Eight distinguished alumni of Hattiesburg’s city schools will be inducted into the Hattiesburg Hall of Fame during a two-day event September 25-26. Inductees for the seventh annual Hattiesburg Hall of Fame come from the fields of the arts, athletics, business, healthcare, the judicial system, and aviation.
“These individuals are unique in their accomplishments but reveal a common theme of the excellence that has evolved from Hattiesburg High and L.J. Rowan High schools,” said Mike McMahan, president of the Hattiesburg Public School District Foundation. “I encourage our community to embrace and acknowledge these worthy individuals and their accomplishments.”
The Foundation’s Hall of Fame Committee selected these eight exceptional alumni for inclusion in the Class of 2025:
Fortune 100 Policy Advisor Bret Boyles
Award-winning Artist Kym Garraway Braley
PAC-12 Associate Commissioner Shonna Brown
Alabama Assistant Head Football Coach Robert Gillespie
Southern Bone and Joint Orthopedic Surgeon Dr. Neal Gregg
Forrest County and Youth Court Judge Carol Jones Russel
Forrest Health Vice-President Susan Cade Slaughter
Aviator Captain Richard E. Turner
Bret Boyles
Bret Boyles, a 1991 graduate of Hattiesburg High School, served as Student Body President, a varsity golfer, Boys State Governor, and a delegate to Boys Nation. He earned a degree in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Southern Mississippi, where he was a member of Sigma Chi fraternity, President of the Inter-Fraternity Council, elected Mr. USM, and named to the Hall of Fame.
After college, Boyles moved to Washington, D.C., beginning his career in Senator Trent Lott’s mailroom. He rose to become Lott’s top political advisor, Executive Director of the New Republican Majority Fund, and ultimately Chief of Staff. In 2007, he co-founded the Breaux-Lott Leadership Group, helping grow it into a top bipartisan policy firm. Following its merger with Patton Boggs in 2010, he was named co-chair of the firm’s Strategic Advocacy Practice. Today, Boyles represents Fortune 100 companies, major trade associations, leading universities, and sovereign clients on complex federal policy matters. He and his wife, Kristy, live in Bethesda, Maryland. Their son, Parker, is a sophomore at American University.
Kym Garraway Braley
Kym is a proud Hattiesburg native passionate about art and community service. HHS gave her the school spirit award, followed by a BFA and BA at USM, as well as Italian art studies. She was proudly a Kappa Delta Sorority member, first USM batgirl, and a Hall of Fame inductee.
She has worked as a full-time artist for 40 years, promoting art in her community. Throughout her career, Kym has created over 5,000 murals and is currently working on the largest interior mural in the state. She is a signature artist for John Deere and was awarded Best Artist of the Pine Belt 10 years in a row. She has authored and illustrated two books of her own and illustrated 14 other children’s books. Her accolades include the Spirit in Action Award from FGH, the Trent Lott Speaker Award, the Governors Art Education Award, Leaders of a New Century, and she is a JA lifetime member. As a motivational speaker, she has inspired over 750 churches, schools, and businesses.
Her faith in Christ motivates her, her family makes her heart beat, and her TBC choir family lights her life in song!
Shonna Brown
Shonna Brown is the Associate Commissioner for Football Operations at the Pac-12 Conference, overseeing operations and strategic initiatives. Her 27-year career includes leadership roles at Conference USA, America East Conference, NCAA, and Mid-American Conference. Brown began her professional journey with the Miami Dolphins in in-game production and partnerships and has served on key NCAA committees, including the DI Council and DI Women’s Basketball Committee.
Brown earned a B.S. in Sports Administration from the University of Southern Mississippi, where she worked in football operations and was inducted into the USM Alumni Hall of Fame in 2022. She earned a Master’s in Sports Administration from St. Thomas University (FL). Brown is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. and serves on the boards of Be Fed, Inc., National Society of Black Sports Professionals, National Football Foundation Chapter - Touchdown Club of Atlanta and the USM Foundation Finance Committee.
Brown grew up in a military family moving to Hattiesburg, MS during elementary school and now resides in Atlanta, GA with her husband John McCollum. She attributes her work ethic and executive integrity to lessons learned while competing in basketball and track at Grace Christian, Hawkins Jr. High School and Hattiesburg High School.
Robert Gillespie
Robert Nola Gillespie Jr. is a Hattiesburg HS 1998 Graduate. Son of Ruby Richardson and Robert Gillespie Sr. He was named a Dandy Dozen and also played in the Mississippi vs Alabama football game. As an All American football player at HHS, Robert earned a scholarship to The University of Florida from 1998-2001. He received his degree in Sports Management. He earned All SEC honors as a Freshman and won an SEC Championship in 2000. Robert was voted Team Captain by his teammates. He became a member of The Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Inc. Robert ended his collegiate playing career as the second all time leading receiver as an RB and is in the Top 10 for all purpose yardage gained in Florida football history.
Robert went on to play with the Washington Commanders and the Jacksonville Jaguars. In 2003, He won a World Bowl Championship with the Frankfurt Galaxy, the NFL’s European league, in Frankfurt Germany.
Robert’s coaching career began in 2005 at the University of South Carolina under his former college coach Steve Spurrier. While at USC, he met his future wife Crystal, who was coaching volleyball. Robert went on to coach at Oklahoma State, West Virginia, University of Tennessee, University of North Carolina, and is currently in his 5th season at the University of Alabama where he is the Assistant Head Coach and Running Backs Coach. He was named Football Scoops 2020 Running Back Coach of the Year. He has been tabbed as one of the elite recruiters in the country. Robert mentored 17 NFL RB’s and 3 Pro Bowlers. Two of them being Alvin Kamara of the Saints and Jahmyr Gibbs of the Detroit Lions. Robert and his wife Crystal have three children, Nola, 14, Wynston 13 and Sadie who is 10.
