Rhodes College’s annual alumni awards will be presented during Homecoming/Reunion Weekend Oct. 23-25. This year’s honorees are:
- Distinguished Alumni of the Year
Dr. Charles W. Robertson Jr., a member of the Class of 1965 - Young Alumni of the Year
Brooks Lamb, a member of the Class of 2017 - Black Student Association Distinguished Alumni of the Year
Joy Richmond Bowen, a member of the Class of 1997
The Distinguished Alumni Award recognizes alumni who have brought honor to Rhodes College through extraordinary achievement in their profession and community. A physicist, entrepreneur, and visionary philanthropist, Dr. Charles W. Robertson Jr. co-founded Nano Drop Technologies, which has helped to transform scientific research worldwide. He has served as a Rhodes trustee and over the years has generously funded various Rhodes fellowships, projects, and facilities in the sciences, including Robertson Hall on campus. In 2023, the college established a $1 million endowment supporting new and ongoing faculty-led research projects, thanks to the generosity of Roberton and his wife, Patricia. The same year, the college presented him with an honorary degree. It was Robertson who encouraged Rhodes to submit a proposal to NASA’s CubeSat Launch Initiative and generously provided funding for the project. On Sept. 14 of this year, a four-inch, cube-shaped satellite designed by Rhodes professors and students was launched into space aboard NASA’s Northrop Grumman CRS-23. The launch was the culmination of a six-year project, and the satellite will test next-gen solar technology.
The Distinguished Young Alumni Award recognizes alumni who have not yet reached their tenth reunion but have brought honor to the college through extraordinary achievement in their profession and community. Brooks Lamb serves as a protection and access specialist at American Farmland Trust and is the author of Love for the Land: Lessons from Farmers Who Persist in Place, which draws from in-depth interviews and on-the-ground experiences to tell the stories of farmers who continue caring for their land despite immense challenges. Lamb received the prestigious Truman Scholarship while a student at Rhodes and worked as rural conservation manager for The Land Trust for Tennessee after graduation. He also earned a master’s degree from Yale School of the Environment. There, he won the Strachan Donnelley Award, the school’s highest academic honor.
The Black Student Association’s Distinguished Alumni Award recognizes African American alumni whose record of outstanding personal achievement and service to others has inspired Rhodes students and brought honor to their alma mater. Joy Richmond Bowen is senior vice president of treasury management for Pinnacle Financial Partners, and prior to Pinnacle, she worked in various roles at First Tennessee Bank for 18 years. Since graduation, Bowen has served Rhodes as a faculty member, board member, and event leader. A member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., she served on the alumni steering committee for the National Pan-Hellenic Council Plaza dedicated in 2024 on Rhodes’ campus. In addition to serving her alma mater, Bowen is active on boards in the community, including the Regional One Health Foundation.
Honorees will be recognized at the Alumni Convocation on Saturday, Oct. 25.