GRA - Key Persons
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- Chairman and CEO - Flowers Foods
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- Vice President, Community Relations & Marketing
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- Vice President, Finance and Administration
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- Associate Director, Innovation
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- Principal / BLS Holdings Group
- Principal of BLS Holdings Group
- Trustee of the University of Georgia Foundation
Barry L. Storey is the principal of BLS Holdings Group, a family office that invests in thoughtfully selected companies and real estate assets.
Storey began his career in real estate as an industrial leasing associate with AFCO Realty Associates in Atlanta. In 1984, he joined NTS Development Corporation in Louisville, Kentucky and ran the Atlanta office of NTS until 1986. He relocated to Chattanooga, Tennessee to join CBL and Associates, where he served as a new mall project manager and directed the development and construction of the 600,000-square-foot Lakeshore Mall in Sebring, Florida.
In 1993, Storey co-founded Hull/Storey Development (later Hull Storey Retail Group and Hull Storey Gibson Companies), which grew to own and operate over 13 million square feet of retail strip centers and enclosed mall properties across the Southeast.
Currently, he serves as a director on the boards of Synovus Financial Corporation and ArunA Biomedical.
Storey is also a trustee of the University of Georgia Foundation and currently serves on the Executive Committee as Secretary. He is also past chairman of the Dean's Advisory Council inside UGA's Terry College of Business. A native of Augusta, he graduated from UGA in 1982.
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- Senior VP - the Coca - Cola Company
- SVP & Chief Communications, Public Affairs, Sustainability and Marketing Assets Officer - the Coca - Cola Company
In this role, Perez aligns a diverse portfolio of work against critical business objectives to support brands, communities, consumers and partners worldwide. She continues to oversee the company's sports and entertainment assets, including iconic partnerships with Olympics, Special Olympics and FIFA.
Perez also leads strategic and operational efforts for the company's Retail, Licensing and Attractions portfolio of assets.
Since 2011, Perez served as The Coca-Cola Company's first Chief Sustainability Officer, where she developed and led progress against comprehensive global sustainability commitments with a focus on water stewardship and women's economic empowerment. She advanced a global sustainability strategy designed to help grow the business while making a lasting positive difference for consumers, communities and the environment.
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- President, Sandersville Railroad Company
- Vice President of the Southern Region for the American Shortline
Ben Tarbutton, III is president of the Sandersville Railroad Company, a short-line railroad located in Sandersville, Georgia, about 60 miles southwest of Augusta. The railroad has been in operation since 1893, transporting various commodities including kaolin, wood chips and plastics.
Tarbutton currently serves as vice president of the southern region for the American Shortline and Regional Railroad Association; the president of the Georgia Railroad Association; and as vice chairman of the Washington County Industrial Development Authority. He is also chair-elect of the Board of Directors of the Georgia Chamber of Commerce.
He is a past chairman of the University System of Georgia Board of Regents, Leadership Georgia, Washington County Chamber of Commerce and the Georgia Higher Education Facilities Authority. He is also past president of the Georgia Railroad Association and the Sandersville Rotary Club.
Tarbutton graduated with a bachelor's degree in management from the Georgia Institute of Technology.
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- Founder and Chairman / Shred - X Corporation
As a proud Georgia native, Cade Joiner has succeeded in founding, growing and advising more than a dozen different businesses in his home state.
One year after earning a BBA in Marketing from the University of Georgia in 2001, Cade Joiner founded Shred-X Secure Document Destruction, now the largest independent shredding company in the Southeast. He is also a strategic partner at Brookwell Capital.
Joiner is the past chairman of the National Federation of Independent Business of Georgia, an organization with 8,000 member businesses across the state. He serves as a board member of the UGA Entrepreneurship Program, vice chairman of the University System of Georgia Foundation, member of the Georgia Board of Regents, and chairman of the USG Intercollegiate Athletics Committee.
The University of Georgia recently named Joiner one of its 40 most distinguished graduates under the age of 40.
In 2018, Joiner served on the Finance Committee for Governor Brian Kemp and was also on the Executive Committee of the Kemp Inaugural. In early 2019, he was named co-chairman of the Georgians First Commission. He regularly discusses business issues in the media and has been featured on Fox News, CNN and The Wall Street Journal.
