The Morehead Honors College Advisory Board is an active group of volunteers who help advance the college and support the dean through the identification and cultivation of prospective donor relationships, including individuals, corporations, and foundations. Additionally, board members work to establish new relationships and strengthen long-standing ties between the college and friends, colleagues, business leaders, and community contacts.
Members of the Jere W. Morehead Honors College Advisory Board serve in an advisory role to the Dean. Participation on the Board prepares individuals to serve as ambassadors for the College in their careers and community environments, carrying the mission and priorities of the Morehead Honors College with them wherever they go.
Each fiscal year up to eight members will be elected to serve a three-year term on the board. Members support the Honors College in several ways:
- Serving a three-year term on the board. Once a board member’s three-year term is complete, the member is eligible to serve one additional term. Following two terms of exemplary service, the individual will receive emeritus status.
- Attending at least one of the annual scheduled advisory board in-person meetings and/or programs. Meetings will be scheduled around strategic UGA and Honors events so that the board can help lead and support college engagement. A summer calendar review meeting will be held annually via Zoom.
- Providing annual leadership gifts that strengthen the college and with major and/or planned gifts in special areas of interest.
- Promoting the college among friends, colleagues, business leaders, and community contacts and help identify prospects.
- Advancing the academic excellence and interests by communicating the work being done within Honors that aligns within its goals and the strategic goals of the University of Georgia.
- Responding with thoughts, ideas, questions, and considerations on Honors matters identified by the dean.
Mission
The Honors Advisory Board seeks to advance the college in service to its most talented, best, and brightest students. The board assists the dean in building a community of scholars based on thought, respect, and gratitude for the gift of higher education.
Nominations
The Morehead Honors College Advisory Board seeks individuals who will assist the dean of the College as needed and serve as advocates on the College’s behalf. Members help develop important relationships and increase awareness about the College’s academic, research, and service missions. By supporting development efforts and spreading the word about the important work being done by its students, faculty and staff, members help build a constituency with a strong passion for UGA and the Morehead Honors College.
Nominee criteria
The Jere W. Morehead Honors College Advisory Board will welcome in-state or out-of-state residents who are active in their communities and who have reached a discernible level of prominence in their fields.
Nomination process and timeline
Nominations for membership to the advisory board should be sent to the Morehead Honors College director of development. Submissions will be reviewed by the board nominating committee prior to approval by the dean.
Nominations will be received on a rolling basis with a January 1 deadline for consideration prior to the upcoming fiscal year. Nominees will be approved for membership by July 1. The number of members approved may vary from year to year.
2025-2026 Honors Advisory Board
Brooks Andrews ’07
Managing Director, EW Healthcare Partners
Brooks Andrews is a managing director with EW Healthcare Partners, a private equity firm focused on investments in healthcare. Brooks began his career in New York with investment bank Barclays Capital before moving to San Francisco to join a private equity firm, FFL Partners. In 2020, he moved back to Atlanta and currently lives in the Morningside neighborhood with his husband and their two daughters. Brooks greatly benefitted from UGA’s strong Honors College, having graduated as a Foundation Fellow with BBA degrees in economics and finance and an MA degree in economics. He also received an MBA from Stanford University.
Jim Granade III ’91
Dentist, LaVista Dentistry
James A. Granade III, DDM, obtained a Doctor of Dental Medicine degree from Medical College of Georgia, where he graduated cum laude with high honors. He has been in private practice since 1995 and is a member of the American Dental Association, Georgia Dental Association, the Northern District Dental Society, the Hinman Dental Society, the Decatur Dental Study Club, the Druid Hills Implant Study Club, and the Atlanta Seattle Study Club.
Phillip Hight ’96
Principal, High Knox Properties, LLC
Phillip Hight co-founded Hight Knox Properties in 2015 and has been active in industrial real estate for the last 25 years. Phillip has advised and participated in over $2 billion of acquisitions with capital partners such as the Blackstone Group and Wells Fargo Real Estate. Phillip has acquired industrial assets in most major markets across the Southeast throughout his career. Phillip’s relationships with brokers and his market knowledge have enabled Hight Knox Properties to be an active buyer and market participant throughout the Southeast. Phillip received his BBA with a concentration in finance from UGA’s Terry College of Business. He serves on the advisory boards of the Morehead Honors College and Terry College of Business, and was formerly president of the NAIOP Georgia Chapter. He sits on NAIOP’s national industrial acquisitions forum.
