Four recognized with 2022 alumni awards
July 15, 2022
Maryville College will honor four alumni during Homecoming Weekend 2022, scheduled for Oct. 21-23 on campus.
The College’s Alumni Citation will be presented to Dr. Madlon Travis Laster ’56 and Dr. James Laster, Jr. ’56. The Alumni Citation is awarded to any alumnus/a of Maryville College who has demonstrated outstanding leadership or initiative service in his/her community, church or chosen profession.
Cory Howard ’10 will receive the Kin Takahashi Award for Young Alumni, which is given to an alumnus/a who has, within 20 years of his/her graduation from Maryville College, lived a life characteristic of College legend Kin Takahashi (Class of 1895), who in his 36 years of living, worked tirelessly for the betterment of his alma mater, his church and his society.
Recipients of the Alumni Citation and Kin Takahashi Award for Young Alumni will be honored during the College’s annual Founder’s Day celebration on Oct. 21 at the Clayton Center for the Arts. Dinner on the Plaza begins at 6:30 p.m., followed by a program emceed by comedian and alumnus Joel Byars ’10 in the Ronald and Lynda Nutt Theatre at 8 p.m. Along with the presentation of the 2022 Alumni Awards, the program will include a performance by MC’s select vocal ensemble Off Kilter, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary. Tickets can be purchased starting Aug. 1 at maryvillecollege.edu/homecoming.
Maryville College’s Distinguished Service Award will be presented posthumously to Austin Coleman “Cole” Piper ’68. This award may be made to an alumnus or alumna who has rendered great service to benefit humankind and bring honor to Maryville College or who has rendered unusual service in any capacity on behalf of the College. Piper’s family will accept this award during the Austin Coleman Piper Memorial Track dedication ceremony on Oct. 21 at 10 a.m.
Lasters to receive Alumni Citation
James and Madlon Laster of Wilmington, Delaware, have both had long teaching careers since graduating from Maryville College in 1956.
James, who majored in music history and biology at Maryville College, earned a master of arts degree in musicology and Ph.D. in church music from George Peabody College, now part of Vanderbilt University, in Nashville, Tennessee, and a master of science degree in library science (music emphasis) from Catholic University in Washington, D.C. He also holds a certificate in organ from the Mozarteum Summer Academy in Salzburg, Austria.
He has held teaching positions at George Peabody College; Grove City College in Pennsylvania; the Community School of Tehran, Iran; and the Beirut College for Women, Beirut, Lebanon. For 27 years, he served as a member of the faculty of Shenandoah Conservatory of Shenandoah University in Winchester, Virginia, where he now holds professor emeritus status.
He has served as guest conductor and clinician for workshops and regional choral festivals, and he served as choral judge for several festivals. In 1997, he was guest conductor for a choral festival of choirs from five Central American countries held in San Jose, Costa Rica.
He has choral works published by Augsburg-Fortress, Concordia, Mark Foster, Boosey & Hawkes, Hinshaw, and Treble Clef Press, along with choral and instrumental compositions in manuscript. He has received commissions for compositions, including one for the celebration of the 400th anniversary of the founding of Virginia observed in October 2007. In August 2004, the Royal School of Church Music Millennium Youth Choir performed his “O nata lux” on the BBC broadcast of Choral Evensong aired from Hexham Abbey. In 2007, his composition, “A Madrigal for Spring,” was chosen as one of the compulsory pieces for the women’s choral division of the Schubert International Choral Festival held annually in Vienna, Austria.
Madlon, who majored in elementary education at Maryville College, taught in Wooster, Ohio and at the Community School in Tehran, Iran before working on her master’s degree at George Peabody College for Teachers in Nashville, while teaching in the Nashville-Davidson County School System. She earned a Ph.D. from George Mason University and a certificate in cognitive instruction through Radford University in Virginia.
During the couple’s time in Beirut, Lebanon, Madlon taught methods courses, a children’s literature course, and supervised student teachers at Beirut College for Women, now Lebanese American University. She completed her 42-year teaching career in Winchester City Schools in Winchester, Virginia, in the city’s middle school.
She has authored two books: Brain-Based Teaching for All Subjects and Teach the Way the Brain Learns: Curriculum Themes Build Neuron Networks. She presented workshops in Zahle, Lebanon, and traveled with Dr. Julinda Abu Nasr of the Beirut College for Women faculty to lead workshops on children’s literature and libraries in Cairo, Egypt; Amman, Jordan; Abu Dhabi, UAE; and Bahrain. She collaborated with Nasr on a book about establishing children’s libraries, which was published in Arabic. She also made presentations with colleagues at various conferences and faculty workshops while living in Virginia.
