Palm Beach Atlantic University

 Alumni Service Award

2012 Recipient

Robert Elliott '87

Robert Elliott is a 1987 graduate of Palm Beach Atlantic University and now serves as unit manager for human resources with the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office.

A resident of Palm Beach Gardens, Elliott has worked with the Sheriff’s Office since 2008. He has volunteered with several organizations both in Florida and in Texas, where he lived previously.

In Texas he was a grief counselor for children at The WARM Place in Fort Worth. When he returned to Florida in 1993, he volunteered with a charitable organization known as Win for the Kids. A few years later, he started volunteering with Hearts & Hope as a grief counselor and continued in this role until 1999.

Elliott earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from PBA. He served on the University’s Alumni Association board from 1993 to 2001 and has been involved with the golf tournament committee since 1993. The annual tournament raises money for scholarships.

When he attended PBA, Elliott was the chaplain for student government, and he also worked for PBA as a recruiter in the admissions office.

2011 Recipient
Ben Starling III ’92

A native of Florida, Starling was raised in a close-knit Southern Baptist family in Immokalee, Fla. His untiring determination and hard work has made him a successful and well-known leader in the fundraising world of South Florida. Starling serves as the director of philanthropy for The Scripps Research Institute, the world's largest independent nonprofit biomedical research organizations. Prior to joining Scripps, he served as executive director of Northwood University's Outstanding Business Leader Association. He also served as president and CEO of The CAREing Foundation, a nonprofit organization committed to providing artistic programs to “at risk” communities in Palm Beach County in an effort to reduce drug and alcohol use among teens. A member of a number of numerous organizations and past president of the Palm Beach Republican Club, Starling holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from PBA. Starling lives on Singer Island.

2010 Recipients
Ryan Chandley ’99/'02 and Kelly Queen Chandley '99

Ryan Chandley ’99/’02 MBA and his wife Kelly Queen Chandley ’99 of Fleming Island, Fla., received the Alumni Service Award during PBA’s Homecoming celebration.

Ryan Chandley is in charge of operations and sales in Northeast Florida for Cemex, an international building materials company. Before that, he worked in Palm Beach County for Rinker Materials, which was acquired by Cemex.

He is active in the Florida Concrete and Products Association, where he serves as Region 2 chairman, and he has been elected to the organization’s board of directors. He also serves the Association of Builders and Contractors (ABC) on the legislative committee.

He has a bachelor’s degree in management from PBA, and he earned an MBA degree from the University in 2002. As an undergraduate, he was basketball team captain, a resident assistant and a student leader.

Chandley has been a member of the Sailfish Club at Palm Beach Atlantic and participated in the “Share the Vision” Alumni Basketball think tank. He also has given his testimony and spoken on behalf of Palm Beach Atlantic to several prospective student groups.

Kelly Chandley has been the owner of BellaBu, specializing in custom baby gifts and accessories, since 2004. Before that she was an elementary physical education teacher and department head as well as the varsity women’s volleyball coach at The King’s Academy in West Palm Beach.

During her years at PBA, she was a standout on the Sailfish women’s volleyball team, twice earning NAIA All-Region honors and earning NAIA All-Conference honors three times. She earned repeated Regional and Conference Player of the Week honors, and she also received multiple Collegiate All-Tournament Team/MVP honors. In addition, she was among the top five all-time kills leaders at Palm Beach Atlantic.

She earned a degree in physical education from PBA in 1999, and she minored in elementary education. Since graduation, she has been active in the University’s Alumni Association, serving on its board and helping with such events as the annual Alumnae Tea, which raises money for scholarships.

The Chandleys have three sons: Ryan II, Reed and Ryder. 

Delesa Hinkle Morris is the director of alumni and external affairs for the Academic Health center (AHC) at the University of Cincinnati (Ohio) Foundation. It is a role for which she is quite adept. For nearly eight years (1998–2006) Morris served as director of alumni relations for her alma mater, Palm Beach Atlantic University, from which she has a bachelor's in business administration. In her current position, Morris directs the alumni affairs program for the College of Medicine. She also manages events and projects related to the AHC Office of Development and Alumni Affairs. All totaled she serves an alumni base of more than 26,000. Morris is involved with the Association of American Medical Colleges–Group on Institutional Advancement and the Cincinnati Go Red committee for the American Heart Association. She and husband Michael live in the Cincinnati area, and are the parents of Matthew, Jacob and Jared.

 
2009 Recipient

Financial entrepreneur Bridgette Francis holds a number of distinctions in her native Bahamas. She is the first Bahamian selected to the America’s Geographic Focus Group of the Financial Planning Association. She is also the first to become a member of the National Association for Female Executives.

2008 Recipient

Dr. Beth Everett is on the faculty of Bethel College in McKenzie, Tenn., where she is co-chair of the division of music, assistant professor of music and associate conductor of Renaissance. She recently performed at Carnegie Hall as a soloist with the University of Southern Mississippi’s Southern Chorale. Serving with the Journeyman program of the Southern Baptist International Mission Board, Dr. Everett was on the faculty of the National Music Conservatory in Amman, Jordan. Dr. Everett holds a bachelor’s in church music from PBA, a master’s in choral conducting from Southern Methodist University, and a doctorate in conducting from the University of Southern Mississippi. 

2008 Recipient

Perry Brown ’90

A senior vice president with Northern Trust in Palm Beach, Fla., Perry Brown is a director of the wealth strategies group for Florida. Committed to community service, Brown is a board member of EPOCH/Spady Cultural Heritage Museum, Smiles Changes Lives, and the Historical Society of Palm Beach County.   Brown earned a bachelor's in business administration from PBA and a master's in business administration from Baylor University in Waco, Texas. He lives in West Palm Beach. He is married to Troy and is the father of Jordan, 18, and Ethan, 16. 

2006 Recipient  
Freddie Cox Daughtridge '77

After working in local hospitals as a nurse for several years, Freddie Cox Daughtridge came to PBA to pursue a bachelor’s degree in behavioral science with additional credits in education. For the next 11 years, she taught history, social studies and health at Palm Beach Gardens High School. In 1985, Daughtridge completed a master’s degree in counseling psychology from Nova Southeastern University and went on to work at a psychologist’s office in West Palm Beach where she specialized in helping people overcome depression and anxiety. She went on to complete a doctor of philosophy degree in religion and society with a specialization in counseling from Oxford Graduate School in Dayton, Tenn., where she received the Chalice Award for outstanding research. She has served on the Board of Regents for Oxford Graduate School since 1996 and three years ago was appointed to PBA’s Alumni Association Board of Directors where she serves on the scholarship committee. She is the author of “Discipleship for Christians of Elementary School Age.”
 

For 12 years, Patti Johnson Hovey worked in social services and marketing in the health care field. She left the workforce to raise her family but recently returned and is serving at the Orlando Heart Center in physician relations. She also is a leadership training specialist for long-term and assisted living health care. She is an active supporter of the University from which she earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology. During the past six years, she has served as a member of the Alumni Association Board of Directors and was secretary of the board for two years. Hovey serves as a committee member for Homecoming and assists at Orlando alumni chapter events. Hovey is active in a number of charitable and Christ-centered nonprofit organizations. For the last decade, Hovey and her husband, Greg, have assisted with various ministries at First Baptist Church of Orlando.