Joiner, his wife, Katie and their sons live in Brookhaven, Georgia. He enjoys traveling and watching college football and basketball in his free time.
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- Director of Coca - Cola FEMSA
- Retired Trustee and past President / Robert W. Woodruff Foundation / SECRETARY / TREASURER
- Robert W. Woodruff Foundation As a Secretary
Now retired, Pete McTier served as trustee and president of the Robert W. Woodruff Foundation, the Joseph B. Whitehead Foundation, the Lettie Pate Evans Foundation and the Lettie Pate Whitehead Foundation from 1988 to 2006.
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- Chairman, Compensation Committee - Crawford & Company
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- President and CEO of the Georgia Chamber of Commerce
- President and CEO, Georgia Chamber of Commerce
A Georgia native, Chris Clark, has served as president and CEO of the Georgia Chamber of Commerce since 2010. He received his bachelor's degree from Georgia Southern University and his master's degree from Georgia College and State University.
Prior to joining the Georgia Chamber, Chris served as Commissioner of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources and as Deputy Commissioner for the Department of Economic Development, among other positions.
Chris Clark is a graduate of Leadership Georgia and has been consistently named one of the most influential Atlantans and Georgians.
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- CEO and President - Georgia - Pacific
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- Co - Founder & Partner - Pine Island Capital Partners
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- Vice President and Managing Director, GRA Venture Fund
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- CFO
- President
- President and Chief Financial Officer for Cox Enterprises
Dallas Clement is president and chief financial officer for Cox Enterprises, a leading broadband, automotive services and media company with $22 billion in annual revenues and nearly 50,000 employees worldwide.
Clement is responsible for the company's treasury, financial reporting, tax, audit, strategy and corporate development, and financial planning and analysis functions. He also oversees sustainability operations, information technology, risk management, government affairs, legal, aviation, real estate and security. Clement leads Cox's expansion efforts by focusing on emerging businesses that embrace technology, as well as exploring software and innovative business models in new areas, including cleantech and controlled environment agriculture, digital media, public sector technology and healthcare technology.
Previously, Clement served as executive vice president and chief financial officer for Cox Automotive, the largest automotive marketplace and leading provider of software solutions to auto dealers throughout the U.S. He led all finance, legal, real estate, technology, strategy and corporate development functions across Cox Automotive's financial services, wholesale auctions, digital media, software-as-a-service and international businesses. In addition, Clement had accountability for Cox Automotive's financial services unit, NextGear Capital. Prior to the formation of Cox Automotive, Clement served as executive vice president and chief financial officer of Autotrader Group.
Clement also spent 20 years at Cox Communications, where he held a variety of roles, including executive vice president and chief strategy and product management officer.
He serves on the boards of Truist Financial Corporation, Caffeine.tv, Junior Achievement of Georgia, the Georgia Research Alliance, the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, the Atlanta BeltLine Partnership, the Atlanta History Center and Atlanta Esports Ventures.
Clement received a bachelor's degree in applied mathematics and economics from Harvard College and a master's degree in engineering economic systems from Stanford University.
David Lee served as vice president for research at the University of Georgia from 2005 to 2021. Under his leadership, UGA grew its research enterprise to a half-billion dollars a year in grants and contracts and added world-class facilities and technology. He also led the recruitment of nine GRA Eminent Scholars to UGA and served as executive VP of the UGA Research Foundation.
Lee joined UGA after a 20-year career at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. For most of that time, he served as scientific program leader for cell biology in the Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, and in 1998 was also named head of UNC's Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics.
From 1983 to 1985, Lee worked in industry as a senior scientist at Oncogen, which was acquired by Bristol Myers Squibb. He began his research career as a postdoc fellow in biochemistry at Washington University, and later as a postdoc fellow in pharmacology at the University of Washington.
Lee has served on the boards of several national organizations, including the Southeastern University Research Association, the U.S. Department of Energy's Center for BioEnergy Innovation, and Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU). He was elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement.
He earned his B.S. in biology from Stanford University and his Ph.D in biochemistry from the University of Washington.
