category: Faculty Emeriti - In Honor Of Patricia Harrelson By Office of University Communications On August 25, 2022 Professor Emerita of Music Education Patricia Harrelson Professor Patricia B. Harrelson (1941-) attended Cool Springs High School before graduating from the North Carolina School of Arts in 1968 with a bachelor’s degree in vocal performance. With a full graduate assistantship, she went on to earn a master’s degree in vocal performance from Converse College in 1972 before later taking doctoral studies from Florida State University. Before coming to Gardner-Webb, she was a director of church music at Pleasant Grove United Methodist Church and First United Methodist Church, both in Forest City. Harrelson joined the Gardner-Webb music faculty as a teacher and vocal coach in 1972. Harrelson said, “Success is helping others find and develop their God-given talent(s) to be used for the purpose of bringing to life and sharing with others, through teaching and/or performance, the art of music. Giving to them has been a fulfilling gift to me. My students taught me more, I think, than I ever could have taught them. I have been blessed.” Harrelson is remembered by faculty, staff and students at GWU as one who cared about her colleagues and students and one who was and is loyal to Gardner-Webb University. “I am grateful for the opportunity to have shared in a part of the lives of many who studied and worked at this fine institution,” she said. Harrelson retired in 2012 after four decades of teaching in Gardner-Webb’s music department. During a ceremony recognizing her years of service, she was inducted into the “Faith, Service, and Leadership Hall of Fame,” an honor reserved only for faculty with at least 40 years of service to Gardner-Webb. At Harrelson’s induction, GWU President Dr. Frank Bonner said, “A symbolic phrase we often use to describe a great teacher’s influence on students is that she ‘helps them find their voice.’ Well, as one of her colleagues once said, Patricia Harrelson has been doing that quite literally for decades.” Concerning the Hall of Fame itself, Bonner also said to the staff and faculty in attendance, “Each member of this distinguished Hall is a champion and an exemplar of faith, service, and leadership, and, as such, they are the keepers of a legacy that is now ours to further and protect.” During the ceremony Harrelson was presented with a letter awarding her full professor status, a gesture of appreciation for her years of excellence in teaching. Professor Harrelson made her home in Ellenboro after retirement. Source: Personal interview—Matt Renfer, 2014
Post Garland Allen Professor Emeritus of History Dr. Garland Allen (1922-2014) was born in Tuckerman, Ark., as the middle child to Roy and Evelyn Rich Allen. His parents only had the opportunity to receive an eighth-grade formal education. Roy Allen was a self-taught farmer and veterinarian by profession. He researched and studied through numerous books of animal science […] Gardner-Webb University | August 25, 2022
Post Sheryl “Sheri” Ann Dawson Adams Professor Emerita of Theology and Church History Dr. Sheryl “Sheri” Ann Dawson Adams was born July 2, 1947, in Baton Rouge, La., but grew up in her father’s hometown of Jackson, La. It was a small town, where she and her three brothers would play outside, and Sheri spent many hours with her friends riding […] Gardner-Webb University | August 25, 2022
Post Susan Carlisle Bell Professor Emerita of Art Susan Carlisle Bell (1951- ) was the third child born to Elizabeth and Thomas Jones on Aug. 18, 1951, in Wytheville, Va. She loved the outdoors, nature and farm life. Bell and her sisters grew up riding horses and cleaning out stalls at one of her father’s farms. He even raised […] Office of University Communications | August 25, 2022
