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Persian, Punjabi,…

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Moving Evolution Education Forward

Recent research co-authored by department of genetics Ph.D. candidate Michelle Ziadie focuses on resources available for undergraduate evolution instructors. From the abstract of the paper: Evolution is a unifying theory in biology and is challenging for undergraduates to learn. An instructor’s ability to help students learn is influenced by pedagogical content knowledge (PCK), which is topic-specific knowledge of teaching and learning…

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Writing Intensive Program turns to the community

In the modern workplace, writing skills are more important than ever. From a study of millions of U.S. job advertisements, Burning Glass Technologies found, “Clear communication, particularly writing, is at a premium in nearly every occupation." Research by Hart Research Associates on employer priorities also found written communication to be highly valued; 82% of employers rated writing as an important skill for new graduates (2015). UGA's…

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Scholarship recipients speak at Advance UGA Conference

As we near commencement, with so many Franklin students [more than 1,850] preparing to enter the next stage of their lives and careers, many are reflecting on the impact of their campus experiences and especially those afforded by scholarship opportunities.  A few of those were celebrated on Monday, April 30 at the Georgia Center for Continuing Education at the Advance UGA Conference. Sponsored by the Office of Development and Alumni…

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2018 Josiah Meigs Teaching Professor Michael Marshall

The Franklin College is home to two of the three 2018 Josiah Meigs Teaching Professors, profiled in the Honors & Awards issue of Columns. One of three is photography professor Michael Marshall: Michael Marshall believes that artists should have a role in facilitating change and shaping the world around them. He has put that philosophy into practice and guides others to do the same. “Change can be difficult, and I am consistently…

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UGA junior Laurel Hiatt named 2018 Truman Scholar

Laurel Hiatt, a third-year Honors student from Dahlonega majoring in biochemistry and molecular biology and Spanish, was one of 59 undergraduates from across the nation to be named a 2018 Truman Scholar, a highly competitive graduate scholarship program for aspiring public service leaders in the U.S.: Truman Scholarship recipients receive $30,000 toward graduate school and have the opportunity to participate in professional…
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