TROY, Ala. – Troy University will honor three alumni and one honorary alumnus with Alumni of the Year awards at halftime of its Nov. 4 Homecoming game against Louisiana-Lafayette.

Cassie Sanford, Sammy Carr and the Hon. William Thigpen will be honored as Alumni of the Year, while Dr. James Whiteside will be recognized as the Honorary Alumnus of the Year.

The awards are presented annually by the University as a part of its Homecoming celebration. Nominations are solicited, and winners are selected by the TROY Alumni Association Board of Directors based on outstanding professional accomplishments, civic achievements and loyalty and service to Troy University.

Sanford graduated in 1993 with her bachelor’s degree in journalism and public relations.  She is currently employed with Habitat for Humanity Greater Birmingham as the vice president for marketing and development. Sanford is a director for the Gardendale Chamber of Commerce and was a recipient of the Birmingham Business Journal’s “Top 40 Under 40.”   

Carr obtained a bachelor’s degree in education from TROY in1959.  He served as superintendent of the Crenshaw County from 1988-1995 before retiring. Carr is the president for the Troy University Alumni Association. He and his wife, Pearl, have two daughters and three grandchildren.

A 1964 graduate, Thigpen attended TROY on a basketball scholarship where he was awarded the “Most Hustle Award” for his effort and work ethic. He was elected to the Alabama House of Representatives in 1998 and will begin his third term representing the 16th District of Fayette, Lamar and Tuscaloosa counties, in 2007. Thigpen is the founder of West Alabama Economic Development Board for Fayette, Lamar and Pickens counties.  He is a retired insurance agent and owner of Thigpen Ford-Mercury. Thigpen and his wife, Betty, have three children and five grandchildren.

Whiteside, the Honorary Alumnus of the Year, recently retired as the full-time team doctor for TROY’s medical staff.  After spending 13 years as the senior medical team physician at Penn State, he took the role as director of medical aspects of sports at the Alabama Sports Medicine and Orthopedic Center in Birmingham, Ala.  There he established a primary care sports medicine fellowship curriculum and educates primary care and orthopedic sports medicine fellows. A native of Lowes, Ky., Whiteside and his wife, the former Edith Brown, have three sons and two daughters.

###