HPU Honors Outstanding Alumni During Homecoming Weekend 2022

Lifetime Achievement Award – Dr. James E. “Jim” Surratt, Class of 1965, is a native of Thomasville, North Carolina, who graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in history from High Point College, and went on to earn his Master of Education degree in education administration and history from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro in 1968. He began his professional career as a teacher with Guilford County Schools, and later served the district as an assistant principal, project director and assistant superintendent until 1975. Surratt earned his Doctor of Education from Duke University in 1974 with a focus on administration and supervision.

During his notable career in public education, Surratt served 30 years as a superintendent for many North Carolina districts, including Goldsboro City Schools, Burlington City Schools and the Wake County Public School System. He also led Volusia County Schools in Daytona, Florida, and Plano and Klein Independent School Districts in Texas. After his retirement in 2005, he was interim headmaster for a private school in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. During his career, Surratt developed a model technology school in Florida, seven International Baccalaureate schools and led districts to 28 U.S. Schools of Excellence Blue Ribbon Awards along with numerous national awards.

Surratt met his wife, Elizabeth, while attending then High Point College, and they faced challenges of parenting a child with autism. The couple made a seven-figure philanthropic gift that established the Surratt Scholarship to help support a special education major from each academic class who intends to pursue a career path working with children who have autism or similar disabilities. In addition, the Dr. James E. Surratt Outstanding School of Education Doctoral Student Award is presented annually to a Stout School of
Education doctoral student who displays exceptional leadership skills.

Alumnus of the Year Award – William A. “Bill” Fidler, Class of 1969, is a native of Lebanon, Pennsylvania, who began his career in chemical distribution as a sales representative of Textile Chemical Company in Reading, Pennsylvania. After the company was bought by Brenntag of Mulheim, Germany, in 1981, Fidler rose in multiple positions at Brenntag North American and ultimately became president in 2006 and CEO in 2007. In this role, Fidler joined the management board and was responsible for their North and Latin American operations until his retirement in 2015.

Fidler established All-In Advisors, LLC, a chemical industry advisory firm in 2015. He acquired RGA Enterprises, Inc., a contract packaging company, with his wife and their son, Will, who serves as president and CEO. In 2018, Fidler formed an investment group to acquire chemical distribution firm Americhem, Inc., along with his stepson Eric, who serves as president. In 2020, at the onset of the global pandemic, Fidler established Pure Spaces, LLC, a sanitization business, with his son-in-law David.

Fidler was named the 2013 Distributor of the Year by the National Association of Chemical Distributors. In 2018, the Chemical Education Foundation created the William Fidler Service Award to honor his dedication to the organization. In 2019, he received the Henderson, Kentucky, Rotary Club’s Service Over Self Award for his leadership in bringing the Boys & Girls Club. Fidler continues to support the Boys & Girls Club, which he started through volunteering during college. Fidler serves his alma mater as chair of the Board of Visitors. The Fidlers have established a seven-figure planned gift to support the William A. Fidler Endowed Scholarship to provide financial assistance for students in the Earl N. Phillips School of Business or the Wanek School of Natural Sciences.

Alumni Service Award –Linda T. Chafin, Class of 1976, was born in High Point and grew up in nearby Asheboro. She started her studies at then High Point College part-time in 1965. In 1977, she began her professional career at High Point College as an adjunct accounting and auditing instructor. After several years, she joined the United Way of Greater High Point as finance director, where she initiated and implemented computerization of record while ensuring fiscal accountability and successful audits. As a certified public accountant, she joined the office of CPA Ronald R. Davis in 1984. She later became an independent accountant by opening her own firm in High Point where she specialized in small business accounting in addition to business and personal tax preparation. After 32 years, she retired in 2019.

Through the years, Chafin served on numerous boards in High Point and the greater Triad region. From 2003 to 2008, she also served as a Guardian Ad Litem, an advocate for abused and neglected children through the court system. She also served as a member of the HPU Board of Visitors and Panther Club. Last May, she completed a six-year term on the HPU Board of Directors, where she chaired the Scholarship Committee for three years. Through this role, the committee reviewed, selected and awarded approximately $100,000 to many deserving HPU students. In 2006, Chafin supported the Earl N. Phillips School of Business with a philanthropic investment. The university recognized her by naming a classroom in honor of her family in Phillips Hall.

