2025 Alumni Award Recipients

Carley Cole-Cavins is an award-winning advocate, author, and digital marketing strategist dedicated to empowering families affected by chronic illnesses. As Cleverly Changing, LLC’s founder and Senior Digital Marketing Manager at Cayenne Wellness Center and Children’s Foundation, she leverages her expertise to amplify awareness and advocacy for the sickle cell community. 

Carley’s advocacy is deeply personal. When she and her husband learned that one of their twin daughters had sickle cell disease, she longed for a resource to help families navigate the journey. Determined to fill that gap, she began writing under the nom de plume Elle Cole—creating books that simplify complex medical conditions for children. Her works include Aaron Learns About Type 1 Diabetes: A Coloring Book for Kids, The Ultimate Sickle Cell Activity Book, ABCs of Sickle Cell Disease, and A Sickle Cell Coloring Book for Kids—which has sold over 4,000 copies. Her books, including Spanish translations, are used in hospitals worldwide to educate young patients and their caregivers. 

A tireless advocate for sickle cell disease and type 1 diabetes, Carley serves on several advisory boards, including the American Society of Hematology’s Washington D.C. Community Advisory Board, the Cure Sickle Cell Initiative’s Community Input Panel (led by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute), and the Sick Cells Ambassador Program. She is also a member of the Institute for History & Healing and the Parental Community Advisory Board for Type 1 Diabetes. 
Her impact has been widely recognized. In 2020, Carley was honored with the Advocating for Another WEGO Health Award, celebrating her dedication to patient advocacy. In 2022, she received the Caregiving Champion Award for her unwavering commitment to supporting families navigating chronic illnesses. From 2021 to 2024, she has co-hosted the Sickle Cell Caregiver Summit in partnership with the Sickle Cell Community Consortium. 

Carley is also a podcast producer and media strategist. She hosts The Cleverly Changing Homeschool Podcast, ranked #3 on Feedspot’s Top 20 Homeschooling Mom Podcasts, and produces the VitaminSC3 Podcast, which amplifies real stories from sickle cell patients and their families. 

A Bronze Congressional Award recipient, Carley’s work has been featured on NPR, ABC 7, BBC World Service Radio, Good Morning Washington, and Vertex’s Walking With Warriors Project. As a writer, motivational speaker, and digital marketing expert, she continues to uplift and educate communities, ensuring that no family faces the journey of chronic illness alone.

Scott Hodges has dedicated his career to transforming the way spinal injuries are treated. 

Growing up in a small town in western North Carolina, Scott was shaped by a faith-filled home and his Adventist education. His years in boarding academy and at Southern gave him not only lifelong friends and mentors but also the discipline and determination that would carry him through medical school, residency, and the decades of pioneering research that followed.

After earning his medical degree and completing advanced training in orthopedic and spine surgery, Scott served in the U.S. Air Force before joining the Center for Sports Medicine in Chattanooga, where he practiced for 27 years. During that time, he became convinced that patients suffering from debilitating back pain deserve better than spinal fusion, a treatment that often leads to repeated surgeries and limited quality of life.

In 2003, Scott filed his first patent for what would become the MOTUS implant—the first motion-preserving joint replacement for the lower back. Over the next two decades, through research, testing, and overcoming various challenges, Scott continued to believe in the project’s potential to change lives. By 2017, his team had begun treating patients in Grand Cayman, and soon after, they secured FDA approval to launch a pivotal clinical trial in the U.S.—a study requiring 158 patients across 17 leading institutions, from Mayo Clinic to NYU. Raising more than $75 million to fund the research, Scott helped guide the project through every phase. Results have shown statistically significant improvements over fusion: less pain, quicker recovery, and more patients returning to work. With FDA approval expected soon, the MOTUS implant stands poised to redefine spine care worldwide.

Alongside his surgical work, Scott has published over 100 peer-reviewed papers, delivered more than 50 national presentations, and holds at least 57 patents related to spinal innovation. Through it all, he views each step as guided by God’s providence—“miracle after miracle” opening doors at just the right time. He’s also grateful to the connections he made at Southern that have supported his success with the MOTUS implant.

Scott and his wife make their home in Tennessee. He is the proud father of two children and grandfather of two. Even as he looks ahead to the widespread adoption of the MOTUS implant, Scott hopes to be remembered most as a good husband, a good father, and someone whose work witnessed to God’s leading. 

Abigale Madonia, ’21, graduated from Southern Adventist University with a bachelor’s degree in Marketing and has quickly made her mark as an entrepreneur, community leader, and nonprofit founder.

In 2020, while still a student, Abigale launched Reyka & Lu Creative, a full-service marketing and advertising firm specializing in helping small and medium-sized businesses grow and thrive. She serves as CEO, leading her team in providing innovative strategies that help local businesses stand out in competitive markets. Shortly after graduating, she co-founded Nooga Networking, a Chattanooga-based networking group designed to connect business professionals across industries. Under her leadership, the group grew to over 5,000 members, becoming one of the city’s largest and most active professional communities.

In addition to her work in the business world, Abigale has dedicated much of her life to animal rescue. In 2024, she founded Your Local Fur Mama, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that specializes in rescuing neonatal kittens and puppies across Tennessee, Alabama, and Georgia. With more than eight years of fostering experience, she has worked with numerous shelters and rescues, served on boards, and coordinated foster programs to save the most vulnerable animals. Her rescue efforts have not only saved countless lives but also inspired a growing network of foster families and supporters.