Dr. Neal Gregg
Dr. Neal Gregg is a 1994 graduate of Hattiesburg High School, where he was a 3-year varsity letterman in football and baseball and a member of the 1994 5A State Championship Baseball team. He received his bachelor’s degree from William Carey University in 1998. During his time there, he was named a 1998 NAIA Baseball All American Scholar Athlete. After graduation, he was drafted by the New York Yankees organization in the 1998 amateur draft and was inducted into the William Carey Sports Hall of Fame in 2017.
Following his baseball career, he attended the Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences; earning the degree of Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine in 2005. In 2010, he completed a residency program in orthopedic surgery at the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta, Georgia. He returned home to Hattiesburg with his wife, Elizabeth, and their three daughters.
He is a board certified Orthopedic Surgeon at Southern Bone and Joint Specialists. In addition to his clinical practice, he serves as an adjunct clinical professor at the William Carey University College of Osteopathic Medicine and has represented Southern Bone and Joint as the sports medicine physician for Hattiesburg Public Schools for the past 16 years.
Judge Carol Jones Russel
Carol Jones Russell serves as the County and Youth Court Judge of Forrest County, Mississippi. A proud Hattiesburg native and graduate of Hattiesburg High School (Class of 1999), Judge Russell exemplified excellence at HHS — graduating with highest honors, captaining the tennis team, and serving as concertmistress of the orchestra as a talented violinist.
She earned her undergraduate degree from The University of Southern Mississippi and, in 2008, received her Juris Doctor, cum laude, from the University of Mississippi School of Law. After law school, she returned home and practiced family law for a decade before being elected in 2018. She made history as the first African American elected to a county-wide office in Forrest County.
Since taking the bench, Judge Russell has secured over $1.5 million in grant funding to support youth and families, launched multiple innovative court programs, and earned recognition at both state and national levels. She frequently presents at conferences and collaborates with court teams across the country. In 2024, she received the Mississippi Bar’s Judicial Excellence Award – the highest judicial honor in the state.
Deeply rooted in her community, Judge Russell is a lifelong member of Pineview Presbyterian Church, serves on several nonprofit boards, and proudly leads a Girl Scout troop. She is also a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. She and her husband, Byron, are the proud parents of their daughter, Nola Grace.
Susan Cade Slaughter
A 1988 graduate of Hattiesburg High School, Susan Cade Slaughter began her education journey in Hattiesburg at Thames Elementary School. At Hattiesburg High, Susan was active in Student Council, National Honor Society and represented her class at Presidential Classroom in Washington DC. She served as Forrest County’s Junior Miss, and she was named homecoming queen her senior year.
Susan received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Southern Mississippi and a master’s in Health Services Administration from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She has a 29-year career in healthcare in the Hattiesburg community having served as Director of Development at Pine Grove, the behavioral health service line for Forrest Health and then Director of Physician Relations and Practice Development at Hattiesburg Clinic. Susan now serves Forrest Health in the role of Vice President.
Susan is deeply engaged in the Hattiesburg community where she has earned numerous honors and civic affiliations throughout her career. She currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Hattiesburg Public Library, as well as the Forrest General Healthcare Foundation. She will serve as the President of the Mississippi Chapter of the American College of Healthcare Executives in the coming year.
Susan and her late husband Jay, have two children, Cade age 26 and Kathryn, 23.
Captain Richard E Turner
Robert Turner is a proud graduate of the Hattiesburg Public School System. He ran track his junior year at Rowan High School. As a senior, he was among the first eight African-American students to attend Hattiesburg High School, graduating in 1968. Turner discovered his passion for flying at Tennessee State University, earning a degree in Technical Aeronautics in 1972 and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Air Force.
In March 1987, he achieved his dream when he was hired at Southwest Airlines, where he flew for 27 years. The highlight of his career was the honor of flying the remains of civil rights icon Rosa Parks on a special flight from Detroit to Montgomery, Alabama, carrying her family and civil rights leaders to her funeral. The following day. He flew her to Washington, D.C., where she became the first woman to lie in state in the Capitol Rotunda.
Captain Turner is blessed with a wonderful wife, Carolyn, and a son Richard. Occasionally, he teaches a drone certification course through a nonprofit organization and serves as a substitute teacher in the Aviation Department at Dallas ISD.
“The process of identifying the individuals for The Class of 2025 has shown me, to an even greater degree, the number and depth of accomplishments of our graduates over the years,” said McMahan, a Hattiesburg High School alumnus. “I believe this class is an outstanding representation of those gifts and accomplishments that we are seeking to recognize and identify.”
The HPSD Foundation hosts the Hattiesburg Hall of Fame as a fund-raising event, with proceeds going to benefit the district’s mission for students and staff of the Hattiesburg Public Schools. The gala, held at Historic Eureka School Museum, is the signature event but the Class of 2025 will also be hosted at an Alumni Luncheon and a VIP Reception before the Thursday night Banquet. On Friday, Homecoming Morning, the HPSD Foundation will sponsor the Hattiesburg Hall of Fame Student Summit, where inductees will meet and engage with current students.
“The number of worthy graduates seems to be inexhaustible and certainly more will be recognized in future classes,” said Harmony Albert, Vice-President of the Foundation’s Board of Directors. ‘While the spotlight will be on the inductees, it is hoped that students now in Hattiesburg Public Schools will take note of their success and strive to be successful in life, too.”
Businesses, patrons, and alumni, who would like to become official sponsors for the scholarship gala should go online to www. HPSDFoundation.org.
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The Hattiesburg Public School District Foundation is classified as a public charity under Section 501(c)(3) of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code. Donations to the Foundation are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law.
