Michelle Purdy '97

Michelle is an Associate Professor of Education in Arts and Sciences, Director of Undergraduate Educational Studies, Chair of the Department of Education Curriculum Committee, and an affiliate member of the Interdisciplinary Program in Urban Studies and the Center on Urban Research and Public Policy at Washington University in St. Louis. Her book, Transforming the Elite: Black Students and the Desegregation of Private Schools, has been awarded the 2019 New Scholar's Book Award from Division F (History and Historiography) of the American Educational Research Association (AERA). Prior to her time as a university professor, she also served as an Associate Head of Middle School at St. Andrew's.

More Alum Profiles

List of 23 items.

  • Keith Smythe Meacham '88

    An experienced and creative entrepreneur, brand strategist, and leader in startup and non-profit organizations, Meacham has developed an impressive resume in education, children's media, and non-profit management. She is a founding member of ed-tech startup Homer, where she led brand marketing, partnerships, and teacher growth. Currently, Meacham is the co-founder and principal of Reed Smythe & Co in Nashville, which collaborates with artists and artisans to create beautiful, unexpected pieces for house and garden and has been recognized by the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and Architectural Digest as a company to watch.

    Read her remarks from the Alumni Awards Dinner.
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  • Alexander Clark '00

    Alexander is the founder and CEO of Technolutions, a software company that he created as a 7th grader. As a student at Yale University, Clark developed Yale-Station, the system that led Yale to become the first school in the world to release admissions decisions online. Since then, he has devoted himself to running Technolutions, which is best known for Slate, a technology platform that powers admissions offices at more than 525 colleges and universities around the world, including 45 of the Top 50 Best Colleges as ranked by the U.S. News and World Report.
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  • Andrew Chatham '98

    Andrew is based in San Francisco and is a distinguished software engineer at Waymo - the name for Google's self-driving car project. After graduating from Duke University with majors in computer science and economics, he began working with Google when the company was just four years old, becoming a senior staff engineer on the self-driving car.
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  • Anita Goel '91

    Anita is the Founder, Chairman, and CEO of Nanobiosym Diagnostics (NBSDx), with a mission to decentralize, mobilize, and personalize the next generation of healthcare delivery. The company's Gene-RADAR® systems allow real-time, nanoscale precision diagnostics, so that anyone, anywhere, at any time can access molecular information about their own health. Named by MIT Technology Review as one of the World's "Top TR35 science and technology innovators" and as one of the "World's Most Influential Visionaries in Biotech" by Scientific American, Goel has over 70 patents worldwide, and she has published articles in top peer-reviewed journals including publications of Nature Group, Scientific American Group, and PNAS.
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  • Anne Etheridge '88

    Anne is a cinematographer for feature films, television, and documentaries. Narrative and documentary projects she has lensed have screened at film festivals around the world, including Cannes' Directors' Fortnight, Sundance, Berlin, Rotterdam, SXSW, and Tribeca. Anne's recent project, Julia Meltzer's DAYLA'S OTHER COUNTRY, was selected to kick off the 2017 national PBS series, POV, and Ferne Pearlstein's widely-acclaimed, THE LAST LAUGH, featuring Mel Brooks, Sarah Silverman, and Rob Reiner premiered at Tribeca in 2017.
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  • Arjun Srinivasan '88

    Arjun heads the response team of the Center for Disease Control's (CDC) Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion. In addition to investigating outbreaks of infection and illness in hospitals and healthcare facilities, he has conducted extensive research on the use of antibiotics in hospitals and controlling antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Arjun uses his expertise in healthcare epidemiology to make hospitals across the country safer for both patients and healthcare professionals.
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  • Christy Gilliland-Dunaway '81

    As a triple amputee, Christy heard the call to help lead the independent living movement for people with disabilities. She and her late husband founded Dunaway Consulting, providing disability and equal rights information, training, and technical assistance regarding all aspects of the Americans with Disabilities Act and Emergency Planning.
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  • Dan Roach '78