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- Retired Chairman / CEO - Southern Company
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- Physical Therapist
- Researcher
Deborah Backus is a grant-funded researcher, physical therapist and educator with more than 35 years of experience in the neurorehabilitation field. In addition to serving as vice president of research and innovation at Shepherd Center, she is the director of the Virginia C. Crawford Research Institute and director of multiple sclerosis (MS) research.
At Shepherd Center and within the rehabilitation medicine field, Dr. Backus is known for her innovative approaches to facilitating clinician involvement in research activities; translation of meaningful evidence into practice; the uptake of technology into clinical programs; and the incorporation of standardized outcome assessment into routine clinical practice to better guide clinical care.
Her research has been funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the National Institute on Disability Independent Living and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR) and the National MS Society. She is currently principal investigator for one of the largest PCORI-funded exercise trials in MS evaluating the comparative effectiveness of an evidence-based exercise program delivered in a facility or in the home.
Dr. Backus received her bachelor's degree in physical therapy from Boston University in 1986. She earned her doctorate in neuroscience from Emory University in 2004.
In addition to serving on the GRA board, Dr. Backus is the immediate past president of the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine (ACRM) and serves as one of the founding editors for the Archives of Rehabilitation Research & Clinical Translation. Her mission is to empower patients, students, and colleagues to achieve their greatest potential, and to advance rehabilitation science and care for people with disability due to neurological injury or disease.
Job Titles:
- CEO
- President
- President and CEO of Atrium Health Navicent
Delvecchio S. Finley is president and CEO of Atrium Health Navicent (AHN), a nationally leading, nonprofit health system with nearly 70,000 teammates serving patients at 37 hospitals and more than 1,350 care locations across the Carolinas and Georgia. It includes Atrium Health, Wake Forest Baptist Health and Wake Forest School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, N.C.
A Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives, Finley recently completed a term on the organization's Board of Governors. He is also a board member for the American Hospital Association, a member of the Council on Healthcare Spending and Value and the immediate past chair of the America's Essential Hospitals Institute.
Prior to his selection to lead Atrium Health Navicent, Finley was also chair-elect of the California Association of Public Hospitals and Health Systems and a member of the California Hospitals Association board of directors, as well as a member of multiple locally based health boards.
Among his many achievements, Finley has been recognized by industry peers for several awards and commendations, including Modern Healthcare's Top 25 Minorities in Healthcare Watch List and its Up and Comers Award, Becker's Hospital Review Top Healthcare Executives under 40 and received the Robert S. Hudgens Young Healthcare Executive of the Year Award by the American College of Healthcare Executives organization.
Finley received his bachelor's degree in chemistry from Emory University before obtaining a master's degree in public policy from the Sanford Institute for Public Policy at Duke University in Durham, N.C.
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- President & CEO - Children 's Healthcare of Atlanta
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- Chairman and CEO - United Distributors, Inc
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- President - Augusta University
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- President - Clark Atlanta University
In September 2019, George T. French, Jr. became the fifth president of Clark Atlanta University after having served as president of Miles College for 13 years. During his tenure, Miles College set fundraising records, achieved an unprecedented financial composite score to position the school for growth, increased student access to educational funding and more than doubled the size of the existing campus with key land acquisitions.
Prior to serving as the president of Miles College, French served in the roles of acting and interim president for the institution between October and December 2005. Before serving as interim president, French served as a member of the President's Cabinet as director of institutional planning and development, overseeing the offices of alumni affairs, Federal contracts and grants, Title III, institutional research and effectiveness, congressional relations, and public relations.
A native of Louisville, Ky., French earned a B.A. in political science with an emphasis in policy analysis from the University of Louisville. He was competitively accepted into the University of Richmond Law School and completed two years of studies before being recruited by Miles College to serve as the director of development.
French completed his final year of law school at Miles Law School, earning a Juris Doctorate. He received his Ph.D. in higher education from Jackson State University.
Dr. Greg Vaughn is an accomplished executive leader with over 25 years of experience in management consulting, medical devices, consumer and sports products, healthcare information services and academic and private practices. Formerly an ophthalmic surgeon, Greg is currently a consultant in the healthcare practice of Spencer Stuart, focusing on the healthcare services and medical technology sectors with specific expertise in physician executives.
