During the 2023 Alumni Weekend, Augusta University will honor several distinguished and outstanding young alumni, among them Stacy Tallent, CEO of the Health Center Credit Union.

Tallent will be recognized as the distinguished alumnus from the James M. Hull College of Business during the festivities April 28-30. He earned both a bachelor’s and master’s degree in business administration from Augusta University.

Tallent recalls he was always good with numbers and math came naturally. A lifelong Augusta resident, he originally wanted to be a sports journalist. After deciding that wasn’t going to pan out, he gravitated toward accounting. Now, he’s the CEO of the credit union, where he has been since 1996.

Tallent went to high school at the Academy of Richmond County. He grew up a University of Tennessee fan and had his sights set on going to college there, but he knew due to the cost of out-of-state tuition, that likely wouldn’t happen. With some prodding from a neighbor, his collegiate career started at what was then Augusta College.

He is the first family member to get a degree from a four-year college and later returned to earn his MBA. Despite being a first-generation student, he knew his family expected him to attend college.

Tallent remembers his first accounting class with Mary Lisko, who retired in 2006 as assistant dean of what was then the College of Business Administration, after a 29-year career. Lisko left a lasting impression on Tallent.

“I really liked her. She’s very direct, very straightforward but also could talk down on my level and explain things. That kind of got the hook in me,” said Tallent.

He also remembers many other classes, but one management class stands out during his senior year. Tallent wasn’t big on public speaking, but for this class, he had to give a 15-minute presentation. After plenty of sweating about it, he got the job done and said to this day he probably learned more in that class than he would have in a public speaking class.

Finding a good paying accounting job right out of college wasn’t easy. He was prepared to get a computer science degree, but as luck would have it, he landed an accounting job for a local home health company shortly after enrolling in classes.

Health Masters Home Health Care asked him to assist a hired consultant who was looking to start a credit union. Next thing he knew, he found a new spot in the company after the approval came from the National Credit Union Administration to start HealthMaster Federal Credit Union.