Six Candler alumni have received recent honors from Candler and Emory University. Dean Jan Love awarded R. Lawson Bryan 75T 85T with the school’s 2018 Distinguished Alumni Award for Lifetime Achievement, in recognition of more than 40 years of service to the church, university, and society. Austin Dickson 07T, Kevin Murriel 11T, Shelvis Smith-Mather 06T 07T, Nancy Smith-Mather 08T, and Sara Toering 06L 06T have all been named to Emory’s Office of Alumni Engagement 2018 40 Under Forty list, which honors a multitalented and accomplished group of young professionals. Of all Emory’s schools, Candler had the second largest number of alumni selected to the 40 Under Forty Class of 2018.

Learn more about the honorees:

  • Lawson Bryan 75T 85T was elected resident bishop of the South Georgia Episcopal Area of The United Methodist Church in 2016, after 40 years of ministry in the Alabama-West Florida Conference. He has served as a delegate to General and Jurisdictional Conference, a trustee of Huntingdon College, a member of Candler’s Committee of 100, and currently serves on the board of directors of the UMC’s General Commission on Religion and Race. (Photo: top left)

  • Austin Dickson 07T is executive director of the Community Foundation of the Texas Hill Country in Kerrville, Texas. As the principal philanthropic institution in the region, the organization gives out $3 million annually in grants, and focuses on community change through nonprofit development, community leadership, and resource development. (Photo: top middle)

  • Kevin Murriel 11T  is an elder in the North Georgia Conference of The United Methodist Church and senior pastor at Atlanta’s Cascade United Methodist Church. As a pastor, theologian, writer, and advocate, he works to translate the methods of the Civil Rights movement into a modern day strategy for social justice and racial reconciliation. (Photo: top right)

  • Shelvis Smith-Mather 06T 07T is a mission worker in South Sudan through the World Mission Agency of the Presbyterian Church (USA). He serves as principal of the RECONCILE Peace Institute, a Christian organization that gathers faith and community leaders and strengthens their skills in resolving conflicts and recovering from trauma. (Photo: bottom left)

  • Nancy Smith-Mather 08T is a mission worker in South Sudan through the World Mission Agency of the Presbyterian Church (USA). She serves as project manager for the South Sudan Education and Peacebuilding Project, a five-year collaborative effort to address a gap in educational development caused by years of conflict. (Photo: bottom middle)

  • Sara Toering 06L 06T is general counsel for the Center for Community Progress in Atlanta, a national nonprofit focused on transformational change in communities struggling with vacancy, abandonment and disinvestment. Her passion for social justice began during her summer working with Candler’s Youth Theological Initiative. (Photo: bottom right)

You can nominate Candler alumni to receive the following awards. Learn more here, or click on each one for details.