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BAA Honors Young AlumniBy Judy Prather
From judges to professors, from ambassadors to entertainers, young
Baylor graduates are making a mark on the world, and each year the
Baylor Alumni Association honors some of those alumni who have made
significant contributions before they reach forty years old.
The 2008 Herbert H. Reynolds Outstanding Young Alumni Awards will be
presented on October 31 during the first performance of Pigskin at
Baylor Homecoming to Dr. Ali Azizzadeh of Houston; Dr. Tina Payne
Bryson of San Marino, California; Collin J. Cox, also of Houston;
Kimberly Hightower of McGregor; and David Phelps of Culleoka, Tennessee.
 Dr.
Ali Azizzadeh is a board-certified vascular surgeon who specializes in
minimally invasive treatment of vascular disease. After graduating from
Baylor in 1994, he attended medical school and completed a general
surgery residency at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston and a
vascular surgery fellowship at Barnes Jewish Hospital at Washington
University School of Medicine in St. Louis.
He is currently an assistant professor in the Department of
Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgery at the University of Texas Medical
School in Houston and serves as director of endovascular surgery at
Houston's Memorial Hermann Heart and Vascular Institute. He has
authored or co-authored more than sixty-two scientific publications and
ten book chapters in medical journals and textbooks, and he actively
participates in research on new surgical techniques that have greatly
improved outcomes, including work to test new grafts and stents.
Dr. Tina Payne Bryson is the director of parenting education and development for the Mindsight Institute in Los Angeles,
where she works alongside internationally known child psychiatrist
Daniel J. Siegel. She is also an expert contributor for eHarmony's
parenting website, where her articles and podcasts appear. A 1993
Baylor graduate, Bryson earned a master's degree from the University of
Kentucky and the PhD from the University of Southern California.
She is a sought-after public speaker whose professional life focuses on
combining brain research and theory from various fields of science, and
offering it to parents in a way that is clear, humorous, and
immediately helpful. But she emphasizes that before she's an educator,
researcher, or writer, she's a mom. She and her husband, Dr. Scott
Bryson '91, MA '94, are the parents of Ben, Luke, and J. P.
 A Waco native, Collin Cox served two terms as Baylor's student body president before graduating magna cum laude
from Baylor in 1997. The permanent president for his class, he was also
named to Phi Beta Kappa. Cox earned a master's degree from the
University of Cambridge and completed law school at Duke University
before serving as a law clerk for the U.S. Court of Appeals in
Philadelphia. He joined the firm of Williams & Connolly in
Washington, D.C., where he practiced litigation for almost four years.
In 2006, Cox returned to Texas and joined the law firm of Yetter,
Warden, and Coleman in Houston, making partner the next year. He is a
director of the Texas Lyceum, Aspiring Youth of Houston, and the Baylor
Alumni Association, and he serves on Baylor's Student Life Advisory
Committee and Duke Law School's Future Forum. He recently was selected
as a "Leader of Tomorrow" by the University of Texas Health Science
Center at Houston. Cox is married to another 1997 Baylor graduate,
Jacquelyn Kelly DuBose Cox.
Kimberly Hightower is a special education teacher at G. W. Carver Academy in Waco. After graduating from Baylor
University in 1999, she served a two-year internship as the missions
coordinator in the Baptist Student Ministries at Baylor before
beginning her teaching career.
Earlier this year, Hightower graduated from Baylor with a master's
degree in curriculum and instruction, and she has become a national
board certified teacher, making presentations throughout the district
and region on best practices for teaching students with disabilities.
In 2006, she was recognized as the Outstanding Secondary Teacher for
the Waco Independent School District.
 David
Phelps, a 1992 Baylor graduate, is a Christian vocalist, songwriter,
and vocal arranger, best known by many for his eight-year stint as
lyric tenor and soloist in the Gaither Vocal Band. The recipient of
four Dove Awards and two Grammy Awards, he has released several solo
albums, including two Christmas collections. His audiences have
included President George W. Bush, Billy Graham Crusades, and millions
of ABC News viewers.
As a teenager, Phelps won the 1988 Seminar in the Rockies held in Estes
Park, Colorado, the youngest winner of the contest at that time. After
graduating from Baylor in 1992, he served a stint as artist in
residence for First Baptist Church in Hurst, before joining the
Gaithers. His wife, Lori Purtle Phelps, is a 1993 Baylor graduate.
For more information about the Outstanding Young Alumni award, or other
awards presented by the Baylor Alumni Association, call (254) 710-1121
or check the association's website at bayloralumni.com.
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