Before joining Spencer Stuart, Greg was CEO of the U.S. subsidiary of Bauerfeind, a medical device and sports products company based in Germany. There, he led the transformation of the U.S. business to a consumer-centric sales and marketing enterprise and launched a new sports products line.
Greg also spent nine years at Medtronic, a global leader in medical technology, services and solutions. He led two startup entities, including FDA clearances and the launch of two spinal products. Greg also served the vice president at NDCHealth (now RelayHealth of McKesson), where he led the company's pharmacy services business unit. He also worked as an engagement manager at McKinsey & Company, where he focused on talent, organization and healthcare.
Prior to transitioning to management consulting, Greg practiced medicine in both academic and private clinic settings as a board-certified ophthalmologist and ophthalmic plastic & reconstructive surgeon.
Greg earned a bachelor's degree, summa cum laude, in history from Emory University and an M.D. from Harvard Medical School. Greg's active civic engagement includes membership on the Emory University Board of Trustees, the Community Foundation of Greater Atlanta Board of Directors and the Carter Center Board of Trustees.
Dr. Jayne Morgan is a cardiologist, entrepreneur and innovation leader with deep expertise in medical devices, startup companies, healthcare management and clinical research. Jayne currently serves as director of innovation for Piedmont Healthcare, where she leads the development of novel treatments and therapies across the system. She is also the clinical chair of Piedmont's COVID-19 Task Force.
Piedmont hired Jayne in 2015 to expand cardiovascular research and introduce biotechnology into the research program. She had previously served as chief medical officer for the American Chemistry Council and as global clinical director of cardiometabolics for Solvay Pharmaceuticals. Since 2011, Jayne has also served as CEO of Forty Million Beats, which advises companies on improving product safety.
Jayne has brought her leadership to a number of companies and enterprises, and she previously served GRA as an industry fellow, providing counsel to university-launched startups. She earned her B.S. degree in biology and biochemistry from Spelman College and M.D. from Michigan State University.
Job Titles:
- President - Georgia State University
Dr. M. Brian Blake was named Georgia State University's eighth president in June 2021. He came to Georgia State after two years as executive vice president for academic affairs and provost at George Washington University, where he oversaw the academic mission of the institution, supporting all academic endeavors and overseeing the research enterprise.
Prior to joining George Washington in 2019, Blake held leadership positions at Drexel University, the University of Miami and the University of Notre Dame. A computer scientist and software engineer, he also spent six years as a software architect with Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics and The MITRE Corporation.
Blake has a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from Georgia Tech; a master's degree in electrical engineering from Mercer University; and a Ph.D. in information and software engineering from George Mason University. His research has received more than $12 million in funding, and he is an author of more than 200 scholarly publications.
Job Titles:
- Chancellor / University System of Georgia
The Board of Regents named Dr. Sonny Perdue the 14th chancellor of the University System of Georgia effective April 1, 2022. He oversees 26 public colleges and universities with a $9.8 billion annual budget, 48,000 faculty and staff and more than 340,000 students.
Born in Perry, Georgia, on Dec. 20, 1946, and raised on a farm in Bonaire, Perdue is a veterinarian and agribusiness owner who graduated from Warner Robins High School and earned his doctor of veterinary medicine degree from the University of Georgia. He is also a veteran, serving four years in the U.S. Air Force. He is married to the former Mary Ruff, also a UGA graduate. They have four children, 14 grandchildren and have served as foster parents for eight children awaiting adoption.
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- President and Dean - Morehouse School of Medicine
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- President
- President - Georgia Institute of Technology
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- Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary at Rollins, Inc
- VP and General Counsel / Rollins, Inc.
Elizabeth (Beth) Chandler is vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary at Rollins, Inc., where she oversees the legal department as well as the risk and audit groups. She also serves on the company's Executive Steering Committee.
Before joining Rollins, Chandler served as vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary for Asbury Automotive Group from 2009 to 2012. Previously, she was city attorney of Atlanta, a post to which Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin appointed her in 2006.
