The recipients are Vivian Moore Carroll ’73, Tim Sease ’87, Mike Smiley ’92, Marsha Ford ’71 and Jordan Lewis ’17.
ROCK HILL, SOUTH CAROLINA – Five accomplished Winthrop University alumni will be honored for their service and professional achievements at the Alumni Awards Celebration on Thursday, Nov. 12. The event, which is one of several events held during Homecoming and Reunion, is by invitation only.
The recipients are: Vivian Moore Carroll ’73, Mary Mildred Sullivan Award; Tim Sease ’87, Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award; Mike Smiley ’92, Alumni Distinguished Service Award; Marsha Ford ’71, Alumni Professional Achievement Award; and Jordan Lewis ’17, Outstanding Young Alumni Award.
Learn more about the recipients below:
MARY MILDRED SULLIVAN AWARD
This award, established in 1940, recognizes a Winthrop alumna for selfless dedication
of time, energy and talent in service to others.
Vivian Moore Carroll ’73
Carroll earned a Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics from Winthrop College in 1973. She earned a Master of Business Administration from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte in 1983 and received the Certified Financial Planner designation from the College for Financial Planning in 1987.
A native of Rock Hill, she spent 25 years in the securities industry before retiring in 2001 as a financial consultant with Merrill Lynch in Charlotte.
She has generously served Winthrop through her leadership, expertise and philanthropy. She and her husband, Larry, made a leadership gift in 2008 to establish a business and trading center within Winthrop’s then College of Business Administration. Vivian M. Carroll Hall, which houses the Carroll Capital Markets Training and Trading Center as well as classrooms and faculty offices, was dedicated in Sept. 2009. Carroll co-chaired Distinction: The Campaign for Winthrop, Winthrop’s $50 million capital campaign. She served on the Executive Board of the Winthrop Alumni Association from 2000-2012, serving as president of the board from 2009-2011. She also chaired the Credentials Committee and Honors and Awards Committee of the Alumni Executive Board. She served on the Winthrop University Foundation Board from 2008-2021 and chaired the Audit Committee. In 2016, she was a founding member of the Winthrop Women’s Coalition and is a current member, serving as an ambassador to support the vision of Winthrop's strategic plan and philanthropic needs.
Read more about Vivian Moore Carroll.
ALGERNON SYDNEY SULLIVAN AWARD
This award recognizes a Winthrop alumnus for selfless dedication of time, energy and talent in service to others.
Tim Sease ’87
Sease earned a Bachelor of Arts in Communication and Business Administration from Winthrop College in 1987.
He currently serves as Executive Vice President and Managing Director of Investment Services at SouthState Bank in Charleston, where he also leads the company's Retirement Plan Services Group. He is a Certified Financial Planner professional and a Chartered Financial Consultant.
His service to Winthrop has been extensive. He served on the Winthrop University Board of Trustees from 2009-2026, where he was a member of the Executive Committee of the Board and past chair of the Committee on Finance. He also has served on the Young Alumni Council, Annual Giving Advisory Council, Reunion Committee, Reunion Gift Chair and Capital Campaign Committee. He was a member of the Alumni Executive Board from 2000-2008, serving as president from 2005-2007. He also served on the Winthrop University Foundation Board from 2003-2007. In 2007, he received the Alumni Distinguished Service Award from the Winthrop University Alumni Association.
ALUMNI DISTINGUISHED SERVICE AWARD
This award recognizes a Winthrop alumna/us who significantly contributes to the quality of life in his or her community, the development of values and morals within others, and serves as an outstanding citizen.
Mike Smiley ’92
Smiley earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with a concentration in Financial Accounting from Winthrop in 1992.
He founded Penland Legacy Advisors, a financial consulting firm specializing in fee-only investment management, financial planning, estate and wealth transfer strategies, and legacy building/charitable giving, where he served as President.
He has served on the Winthrop University Foundation Board since 2024 and he has served on the Young Alumni Council. In 2025, he established the Mike and Shari Lynn Smiley Endowed Scholarship, which supports students pursuing a degree in the health sciences. He is a current alumni mentor for the I’m Ready alumni to student mentoring program.
ALUMNI PROFESSIONAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
This award is presented to an alumna/us who has made significant contributions to his or her professional field while exemplifying high moral and business ethics.
Marsha Ford ’71
Ford earned a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy and Religion with minors in History and English in 1971 from Winthrop College. She graduated from the Medical University of South Carolina with a Doctor of Medicine degree in 1979 and completed her Medical Toxicology Fellowship at Bellevue Hospital Center, University Hospital and New York City Poison Control Center in New York, New York. She did her residency at Brookdale Hospital in Brooklyn, New York.
Ford began her emergency medicine career in 1982 at what is now Atrium-Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. She then founded and served as the first Medical Director for North Carolina Poison Control, a position she held for 17 years.
Ford has been active in state, national and international emergency medicine and poison center associations.
Ford has been a loyal supporter of Winthrop, creating scholarships and giving back to various areas on campus, including support for the Political Science department and student journalists working for the Johnsonian, as she did during her time as a student.
OUTSTANDING YOUNG ALUMNI AWARD
This award recognizes a Winthrop alumna/us age 35 or younger whose service to the university, service to the community and professional achievements have reflected positively on all alumni and the university.
Jordan Lewis ’17
Lewis, a former McNair Scholar, earned a Bachelor of Science in Biology and Environmental Sciences from Winthrop in 2017. He earned a Ph.D. in Population Biology, Ecology, and Evolution from Emory University in 2022.
He is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of South Carolina, where he teaches and conducts research in evolutionary ecology. Since arriving at USC, he has continued to serve his profession and community, serving as the Biology Department seminar coordinator and as a judge for the Biological Sciences section of the Midlands area High School Science fair.
Among all his activities, he is most proud of his ongoing collaboration with the Winthrop McNair Scholars program. Since 2017, he has led a Winthrop summer research workshop to help students prepare for graduate and fellowship applications during their senior year.
For more information, contact the Office of Alumni Relations at 803/323-2145 or e-mail alumni@winthrop.edu.
