2017 Turman Award

For Isabel M. Garcia 99L, receiving the 2017 J. Pollard Turman Alumni Service Award is a testament to her mentors, a role she has embraced as an alumna.

“Serving others is something that has been ingrained in me throughout my childhood and adulthood. I’ve had tremendous role models throughout my life who have taught me the importance of service,” Garcia says.

Garcia is a founding partner of the Piedmont Law Group, a boutique law firm in Atlanta engaged in the practice of commercial real estate. In addition to practicing law, Garcia has been on the faculty of continuing legal education seminars and served on the Executive Committee for the Real Property Law Section and the Executive Committee of Military and Veterans Law Section of the Georgia Bar Association.

An enthusiastic ambassador for Emory through her volunteer work with the Emory Alumni Association, Garcia served an eight-year term with the Emory Alumni Board (EAB), including one year as president. During her time on the board, Garcia played an integral role in the selection of half a dozen alumni trustees and many award recipients.

“I have served on the committee of the EAB responsible for selecting the recipient of the Turman award. I know intimately the caliber of alumni considered for this award, and I am very humbled by the fact I was even nominated,” Garcia says.

“There have been very few alumni volunteer leaders as dedicated and as productive as Isabel has been within the Emory University community,” wrote Cecily Craighill, former director of alumni relations with Emory Schoool of Law, in her nomination of Garcia. “Isabel’s modesty, quiet calm, lively good humor, and willingness to be the face and voice of the Emory Alumni Board in so many ways has been appreciated.”