The Ole Miss Alumni Association will award seven distinguished alumni with its highest annual honors as part of Homecoming 2016. Among the seven recipients are three Mississippi Alpha Phis. Created in 1974, the Hall of Fame honors select alumni who have made an outstanding contribution to their country, state or the University of Mississippi through good deeds, services or contributions that have perpetuated the good name of Ole Miss.
David E. Brevard is president and chief executive officer of B & B Concrete Co., Inc., a concrete materials supply company with plants located throughout north Mississippi. He is also vice president of Concrete Industries, Inc., a real estate firm with ready-mix concrete plant holdings in north Mississippi.
Brevard is a 1974 graduate of Tupelo High School. At Ole Miss, he was a Carrier Scholar, a member of Phi Delta Theta fraternity and a member of the Hall of Fame. He earned a master of business administration degree from the University of Virginia in 1981.
Brevard is a former chairman of the board of Mississippi Methodist Senior Services and of the Health Care Foundation of North Mississippi. He is a former president of the Northeast Mississippi Community Relations Association, of the Tupelo Kiwanis Club and of the Mississippi Concrete Industries Association. He also is a former founding board member for the Northeast Mississippi Habitat for Humanity.
Brevard is very active in the First United Methodist Church of Tupelo. He is a past president of the District One Ole Miss Alumni Club and a past president of the University of Mississippi Alumni Association. He served as chairman of The Inn at Ole Miss Campaign Committee; member of the Chancellor’s Trust and Pacesetters Committee for the Commitment to Excellence Campaign; member of the Campaign/Committee Chairs for the Momentum Campaign; and as an executive committee member for the University of Mississippi Foundation. He received the Alumni Association’s Alumni Service Award in 2009.
Brevard is married to the former Shawn Robson Stewart of Glendale, Ohio. They have two daughters.
Dr. James L. Cox was born and raised in Fair Oaks, Arkansas. He was recruited to Ole Miss by Johnny Vaught and from 1960-64, played baseball and freshman basketball, was president of Alpha Epsilon Delta and was a member of the Phi Delta Theta Fraternity. After turning down baseball contracts from the San Francisco Giants and L.A. Dodgers, he enrolled at UT Medical School in 1963. He received his medical degree in 1967 and was awarded outstanding student in his graduating class.
Cox trained in cardiothoracic surgery at Duke University. He spent the majority of his career as the first Evarts A. Graham Professor of Surgery and chief of the Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery at Washington University School of Medicine and Barnes Hospital in St. Louis. In 1997, Dr. Cox became the chairman of the Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery at Georgetown University. He later became chairman and CEO of the World Heart Foundation.
During his surgical career, Cox was the 81st president of the American Association for Thoracic Surgery, chairman of the Residency Review Committee for Thoracic Surgery, director of the American Board of Thoracic Surgery and board member of numerous professional organizations.
Cox is best known for his work in the field of cardiac arrhythmia surgery and the development of the eponymous “Cox-Maze Procedure” for the treatment of atrial fibrillation. Variations of his procedure are performed in over one-half million patients per year worldwide.
Cox received several scientific achievement awards throughout his career. He lives in Atlanta and serves as a senior consultant to eight medical device companies and on the board of directors of four of them.
A 1968 graduate of Clarksdale High School, Thomas J. “Sparky” Reardon served the University of Mississippi in several positions within the area of student affairs. Most notably, he served as the Dean of Students from 2000 until 2014. Prior to that he served as coordinator of Pre-Admissions, assistant director of Student Activities, associate director of Student Services, and associate dean of students. Reardon received his BAE from Ole Miss in 1972 and his Ph.D. in 2000. Additionally, he earned an M.Ed. From Delta State University in 1976. He retired from the University in 2014.
As an undergraduate, Reardon served as sports editor and managing editor of the Daily Mississippian, vice President of the senior class, and president of the Order of Omega.
Sparky has spoken to thousands of students at numerous universities, conferences, and conventions. Reardon received the Bob Schaeffer Award for long-term outstanding service to fraternities and was named the Southeastern Interfraternity Conference Advisor of the Year. He has received the Kappa Alpha Order Interfraternal Accolade and the Phi Kappa Psi Ralph E. “Dud” Daniel Award. He was featured in the History Channel’s “History of Fraternities.”
Reardon initiated the adoption of the Ole Miss Creed in 2000 and served as co-chair of the Creed Committee. He received the initial Thomas Frist Award for Outstanding Service to Students and was honored by the Class of 2008 with a scholarship in his name.
Reardon resides in Taylor, Mississippi and serves on several local, regional and national boards.
