White + Burke Real Estate Investment Advisors, Inc. has announced that Stephanie T. Hainley completed her Masters of Business Administration (MBA) at Champlain College in July 2012.

Geoffrey R. Hesslink, Executive Vice President and Senior Lending Officer, will share his expertise on employee stock ownership at the New England Chapter of the ESOP Association’s Fall Conference. The conference takes place October 10-12 at the Killington Grand Hotel in Killington, Vt.

Amber L. Barber, a matrimonial and family law attorney at the northern New England law firm Downs Rachlin Martin PLLC, was installed as president of the Vermont Bar Association on September 21 at the organization's 134th Annual Meeting, held at the Lake Morey Resort in Fairlee, Vt.

KeyBank has hired Douglas Graham as senior vice president and commercial banking relationship manager covering Vermont. He is responsible for new business development and overseeing existing relationships with commercial customers.

The Vermont Humanities Council has named Newport’s North Country Union High School teacher Gary Johnson as its 2012 humanities educator of the year. Johnson, a teacher of humanities courses for twenty years, will be presented the tenth annual Victor R. Swenson Humanities Educator Award at VHC’s annual fall conference on November 10 at the Stoweflake Mountain Resort in Stowe. The conference topic this year is “Sacred Spaces, Sacred Places: Religious Architecture and Sites.”VHC Board Chair James Wilbur will present the award at 8:30 a.m.

Emily Burke Dousevicz, former Director of Annual Giving at the University of Vermont, has been named Graduate Program Marketing Coordinator at Saint Michael's College, starting this week. She will be overseeing marketing of SMC graduate programs in Education, Clinical Psychology, and Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages.

For the past few years, Professor Gina Mireault and her students at Johnson State College have been exploring how infants develop a sense of humor. Their study has landed them on the pages of national magazines and scientific journals, in the halls of Congress for the annual “Posters on the Hill” event, and at science gatherings near and far, including Scotland just last month.

This week, it’s featured on the award-winning PBS science show, NOVA, as part of the acclaimed series “What Makes Us Human.” The segment airs at 10 p.m. this Wednesday, Oct. 10, on PBS.

Susan M. Murray of Langrock Sperry & Wool, LLP has been named Vermont’s 2013 “Lawyer of the Year” in the practice area of Family Law.

She received this honor from Best Lawyers, the oldest and most respected peer review publication in the legal profession, because her fellow attorneys in the area of family law consistently rate her at the top of the field.

A UVM alumni couple and their family have pledged $1 million to support students in the Honors College at the University of Vermont.

Robert "Rob" Brennan, UVM class of 1983 and his wife, Carolyn Brennan, UVM class of 1982, have pledged $1 million over the next five years to build on the success of the university’s Honors College and add to their prior giving for the same purpose.

Bill Young, Executive Director of Maple Leaf Farm is pleased to announce the promotion of Allison Lary to Quality Assurance Manager. Allison joined the staff in 2011 and holds a Bachelor's degree in Human Services from Lyndon State College.