Chandler served as VP and assistant general counsel at Mirant Corporation from 2000 to 2006 as part of its spinoff from The Southern Company. She was also a partner at Troutman Sanders (now Troutman Pepper) until 2000, where she was part of the corporate and transactions team.
She is also a member of the board of the Atlanta Beltline Partnership, Inc. and the Bobby Jones Golf Course Foundation.
Chandler earned a B.B.A. degree and a J.D. degree from the University of Georgia, where she also served on the Board of Visitors for the university's law school.
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- President, Emory University
Gregory L. Fenves was named Emory's president in 2020. He has led the university through the challenges of a global pandemic by setting priorities and establishing policies to unite the community, bolster public health and advance learning, teaching, research, and creative expression-all while charting a course for Emory's future.
Fenves was a faculty member at the University of California at Berkeley (UC Berkeley) for 20 years and served as chair of its No. 1-ranked Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. Fenves was elected in 2014 to the National Academy of Engineering, the highest recognition for an engineer in the United States. He earned his undergraduate degree at Cornell University and graduate degrees at UC Berkeley.
Job Titles:
- Leader
- Chief Operating Officer of OncoLens
Serving in CEO, president and COO roles, and with experience as a board director and advisor, Heather is a leader with extensive strategic and operational success driving growth in diverse enterprises, including startup, joint venture, privately-held and public companies.
Heather currently serves as chief operating officer of OncoLens, which offers a technology platform to streamline the planning of cancer treatment. She is also president and principal at Health Acuity Consulting, which provides counsel and leadership to healthcare technology companies.
Heather has served in concurrent roles as president and board director for Eurofins Scientific's US clinical diagnostics division - at both EGL Genetics, a joint venture between Eurofins and Emory University, internationally recognized in rare and inherited disease genetic testing, and NTD, in the pre-natal screening market. Prior to joining Eurofins, she was laboratory diagnostics practice leader at the Broadwell Group, chief operating officer at MicroBplex and senior advisor at Lena Biosciences.
Before starting her consulting practice, Heather was president & CEO of CSI Laboratories, an independent, privately held national cancer diagnostics company based in Alpharetta, Ga.; and executive vice president and COO at Clarient, Inc., a NASDAQ-traded, personalized medicine company in Orange County, Ca.
Heather serves on advisory boards and committees with industry, non-profit, and government organizations. She received her B.A. with majors in economics and political science from Duke University.
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- President and CEO - W. C. Bradley Co
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- President, Commercial Division - Engineered Floors
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- Partner - in - Charge
- Partner - in - Charge - Alston & Bird, Atlanta Office
With experience handling multibillion-dollar domestic and international transactions - focusing primarily on mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures and strategic alliances - Janine is partner-in-charge of the Atlanta office of Alston & Bird. She works with companies in a variety of sectors, including technology, media, telecommunications, renewable energy and manufacturing.
Janine's clients include public and private companies, as well as private equity funds, and she has been involved in a wide variety of domestic and international transactions. Among them: capital-raising transactions, corporate governance matters, M&A, information technology transactions, joint ventures/strategic alliances and outsourcing transactions.
Since 2001, Janine has been selected annually to The Best Lawyers in America© and has been recognized by Georgia Super Lawyers since 2004. She is a frequent lecturer on matters related to mergers and acquisitions.
Janine serves on several boards including Spelman College, a historically black college for women, the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra at the Woodruff Arts Center, and Duke University School of Law. She is past board chair of Georgia Justice Project and Piedmont Healthcare, a nonprofit health care system. She earned a J.D., with high honors from Duke University School of Law and a bachelor of arts degree with distinction from the University of Michigan.
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- President - the University of Georgia
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- Vice President - Chick - Fil - a
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- Vice President, Innovation & Entrepreneurship
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- Chairman, CEO and President - Synovus
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- Chairman, President and CEO / Georgia Power Company
- Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Georgia Power Company
Kim Greene is chairman, president and chief executive officer of Georgia Power Company, a subsidiary of Southern Company. She leads Georgia Power in serving its 2.7 million customers across the state. The company is the largest subsidiary of Southern Company, one of the nation's leading energy providers.
