Each year, UNC Greensboro recognizes a faculty member, staff member, and a student whose service went above and beyond. With the Gladys Strawn Bullard Award, it rewards examples of leadership and service. These include committee work, committee chairing, spearheading projects, volunteering for University projects, and/or advising student groups.
UNCG is proud to announce the three recipient of the Gladys Strawn Bullard Award for 2025:
Faculty
Kim Cuny, Communication Studies
Staff
Beth Todd, Bryan School of Business and Economics
Student
Kennedy Strong, Public Health Education
Kim Cuny has long advanced UNCG’s reputation within the Department of Communication Studies, benefitting students and professionals at UNCG and beyond. Earning her master of fine arts in theatre for youth at UNCG, Cuny dedicated herself to service to other faculty and students within the School of Theatre, including the identification of young audience theatre deserts. She did all this while focused on her work as a full-time faculty member. Her students regularly volunteer at Peacehaven Community Farm, providing a curriculum and coaching for adults with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities. She served 20 years as director of the Speaking Center, which was recognized as a national model. She regularly attended, presented, and organized conferences centered around communication and is a co-editor for the Communication Center Journal.
Beth Todd works diligently with students in the Bryan School of Business and Economics. While in financial management, she developed comprehensive budget management tools to integrate funding sources. She fulfilled multiple positions within the Bryan School while spearheading a structural reorganization to create new staff positions. She moved into the Dean’s Office in 2015 to facilitate the hiring of 84 full-time faculty members, all while training her successor in financial management. Incoming Dean Joy Bhadury praised her “exceptional leadership, unwavering dedication, and transformative impact on our institution.”
Kennedy Strong has emerged as an incredible mentor to other students studying public health education. She is vice president of the student club Melanin in Medicine, helping grow the organization to more than 100 members. She also organized professional development workshops, resume-building sessions, and fundraising initiatives. She also serves on the Public Health Impact Network, connecting students with valuable experiential learning opportunities and raising awareness of public health issues; and is a William’s Scholar who partners regularly with the Center for Women’s Health and Wellness on research into physical health and its physiological effects on adolescent girls.
The Gladys Strawn Bullard Awards were established in 1981 through an endowed gift from Bern F. Bullard and his family in honor of Gladys Strawn Bullard, an alumna of UNCG, previous president of the UNCG Alumni Association, and former member and vice chairman of the UNCG Board of Trustees. She was a longtime civic leader in Raleigh, first president of the Democratic Women of Wake County, and a past president of the Raleigh Woman’s Club. Through the years, she also served on numerous boards of non-profit organizations. She passed away in December 2014.
