The 2018 Alumni Hall of Fame inductees Gary Roberson (1986), Victoria King (2014) who received the Distinguished Young Alumnus Award, Price Harris (1964) and Don Biadog (1983).
William Carey University inducted four alumni into its Hall of Fame during the annual banquet on April 20 at Southern Oaks House and Gardens in Hattiesburg. The induction ceremony was one of the highlights of WCU’s homecoming weekend. The inductees are Don Biadog (1983), Price Harris (1964), Gary Roberson (1986), and Victoria King (2014), who received the Distinguished Young Alumnus Award.
Manuel Arceo (Don) Biadog Jr.Don Biadog earned a Bachelor of Arts in biblical studies at William Carey College in 1983. He went on to earn a Master of Arts in religious education from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, a Master of Arts in national security and strategic studies from the Naval War College, and a Doctor of Ministry in church growth from Fuller Theological Seminary.
During his time at Carey, Biadog was active on campus, serving as president of the International Students’ Organization, was a member of the student council, was active in the Baptist Student Union, and consistently earned a place on the president’s and dean’s lists.
Biadog’s pastoral career began in 1987 at Agape Community Baptist Church in San Diego, a position he held until 1992. Under his leadership, two local churches were planted. In 1990, Biadog and his family began a life of service in the United States Navy. He attended the Naval Chaplain’s School and served in the Naval Reserve. In 1992, he was called to active duty and has since ministered to service members and their families at military bases at home and abroad. Some of his most notable postings were at the U.S. Naval Station in Guantanamo Bay; Okinawa, Japan, where he served for almost a decade; and Iraq, where he was credited with saving the lives of a U.S. Army officer and Iraqi families and was injured in the line of duty. He is currently serving stateside at the Marine Corps Air Station in San Diego.
Throughout his decades of pastoral care and military service, Biadog received many accolades, awards, commendations, and medals, including the President’s Volunteer Service Award in April 2018, the Meritorious Service Medal, the Navy-Marine Corps Commendation Medal and the Iraq Campaign Medal.
Biadog gives credit to his Carey education and to the caring faculty who prepared him for graduate school and his service to God and country. His tireless efforts to minister to servicemen and women and carry the Gospel around the globe have spread the good name and reputation of William Carey University to the far corners of the earth.
Robert Price HarrisPrice Harris was born in Tupelo. He graduated from Tupelo High School in 1959. After attending Clarke Memorial College in Newton and Mississippi College in Clinton, he graduated from William Carey College in 1964 with a Bachelor of Music in church music.
During his college years, he served Hickory Baptist, Richton Baptist, Calvary Baptist in Columbia, and First Baptist Union. At Calvary Baptist in Columbia, he met and married Ann Leonard, who was in her first year of teaching after graduating from Mississippi Southern University. They celebrated 54 years together in June of last year. They have two children and eight grandchildren.
In 1964, Harris joined another Carey graduate, Dr. W.D. “Step” Martin, as music and youth pastor at First Baptist of Satsuma, Alabama. He and Martin moved to Calvary Baptist in Shreveport in 1969 where they worked together for 20 years.
Harris learned to love missions as a student at Carey and was a participant in the Baptist Student Union. In 1989, Harris began a traveling ministry of music and missions. He has continued this work in many states and countries.
He is the president of Price Harris Evangelism, a non-profit organization. His work in Jamaica, Romania, Mexico, Brazil, and the Philippines is focused on returning to the same places several times, developing a continuing ministry and strong relationships with the people there. Church conferences and revival meetings also have an important role in his ministry. His passion has been to introduce lay people to short-term mission trips and to see them develop a lifestyle of involvement in missions and evangelism. He has led more than 500 people on more than 50 mission trips.
Harris is grateful to William Carey University for the training and the encouragement that prepared him for a life of service to the church and to Christ.
