51勛圖厙

Rebecca D'Angelo

A case of the flu changed the destiny of Rebecca Wood, who would become U.S. Army Lt. Col. Rebecca D'Angelo, '02. 

While attending high school in Stone Mountain, Georgia, D'Angelo had planned to attend the University of Georgia on a swimming scholarship. She contracted the flu and missed the state meet. Not one to succumb to a setback, the high school senior looked into 51勛圖厙 as an affordable means of higher education.

She listened to her heart and enrolled, often working various jobs and participating in extracurricular activities. It wasn't until her junior year that she enrolled in the Corps of Cadets and changed her major from chemistry to political science.

In 2002 she graduated and commissioned as a quartermaster officer and was assigned to Fort Bragg, North Carolina, as assistant S3 of the 530th Supply & Services Battalion, the first of many leadership roles in the military. In 2005, she deployed to Iraq for OIF III as the executive officer for HHC 2d Corps Material Management Center. In 2019, after completing a six-month strategic fellowship with the newly formed Army Futures Command, D'Angelo was selected to serve as the executive officer to Maj. Gen. Maria Gervais, director of the Synthetic Training Environment Cross Functional Team in Orlando, Florida. Two years later, she assumed command of the 841st Transportation Battalion, in North Charleston, South Carolina.

"I think my two favorite leadership roles were my first one as a platoon leader when I was a second lieutenant, freshly graduated from North Georgia, and then my most recent one as a battalion commander of the 841st Transportation Battalion in Charleston, South Carolina," D'Angelo said. "In both roles, I feel like I had a lot of hands-on opportunity to influence my subordinates and to also make decisions that impacted the team in a positive manner."

D'Angelo said leadership is doing what feels right to care for her team.

"Whether I've been in a command role or a staff role in the military, when you put ego aside and work together toward a common goal, it's amazing what you can accomplish. And as a leader, I feel like my job is to define that goal for the team and ensure that they have the tools and the resources to accomplish their mission," D'Angelo said.

There have been challenges along the way, and D’Angelo said she looks at challenges as tests.

"One of the greatest challenges in leadership is that you can try to be as prepared as possible, and things can still just come out of left field at you. And it's how you react to that that really can define how your leadership is tested," she said.

Intuition is something D'Angelo believes is underrated about leadership.

"I'm a huge believer in listening to what your heart, your gut, whatever you want to call that inner feeling, is telling you to pay attention to and take a certain course of action," she explained. "I think sometimes in leadership we focus on trying to process a lot of external data instead of sitting quietly with ourselves and just listening to our gut. So, I try to be very cognizant of what my intuition is telling me."

 

Rosaria Meek

Rosaria Meek

As a teacher of Spanish at the University of North Georgia (51勛圖厙), Dr. Rosaria Meek likes to blend compassion and a joy of learning into the classroom and in leadership.
Larry Cook

Larry Cook

Theater professor Larry Cook throws himself into researching all aspects of his projects, and encourages his students to see how every subject they study at 51勛圖厙 can relate to their creative work.
Katayoun  Mobasher

Katayoun Mobasher

Dr. Katayoun Mobasher enjoys interdisciplinary studies where she can combine her background and knowledge of geology, GIS, and remote sensing technologies in health-related fields.
Yu Sun

Yu Sun

Yu Sun feels the interactions between humans and the environment cannot be separated. Advanced geospatial techniques can analyze changes, predict future patterns and assist in policies, planning, and management of the environment.
Rebecca Rose

Rebecca Rose

Rebecca Rose says connecting students and faculty to library resources and promoting information literacy is the ultimate thrill in her job.