Wellford received the award at a special event in December.
Wellford is pictured with The Honorable Annie Tauer Christoff ’96, United States Magistrate Judge for the Western District of Tennessee.
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Hutchison Alumna Earns Memphis Bar Association Honor
Shea Sisk Wellford ’87 received the Judge Jerome Turner Lawyer’s Lawyer Award from the Memphis Bar Association.
The award recognizes a Memphis attorney who has practiced law for more than 15 years and embodies professionalism, civility, and courtesy. An accomplished attorney and shareholder at Martin, Tate, Morrow & Marston, P.C., as well as a member of the Executive Committee of the firm, Wellford represents large and small businesses, financial institutions, and individuals in civil litigation. She previously served as president of the Memphis Bar Association, the Mid-South Chapter of the Federal Bar Association, and the Leo Bearman, Sr. Inn of Court.
As an attorney, she is well-versed in making a case for her clients but realizes that respectful communication and civil discourse are vital in law and life. “It’s important to be able to have civil discourse, to be able to truly listen to someone without formulating a response in the moment or interrupting. And then to be able to communicate back to them in a way that they can listen to you so that you can have a discussion that may or may not get you to an agreement, but that may get you closer toward an understanding of the other person’s perspective,” she said.
Her success reflects not only her legal skill and leadership, but also the values instilled during her time at Hutchison: resilience, critical thinking, and integrity. “The more cases I tried, the easier it became. It wasn’t like flipping a light switch, but it was just the mindset of, ‘okay, I can do that.’ I just kept pushing forward as the cases got larger and more important from a monetary and business issue standpoint. It definitely was a learning process,” she said.
How does Hutchison support student well-being? During an Independent Schools Management webinar on school leadership, Head of School Dr. Kristen Ring shared with educators how Hutchison is responding to evolving student needs with clarity, consistency, and care.
Since joining Hutchison in 2020, Chief Financial Officer Melissa Baker has exemplified what it means to be a mission-driven, forward-thinking financial leader. She was a finalist for the 2025 CFO of the Year award from the Memphis Business Journal and was featured in its October 24, 2025, edition and online.
One of the best ways to narrow down career interests is through experience, and the Institute for Responsible Citizenship provided our freshmen and sophomores with a closer look at the possibilities.
Two alumnae—Shubhi Singh ’22 and Francie Sentilles ’17—have taken their world language skills far beyond Hutchison classrooms, from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where they both attended, to countries around the world.
Carly Gubin ’12 played tennis at Hutchison and learned the importance of being part of a team. As a dentist, she relies on a team when caring for patients.
When our girls come together to serve, amazing things happen. During their service retreat, our 10th graders built strong bonds while making a positive impact across Memphis.
For her myExperience capstone project, Maya Pentecost ’26 adapted Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Masque of the Red Death” into a one-act dark comedy. She wrote the script, designed the production, and collaborated with a cast and crew of Hutchison students and faculty in our arts program and the Institute for Responsible Citizenship to bring it to life.
Hutchison Now highlights recent graduates early in their careers who embody how a Hutchison education can lead anywhere you can imagine. We spoke with Morgan Murdock, a senior project manager at W&A Engineering in Atlanta.
Through hands-on experiments and collaborations with the Design Lab and Dobbs Farm, teacher Christine Groves is helping our girls in junior kindergarten through fourth grade grow their curiosity, critical thinking, and resiliency.
Through the performing arts, Hutchison inspires girls to become strong communicators, creative thinkers, and compassionate leaders in every part of their lives.
Four rising seniors participated in high-intensity summer programs in subjects including international studies, technological innovation and business, education, and visual arts.
Hutchison Now highlights recent graduates early in their careers who embody how a Hutchison education can lead anywhere you can imagine. We spoke with Dorothy Oehmler, who works for Mischief Comedy in London.
Rising juniors who are part of four myExperience cohorts in Hutchison’s Institute for Responsible Citizenship – global civic engagement, entrepreneurship, STEM, and art and design – explored their respective fields of study on a trip to Miami.