Prior to her current position, Greene served for five years as chairman, president and CEO of Southern Company Gas. In this role, she ensured the delivery of clean, safe, reliable and affordable natural gas to more than 4.3 million utility customers in Georgia, Illinois, Tennessee and Virginia, and to over 600,000 retail gas customers served by SouthStar Energy Services in 10 states. In addition, she oversaw the nonutility businesses that deliver value through energy-related products and services, wholesale gas services and gas midstream operations, including gas pipeline investments and storage and fuels.
Prior to her current position, Greene served as executive vice president and chief operating officer of Southern Company, with additional responsibility for research and environmental affairs, Southern Power and Southern Wholesale Energy.
Greene began her career at Southern Company in 1991 and has progressed through various areas of engineering, operations, finance, structuring, trading and asset management. She also spent five years at Tennessee Valley Authority serving in executive roles, including chief financial officer and chief generation officer, before returning to Southern Company in 2013.
Greene also serves on the board of directors for the Valero Energy Corporation, American Gas Association, Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, Alliance Theatre and Atlanta Committee for Progress. Previously, she served on the board of directors for the Electric Power Research Institute for eight years, including serving as board chair.
A native of Knoxville, Tennessee, Greene earned a bachelor's degree in engineering science and mechanics from the University of Tennessee, a master's degree in biomedical engineering from the University of Alabama at Birmingham and a master's degree in business administration from Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama. She has also completed the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School.
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- Partner, Sweetwater Holdings
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- Corp. Governance Practice Chair ( Retired ) / of Counsel, Jones Day
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- Chief Executive Officer - H. J. Russell & Co
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- Regional President - Wells Fargo
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- Chairman and CEO - PruittHealth, Inc
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- Commissioner - Georgia Department of Economic Development
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- President
- President of SG Contracting, Inc
- President, SG Contracting
As president of SG Contracting, Inc., Sachin Shailendra has responsibility for the company in its entirety, governing its activities and providing the direction to smoothly and efficiently match people and projects to deliver successful outcomes.
Sachin is known for his integrity, honesty and commitment to client satisfaction. His extensive portfolio of construction experience and his ability to solve problems and effectively communicate plans and processes at all levels, make him a valuable leader to assist owners, subcontractors, architects and designers with new projects and renovation projects alike.
Sachin is a graduate of the Georgia Institute of Technology and an alumnus of Woodward Academy, where he has served as president of the Alumni Association and member of the school's Advisory Council.
He is a current member of the Carter Center Board of Councilors, Rotary Club of Atlanta, The Atlanta Police Foundation and Atlanta Speech School, as well as chairman of the Rowen Foundation.
Job Titles:
- Vice Chairman
- Vice Chairman - CBRE, Inc
Sam Holmes is vice chairman of the world's largest commercial real estate services firm, CBRE, Inc. His focus is representing businesses with strategic planning and transaction services. He has successfully negotiated over 90 million square feet of sales and leases with an aggregate value of more than $15 billion.
Holmes is on the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia, which oversees the 26 higher education institutions in the state. He is a commissioner of the Georgians First Commission, a task force created by Governor Kemp to make Georgia the most attractive state for small business. He is on the board of the Georgia Chamber of Commerce, Atlanta Speech School and Baylor School. He is the former chairman of both the University of Georgia Foundation and the University of Georgia Real Estate Foundation.
Holmes is a native of Monticello and attended boarding school at Baylor School. He is a graduate of the University of Georgia (‘87 BBA in Finance). Holmes and his wife Lara ('88 UGA BBA and '90 Georgia State MBA) have three children. His family is very involved at Northside United Methodist Church in Atlanta.
Susan Shows is a seasoned leader in technology-based economic development, having built and managed programs that turn investment into results. She was instrumental in the growth and development of the Georgia Research Alliance, serving the Alliance for 22 years, including a three-year term as president and CEO.
Susan joined GRA in 2001 to start a venture development program, one of the first of its kind in the U.S. Over the years, the nationally recognized program has helped fuel the launch of 200 companies out of Georgia's university labs, attracting outside investment of more than $2.3 billion.
In 2008, GRA named Susan senior vice president, and she began managing GRA's investment portfolio of talent and technology at Georgia's research universities. She helped the universities recruit world-class scientists to Georgia and directed strategic investments in lab infrastructure to help the Scholars expand their work. Susan also oversaw much of GRA's financial analytics, which have guided the organization's long-term strategic planning and provides transparency to GRA partners in state government.
