Awards to recognize outstanding ECU alumni

Awards to recognize outstanding ECU alumni

GREENVILLE, N.C. (09/15/2026) - Five outstanding East Carolina University alumni will be honored this fall for their careers and service to the university. The honorees will be recognized at a dinner on Oct. 9 during homecoming weekend. Tickets for the celebration are available by visiting piratealumni.com.

Robert Earl Cherry Jr. '04 and Mark Garner '77 will be honored with the Virgil Clark '50 Distinguished Service Award, recognizing their extraordinary service to ECU and its alumni. Benjamin Davis '08 '10, Dr. Sara Griffith '00 '08 '21 and Dr. Patrick O'Shea '08 will receive Outstanding Alumni Awards, bestowed on graduates who have demonstrated exceptional achievement in their professions.

Cherry, a Winterville resident, is a leader whose service to ECU spans more than two decades. He served six years on the ECU Alumni Board of Directors and was named an emeritus director. He currently serves on the ECU Board of Visitors. Cherry received the Laura Marie Elliott Leary Courageous Leader Award and was honored as an ECU 40 Under Forty Leadership Award recipient.

Garner, a Greenville resident, is a nationally certified planner with extensive experience in comprehensive planning and the design of public infrastructure projects throughout eastern North Carolina. In 2021, he retired after a 46-year career with Rivers & Associates Inc., a regional engineering firm. Garner has held leadership roles with the ECU Board of Visitors and the ECU Alumni Board of Directors. He currently serves as Coastal Studies Institute Board Chair.

Davis, who lives in Alexandria, Virginia, serves as chief information officer for the Department of the Treasury's Office of Intelligence and Analysis. He leads the delivery of intelligence information systems supporting Treasury's national security mission. Davis' awards, include the National Intelligence Meritorious Unit Citation, Joint Civilian Service Commendation Award, Global War on Terrorism Secretary of Defense Medal and NATO Non-Article 5 Civilian Combat Support Medal.

Griffith, an Apex resident, is the North Carolina Board of Nursing's (NCBON) deputy executive officer and has over 26 years of experience in clinical practice, leadership and nursing regulation. She has a passion for educating others about the essential role of nursing and nursing regulation in protecting the public. She previously served on the NCBON for two terms. A first-generation college graduate, Griffith earned her Bachelor of Science, Master of Science and doctorate in nursing from ECU.

O'Shea, a resident of Chapel Hill, is a clinical assistant professor of medicine at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine and medical director of UNC Health's Advanced Care at Home program. O'Shea attended ECU as a Brinkley-Lane Scholar, graduating summa cum laude with university honors in exercise physiology. He is co-founder and board chair of MedServe, an AmeriCorps program that places recent college graduates in primary care clinics across North Carolina.

Contact: Patricia Earnhardt Tyndall, [email protected], 252-737-1505

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