Matthew Bishop, director of the J.W. Fanning Institute for Leadership Development, and Lisa Liguori, assistant director of the UGA Marine Extension Service and Georgia Sea Grant College Program, have been named to Georgia Trend magazine’s “Forty under Forty” list for 2013.
Each year the magazine’s editorial staff selects 40 high-achieving Georgians under the age of 40 who are making a significant impact on their professions, communities and the state. This year’s winners were selected from nominations by the magazine’s readers around the state.
Last year, Bishop became the new director of the Fanning Institute, a public service and outreach unit, as it refocused its mission. He guides the development of new goals and programming, focusing primarily on leadership development with communities, nonprofits and youth, particularly those at risk.
He is also a 2008 graduate of Leadership Georgia and an active volunteer for Leadership Athens.
“I’m looking at community development from several levels-local to statewide-and that gives me a holistic perspective. Strong leadership is vital to job creation,” he told Georgia Trend.
Liguori conducts and oversees research on Georgia’s coast through MAREX and Georgia Sea Grant, also public service and outreach units, to help identify and solve various challenges facing the region. Recently, she helped develop an affordable hair-testing program to determine mercury levels in women of childbearing age and assisted a local shrimper in field testing and obtaining a national certification for a turtle excluder device, mandatory on U.S. shrimp nets. She also serves as a court appointed special advocate volunteer in Glynn County.
This is the 17th year Georgia Trend has presented this award.
