Three new members have been named to Emory's Board of Trustees. Benjamin F. Johnson III '65C, Chilton Davis Varner '76L and Felker W. Ward Jr. '71L were elected at the board's Nov. 9 meeting.
Johnson, a partner at Alston & Bird Attorneys at Law since 1971, graduated from Emory College in 1965 and received his J.D. from Harvard University in 1968. While at Emory, he was a Rhodes Scholar nominee, a winner of the Marion Luther Brittain Service Award, Interfraternity Council president, College Honor Council chairman and a member of Phi Beta Kappa.
A member of the Board of Visitors in 1993-94, Johnson held a number of leadership posts in the Coca-Cola Challenge and the Emory Challenge Fund, including volunteer leadership chairman for the Coca-Cola Challenge in 1994.
Varner, a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Smith College, received her J.D. with distinction, Order of the Coif, from Emory's law school in 1976, then joined the law firm of King & Spalding. In 1983, she became the firm's second female partner and the first female partner in the litigation group.
At King & Spalding, Varner has served as local, regional and national counsel for General Motors Corp. in a variety of litigation matters, including products liability, general litigation, class actions, regulatory investigations and insurance issues.
She is the author of several articles and publications including the Appellate Handbook for Georgia Lawyers, which she co-authored in 1994.
Chairman of Pinnacle Investment Advisors and a principal in the investment banking firm of Ward Bradford & Co., L.P., Ward received his B.S. degree from the Tuskeegee Institute with honors in 1953. He served in the U.S. Army for 20 years as a pilot and public affairs officer before retiring in 1974 with the rank of lieutenant colonel. He earned his J.D. from Emory in 1971, then joined Kutak, Rock and Campbell as a partner. He served as an Alumni Trustee at Emory from 1988-1991.
Ward has been active in the Caucus of Emory's Black Alumni and served on the Alumni Leadership Committee. He also is a member of the boards of numerous civic and educational institutions, including Oglethorpe University, Fernbank Museum of Natural History, the Atlanta Chamber of Commerce and the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change.
--Nancy M. Spitler