Prior to joining GRA, Susan worked at Georgia Tech, where she managed collaborations involving the university, federal agencies and private industry. She also served as general manager of ATDC, Georgia Tech's business incubator, and led an industry-driven R&D program for Georgia's pulp and paper, food processing and textiles industries.
Susan began her career as an industrial engineer at Square D Company in Lexington, Kentucky, and later became part of the company's start-up team for a new manufacturing facility in North Carolina. She earned an MBA from Xavier University in Cincinnati and a B.S. in industrial management from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
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- Chief Executive Officer / T. Dallas Smith & Company
As founder and chief executive officer at T. Dallas Smith & Company, Dallas leads the firm's branding and strategy efforts, which includes creating & overseeing all new business verticals that align with the company's core business.
Dallas began his commercial real estate career in 1982 as leasing and management representative for Atlanta Air Center Realty under the guidance of Thomas W. Tift, Jr. In 1989, he became the first African American broker at Cushman & Wakefield of Georgia.
His affiliation with the company opened doors for many minority brokers. In 1995, he pioneered the brokerage division for H.J. Russell & Company, an African American-owned construction and management firm, where he served as VP of the Brokerage Division. In 2006, with the blessing of the late Herman J. Russell, Dallas opened T. Dallas Smith & Company, specializing in tenant representation.
T. Dallas Smith & Company has led projects across the country with metrics exceeding more than eight million square feet of tenant and buyer representation in office and industrial space, and more than five thousand acres of land acquisitions. Since its inception, the company has grown exponentially, and the team's combined experiences have successfully led transactions totaling over $16 billion in aggregate value.
Dallas is an innovator and thought leader in the commercial real estate community and is intentional about cultivating and developing diverse talent to help shape the commercial real estate industry. He holds a bachelor of business administration degree from Georgia State University and has served on numerous boards, including the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia and the Georgia Department of Economic Development board of directors.
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- President
- President Emeritus
- Emeritus President - Aflac U.S
A veteran in the financial services industry, Teresa White is president emeritus of Aflac U.S. She is a visionary leader with a proven track record of optimizing operations, driving revenues, decreasing expenses and building high-performing, diverse teams.
White has been honored with a number of awards, including the 2022 "Influential Leader Award" from the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business International (AACSB), Savoy's 2020 "Most Influential Black Executives in Corporate America" and New York Moves' "2019 Power Women." She was named on Black Enterprise's lists of the "Most Powerful Women in Corporate America" for the third consecutive year and the "Most Powerful Executives in Corporate America" for 2019.
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- Chairman
- Chief Executive Officer
- Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Truist Securities
- President and Chief Operating Officer of Truist Securities
Thomas (Tom) P. Hackett serves as president and chief operating officer of Truist Securities, the corporate and investment banking division of Truist Financial Corporation, where he is responsible for leading a team of 700 professionals in a wide range of areas, including investment banking, mergers & acquisition and capital markets.
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- Chairman Emeritus - Cousins Properties Incorporated
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- CEO
- President
- Vice President
- Reviewer for the National Institutes of Health
Tim Denning became GRA's fifth president and CEO in November 2023, joining the Alliance after serving as vice president of research and economic development at Georgia State University.
As vice president, Tim led Georgia State through a period of historic growth in research. His tenure culminated with a record high of $225 million in R&D expenditures and more than 70 centers of academic research - including five university-level enterprises that address critical health issues such as cardiovascular disease, brain health and infectious disease.
During his tenure, Tim spearheaded several initiatives to promote interdisciplinary research, innovation and scholarship; and he cultivated partners in academia, industry and the scientific community. He was also key to bringing top researchers to the university and developed programs to provide students with research experience in the private sector.
Tim arrived at Georgia State in 2013, joining the university's Institute of Biomedical Sciences from a research and academic tenure at Emory University. Just two years after his arrival, he was appointed associate director of the institute, a multi-faceted enterprise that fueled much of Georgia State's rapid rise in scientific research. In November 2020, he was named vice president.
