Laura Braxton Tew ‘69 grew up on tobacco farms in Pitt County, North Carolina. Her interest in mathematics and science was sparked by public school teachers in Winterville. She considers UNCG her lucky break, an opportunity for work and study on campus while living in Gray, Guilford, Mary Foust, and Shaw dormitories. While at UNCG, she was an undergraduate research and teaching assistant, guided and mentored by members of the strong and gifted chemistry faculty under department chair Walter Puterbaugh.

Laura’s further educational initiatives included graduate studies in chemistry at Duke, an MBA from Pace University,  and a Certificate in Corporate Citizenship from Boston College. She spent 37 years in the chemical manufacturing industry, working in ten states and on four continents and reaching for and breaking glass ceilings as she rose from the position of bench chemist to become Corporate Director of Stakeholder Relations with global responsibilities. 

Upon retirement in 2009, Laura followed her proven approach in life, study first and then act. She earned a certificate in Non-profit Management from UNCG in 2013. This course of study, along with the year-long IMPACT Greensboro program at the Center for Creative Leadership, prepared her for an active life of volunteerism and philanthropy, always giving back to the community. She also made time to become a Master Gardener and serve on the board of Heads Up for Our Youth.

Her retirement bucket list has afforded many interesting opportunities, and she is currently following her passion to further the STEM pipeline for women through science and technology education for girls. Laura credits UNCG for its generosity in providing facilities and staff services for events coordinated with Women in STEM, her colleagues at the American Association of University Women.

Christopher Conrad Tew ‘69 realized his passion for concert music when he began taking viola lessons from Mrs. Lucy Still while a student at Aycock Junior High School in Greensboro. A tuition student from McLeansville, he found close friendships with other student musicians in school orchestras at Aycock and then Page High School. 

Christopher participated in numerous performance opportunities in the Greensboro public schools, all-state orchestras, Governors School, and, most rewardingly, the Summer String Institute founded by Mr. George Dickieson at UNCG  where he first studied music theory with Dr. Harold Luce. 

His support for public education, including the UNCG College of Visual and Performing Arts, is rooted in his deep appreciation for the opportunities and benefits he received, including his graduation from UNCG in 1969.

Christopher began composing while at Aycock, and was able to hear those early works performed there, at Page, and at the Governor’s School. While at UNCG, his compositions were the first student works performed by the UNCG Sinfonia and Symphony. His music was subsequently performed by the Salisbury and Hickory Symphonies and the NCSU Orchestra. 

In the fifty years since graduation, Christopher has composed concert music for school, community, and professional orchestras. He has received commissions from groups as diverse as Louisville’s Jewish Community Center and Chattanooga’s Girls Preparatory School, as well as the Muncie Symphony Orchestra and the Chamber Orchestra of Tennessee. 

His works have been performed by professional orchestras from Livonia, Michigan to Lake Charles, Louisiana and West Hartford, Connecticut to Lone Tree, Colorado, and at a music festival in Lviv, Ukraine. The Bratislava Symphony Orchestra in Slovakia has recorded two CDs, including most of the works in tonight’s program.