The Wright Way

Don Kelly is a UMS-Wright legend. He coached at University Military School from 1965-1972. Due to his significant achievements in athletics at UMS, Coach Kelly was inducted into the Athletic Hall of Fame as an honorary member in 1993. Coach Kelly has continued his service to our school through his devotion as a member of the Board of Trustees since 1997.

Dr. Amber Gordon is a board-certified neurosurgeon who specializes in surgery and treatment of the brain, spine & peripheral nerve disorders. She is the physician leader of the Infirmary Neuroscience Center of Excellence.

Dr. Gordon graduated from Vanderbilt University with a bachelor’s degree in biomedical engineering. She received her medical degree from the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Medicine.

Dr. Gordon completed her residency in neurological surgery at Birmingham School of Medicine where she also served as chief-resident of neurological surgery. Dr. Gordon and her husband Brad Butler are the proud parents of second grader, Alexander Butler!

As a member of the UMS Class of 1958, Brigadier General Grover E. Jackson, began a remarkable journey both academically and professionally with a degree from Sewanee: The University of the South, as well as completing college as a distinguished member of the Air Force ROTC. From this point forward, the achievements and service of Brigadier General Jackson have been a sterling example of what a servant-leader should do with his life. 

In July 1989, Brigadier General Jackson was assigned the duty of Director of Intelligence, Headquarters U.S. Pacific Command in Hawaii. His assignment was to provide accurate and timely intelligence for the United States Pacific Command as well as other significant commands. Only a person with the highest professional credentials and the finest personal character could receive such an assignment that is so essential for the protection of the United States. This impressive promotion was the result of 25 years of dedicated service to the citizens of the United States. 

In addition to completing a Master of Arts degree in Economics from Syracuse University in 1967, Brigadier General Jackson received training at the best military colleges in the U.S. and among these was the prestigious Air War College in 1982. At various times he was stationed in Texas; Saigon, South Vietnam; RAF Station Chiscksands, England; Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii; Strategic Air Command (SAC) at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska; Stuttgart, West Germany; and Fort George G. Meade, Maryland. 

UMS-Wright is fortunate that Brigadier General Jackson has moved permanently to Baldwin County and recently honored our school with a visit along with his daughter, Paige, his son, Garrett, and his wife Anita. 

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Ishayu Chakroborty '24 was chosen as one of Mobile Bay's 2023 WONDER KIDS.

During Project Engage Ish chose to do an internship with Dr. Grelet in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at Mitchell Cancer Institute. Dr. Grelet specializes in tumor neurogenesis in cancer progression and metastasis with a focus on breast cancer. During the internship with Dr. Grelet, he was able to observe and assist with experimental lab work, as well as learn about bioinformatics and data analysis in biology, especially in breast cancer. The experience during Project Engage sparked his interest in cancer research and drove him to learn further about data analysis from publicly available datasets and repositories. The findings then led to a research project with guidance from Dr. Kakkat Ph.D. in the Department of Pathology at the Mitchell Cancer Institute.

Because of his dedicated work in the research lab at the Mitchell Cancer Institute, Ish registered as a member of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) in the spring of 2022 and was invited to attend the AACR 2022 annual meeting in New Orleans [AS A JUNIOR IN HIGH SCHOOL!]. The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) is the first and largest cancer research organization dedicated to accelerating the conquest of cancer.

He then was contacted by Dr. Robin Felder, Director of Membership and Professional Development for AACR to complete the student registration form to attend the Special Program for High School Students entitled, "The Conquest of Cancer and the Next Generation of Cancer Researchers." He was then approached to present his research. Before Ish knew it, he had been vetted for membership and submitted the title of his research proposal for approval! American Association for Cancer Research had over 20,000 in attendance and Ish was ONE of only seven students in the United States who were invited to present their work/research at the meeting.

A native of Bosnia, Beli Karamovic moved to the United States at 16 years old in 1993. Beli lived through the beginning years of the Bosnian War before joining the Bosnian Jr. Olympic Basketball team that traveled across Europe and eventually landed him in Chicago. Beli and his wife, Tiffany, a 4th-grade teacher and cheer coach at UMS-Wright, have two sons, Tate '31 & Luca '29. 

A 2018 graduate of UMS-Wright, Lana Stringer was the Vice President of Fine Arts and was a member of the Wright Players and Wright Singers. She currently resides in Manhattan, writing and researching for playwriting, doing copyediting for film and play scripts, and doing art department production assistant work.

Katie Leatherbury graduated from UMS-Wright in 2007.  She started studying acting at a young age both in a local theater and in theater at school. She was involved in The Wright Players and the Center Stage Show Choir. Leatherbury continued her education at Birmingham-Southern College and graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Music. 

After graduation, she followed her dreams to become an actress. She played the role of Janet in The Drowsy Chaperone with the Mobile Theatre Guild as well as joined the ensemble with Mobile Opera’s Sunset Boulevard, and performed in a charity show for Chickasaw Civic Theater. In 2012, she began with Walt Disney World as a Character performer where she was a part of the castle show Dream Along with Mickey as well as parades such as Celebrate A Dream Come True, Disney’s Electrical Parade, and part of the opening cast for the Festival of Fantasy parade. In addition, she was part of the opening cast for the Frozen Sing Along and Frozen Fireworks as Elsa, and was Belle in The Beauty and the Beast Live on Stage show at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. She has also performed in live performances such as the Halloween Icon Chance at Halloween Horror Nights 26 and Marilyn in Marilyn Monroe & the Diamond Bellas for Universal Studios Florida as an actress from 2015 to 2020.  In Orlando, Leatherbury has studied at Art's Sake Acting Studio, Class Act Studios, and even studied with the respected actor, acting coach, and director, Rus Blackwell. She went on to be cast in a co-star in "The Right Stuff " which was produced by Leonardo Decaprio, and as Giselle for a popular YouTube series.

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Jordan Jones graduated from UMS-Wright in 2002. He received his Bachelor of Business Administration in 2006 from the McCombs School of Business at The University of Texas at Austin. Jordan is the Managing Partner and Portfolio Manager of Medora Partners, an investment firm in Mobile.
Jordan and his wife, Taylor Stimpson Jones '06, relocated to Mobile in 2017 after living in New York City for ten years. Taylor and Jordan have three children, Christian '35, Peyton (future bulldog), and Layne (future Bulldog). 
Jordan serves as Chairman of the Board of Directors of MAEF Public Charter Schools, Inc., dba Accel Academy. As the State’s first charter school, Accel was founded in 2017 and has 600 students growing to 900 over the next few years. The tuition-free, mission-driven public charter school is located in the rear of the Festival Center off Airport Boulevard in Mobile after its recent facility expansion.

On this episode on The Wright Way podcast, Mr. Barber catches up with a few members of the Class of 2023 before they graduate and move on beyond "our gates."

Cole Blaylock - University of South Alabama

Tate Campbell - Troy University [at the time of the podcast, Tate was attending Mississippi State University]

William Neumann - Princeton University

Noah Siegel - University of Michigan

Frances St. John Rouse graduated from Julius T. Wright School for Girls in 1976. Mrs. Rouse began her teaching career in 1980 at her alma mater and then joined the faculty at UMS-Wright during the merger. She has dedicated over 40 years of her life to educating students in the subjects of AP Calculus and Honors Geometry, just to name a few. Frances is the proud mother of three UMS-Wright alums, Mary Hunter '01, Herndon '05, and Tom '09.