Athens, Ga. – The University of Georgia Board of Visitors welcomed 31 new members at its winter meeting in Atlanta.
The Board of Visitors is comprised of government, business and community leaders who reside both in and outside Georgia. As members, they act as ambassadors for the university, helping to build a constituency with a strong knowledge base and passion for advocacy for the University of Georgia and its mission of teaching, research and service.
The new members joining the Board of Visitors Class of 2017–2019, in alphabetical order, are:
- Cyndae Arrendale, philanthropist.
- Lillie Axelrod, executive vice president, Wells Fargo & Company.
- Angie Blank, director, The Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation.
- Jeff Cavender, partner, Troutman Sanders LLP.
- Lana Chumachenko, senior asset management analyst, Chick-fil-A Inc.
- Mike Donnelly, regional president, Wells Fargo & Company.
- Jeff Everett, co-chief investment officer, Global Core Equity, Invesco Inc.
- John Feltman, chairman and CEO, Brookhaven Medical Inc.
- Bart Gobeil, senior director of economic development and governmental affairs, Georgia Ports Authority.
- Roger Hunter, associate director of programs and projects, NASA.
- Otis Johnson, scholar in residence, Savannah State University.
- Seth Knight, partner, Knight Rawls Inc.
- Jay Markwalter, director of sales, Augusta Convention and Visitors Bureau.
- Randy Martin, cardiologist, Piedmont Heart Institute.
- Leslie Moore, managing director, Beecher Carlson Holdings Inc.
- Karen Parker, community volunteer.
- Mark Parker, financial advisor, MMHP Investment Advisors.
- Monica Pearson, television broadcast journalist, WSB-TV Atlanta.
- Charles Peck, president and CEO, Piedmont Athens Regional Medical Center.
- Rogsbert Phillips-Reed, oncologist, Metro Surgical Associates Inc.
- Gene Rackley, director of government relations, Coca-Cola North America.
- Tucker Sarkisian, director of public relations, Sweetwater Brewing Company.
- John Shlesinger, owner, Shlesinger Interests Inc.
- David Sikes, owner, Sikes Paper & Chemical Supply Inc.
- Greer Taylor, community volunteer.
- Dixie Truelove, vice president, Truelove Dairy Inc.
- David Werner, executive counsel, Office of Governor Nathan Deal.
- Milton Williams, senior vice president and portfolio manager, Crawford Investment Counsel.
- Ridley Williams, executive vice president and partner, N.A. Williams.
- MaryPaul Yates, principal, Yates Design Inc.
- Becky Young, philanthropist.
“I appreciate the commitment of our new Board of Visitors members to serving in this important capacity,” said President Jere W. Morehead. “They will play a critical role in telling the story of the University of Georgia, and, without a doubt, we have a very compelling story to tell.”
“We are very proud and excited to welcome our new members to the Board of Visitors,” said Neal Quirk, chair of the UGA Foundation Board of Trustees’ development and public affairs committee. “We have a wonderful new group of ambassadors for the University of Georgia joining an already excellent group serving. The lunch and meeting for our new class, and the existing Board of Visitors members in attendance, highlighted the critical and ongoing efforts at UGA to secure support for need-based scholarships for our students. Our new and existing members of the Board of Visitors will do an excellent job, I am certain, in raising awareness about this most important effort and area of need.”
The Board of Visitors, established in 2010, is part of an outreach initiative coordinated by the UGA Foundation Board of Trustees. Board of Visitors members serve two-year terms and are invited to participate in luncheon programs that focus on topics of importance to the university and the citizens of Georgia. Recent program topics have centered on UGA’s experiential learning initiative, active learning environments in the UGA Science Learning Center, and the impact of need-based scholarships.
For more information on the Board of Visitors, see http://dar.uga.edu/bov/.