Two officers and seven board members, including one Emeritus member, have been elected to the Board of Trustees of the Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College Foundation, Inc.
"I am very pleased that our top selections accepted membership on the board," Melvin Merrill, Executive Vice President of the ABAC Foundation, said. "They represent a large diversification of talent and leadership, and they are sure to be a strong, active board."
Carolyn Hill Branch was elected president, and Bob Reinhardt will serve as vice president. In addition to these officers, seven new board members were also elected: Jerry C. Grimsley, Robert M. Dutton, Jr., Ruth Wells Raines, Dr. Homer A. Day, E. Lanier Carson, Jane Grogan Gibbs, and J. Talmadge Webb.
Branch, a 1957 ABAC alumna, is an active supporter of ABAC and served on the Alumni Association Board for several years before being elected to the Foundation board in 1987.
"I am very excited to work for such a worthy cause," Branch said. "Had it not been for the scholarship I received to attend ABAC, I would not have been able to attend college. So I fully appreciate the needs of others."
Branch is also active in the community as a member of the Camellia Garden Club, where she chairs the Flower Show Committee. A member of the First Baptist Church, she teaches Sunday school for the young couples' class. Branch and her husband, Dan, president of Curtis Packing Company, reside in Tifton.
Courtney Brinson, who has been president of the ABAC Foundation for the past two years, said Branch brings a lot of talent and leadership to the Board.
"I think that the Foundation has never been in better shape, and it has been a privilege to work with this organization," Brinson said.
Reinhardt, president of the law firm Reinhardt, Whitley, Wilmot, & Summerlin, P.C., has been actively involved with the Foundation for three decades. A long-time advocate of ABAC, his leadership and influence throughout the community have greatly benefitted the Foundation. In addition to serving the community, Reinhardt has been a leader in the legal profession since the beginning of his career. He is a past president of the State Bar of Georgia and a past member of the Board of Bar Examiners. Reinhardt and his wife, Mary John, reside in Tifton.
Officers will serve two-year terms. Board members will serve three-year terms, which began July 1. New trustees and several returning trustees recently attended an orientation workshop designed to familiarize them with every aspect of ABAC and the ABAC Foundation's organization, purpose, and projects. The Honorable John J. Ellington, 1980 ABAC alumnus and Judge of the Court of Appeals of Georgia and an Honorary ABAC Foundation Trustee, administered an Oath of Office to all board members present.
Grimsley attended ABAC from 1957 - 58 as an agricultural economics major. The former owner and president of Farmers, Fertilizer, & Milling, Inc., he recently sold the company to the Birdsong Company of Virginia. Now semi-retired, he serves as a consultant for the corporation. Grimsley and his wife, Susan, reside in Colquitt.
Dutton, a past president of the ABAC Alumni Association, attended ABAC from 1964 - 66 in the pursuit of a soil chemistry degree. He received the Outstanding Business Leader Award from the Alumni Association in 1995. Now an agribusiness consultant, he resides in Albany with his wife, Joy (ABAC 1966).
Raines is president of Raines Investment Group and a member of the Board of Directors of Community National Corporation and has served as Chair of its Board of Directors. The Community National Bank of Ashburn supports two $1,000 scholarships to ABAC. Raines and her husband, Dan, reside in Turner County.
Day, a member of the ABAC Foundation President's Club (as are other members of the elected board) currently serves both the Foundation and the college as ABAC's interim president. Prior to his presidential appointment, Day was the Director of College Services. An active leader in the community and in church activities, Day resides in Tifton with his wife Caroline.
Carson, who has actively supported the work of the Foundation for several years, was named Honorary Alumnus in April 2000 by the ABAC Alumni Association. The chairman of the Board of Directors and CEO of Kelley Manufacturing, a Tifton farm equipment manufacturer, Carson has established a scholarship at ABAC for the employees of the company as well as their dependents.
Carson has also donated funds that helped construct a permanent building for ABAC at the site of the Sunbelt Ag Expo in Moultrie. In addition, the Lanier Carson Leadership Award has been established in his name to honor administrators on the ABAC campus. Carson resides in Tifton.
Webb, who served as comptroller at ABAC for 30 years and as a previous ABAC Foundation Director for over 25 years, was named Trustee Emeritus. This distinction is shared by only one other board member, Ruby Lee Spinks. During his tenure at ABAC, Webb received the Pacesetter Award from the Student Government Association and the Carlton Award of Excellence in Administration. An active member of First United Methodist Church, where he has served as lay leader and chair of the administrative board, Webb and his wife, Maurolyse, reside in Tifton.
Gibbs, a 1952 ABAC alumna and retired home economics teacher at Colquitt County High School, is the current president of the ABAC Alumni Association. Having served on the alumni board since 1995, Gibbs chaired the ABAC on the Square fund-raising project in Moultrie and will represent alumni on the ABAC Foundation Board of Trustees. She and her husband, Randolph, a 1951 ABAC alumnus, live in Moultrie.
The ABAC Foundation is a Georgia nonprofit organization established in 1954 for the sole purpose of supporting the aims and objectives of ABAC. Governed by an elected board of directors, the Foundation, with the administration of ABAC, determines the specific purpose for which all gifts to the Foundation will be used.
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