UNC has impressive young alums in a variety of fields

Andy Griffith, Michael Jordan, Mia Hamm — need I name more? UNC is home to some pretty amazing people who have made their mark following graduation. Here’s a list of noteworthy UNC alumni who have graduated in the 21st century.

Brooke Baldwin

2001 UNC graduate and CNN news anchor, Baldwin seems like she has it all. She came back to her roots to speak at the 2017 commencement ceremony.

Melissa Claire Egan

You may recognize her as Annie from “All My Children” or Chelsea on “The Young and the Restless,” but Melissa Claire Egan started out at UNC. From her beginnings in New York, she went to UNC to study dramatic art and perform in shows around campus. She graduated in 2003 and moved to Los Angeles. There, she began acting in commercials, including a Taco Bell ad that made its way into the Super Bowl coverage.

James Eaton Hill

Hill graduated with the class of 2010. After graduation, he decided to found High Cotton, a start-up where he makes polo shirts out of North Carolina-grown cotton. Talk about keeping true to your Carolina roots.

Tina Prevatte

Prevatte is co-CEO of Firsthand Foods, a company that connects pasture-raised livestock providers with restaurants, retailers and other consumers. She earned her MBA from Kenan-Flagler Business School at UNC.

Joseph Richardson Powell

Powell graduated from UNC in 2001 and became the executive director of the Me Fine Foundation in 2003, which provides emotional and financial support for families of ill children at North Carolina children’s hospitals. Powell and his wife got married on campus and took a photo with the first people they saw, basketball coaches Dean Smith and Bill Guthridge.

Meredith Elliott Miller

A 2010 graduate from UNC’s medical school, Miller was Project HOPE’s first recipient of the Dr. Charles A. Sanders International Residency Scholarship. With the money, she interviewed, examined, diagnosed and treated patients under the supervision of a local pediatrician in the Dominican Republic.

Karyn Collie Dickerson

The 2013-14 North Carolina teacher of the year graduated from UNC in 2004. Dickerson has taught English at every level in middle and high school throughout her time as a teacher in Greensboro. She’s also a member of the North Carolina State Board of Education, the Governor’s Teacher Advisory Council and a North Carolina Education Policy Fellow graduate.

Tobin Heath

Heath’s favorite food is Eggo waffles, and given the chance to play another sport during her time at UNC, she said she’d play all of them, but for now, Heath excels at soccer. As a junior, the midfielder won gold with her team at the 2008 Olympics. She graduated in 2009 with a degree in communications before joining the Atlanta Beat professional team. Since then, she won another Olympic medal in 2012 and a gold medal at the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup while playing on several teams around the world.

Atrayus Goode

Before Goode graduated from UNC in 2007, he started the Durham-based program, Movement of Youth, of which he is president and CEO. MOY works with high school students and colleges for academic success, team mentoring, travel and college tours. Students in the program have a 100 percent high school graduation rate and 99 percent college acceptance rate.

Elizabeth J. Palmer

After graduating from UNC in the class of 2002, Palmer earned her law degree at The University of South Carolina. The South Carolina Bar Association awarded her “Young Lawyer of the Year” in 2015.

arts@dailytarheel.com