Avery Monthero ’17
Sales Account Executive in Global Sales, Delta Air Lines
Avery Monthero is a sales account executive at Delta Air Lines, supporting the New York agency team. Over her eight years at Delta, Avery has held diverse roles including flight attendant, mental health advocate, and data engineer. She also serves as an officer for Delta’s South Asian Business Resource Group. Avery graduated with honors from the University of Georgia, earning a bachelor’s degree in family and consumer sciences and a certificate in personal and organizational leadership. She remains actively involved with UGA as a mentor and recently completed a two-year term on the Young Alumni Leadership Council. Outside of work, Avery enjoys baking, playing tennis and pickleball, and spending time with loved ones. She and her husband, Ashish, live in Atlanta and welcomed a baby girl in September.
Kevin Patrick ’05
Owner and Founder, Kevin Patrick Law, LLC
Kevin Patrick is a magna cum laude graduate of the University of Georgia with high honors from the Honors Program. Kevin earned degrees in classical culture, history, and Latin. He was a CURO Scholar with Distinction. He is the founder of Kevin Patrick Law. Recognized as an AV-Preeminent attorney though Martindale-Hubbell and Georgia Super Lawyer, Kevin also serves on the State Bar of Georgia’s Board of Governors and holds leadership roles within the Georgia Trial Lawyers Association and Atlanta Bar Association. Kevin lives in Atlanta with his wife Tracy and two children and remains an avid supporter of UGA.
Vijaya R. Palaniswamy ’99
Partner/Chief Legal Officer, South Harbor Management LLC
Vijaya Palaniswamy graduated from the University of Georgia with bachelor’s degrees in biochemistry and molecular biology, genetics, and Honors interdisciplinary studies. He entered with the 1994 freshman class with a Foundation Fellowship. After UGA, Vijaya completed a joint JD at Harvard Law School and MALD at the Fletcher School at Tufts University in 2003. He then joined Linklaters LLP as an associate in London in their global energy and infrastructure practice. At Linklaters, Vijaya focused on the development and financing of capital-intensive projects, primarily in the energy sector. In 2021, he retired from the Linklaters partnership and became a partner in South Harbor Management, the investment manager for the Highland LP group. Highland LP’s companies focus on the production of manufactured forest products that have been harvested from forests that are managed on a long-term sustainable basis.
Bret Schiller ’99
Managing Director, Group Head, Healthcare, Global Corporate Banking, J.P. Morgan
Bret Schiller is a managing director and group head, healthcare, in JP Morgan’s Global Corporate Banking division. He has been a healthcare industry-focused banker for the last 20 years. Prior to joining JP Morgan in 2019, Bret was a healthcare investment banker with Lehman Brothers, Morgan Stanley, and SunTrust Robinson Humphrey. He is a 1999 graduate of UGA’s Terry College of Business, earning his a BBA, and a 2005 graduate of UNC’s Kenan-Flagler Business School, with an MBA. Bret is based in Atlanta and lives with his wife, twin daughters, and three dogs.
Christy Boudreau Szalwinski ’10
Senior Underwriter, Private Credit, Goldman Sachs
Christy Szalwinski is a senior underwriter in private credit within the asset and wealth management division of Goldman Sachs, responsible for underwriting and portfolio management activities within the U.S. direct lending business. Christy began her career at Goldman Sachs in 2010 as an analyst in the securities division, responsible for institutional account coverage for credit products. Christy earned a BBA in banking and finance from UGA, summa cum laude and with highest honors designation from UGA’s Honors College.
Jennifer Sucre ’03
Associate Professor of Pediatrics & Neonatology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Jennifer Sucre, MD, is an associate professor of pediatrics and cell and developmental biology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. She graduated with degrees in creative writing and genetics from the University of Georgia, graduated from Harvard Medical School, trained in pediatrics at Washington University in St. Louis, and completed fellowship in neonatal-perinatal medicine at UCLA. Since joining the Vanderbilt faculty in 2016, she has established a research program focused on understanding the molecular mechanisms of normal lung development and lung disease across the lifespan with a particular focus on bronchopulmonary dysplasia, the leading complication in survivors of preterm birth.
Susan Waltman ’73, ’75
Special Counsel, Greater New York Hospital Association
Susan C. Waltman is special counsel for the Greater New York Hospital Association, which represents the interests of 160 not-for-profit and public health systems and hospitals across the New York region. Susan has received the University of Georgia’s Alumni Merit Award, the Blue Key Honor Society Service Award, and the Honor College’s Jere W. Morehead Award. She has participated in many volunteer roles across campus, including serving as a member of the UGA Foundation Board of Trustees and in turn the Foundation’s Emeritus Trustees Leadership Committee as well as a member of the UGA Research Foundation Board of Directors. Susan believes her most meaningful service has been to host the Honors in New York Internship Program since 2006 and work with the Honors Program’s truly outstanding students as they learn about the health care system, public health, and the challenges facing hospitals.