Chafin continues to support her alma mater through the Steel Magnolias, a group of HPU alumnae who advocate for the university. Their endowed scholarship has grown from $3,000 to $200,000 in the last 10 years, awarding multiple scholarships each year to female students who call North Carolina home. In addition, the group spearheaded the Steel Magnolia Tree collection as part of the Mariana H. Qubein Arboretum and Botanical Gardens that now contains more than 150 different varieties of magnolia trees. Chafin served as the group’s treasurer from 2013 to 2019 and as a member of the advisory board from 2013 to 2021.

President’s Award – Steve L. Scott, Class of 1998, earned his Bachelor of Science degree through the evening degree program. Scott completed the Wachovia Executive Leadership Program with the Kenan-Flagler Business School at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2004. His early career encompassed managing data centers for BB&T in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, where the bank was headquartered. In 1995, he joined Wachovia as its chief information security officer, and later became head of information security technologies and operations with Wells Fargo in 2009. Scott returned to BB&T in 2015 as its chief information security officer, a position he held until the merger of equals between BB&T and SunTrust Banks, Inc., in December 2019. He continued to lead corporate cybersecurity at Truist and was responsible for execution of the corporation’s information security programs and business objectives, ensuring information assets and technologies were protected. Earlier this year, Scott retired as executive vice president and the chief information security officer at Truist Financial Corporation after more than 40 years in information security.

Scott has been recognized as both an Information Security Executive of the Year and Quality Leadership Executive of the Year nominee for the Southeastern United States. He was presented a Hometown Heroes Salute by the U.S. Air Force. In addition, he served on HPU’s Technology Advisory Board and the Technology Council Executive Committee for the Winston-Salem Chamber of Commerce. Scott holds numerous professional affiliations with the Banking Institute of Technology Secretariat, Sheltered Harbor board of directors, Information Risk Executive Council, and serves on both Microsoft and Cisco’s customer advisory boards.

Each year, HPU also honors 10 young alumni who graduated within the last 10 years. This year’s Top 10 Under 10 are:

• Natalie K. Eidson, Class of 2013, is the event coordinator and program manager of Explore Elkin, a business-led organization she helped form to create a tourism hub in the Yadkin Valley of North Carolina.
• Nikki L. Sanford, Class of 2013, earned her Juris Doctorate in 2016 from William and Mary Law School and is a practicing intellectual property law attorney with BakerHostetler in Seattle, Washington.
• Ingrid L. Cross, Class of 2015, is the political action committee manager for the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies.
• Cate S. Owens, Class of 2016, is a sales associate for Creative Office Resources, a commercial furniture dealership in Boston, Massachusetts, and specializes in high-rise, ground-up builds in the Boston market by working with broker, project managers and design firms.
• Dana H. Pusateri, Class of 2017, is manager of client relations for the Americas, where she travels, hosts and stewards the Top 1% of Christian Dior clients.
• Christopher J. Stone, Class of 2017, is a senior process manager for eClerx Financial Markets where he manages the Know Your Client review process for a global investment bank.
• Cameron P. Scott, Class of 2017, is coordinator of baseball development in the Major League Baseball Central Office, where he identifies top minority amateur athletes to attend MLB youth initiatives.     
• Cassandra J. Diaz, Class of 2019, is an account executive for corporate business development with the NBA’s Chicago Bulls.
• Emily C. Promise, Class of 2020, is a partner at Blakely Financial in High Point, North Carolina. She assisted with opening a second office in her hometown of Marblehead, Massachusetts, and the acquisition of another practice.
• C. Connor Mosack, Class of 2021, was named the 2020 CARS Tour Late Model Stock Rookie of the Year and a two-time Trans Am winner at Watkins Glenn in 2021 and 2022. He made his first start this year racing in the NASCAR Xfinity Series and the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.