    Dan returned to St. Andrew's in 1998, 20 years after earning his diploma. Since then, he has served as Upper School dean of students, Upper School history teacher, assistant coach for the varsity football program, head coach for the boys' and girls' powerlifting teams, volunteers in multiple capacities, and is a proud parent. Dan and his wife, Holli, are parents of St. Andrew's graduates Patrick '06, Andrew '08, Madalyn '13, and Jace '20. He is now adding another role to his resume as director of St. Andrew's newly formed entrepreneurial program.
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  • Eric Ford '95

    Eric was chosen by NASA to be an integral member of the science team for its Kepler mission, which resulted in the discovery of thousands of planetary systems. Currently, he is a professor at Pennsylvania State University in astronomy and astrophysics. Clarivate Analytics named Ford on their list of Highly Cited Researchers for 2017 and 2018, and he was the recipient of the 2011 Harold C. Urey Prize for outstanding planetary research by a young scientist, one of the field's most prestigious awards.
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  • Erin Matts '95

    Prior to her current role as CEO of Hearts & Science, Erin served as the North America CEO of Annalect, Chief Digital Marketing Officer at Glam Media, and Global Director of Digital Connections at Anheuser-Busch InBev. In 2015, she was named to Ad Age's "Women to Watch" list among 20 women breaking ground in marketing and media, and she was listed among AdWeek's 2016 Young Influentials list of game changers under 40. 
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  • Jack Allin '96

    Jack is an architect with Wier Boerner Allin Architecture, an architectural firm based in Jackson, MS. His projects include, among others, the Brandon Ampitheater, Duby Noble Field/Polk Dement Stadium at Mississippi State University, Mississippi Children's Museum - Meridian, and the new chapel at St. Andrew's north campus.
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  • Jim Phillips '77

    Jim has worked in medicine since 1986 and served as a Colonel in the Army for 31 years. Currently, he is the Medical Director for the Anesthesia Institute Medical House Offer Program and the Anesthesia Institute IT Director, working in the fields of Anesthesiology and Cardiovascular Critical Care. Jim has earned multiple awards, including 2nd place for the Innovation in Teaching Award by the International Anesthesia Research Society in 2008. He served on the St. Andrew's Board of Trustees from 2009-2012.
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  • Jordan Hailey Bryan '03

    Jordan works with Ross & Yerger as a Shareholder/Vice President and leads their Private Client Division Practice Group. Prior to her current role, she worked in the human resources department of Goldman Sachs in New York City and then at Watkins Eager PLLC. Jordan served on the St. Andrew's Alumni Board from 2011-2017, including two years as the Alumni Board President. She is a loyal donor to the school, is married to a fellow alum, and together they are proud St. Andrew's parents.
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  • Marci Songcharoen '91

    Marci turned her passion for art and her education in architecture into a global business specializing in striking, technologically innovative lighting design. She is the owner and lead designer for SEAM Design, a London, England-based firm that provides creative lighting design for residences, restaurants, hotels, corporate interiors, museums, retail stores, and large scale luxury developments in the United States, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. She works alongside her husband, fellow alum Emory Smith '92.
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  • Martha Hall Foose '86

    An author and chef, Martha wrote A Southerly Course: Recipes and Stories from Close to Home and Screen Doors and Sweet Tea: Recipes and Tales from a Southern Cook, 2009 winner of the James Beard Award for Best Cookbook: American. Over the years, she opened Bottletree Bakery in Oxford, MS, and Mockingbird Bakery in Greenwood, MS, and she has been a sought-after speaker and recurring guest on various TV and radio networks. Martha is a contributor and food stylist for numerous publications and the film industry, most well known for serving as food stylist on the Oscar-nominated Mississippi tale, The Help.
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  • Michelle Purdy '97

    Michelle is an Associate Professor of Education in Arts and Sciences, Director of Undergraduate Educational Studies, Chair of the Department of Education Curriculum Committee, and an affiliate member of the Interdisciplinary Program in Urban Studies and the Center on Urban Research and Public Policy at Washington University in St. Louis. Her book, Transforming the Elite: Black Students and the Desegregation of Private Schools, has been awarded the 2019 New Scholar's Book Award from Division F (History and Historiography) of the American Educational Research Association (AERA). Prior to her time as a university professor, she also served as an Associate Head of Middle School at St. Andrew's.
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  • Rob Farr '68

