New Hall of Pride inductees announced

Contributed

The Tallassee High School Alumni Association has announced its 2019 Hall of Pride inductees: Dr. Henry Lee Taylor, Class of 1952; Dr. Larry Whatley, Class of 1958; Mr. Derrick Ansley, Class of 2000. The trio will be introduced at the induction ceremony on Thursday, March 14 at 10 a.m. in the Tallassee High School Auditorium. 

The Service Award will be presented to the Carter family on behalf of Mrs. Marjorie Carter, who spent almost two decades teaching English and advising the Talla-Hi News. Under her tutelage, the newspaper won top honors year after year and several of her editors were named Journalist of the Year by the Alabama High School Press Association.

Taylor had a storied career in the Air Force, receiving the Distinguished Flying Cross for combat valor in Vietnam, served in the Pentagon, and had a second career as Director of the Institute of Aviation and Professor of Psychology at the University of Illinois. He has received numerous accolades, including receiving a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Military Psychology Association for leaders in the field and being named an Honorary Fellow from the International Symposium on Aviation Psychology.

Whatley earned a Ph.D. from Indiana University and served on the music faculty at Brevard College in Brevard, North Carolina, from 1963-2000. He has published many articles and has composed a catalog of about 50 compositions for band, orchestra, chorus, solo voice, solo instruments, and chamber music. Dr. Whatley was named to the Brevard College Alumni Hall of Fame after his retirement.

Ansley played football at Troy University, where he finished third in the conference in interceptions (9) his junior year, and was named to the All Conference Team in 2004. Upon graduation, he served as a defensive backs coach at Huntingdon College in Montgomery. His career then took him to several universities, including the University of Alabama, where he was a coach on the National Championship team. He is currently the defensive backs coach for the Oakland Raiders and was named Position Coach of the Year.

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