Alumni and trustee to be honored for distinguished careers and selfless service

Gaile Greenhoot '94 understands fully how valuable the human element is in nursing.

"The art of nursing is not the equipment," Greenhoot said three years ago, as she and her husband were establishing an endowment at Wingate University. "It's the human touch. It's not just about giving medications and controlling machines. Nurses can be great at that but forget the human part: the touch, the mouth care, the skin care."

Greenhoot, a former nurse and hospital administrator, established the Gaile and Jerry Greenhoot Scholarship Endowment in 2023, and in November she will receive the Trailblazer Leadership Award during the annual Society Dinner and Awards Celebration. She is one of five alumni and a Wingate benefactor who will be honored that night.

Gaile and Jerry Greenhoot

Joining Greenhoot are Marc '86 and Kim Wyatt '86, Excellence in Service Award; Micah Gaylord '15, Outstanding Young Alumnus; Sherri Price Barham '84, Distinguished Alumna; and Jan Beatty-Hendley, Honorary Alumna.

Greenhoot started her career as a critical-care nurse in Charlotte, but she took advantage of Wingate's RN-to-BSN program to boost her career with a bachelor's degree. She went on to earn a master's and spent 22 years as chief administrative officer for Lee Memorial Health System in Florida, overseeing everything from patient care and surgery services to facility operations.

The Greenhoots established their endowment with $250,000. Ninety percent of the endowment proceeds go toward a scholarship, with the rest funding an annual seminar focused on the art of nursing and caring touch.

As an administrator, Greenhoot kept her office in a critical-care area, so she could stay close to her nurses and other providers.

"I needed the doctors and nurses to be able to come by and tell me what they needed," she said. "Hospitals who have nurses as administrators, we protect the bedside. When financial changes have to be made, we can give good examples of why we need adequate nurse-to-patient ratios. Yes, you have to do the financial part. You have to make money to reinvest in the hospital and buildings. But if I made a decision to cut, it was usually in things and not people."

Marc and Kim Wyatt have made a career of serving others. Having learned of the importance of service growing up, they were encouraged by the Rev. Jim McCoy, Wingate's campus minister during their time at the University, to pursue ministry. He encouraged Kim to lead a student revival team that held services for churches across North Carolina and recommended Marc for his first church ministry position, as youth director at Independence Hill Baptist Church in Huntersville, N.C.

Marc and Kim Wyatt

"Jim recognized leadership and spiritual gifts in us," they wrote to the University. "These were formative years where we gained experiences that helped shape our call to missions."

Kim serves as the regional director for North American field teams for the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, and Marc is the director of Welcome House Raleigh Ministries for the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of North Carolina.

They are involved in several causes, including working with the North Carolina field office of the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, Ukrainians of the Carolinas, the CBFNC Welcome Network, and the CBF Advocacy Network.

They say that because of Wingate, they found their life partners and the "educational building blocks that have led us around the world and across the street sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ our Lord."

Gaylord, vice president city executive with the State Employees' Credit Union, says that the most satisfying part of his job is discovering that his work has a greater purpose.

Micah Gaylord

"Every opportunity has been a chance to serve, every challenge a lesson in faith, and every success a reminder that the gifts I've been given are meant to be shared," he says. "I believe we are called not only to climb, but to reach back and lift others as we rise."

Gaylord put his money where his mouth is by creating a financial-literacy initiative in Guilford County, N.C., that is "designed to empower individuals and families to build stronger financial futures." Gaylord says that he recognized that a significant portion of the population was identified as "ALICE" (asset-limited, income-constrained, and employed), so he and a colleague established a series of free financial-literacy workshops that were open to the public.

"Rather than simply acknowledging the need, I felt called to become part of the solution," Gaylord says. "Financial literacy creates opportunity. It equips people to make informed decisions, build wealth, reduce debt, prepare for home ownership, plan for retirement, and create lasting financial stability for themselves and their families."

Gaylord, former chair of the University's Alumni Advisory Board, has also created the Mycah A. Gaylord Endowed Scholarship Fund. "I have always believed that education is one of the greatest equalizers," he says. "It has the power to transform lives, open doors that once seemed closed, and create opportunities that extend far beyond the classroom."

Sherri Barham

Alongside her husband, Joel Barham '84, Sherri Barham helped establish SellEthics Marketing Group in the late 1990s, and she serves as vice president of corporate accounting.

"SellEthics is a Christian-based company," she says. "I enjoy working alongside my husband and others in keeping the company on mission and seeing how this affects the community and others outside the community."

Barham affects the community greatly through her service endeavors, including serving on the finance team and as a life group leader at Provision Church, serving as a trustee for Presson Cemetery, and serving on the University's Alumni Advisory Board. She also provides monetary support to a number of organizations, including orphanages, churches, schools and community groups.

"I feel it is important to help support my local community," she says. "I want to be able to give back to people and organizations that have had an impact on my life."

In addition to her professional success in the banking field, Beatty-Hendley has lived a life of service - including service to Wingate University.

Jan Beatty-Hendley

Beatty-Hendley joined Pinnacle Asset Management as a relationship manager in wealth management in 2021 after a long career with Wells Fargo, from which she retired as a senior vice president and senior trust and fiduciary specialist. In 2015, she was recognized by Business Today's Top Women in Business.

Beatty-Hendley has been a University trustee since 2020, but she's also spent time on the Visitors Board (now the Alumni Advisory Board) and chaired the University's inaugural Planned Giving Council.

Much of Beatty-Hendley's service has been in Cabarrus County, where she lives. She has been a board member of the Academic Learning Center, the Cabarrus Healthcare Foundation, the Cabarrus Regional Chamber of Commerce, the Greater Cabarrus Foundation, the United Way of Central Carolinas, and the YMCA of Cabarrus/Rowan counties.

Her husband, Larry Hendley, recently established the Hendley Family Scholarship. His cousin, John Hendley, is also a University trustee.

Aug. 25, 2026