    Rob is the principal and corporate president of Cooke Douglass Farr Lemons Architects & Engineers. He served on the St. Andrew's board of trustees from 1996-2005, including two years as the board chair, and service on the finance, executive, and facilities committees. Rob was a member of the steering committee for the 1998 Great Expectations Capital Campaign to build the Center for Performing Arts, and he was appointed to the Corporation by the St. Andrew's vestry. He and his wife, Virginia, have served as chairs of the Annual Fund and were inaugural members of The 1947 Society.
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  • Robert Langford '82

    Robert has served as executive director of Operation Shoestring since 1997, a nonprofit organization that aims to increase the quality of life for people in Jackson through education, outreach, and inspiration. Through volunteers, funders, local congregations, and several public entities, Operation Shoestring addresses the needs of families and children, uplifting communities and helping them see a brighter future.
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  • Russell Barksdale '96

    Russell is a staff attorney at the Louisiana Capital Assistance Center (LCAC). Before entering law school, he was a secondary public school educator in Mississippi, with involvement in the Sunflower County Freedom Project, as a VISTA volunteer and a participant in Mississippi Teacher Corps. From 2010-2017 Russell worked as a full-time public defender in New Orleans, overseeing the division of Juvenile Transfer and Conflict Cases and then as a public defender in Plaquemines Parish in Louisiana.
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  • Seleta Reynolds '94

    As the general manager of the Los Angeles Department of Transportation (LADOT), Seleta Reynolds uses creative and innovative ways to keep people moving and safe, no matter how they travel. In her position, she has converted a busy street in L.A. - the car capital of the country - into what's now a popular pedestrian area. She developed an innovative plan to reduce fatalities at a busy intersection, and she's been creative in transforming what was once a lane of traffic into a cultural focal point - adding tables, murals on storefronts, and poetry on old theater marquees.
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  • Sol Mundinger '97

    Sol was part of the team at the University of Maryland R. Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center that performed its first face transplant in 2012. Today, he works at LSU Health New Orleans as Associate Professor of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery; Associate Professor of Cell Biology and Anatomy; Director of Pediatric Plastic Surgery; Craniofacial Center Director; and Plastic Surgery Residency Associate Program Director. Over the course of his career, he has earned multiple awards, including the Johns Hopkins Medicine Miller-Coulson Academy of Clinical Excellence Frank Coulson Award for Clinical Excellence.
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  • Steve Cohen '00

    Steve Cohen, partner and agent of motion picture talent for United Talent Agency, is helping to open a full-service office in Atlanta, Georgia. UTA clients include Tiffany Haddish, Paul Rudd, Kevin Hart, Benedict Cumberbatch, Sofia Vergara, Jason Sudeikis, Will Ferrell, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, and Beyoncé, Following his graduation from St. Andrew's, Cohen attended Emory University and after graduating in 2004, began working in the UTA mailroom. Just two years later he was promoted to agent in the talent department. Cohen received the St. Andrew's Young Alumni Award in 2015.  
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  • Vaughan McRae '74

    Vaughan and his wife, Nora Frances, are the parents of four St. Andrew's Alpha-Omega graduates. He is the former chairman of the St. Andrew's Board of Trustees, and along with Nora Frances, co-chaired the "Great Expectations" capital campaign, which resulted in the construction of the Center for Performing Arts. Vaughan worked in his family's business, McRae's Department Stores, until after the sale of the company in 1995. He has served on the boards of Millsaps College, the Wilson Research Foundation at Mississippi Methodist Rehabilitation Center, New Stage Theatre, Mississippi Opera, and the Lambda Chi Alpha Educational Foundation.
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Foundations — Grade 12 • Jackson, Mississippi
South Campus | Infants to Grade 4
4120 Old Canton Road, Jackson, Mississippi 39216
601.987.9300
North Campus | Grades 5 to 12
370 Old Agency Road, Ridgeland, Mississippi 39157
601.853.6000