Alumni award winners 2023

Harold H. Adams Jr. ’69, Distinguished Alumnus

Hal was elected vice chair of the CSU Board of Visitors when it was created in 1988. CSU awarded him an honorary Doctor of Business Administration in 2000. Hal started his career in property-casualty insurance and began to notice other insurers offering programs to particular business segments and professions. A couple of random phone calls seeking insurance to cover equipment for international medical clinics led him to reach out to the Foreign Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention who confirmed a need but said no one had created such a product. After several years of research and working with his contacts in insurance, Hal not only created the niche but also added related services such as emergency medical evacuation, crisis management, and delivery of prescription drugs to remote areas at greatly reduced costs. Creating insurance plans for foreign missionaries, and insuring personal property against such things as floods, fire, theft, etc., is also part of his business model. Hal recently donated $500,000 to establish the Royce W. Breland, Jr./Harold H. Adams, Jr. Endowed Chair of Business in the Nielsen College of Business.

Tod Petty ’83, Outstanding Alumnus

Tod reflects honor on the university for exceptional achievement in the field of senior care. He draws upon his development and operations skills honed over a 30-year career within the senior housing industry. His experience encompasses all levels of senior housing from independent living through assisted living, memory care, and skilled nursing. In this role, Tod focuses on the business development of third-party management services and forging relationships with investors. Early in his career he founded Augusta Respiratory Care, which he subsequently sold to Lincare Holdings. From there, he joined various health-related organizations serving in executive-level positions in business development and operations. Ultimately, he became president and COO of Thrive Senior Living, a high-growth operator of assisted living and memory care communities. Over a nine-year period, he led the company through an era of extensive development with the addition of 29 new senior communities.
Prior to joining Lloyd Jones, he served as president and CEO of Mainstay Senior Living, which offers innovative housing solutions from independent living through skilled nursing. Altogether, he has managed over 50 senior housing communities of varying levels of care.
Tod is a certified director of assisted living, and a Senior Living Certification Commission member. He has served Lloyd Jones since 2019, where he laid the foundation of ownership’s vision in creating a senior housing operating company. Tod partnered with talented team members to establish a brand, recruit industry leaders, construct an operating platform, raise equity, and acquire communities. The team created a senior housing portfolio of 12 communities and supported new development, third party management, and the predevelopment of a hotel conversion.

Jaimee Salone ’16, Outstanding Young Alumnus

Since graduating, Jaimee has coached the Color Guard for the CSU Pride of the Lowcountry Marching Band, consulted on marketing strategies for small businesses and religious groups, and is currently pursuing a Master’s in Advertising and Marketing and certification in Project Management. She leads the service pillar of the Charleston Young Professionals Steering Committee, volunteers on the Regional Housing Committee through the Charleston Metro Chamber, volunteers with community and special events at Joint Base Charleston and is a big sister in Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Lowcountry. She is an active member of Delta Iota Sigma Chapter of Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority Inc. and is training to transition into executive positions at the local and regional levels. She worked as the Information/Graphics Specialist for the 628th Force Support Squadron (628 FSS) on Joint Base Charleston, supporting active-duty military members, retirees, and dependents. Transitioning to the Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce allowed her to develop digital marketing and project management skills, engage with over 1,600 organizations, 160,000 members, and elected officials, and creatively communicate the valuable work the Chamber is doing for our region. She is now the Global Marketing Communications Specialist for Ingevity, managing the implementation and execution of marketing communications strategies for their industrial specialties and oil field businesses.

Dorothy “Dot” Scott ’84, Alumnus Community Service

Dot headed the Charleston Branch of the NAACP for over 10 years. She is active in her childhood church, Zion United Methodist Church. She embraces what she calls a “lifelong commitment” to fair and equal treatment in the workforce. Dot became a member of the NAACP in the early 80s and has been working for the organization ever since. She was honored as the Outstanding NAACP Branch President in 2009. She was selected to serve on the North Charleston Citizen’s Advisory Commission on Community-Police Relations in 2017 by Mayor Keith Summey. Besides her work for the NAACP, since 2011, Dot has been the owner/operator of PCAAN, Inc. Real Estate in North Charleston. In 2021, she was named a Hall of Fame Inductee (50 Most Influential) by the Charleston Business Journal.

John Muller ’05, University Mission

While a student at CSU, John gave his life to the Lord and surrendered to a call to ministry. After graduation, John joined the staff with Campus Outreach. In this role, he led multiple Bible studies that led to the salvation of many CSU students. Later, John began work at Summit Church in North Carolina, where he still serves as the Campus Pastor of the Capital Hill Campus and the Wake County Area Director. When John began pastoring this campus they had around 1,000 weekly attendees, now they have over 3,500. John models what it looks like to faithfully love and shepherd people of God. He has poured his life out into others to help raise them up to serve the Lord. He is reliable and trustworthy. He cares deeply about people and shows it in words and actions. John is married to Ashley, and they have one son, Conrad.

David Weiss ’03, Alumni Service

David has devoted numerous hours to serving and promoting Charleston Southern University. He is a former Director of Alumni Engagement at CSU. After leaving his position as Alumni Director, David served on the Alumni Board for many years, including all the officer positions. He recently rotated off the Board; however, he is still advocating for CSU. David is a marketing agent with Southern Mutual Church Insurance Company of S.C., and holds the Certified Insurance Service Representative designation. He is licensed as an insurance agent in South Carolina and Georgia. He and his wife, Stephanie, have three children: Cameron, 14, Kennedy, 7, and Beckham, 2.

Sarah Williams ’73, Military Service

Sarah served for 27 years in the U.S. Army achieving the rank of Lieutenant Colonel from the Army Nurse Corp while working jointly for the VA when not on active duty. Her years of service include serving during the Vietnam era and Desert Shield/Storm. Including her service in the Army, Sarah retired with 42 years of federal service. Her service included serving as the Associate Director of Patient Services at the Central Alabama Veterans Healthcare System. While there, Sarah served as the Interim Medical Center Director when the facility transitioned to a new director. Sarah also served as the Associate Director Patient Care Services/Executive Nurse at the W.G. “Bill” Hefner Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Salisbury, North Carolina.

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