Howard to receive Kin Takahashi Award for Young Alumni
After graduating from Maryville College with a degree in political science, Howard earned a master of science degree in social work from the University of Tennessee. In 2021, he began his executive doctoral program in healthcare leadership at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
Howard, who resides in Chattanooga, Tennessee, started his career with Chattanooga CARES in 2011 as an HIV Testing & Counseling Specialist, providing rapid HIV testing and counseling at the Hamilton County Jail. A year later, he deployed with the Tennessee Army National Guard during Operation Enduring Freedom with the 1-181 Field Artillery to Jordan and was promoted to Sergeant. After returning from overseas, Mr. Howard continued to work for Chattanooga CARES, becoming an HIV Prevention and Education Specialist, allowing him to work with various populations and local organizations, performing community education and prevention programming.
In 2014, he became a medical case manager at Chattanooga CARES and provided support and social services to people living with HIV. The following year, he became the director of development and communications. He formed a Hispanic Outreach Committee and African American Outreach Committee to solicit feedback from local community members on how to better serve the public. These later developed into two permanent outreach programs targeting the LatinX and African American communities called CempaLOI (LatinX Outreach Initiative) and CempaACT (African Americans Coming Together).
In 2018, Howard was appointed chief operating officer for the newly rebranded Cempa Community Care. As COO, he oversaw the transition of Cempa into a community health center to provide healthcare to anyone regardless of the ability to pay. In 2019, he was appointed Board Chair of the JA Henry YMCA, graduated from Leadership Chattanooga, and completed the UCLA Health Care Executive Program. He also formed the LGBTQ+ Outreach Committee, called CempaQ, to strengthen the organization’s outreach efforts.
Howard also managed the organization’s response to COVID-19 by overseeing community testing and vaccine initiatives. In 2021, his team launched Cempa’s first in-house community pharmacy. Currently, he is strengthening internal processes, opening a new primary care clinic in the city’s most underserved area, and working with East Ridge High School to launch the Cempa Institute of Leadership and Public Health.
Piper to receive Distinguished Service Award
Piper’s service to the College was exemplary, beginning with his time on campus as a member of the football and track teams to his final service as the chair of the College’s Board of directors, and many notable contributions therein. He died unexpectedly in August 2021.
After earning his bachelor’s degree in sociology from Maryville College in 1968, Piper, a native of Pennsylvania, completed post-graduate work at the University of Tennessee and Penn State University. He spent most of his career as an executive with Proffitt’s department stores, starting full-time as distribution center manager in 1972. He served as assistant operations manager and operations manager, until being named executive vice president and director of stores in 1984. When he retired in 1999, Proffitt’s Inc., through major acquisitions, had more than 320 stores and revenues close to $6 billion. Most recently, he served as executive in residence in the Department of Retail and Consumer Science at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, since 1999.
Piper was active in numerous businesses, organizations and causes in East Tennessee. He previously served as executive in residence in the Department of Retail and Consumer Science at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. He was past president of the Tennessee Retail Federation and served on several boards.
Piper was a longstanding and ardent supporter of Maryville College, serving as an adjunct professor, marketing director for the on-campus Mountain Challenge program, and interim leader for the Admissions team in 2012. He initiated the HULT Prize competition for student teams to devise and launch business plans. At his encouragement, Maryville College applied to the Nonprofit Leadership Alliance, where he served as director of the local chapter and taught the class Introduction to Nonprofit Management, in which students had to complete the curriculum and pass an exam before receiving the Nonprofit Leadership Certificate.
Piper also was on the College’s Bicentennial Steering Committee, serving as chair of the communication and promotions subcommittee. In 2017, he was instrumental in moving the then-217-year-old former home of Maryville College founder Isaac Anderson from Knox County, Tenn., to the Great Smoky Mountains Heritage Center in Townsend, Tenn. The home – a two-story log cabin – was dedicated on Feb. 8, 2019, as part of the College’s yearlong Bicentennial celebration. Now open to the public, the cabin contains panels that tell the story of Isaac Anderson, the founding of Maryville College in 1819 as the Southern and Western Theological Seminary and Second Presbyterian Church in Knoxville, which Anderson founded in 1818.
Piper joined the College’s Board of Directors in October 2019 and served as chair of the Board’s Advancement Committee. He began his term as board chair on Oct. 16, 2020, becoming only the 20th person to hold the position in the College’s 202-year history.
In March, the groundbreaking was held for the Austin Coleman Piper Memorial Track, a new campus track and field facility. Piper’s family will accept his award at the facility’s ribbon cutting and dedication event slated for Oct. 21 at 10 a.m.