Release date: Dec. 21, 2004
Contact: Elaine Justice at 404-727-0643 or elaine.justice@emory.edu

Emory University Names Seven New Trustees

Emory University named seven new members to its board of trustees during the board's fall meeting Nov. 11. The new members include the CEOs of SunTrust Banks, Publix and The Coca-Cola Company, two bishops of the United Methodist Church, a former U.S. representative and the president of the United Negro College Fund.

The 37-member board oversees the governance and long-range fiduciary health of the university. The new members include five term trustees, who each serve eight years, and two alumni trustees, who each serve six years and are nominated by the Association of Emory Alumni board of governors and elected by a ballot mailed to the entire association membership.

The alumni trustees include:

• Tillie K. Fowler, former U.S. representative. Fowler was elected to Congress in 1992, and served eight years representing Florida. In 1998, she was elected vice chairwoman of the Republican conference, making her the highest-ranking woman in Congress when she retired. She also served for six years as a deputy majority whip. Currently Fowler is a partner in the Washington, D.C., office of Holland & Knight and serves as chairwoman of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's Defense Policy Board Advisory Committee. She also serves on the Chief of Naval Operations' executive panel.

Fowler graduated from Emory College in 1964, and Emory Law School in 1967. She was a member of the Association of Emory Alumni board of governors, the Alumni Leadership Committee and the Law School Council. She was awarded the Emory Medal in 1997, the university's highest alumni honor, and in 1995 was recognized with the Distinguished Law Alumni award.

• Michael L. Lomax, president and chief executive officer of the United Negro College Fund. Lomax served as president of Dillard University in New Orleans from 1997-2004, and has taught literature at Morehouse and Spelman colleges, Emory, the Georgia Institute of Technology and the University of Georgia. He had a career in politics as well, serving on the Fulton County Board of Commissioners, including a term as chairman, from 1981-93.

Lomax received his doctorate from Emory's Graduate Institute of the Liberal Arts in 1984, and is a past member of the Association of Emory Alumni board of governors. He was recently honored by the university as a 2004 recipient of the Emory Medal. His volunteer activities include founding Atlanta's National Black Arts Festival, and he currently serves on the boards of the Studio Museum in Harlem, The Carter Center, the United Way of America and Teach for America. He earned his bachelor's degree in English from Morehouse College and a master of arts in literature degree from Columbia University.

Term trustees include:

• L. Phillip Humann, chairman, president and chief executive officer of SunTrust Banks, Inc. Humann began his career in 1969 with Trust Company of Georgia. He advanced to become chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Trust Company Bank, Atlanta in 1985. He was elected an executive vice president of SunTrust Banks in 1989, and attained his current positions in 1998. Humann serves on the board of the Auburn University Foundation, Saint Joseph's Health System, The Westminster Schools and The Financial Service Roundtable. He received both bachelor's and master's degrees in economics from Auburn University.

• Charlie Jenkins Jr., chief executive officer of Publix Super Markets. Jenkins began his career at Publix in 1969 and was named CEO in 2001. Jenkins holds a bachelor's degree in business administration and MBA from Emory. He received the Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award from Emory's Goizueta Business School in 2002, which recognizes an alumnus for lifetime achievement in business and ongoing commitment and service to Goizueta and the community. He also holds a doctorate in business administration from Harvard University.

• E. Neville Isdell, chairman of the board of directors and chief executive officer of The Coca-Cola Company. Isdell was named to his current position in June 2004, and is the 12th chairman of the board in the history of the company. Isdell has served in several capacities for The Coca-Cola Company around the world. Prior to his current position, he was president of his own private investment company, as well as a senior international consultant to the Coca-Cola system. He holds a bachelor's degree from the University of Cape Town and is a graduate of the Harvard Business School Program for Management Development.

• Hope Morgan Ward, bishop of the United Methodist Church. After serving as a pastor for several years in North Carolina, Ward became the second woman to be elected a bishop in the UMC's Southeastern Jurisdiction this past July. She currently serves the Mississippi Conference, where she oversees 1,159 churches and is one of the first female leaders of a mainline denomination in the state. She holds a bachelor's degree in English and religion from Duke University and a master of divinity from Duke Divinity School.

• William H. Willimon, bishop of the United Methodist Church. Willimon was elected bishop this past July after 20 years of service as dean of the Duke University Chapel and professor of Christian ministry at Duke. A renowned author, preacher and teacher, Willimon currently serves the North Alabama Conference, where he oversees 868 churches. Willimon earned his bachelor's degree from Wofford College and a master of divinity degree from Yale Divinity School. He also holds a doctorate in sacred theology from Emory's Candler School of Theology and has received several honorary degrees.

Emory's board of trustees is ultimately responsible for the proper governance and long-range fiduciary health of the university. The board does not manage the university, but appoints the president and approves the appointment of deans and vice presidents; establishes policy; approves the strategic priorities of the University; helps identify and secure financial resources; holds the administration accountable for sound management; and authorizes the establishment of new degree programs and the awarding of individual degrees.

Emory University is known for its demanding academics, outstanding undergraduate college of arts and sciences, highly ranked professional schools and state-of-the-art research facilities. For nearly two decades Emory has been named one of the country's top 25 national universities by U.S. News & World Report. In addition to its nine schools, the university encompasses The Carter Center, Yerkes National Primate Research Center and Emory Healthcare, the state's largest and most comprehensive health care system.

Subscribe to News@Emory RSS feeds for automatic updates of the latest news at Emory.

Back