Forsyth Resident Wins North Georgia Alumni Association Award

CUMMING, GA — The University of North Georgia Alumni Association honored Bryson Payne with the Distinguished Professor UNG North award.

The University of North Georgia Alumni Association handed out awards at its annual banquet April 16. This year's winners were:

• Distinguished Alumni: Wesley Thomas, '76, of Dahlonega, Georgia, worked at UNG for more than 40 years and retired in 2019 as associate dean of student involvement. Maj. Gen. Joseph "Joe" Jarrard, '88, is one of six UNG alumni who are currently Army generals. He is deputy commanding general of U.S. Army Europe for the Army National Guard, and previously was the adjutant general of Georgia.
• Hall of Fame: William "Bill" Pallozzi, '88, of Ellicott City, Maryland, served as secretary of the Maryland Department of State Police, which he joined in 1989, from 2015-20. Now retired from the state police, Pallozzi also served 15 years in the Army Reserves.
• Ralph Colley Spirit of North Georgia Award: Samuel Walley, '20, of Winder, Georgia, sustained partial loss of two limbs and a traumatic brain injury from an improvised explosive device in Afghanistan in 2012. He needed almost 100 surgeries and learned to walk again, but enrolled at UNG in 2015 and earned a bachelor's degree in political science.
• Distinguished Young Alumnus: Jacob Elliott, '10, of Dahlonega, Georgia, worked in UNG's Information Technology Services and was an adjunct faculty member. He now works for a cybersecurity contractor.
• Distinguished Professor UNG North (Dahlonega and Blue Ridge): Dr. Bryson Payne, '97, of Cumming, Georgia, professor of computer science, serves as director of UNG's Center for Cyber Operations Education.
• Distinguished Professor UNG South (Gainesville, Cumming and Oconee): Dr. Katherine Rose Adams, of Athens, Georgia, an assistant professor, is the program coordinator for the Doctor of Education in higher education leadership and practice.
• Dot Strother Scholarship: Sharrell Canty of Atlanta, Georgia, works full time at Emory Health Center while also pursuing a degree at UNG. Caroline Jones, of Blacksburg, Virginia, plans to attend medical school is on a research team with UNG's sociology department.
• Paul Hutcherson Outstanding Students: 2nd Lt. Alison Gaynor, of Dallas, Georgia, a Distinguished Military Student (DMS), is only the third female to attain membership of UNG's Aggressor Platoon. 2nd. Lt. Derek Whitmore, of Newnan, Georgia, a Distinguished Military Graduate and DMS, is the top-ranked cadet in his class of 103 at UNG