Alex Bynum, of Dresden; William Latimer III, of Union City; and Tonya Parson, of Memphis, will be honored with University of Tennessee at Martin Alumni Awards during homecoming festivities Oct. 27.
The awards will be presented during the annual Chancellor’s Brunch and Alumni Awards Program beginning at 9 a.m. in the Paul Meek Library. This event is open by invitation only. Award-winners will also be recognized during halftime of the homecoming football game against Southeast Missouri beginning at 2 p.m. in Hardy Graham Stadium.
Bynum is the recipient of the 2018 Outstanding Young Alumni Award, which honors a university alum under 40 years of age for outstanding achievement in his or her chosen profession. Bynum is a 2009 UTM graduate with a bachelor’s degree in agriculture and has been the owner and principal broker of Wendell Alexander Realty in Dresden since 2016.
He has served UTM by participation on the UT Martin Skyhawk Board and as a 2017-18 athletic board member. He also serves a number of charitable and community-based organizations and is active in five different realty associations. Bynum is the recipient of many professional awards, including the 2016 Tennessee Realtors Presidential Award and the 2016 Central West Tennessee Association of Realtors Presidential Award.
Latimer will receive the 2018 Chancellor’s Award for University Service, which honors an individual for exemplary service to the university. Latimer is responsible for providing the match funds required by the Tennessee legislature to finance the construction of the new Latimer Engineering and Science Building, which is named in his honor. The $6.5 million gift is the largest single gift since university records have been kept.
He attended UT Martin during the summer of 1958 before completing a bachelor’s degree in engineering from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, in 1960. Latimer has served UT Martin and the UT System through an appointment to the UT President’s Council and is a former member of the UT Development Council and individual fundraising advisory boards for UT Knoxville, UT Martin and the UT Institute of Agriculture.
He is also a former president of the UT Martin Development Committee and has supported scholarships at both UT Martin and UT Chattanooga. Latimer was the principal contributor to the UT Health Science Center College of Dentistry clinic in Union City and is a 1996 graduate of UT Martin’s WestStar Leadership Program.
Parson will receive the 2018 Outstanding Alumni Award, which honors a university alum for outstanding achievement in his or her chosen profession. She earned a bachelor’s degree in biology from UT Martin in 1993 before later completing a bachelor’s degree in nursing at Baptist College of Health Sciences in 1999. She went on to obtain a master’s degree in acute and critical care nursing from the UT Health Science Center.
In 2006, Parson was voted into the “Top 100 Nurses in Shelby County” and received the Caregiver of the Year Award from the Tennessee Hospital Association. In 2007, she led the medical response team at St. Francis Hospital in Memphis, enabling the hospital to be listed as a mentor hospital by the Institute of Healthcare Improvement.
Parson has practiced as a primary care provider with Methodist LeBonheur Healthcare since 2009, and she and her husband have owned and operated Passport Health, a travel immunization franchise in Memphis, since 2010. In 2016, Parson became president of the UT Martin Black Alumni Association, and in 2018 she was selected to serve on the UT Alumni Association’s Women’s Council.
A complete schedule of UT Martin homecoming activities is available at utmforever.com/homecoming. For more information on homecoming or any university alumni award, contact the Office of Alumni Affairs at 731-881-7610 or visit utmforever.com/homecoming.