Gary A. RobersonGary Roberson earned a Bachelor of Science in chemistry from William Carey College in 1986 and subsequently obtained a Doctor of Medicine degree and psychiatry residency from the University of Mississippi Medical Center, followed by post-graduate work at the University of Oxford in England, where he earned post-graduate degrees in evidence-based medicine, experimental therapeutics, and theological studies.
While at Carey, Roberson was chosen as Outstanding Chemistry Student in 1985 and was also selected as a Rotary International Scholar. In medical school, he was named Outstanding Medical Student in Psychiatry in 1995. He is a diplomate of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, a member of American Board of Medical Specialties and the Mississippi Psychiatric Association, and a lifetime member of the Oxford University Science Society and the Oxford Union. He was recently featured in the 2018 edition of Top 100 Doctors, published by “Top 100 Magazine.”
Roberson’s career includes having served as medical director at several Mississippi hospitals, and he currently serves as an adjunct clinical professor in psychiatry at the WCU College of Osteopathic Medicine. He founded several successful behavioral health companies with an eye toward providing access to routine top-notch psychiatric care in rural areas by utilizing telehealth technologies and an industry-revolutionizing approach to clinician management. The services these companies primarily provide include psychiatric evaluations, counseling services, medication management, and baseline cognitive assessments. He is the chief medical director at MDB Behavioral Health where he manages more than 20 clinicians as well as serving as chief medical strategist for Master Medical Health and Ufonia Limited Artificial Intelligence, companies providing medical services through advanced technology.
Roberson’s scholarly works include research, writing, and presentations in the areas of major depression, neurochemistry and psychosis. He is interested in partnerships with rural health clinics, hospitals, and business-minded clinicians, who can extend medical services to the underserved.
One of his passions is educating families and communities about mental illness, particularly dementia, and he works to connect patients and families to resources within health systems, churches and community groups.
Roberson’s most recent academic venture was studying theology at the only Baptist-associated college at the University of Oxford, Regent’s Park College, and he has facilitated discussions between Carey and the University of Oxford to host the Carey Scholars in Oxford, and to offer summer courses for WCU honor students.
Roberson is thankful for the education in chemistry and biology he received at Carey because it became the foundation on which all further degrees were built. He said, “I fell in love with learning at Carey and established the framework of my worldview while here.”
Distinguished Young Alumnus AwardVictoria Alese King Victoria King earned a Bachelor of Science degree from William Carey University in 2014. She received her realtor license that same year and her broker license in 2017. King majored in psychology and minored in business and served as Gamma Chi president and a resident assistant while a student. She raised scholarship money as a Student Foundation member and promoted university as a Carey Connections member.
Since graduation, she co-founded the Hattiesburg Chapter of Business Network International and served on the economic development committee of the Historic Hattiesburg Downtown Association. She is an officer for Women Business Owners of the Pine Belt, scholarship chairperson for the Empty Bowls Project, chairperson for the Downtown Hattiesburg Ambassadors, serves on the events committee of Pine Belt Young Professionals and is a member of the Area Development Partnership.
She was selected Best Realtor of the Pine Belt through Signature Magazine in 2017 and received the 100% Club Award from Realty Executives. She also received the Volunteer Award from the Miss WCU Pageant and was a 2018 pageant judge.
King partners with the Homes for Heroes Hattiesburg affiliate to collaborate with a lender to give discounts to police officers, firefighters, educators and other public servants purchasing homes. She also serves as a board member for Habitat for Humanity, blending her chosen career with service to her community. The Mississippi Senate passed Resolution #643 in honor of King’s volunteerism.
Community service is one of two main principles King said was emphasized in her studies at Carey. The other is service to the client. “My psychology major and business minor helps me to understand the needs and wants of my clients,” she said. “Honesty and integrity are qualities that build a great business. WCU taught me the importance of dedication and hard work, but most importantly, building a business means having a genuine concern for each client.”
King demonstrated loyalty to her community and Carey after the devastating tornado last year. She walked door-to-door in our neighborhood distributing donated goods and assuring our neighbors that Carey, and each of them, would come back Carey Strong.