Richard Ludwig

Head Track Coach
Brenau University, Gainesville, Ga.

After starting his career as a star athlete and assistant coach at the University of Georgia, Dr. Ludwig, who majored in botany as an undergraduate, moved into education while continuing to coach. But he also spent 11 years as a regular contributor on landscaping and horticulture for Southern Living magazine and as host of GardenSMART, the television gardening program broadcast on local Public Broadcasting System stations throughout the United States.

Brandi Harrison

Events planner and producer, Atlanta

The 2001 Women’s College mass communications graduate and Delta Sigma Theta currently specializes in producing live events, full-format shows, campaigns, commercials, web elements; scheduling processes, script writing, site logistics, and budget management. Previously, however, she worked as a senior writer/producer at WSB-TV in Atlanta and as coordination for the In America and CNN Presents programs for Cable News Network.

Carissa Craig Gilman

Managing Editor
Cancer and Cancer Cytology, Atlanta

Gilman, a 1995 Women’s College graduate was an English major at Brenau, but she currently edits two journals published by the American Cancer Society in Atlanta. She also worked in the same leadership role for the American Cancer Society’s flagship publication, CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians, the highest impact journal in the category of oncology. “The most fulfilling part of my job is working with my staff and our physician editors to ensure the rigorous peer review and timely dissemination of scientific research that will ultimately reduce suffering from cancer,” says Gilman.

Maria Ebrahimji

Executive Editorial Producer
CNN, Atlanta

The rising star in the international news organization is a 1998 Women’s College graduate, a broadcast journalism major and a member of Alpha Chi Omega. Ebrahimji is also is a co-editor of the book, I Speak for Myself: American Women on Being Muslim, an anthology of 40 essays from Muslim-American women under age 40. The book was praised by Queen Noor of Jordan as “a new generation of peace-builders.” Ebrahimji has arranged interviews with policymakers all over the globe, including the first broadcast from the historic church in South Africa, where Apartheid-era demonstrators had sought refuge during the Soweto Uprising. She is the vice chair of the diversity council at CNN and is training to ascend to higher-level leadership responsibilities at the 24-hour international network.

Kari Dean

Producer for “Good Day Atlanta”
WAGA-TV, Atlanta

Dean, a 1983 broadcasting graduate and a member of Alpha Chi Omega, works the early morning shift to prepare and produce one of the top regional television morning shows. She began her career in her junior year and her crystalline voice helped her become a morning radio talent for more than 20 years in Atlanta, when she worked for various Cox (Jacor) and Clear Channel stations, including B98.5, Peach, and WGST/96Rock. She also did commercial voice-work and then switched, in 2005, to television as a news producer for WAGA/Fox5 before assuming her current position.