USA National Alumni Association Elects Officers, Adds Five New Board Members

Sep 24th, 2004

The University of South Alabama's National Alumni Association elected its 2004-2005 officers and new board members Thursday, Sept. 23 at the start of its annual meeting.

Mobile attorney Mike Windom was elected president. Windom, a native of Montgomery, moved to Mobile to attend the University of South Alabama, where he graduated with a degree in finance in 1983. He went on to receive his law degree from the University of Alabama in 1986. Since the mid-1990s, he has been a partner in Mobile law firm of Windom & Tobias.

"It's an honor to be elected," Windom said. "There's so much going on at the University with the Cancer Research Institute and the campus changes. Mobile's a really great city, and this University is becoming a major part of this city."
Windom succeeds Judge Don Davis ('78) as leader of the organization. Pat Hicks ('71) will serve as Windom's vice president. Other newly elected officers are Secretary Diana Laier ('84) and Treasurer Andy Denny ('72).

During the meeting at the Mitchell Center, the USA National Alumni Association also welcomed five new members to its board of directors.

Gigi Armbrecht, a native Mobilian, serves as regional manager for BellSouth Telecommunications. Her responsibilities include Mobile, Baldwin Washington, Clarke, Conecuh and Escambia counties. She received master's degrees from USA in special education and sociology. Before joining BellSouth, Armbrecht served as executive director for Mobile United for 10 years. She remains an active member of many community organizations.

Jerome Carter, a local attorney, graduated from the University of South Alabama in 1991 before attending Jones School of Law in Montgomery. For the past four years, he has been a partner at Carter Brandyburg PC. Prior to his work at that firm, Carter worked as an assistant district attorney for Mobile County and at another private law firm.

Robert 'Bob' Hardin of Navarre, Fla., graduated from USA with a degree in business in 1973. He was a two-year letterman in Track & Field. He helped start the Birmingham Chapter of the USA Alumni Association in the late 1970s and re-chartered in the 1990s. Currently, Hardin serves as vice president of SunTrust Bank's private client services group in Pensacola. Before joining SunTrust in 1999, he worked as a stockbroker, municipal bond salesman and trust investments officer for other financial institutions in Birmingham, Mobile and Dothan.

Mobilian Carol Mann received her bachelor's degree in communication arts in 1987. She currently serves as assistant administrator for marketing and public relations at Mercy Medical. During her career, Mann has served as president of Mann & Mark Communication Inc., adjunct instructor at Spring Hill College, manager of public relations and advertising at PrimeHealth Inc, and marketing coordinator for TAG/The Architects Group Inc. She also worked as editor, managing editor and acting publisher at The Azalea City News/Bay Area Newspaper Network. She became accredited in Public Relations through the Public Relations Society of America and the Southern Public Relations Federation in 1996.
Allen Pearl, a resident of McKinney, Texas, is a 1973 graduate of University of South Alabama's biology program. He attended USA on a four-year basketball scholarship and was named one of the Outstanding Athletes of America in 1973. Pearl now serves as business manager for Performance Pipe, a division of Chevron Phillips Chemical Co. He has worked for Performance Pipe since 1985. Earlier in his career he worked for Larson Consolidated Inc. of Grafton, Ohio, and Birmingham's U.S. Pipe and Foundry Company.