Huge birthday cakes glowing with lighted sparklers served as a glittering opening ceremony for the 100th birthday celebration of Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College during Homecoming 2007 activities on Saturday. The college will celebrate its 100th birthday through 2008. Former ABAC students and supporters were also honored for professional achievement, community service and service to the college during the ABAC Alumni Association awards luncheon.

Award recipients included George T. Smith, Abraham Baldwin Distinguished Service Award; Julie Ewing Hunt, Distinguished Alumnus; Brian Ponder, Master Farmer; Kathy Butler Murray, Helen Brown Sasser Award; Pat Sirmans Puckett, Outstanding Health Care Professional; Keith Rucker, J. Lamar Branch Award; Glenn P. Willis Jr., Outstanding Business Leader; and Joan Griffin Marshall, Outstanding Educator. The Family Legacy Award was presented to the J.R. Gibbs Family. Dr. Ron Jones and Henry “Bo” Miller were named Honorary Alumni.

Smith is the first recipient of the Abraham Baldwin Distinguished Service Award, recognizing individuals who demonstrate unprecedented public service. Smith was student body president at ABAC in 1940. He served in the Georgia House of Representatives from 1959-1966, and was speaker of the House from 1963 – 1966. He was Georgia’s lieutenant governor from 1967-1970. Later he was elected to the Georgia Court of Appeals from 1977-1980, and to the Georgia Supreme Court from 1981-1991. He is the only person in Georgia history to win contested elections in all three branches of state government — legislative, executive, and judicial. The award is named for the statesman Abraham Baldwin, for whom the college was named.

Hunt is a 1964 graduate of ABAC. She owns J.H. Services, which includes Captain D’s and Shoney’s franchises; Park Place apartments; and Hunt Advertising. She serves her community as chair of the Tift County Tourism Association, past chair of the Tifton/Tift County Chamber of Commerce and as a founding director of the Foundation for Educational Excellence. She received the Athena Award in 1989 and the Stafford Award in 1996, both presented by the Chamber.

Hunt was a very strong advocate for ABAC during the four years she served as a member of the University System of Georgia Board of Regents from 2003-2007. She was also a member of the Georgia Development Authority for six years. She is a member of the ABAC President’s Club and serves on the finance committee at First United Methodist Church. Hunt’s late husband, John, was also an alumnus. Their children, Dallas and Julie, are both ABAC alumni.

Ponder is a 1987 ABAC graduate. When he graduated, he started farming with his father and brother in Omega. Today, he and his brother, Ken, operate a 2,100-acre farm which produces cotton, peanuts, watermelons, processor green beans and pine timber. Ponder was one of the first farmers in the area to practice conservation tillage on cotton and peanuts.

Ponder is the past chairman of the Middle South Georgia Soil and Water Conservation District. He serves on the Tift County Farm Bureau board and is president of the Georgia Alternative Energy Cooperative, an ethanol cooperative. Ponder and his wife, Missy, have two children, Cyrus, 15 and Victoria, 9. They are active members of the Union Grove Church of God.

Murray, a 1972 graduate, has successfully balanced family and career for 34 years. After completing a dietitian internship at Vanderbilt University Hospital, she worked as director of school food service in Worth and Colquitt counties before joining the staff of Colquitt Regional Medical Center in 1984. She is a member of the Georgia and American Dietetics Associations.

Murray married her ABAC sweetheart, Eddie, an agriculture education teacher in Colquitt County. She says her greatest accomplishment is raising three children — Jay and Katie, who are alumni, and Michael, who is a current student. She is also active at Heritage Church.

Puckett, Class of 1967, is the director of Women/Children’s Patient Services at South Georgia Regional Medical Center in Valdosta. She has been employed at South Georgia Regional her entire professional career, serving in a variety of positions.

Puckett is chair of the board of Lowndes Associated Ministries to People, also know as LAMP. In 2005, she was named Woman of Achievement for Lowndes/Valdosta Business and Professional Women. In 2004, she received the Nursing Leadership Award from the Georgia Organization of Nurse Leaders. She and her husband, Edward, are very active in First United Methodist Church.

Rucker, a 1991 graduate, has worked as the County Extension Agent in Tift County since 1999. Prior to that, he worked with ProGro and Gold Kist.

Rucker received the Donnie H. Morris Award for Excellence in Extension by the Georgia Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association for 2005. He also received two national awards: 2005 Epsilon Sigma Phi Southern Region Early Career Award and 2005 National Association of County Agricultural Agents (NACAA) Achievement Award. Rucker is a past president of the Tifton Kiwanis Club, a member of the Agrirama Foundation and a graduate of Leadership Tifton.

Rucker crafted the college mace used at President David Bridges’ inauguration in his woodworking shop. He lives in Tifton with his wife, Julie, also an ABAC alumnus and their two children, Hannah and Rebecca. They are active members of First Baptist Church in Tifton.

Willis earned his business degree from ABAC in 1980 and continued his education at UGA. Currently, he is senior vice president at South Georgia Banking Company in Tifton where he has been employed for 22 years.