Outside of her professional and nonprofit work, Abigale is deeply rooted in her faith and community. She attends Crosswalk Chattanooga and hosts a weekly ladies’ Bible study in her home. Born and raised in Maine, she moved to Tennessee for college and has since built a life filled with purpose, service, and love. She is married to her husband, Zachary, and together they share their home with two dogs—Nalu and Lilly—and seven cats—Balenciaga, Dolce, Harley, Rory Blue, Elio, Olive, and Reagan.

Abigale’s journey reflects her passion for building connections, creating opportunities, and making a difference—whether in the boardroom, the community, or through the lives of the animals she rescues.

Pastor Benjamin Jones is the current and eighth president of the South Central Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, headquartered in Nashville, TN. The territory of the Conference includes the states of Alabama, Mississippi, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Florida, west of the Apalachicola River, with over 28,000 members and growing.

God has had His hand on Pastor Jones’s life since his teenage years, leading him to share the Gospel. He is a graduate of Oakwood College, now Oakwood University in Huntsville, Alabama, receiving a B.A. in Religion in 1971. He received his M.A. in Religion from Southern Adventist University in 2001. For over 50 years, He has been in ministry, preaching throughout the United States and around the world. And he serves on Southern’s Board of Trustees.

Pastor Jones has served as Ministerial Director, pastor, evangelist, adjunct professor, counselor, and mentor. He has been married to Carol J. Jones, the love of his life, for over 56 years. The Jones have two adult children and eight awesome grandchildren.

Benjamin Jones loves the Lord, loves his family, and loves God’s people everywhere. His passion is to lead people into an experience with the Living Christ. His lifetime goals are simple and threefold: to be the best husband a wife could pray for, the best father any child could have, and the best soldier in the army of the Lord.

In March 2025, Marty Hamilton retired from Southern Adventist University after serving over 25 years as the Associate Vice President for Financial Administration (still AVP for Financial Administration emeritus). He came to Southern in October 1998 as the Director of Property and Industry Development.

He began his professional career at Mesa Grande Academy in 1982 where he taught History, Photography, and Auto Shop. He loved working with his colleagues and positively influencing young people for Jesus, and he’s still in touch with many of his students.

In 1988, he started working part-time for a real estate investment company in San Bernardino County, California where he soon became the president. He quickly adapted to making key land acquisitions, developing real estate, and managing retail and commercial properties. His role in the community gave him the experience of working with both local and county authorities, which allowed him and his wife, Carolyn, to open a shelter for homeless families in 1991. Many said this was impossible but with God’s many miracles and the couple’s perseverance, Inland Temporary Homes was opened in a historical 1905 house. The organization continues to operate today as Inland Housing Solutions. Marty and Carolyn where both honored by the City of Loma Linda as “Citizens of the Year” for their service to the community.

In 1993, the couple decided to leave Southern California for rural Georgia to raise their two girls. He’d been working for a chemical company for five years when Gordon Bietz, PhD, and Dale Bidwell, then president and vice president for financial administration, invited his wife, Carolyn, to meet for dinner, and they asked about what he did, as well. When he answered, they asked if they could see his resume and soon offered him a position. He hadn’t been looking for a job, but he thought maybe God was tapping him on the shoulder. 

Marty quickly realized how special the campus of Southern was. He hadn’t gone to school year and didn’t know anyone, but he felt welcomed and was impressed by how beautiful and well-coordinated everything was. He developed a passion to protect and care for that. He felt his calling here was to improve student life, and amidst the hundreds of projects he worked on, the Bietz Center for Student Life stands out as the most meaningful. “I came to this position passionate about students and young people,” he says. “I love that building because it’s central to our campus and student life. 

The expansion of the campus with new buildings, renovations, and care of the campus grounds were all about the passion of serving, and Marty feels honored to be part of the Southern Family.

Gary Patterson grew up in the Pacific Northwest. He met Rachel Ireland while attending Auburn Academy in Washington, after which they attended Walla Walla College and were married in 1957. Following graduation in 1959. Gary enrolled in the SDA Seminary at Potomac University in Washington, DC, and graduated in June of 1960 with a Master of Arts in Religion.

Beginning ministry in the Idaho Conference in June of 1960, he served in pastoral ministry and evangelism in various locations, until departing for the Upper Columbia Conference where he served first as Youth Pastor in College Place, Washington, followed by establishing a ministry as University Campus Chaplain and pastor at the University of Idaho and Washington State University. In 1967 he was appointed Youth Department Director of the Upper Columbia Conference.

In 1971 he was called to serve as pastor of the Collegedale Church of Seventh-day Adventists, where he had a meaningful impact on the campus of Southern Missionary College and is remembered fondly by the students. During that time, he entered a Doctor of Ministry program at Vanderbilt University, graduating in 1978.

Following the years at Southern, he served as Montana Conference Secretary and Ministerial Director; pastor of the Walla Walla University Church; president of the Georgia Cumberland and Pennsylvania Conferences; administrative assistant to the president of the North American Division and chief of staff for the NAD personnel; General Field Secretary of the General Conference.

Retiring from church employment in 1999, he served as Vice President for Mission and Ministry in the Home Care Division of Adventist Health System until 2004, following which, during the next 16 years, he served as Interim Senior Pastor of 14 major congregations in Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, Virginia, Maryland and Illinois.

He has authored multiple denominational articles and publications as well as three books: Find it in the Yellow Pages, Minister’s Handbook, and Elder’s handbook.