During this year’s fall Homecoming festivities, Cyndi Howell Joiner was named the 2014 Lee University Distinguished Alumnus, the highest honor awarded by the university.
“Cyndi has combined those two qualities that colleges most like to see in their alumni: professional achievement and commitment to their alma mater,” said Lee president Dr. Paul Conn in presenting the award. He said Joiner represents “all those alumni who are now reaching the full maturity of their promise as undergraduates. We are proud of her and believe that alumni like her hold the key to the future of our university.”
Ms. Joiner, a 1982 communications graduate of Lee College, is the daughter of two Lee alums, Jerry and Cherrie. Her husband Randy and son Blake are also Lee alums. While at Lee, Ms. Joiner was president of Delta Zeta Tau and a little sister for Alpha Gamma Chi. She chaired the fundraising campaign for DZT’s 50th Anniversary this year.
After graduating from Lee, Ms. Joiner went on to earn a master’s of business administration from Pfeiffer University and completed Harvard Law School’s Program on Negotiation. Over the past 25 years, Ms. Joiner has worked for companies and clients to drastically reduce third-party spending. She has written articles on cost reduction strategies and managing outsourcing relationships for American Banker, Purchasing Magazine, Harvard Business Review, and “Spend Matters.”
Ms. Joiner is currently a managing director and member of the executive committee with Alvarez and Marsal’s Performance Improvement practice, where she specializes in procurement transformation, cost take out, organization design, and third-party risk management. Alvarez and Marsal, headquartered in New York, is the global leader in restructuring, turnaround, and corporate performance improvement.
Since joining the firm in 2008, Ms. Joiner has worked with companies such as Staples, Best Buy, Family Dollar, Morgan Stanley, Coca-Cola, BB&T, Regions, Cole Haan, American Cancer Society, American Red Cross, and AARP to systematically change methods and processes for reducing supplier spending.
Ms. Joiner is also active in the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life and Junior Achievement. She also sponsors Harvest, Alvarez and Marsal’s young consultant mentoring program. She and her husband reside in Atlanta.
Lee University has named its 2014 Honorary Alumnus of the Year, Robert Bernhardt. The award will be presented to Bernhardt on Nov. 21, when the Lee University Symphony presents a fall pops concert in Conn Center at 7:30 p.m.
Mr. Bernhardt joined Lee's School of Music in the fall of 2011 as an artist-in-residence and conductor of the Lee Symphony Orchestra. Bernhardt also serves as music director emeritus of the Chattanooga Symphony and Opera and principal pops conductor of the Louisville Orchestra. He was formerly the music director and conductor for 19 seasons with the CSO and is the first to hold the title emeritus.
In making the announcement, Lee president Dr. Paul Conn called Mr. Bernhardt “a tremendous asset to the arts in this region, and a wonderful addition to Lee’s music faculty.” He said Mr. Bernhardt demonstrated all the qualities Lee University encourages in its alumni, and “has been a great fit for our campus.”
Mr. Bernhardt made his Carnegie Hall debut in 1978 and has recorded for Vanguard, First Edition, Carlton Classics and RPO record labels. Mr. Bernhardt has a love for all genres of music, making him equally at home in symphonic, operatic, pops and educational performances.
Since 1999, Mr. Bernhardt has served as the artistic director of the Sewanee Music Festival, the artistic director and principal conductor of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, the artistic director of the Lake Placid Sinfonietta, the principal guest conductor of the Kentucky Opera, and music director of the Amarillo Symphony Orchestra.
Mr. Bernhardt has a continuing relationship with the Edmonton Symphony conducting there several times each season, and has returned as guest conductor with the Detroit Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Tucson Symphony and the Boston Pops. With the latter, he has been a frequent guest for twenty two years, making his debut there in 1992. He has also conducted the Opera Companies of Nashville and Birmingham as well as the Louisville Ballet, the North Carolina Ballet, the Jacksonville Ballet, and the Lonestar Ballet.
Born in Rochester, New York, Mr. Bernhardt holds a master's degree from the University of Southern California Thornton School of Music, where he studied with critically-acclaimed conductor Daniel Lewis. He is a summa cum laude graduate from Union College in Schenectady, New York, where he was an academic All-American baseball player and captain of the school’s soccer team.
He and his wife, Nora, have one son, one daughter, and one granddaughter.
Robert Bernhardt