Chitwood receives honorary doctorate from alma mater
Dr. W. Randolph Chitwood Jr. received an honorary doctor of science degree from Hampden-Sydney College, his alma mater, on May 8.

Also awarded honorary doctorates during the commencement ceremony marking the end of the 230th academic year of the college were Rep. Shelley Moor Capito, who represents West Virginia's 2nd District, and Jay Ipson, chairman and co-founder of the Virginia Holocaust Museum.

Chitwood is senior associate vice chancellor for health sciences at East Carolina University and chief of cardiothoracic and vascular surgery in the Department of Surgery at the Brody School of Medicine at ECU. He also is director of the Eastern Carolina Cardiovascular Institute.

A native of Wytheville, Va., Chitwood received his bachelor's degree from Hampden-Sydney in 1968. He earned his medical degree from the University of Virginia in 1974 and completed his general surgery and thoracic surgery residency training at Duke University in 1984.

Hampden-Sydney College is a four-year liberal arts college for men in Hampden-Sydney, Va.

Hill named director of medical family therapy program at ECU
Dr. Wayne Hill has been appointed director of the medical family therapy program in the Department of Child Development and family relations in the College of Human Ecology at East Carolina University.

Hill is the first person to hold this position, and medical family therapy is the first academic program of its kind in the country.

Hill has extensive university experience in marriage and family therapy as well as clinical health care experience. During his 14 years at Florida State University, his appointment included teaching, research and administration of the marriage and family therapy program.

He has provided therapeutic counseling and interventions with chronically and terminally ill patients, psychiatric and adolescent patients, victims of domestic violence, hospice patients, as well as with individuals, couples, and families.

Medical family therapy is a collaborative program with the Brody School of Medicine at ECU. Medical family therapy offers a systematic approach to psychotherapy with patients and families experiencing medical illness, trauma, and disability.

Hill will oversee the recently established doctorate program in medical family therapy. The first class will begin in August.

Gillikin earns sales award
Mike Gillikin of Greenville, BETCO's sales consultant for eastern North Carolina, has received the second annual "Donnie Ray Tart Sales Award of Excellence."

The award, in honor of BETCO's all-time sales leader, was established to recognize the salesperson who not only generates the most sales volume but also takes into consideration sales increases from the previous year, closing ratios and the numbers of repeat and new customers.

Another aspect of the award is that because Tart was a graduate of East Carolina University, BETCO has established an annual Donnie Tart Scholarship Endowment of $10,000.

Gillikin, a native of Beaufort County, received his bachelor's and master's of business administration degrees from ECU.

BETCO is a 20-year-old manufacturer of metal self-storage buildings with offices and plants in Statesville and Bryan, Tenn.

Kelley, Raby get promotions
Officer Vickie Kelley and Sgt. Scott Raby have received promotions at the Winterville Police Department.

Kelley, who has been promoted to corporal is a Jacksonville native and has been with the Winterville department for two years. Before coming to Winterville, she was an officer with the La Grange Police Department for seven years.

This year, Kelley was responsible for coordinating two GHSP grants totaling more than $85,000 in equipment and the addition of a police officer position.

Raby, a nine-year law enforcement veteran, has been promoted to master sergeant and assigned duties as operations sergeant. In this capacity, he will be No. 3 in the department's chain of command and responsible for the supervision of all patrol division functions.

Raby began his career as a deputy with the sheriff's offices in Gates and Perquimans counties before joining Winterville, where he has served as patrol officer, shift supervisor and investigations supervisor.

Pechtel joins Sunland Financial
Judi Pechtel has joined Sunland Financial Services in Greenville as an insurance analyst.

With more than 10 years in the insurance industry, Pechtel will work as a health insurance specialist.

Sunland Financial services offers life and health insurance as well as Medicare supplements and long term care insurance, representing companies such as Jefferson Pilot, Protective, TransAmerica, Blue Cross Blue Shield of N.C., MetLife, Principal and United HealthCare.

Sunland represents clients from Asheville to Manteo with two offices in the East.

Claydon joins faculty at medical school
>Dr. C. Sage Claydon recently joined the faculty of the Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University as an assistant professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

Claydon, originally from Santa Barbara, Calif., comes to ECU following the completion of fellowship training in female pelvic medicine and reconstructive surgery at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and Cooper Hospital in Camden, N.J.

Her training there also focused on advanced treatment, surgical techniques and research in the correction of pelvic floor disorders.

Claydon has an undergraduate degree from the University of California at Los Angeles and a medical degree from the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine in Richmond.

She completed her residency at UCLA Medical Center.

Her clinical specialties include urogynecologic care with a focus on pelvic organ prolapse, female urinary incontinence and bladder disorders, fecal incontinence and sexual health.

Claydon is seeing patients at ECU Women's Physicians under the auspices of ECU Physicians, the private group practice of the school of medicine. She also provides care at the Brody Outpatient Clinic.

Buff's employees continue education
Ronnie Buffington and Mack Smith of Buff's Cleaning and Restoration recently attended a continuing education course in Virginia Beach, Va., on fire and smoke damage cleaning and restoration.

Ronnie Buffington and Arlene Buffington also recently attended the annual Connections conference in Orlando, Fla., which included programs on a variety of topics dealing with specialized cleaning and restoration services.

The Florida conference also included a trade shot featuring new products and equipment.

Burley named top prison volunteer
Marvin M. Burley Jr., a religious services volunteer at Greene Correctional Institution in Maury, has been named Prison Volunteer of the Year by the N.C. Division of Prisons.

Burley has volunteered at the prison in Greene County for more than 25 years. As a member of Gideons International, Burley distributes Bibles to inmates as he listens to them and shares his message of faith.

Burley served in the U.S. Air Force and is a retired principal with the North Carolina School for the Deaf in Wilson.

Among other outstanding volunteers recognized by the Division of Prisons was Eugene Jackson, who volunteers at the Hyde Correctional Institution in Swan Quarter.

Rawls completes education seminar
Diane Rawls, owner of A New Age Electrolysis at 1998 Roberson Chapel Road in Williamston, has completed a continuing education seminar in High Point sponsored by the Greater Piedmont Electrolysis Association.

The seminar provided information and education on up-to-date procedures designed to provide the best treatment and service for permanent hair removal.

Rawls, a licensed electrologist, has more than 20 years of experience practicing electrolysis.

Joyner, Griffin earn GEM awards
Wanda Joyner and Crystal Griffin have received Go the Extra Mile to Serve (GEM's) awards for April at Cypress Glen Retirement Community.

Joyner is the dining room supervisor and has worked at Cypress Glen since July 2003.

Griffin works in health care and is a certified nursing assistant who works primarily in skilled nursing.

She has been with Cypress Glen since September 2004.

Cypress Glen Retirement Community, at 100 Hickory St., is Greenville's only continuing care retirement community.

Schmit, Carmon get excellence awards
Ray Schmit and Andre' Carmon, facilities services employees at East Carolina University's steam plant off 14th Street, have received the "2005 Chancellor's Award for Excellence."

This is the highest honor that can be bestowed on an State Personnel Act employee at ECU.

Schmit, an HVAC controls shop supervisor, has been employed with the university since June 1999. He was honored in the category of innovations for his corrective measures with the control sequences that control the main campus chiller plant that would have resulted in the loss of over a hundred thousand dollars in damage to the main campus chiller plant cooling tower.

Schmit was able to stop the cooling tower from completely freezing up, which would have caused the main fill material and piping to be pulled out of the tower due to the weight of the ice. He reprogrammed the tower algorithms to redirect the flow of water to the by-pass valve using different input indexes and different temperature levels. His ability to spot the problem before the damage occurred and devise a remedial algorithm resulted in substantial savings to ECU.

Carmon, employed with the university as the main campus steam plant's senior boiler operator since June 1993, was honored in the category of human relations.

He is required to work during plant emergencies such as hurricanes, winter storms and steam outages, and willingly works any hours assigned regardless of the difficulty of the task or the working conditions involved. These conditions may include working in environments exceeding 100 degrees and in confined spaces requiring extensive personal protective equipment.

Carmon's fellow employees find him exceptionally good to work with which is evident by the fact that most plant employees will request his assistance when given a task requiring two or more employees.