While becoming a leader in research and commercialization, Tim had a successful career as a scientist, beginning with working as a postdoc at California's acclaimed La Jolla Institute. In 2004, he was recruited to Emory, working first as a postdoc in the Emory Vaccine Center, led by GRA Eminent Scholar Rafi Ahmed. After receiving the NIH Pathway to Independence Award, which helps outstanding postdoctoral researchers transition to independent faculty positions, he joined the Department of Pediatrics and the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine.
Tim's research focused primarily on the role immune cells in the intestines play in Inflammatory Bowel Disease, which encompasses ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease. His work deepened understanding of how cytokines control whether these immune cells promote or suppress the disease.
Tim has been a grant reviewer for the National Institutes of Health and other agencies; a member of several scientific societies; and a member of the editorial boards of the Journal of Immunology and the academic journals Gastroenterology and Inflammatory Bowel Diseases. In 2020, he received the Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of Texas Medical Branch
Tom Saylor is an experienced executive with extensive capabilities building and managing entrepreneurial organizations. His experience includes fundraising, strategy development, in- and out-licensing and acquisitions in Asia, Europe and the United States.
As CEO of six emerging biotech companies in the U.S., Europe and Asia, Tom led enterprises that covered drug development, pharmaceutical marketing, and technologies for drug delivery and formulation.
Tom has been actively involved in public policy as a member of the executive committee of the British North America Committee and vice chairman and a member of the board of EuropaBio, the European bioindustry association. He also serves on the Advisory Board of Georgia Tech College of Sciences, the Advisory Board of Georgia Tech Lorraine University, the Advisory Board of the Next in Education and Emory Brain Health Center Advisory Council.
In the administration of President Jimmy Carter, Tom was appointed deputy head and chief operating officer of the Foreign Agricultural Service, where he led a number of international trade negotiations for the United States. He also served as a foreign trade advisor on the staff of U.S. Sen, Hubert Humphrey.
Tom holds a Bachelor of Science degree in applied biology from the Georgia Institute of Technology and an MBA from Harvard University. He also undertook doctoral work in neurochemistry at the Max Planck Institute for Psychiatry in Munich, Germany.
Job Titles:
- Chairman and CEO - Holder Construction Company
Job Titles:
- Associate Professor of Neurosurgery at Mercer University
- Neurosurgeon and Partner, Georgia Neurosurgical Institute
Dr. Smisson has served as an associate professor of neurosurgery at Mercer University as well as a clinical professor of neurosurgery at the Medical College of Georgia. He is past president of the Georgia Neurological Society.
Dr. Smisson received his Doctor of Medicine degree from the Medical College of Georgia in 1986. He interned in general surgery and finished his neurosurgery training at MCG in 1992. He has been a partner at The Georgia Neurosurgical Institute for the last 30 years. He is board certified in neurological surgery and a fellow in the American College of Surgeons.
Job Titles:
- President - Southeast Coastal States / at & T
- President of at & T Georgia
Venessa Harrison was appointed president of AT&T Georgia in 2018. In leading AT&T's Georgia operations, she is responsible for the company's public policy, economic development and community affairs activities across the state.
Harrison works closely with state and community leaders to help make Georgia an even better place to live, work and raise families. She is particularly focused on bringing new technologies that drive innovation and create jobs and on providing educational and economic opportunities that improve the quality of life for all Georgians.
Harrison began her telecommunications career as a telephone operator. She subsequently pursued a career-development opportunity in the network organization, was quickly promoted to management and has advanced through positions at AT&T companies in the network, business and regulatory and external affairs departments. Prior to her current position, Harrison served for five years as president of AT&T North Carolina.
In addition to her AT&T responsibilities, Harrison is committed to helping make a difference in the community and the lives of others. She has a passion for community, charitable and educational endeavors and chairs the Board of Trustees of North Carolina A&T State University. She has also served as chair of the Georgia Chamber of Commerce, the Executive Board of the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce and the Rotary Club of Atlanta.
Harrison holds a Business Administration degree from the University of Phoenix. A North Carolina native, she is married with two children.
Job Titles:
- President - Mercer University
Job Titles:
- Director - Goizueta Alzheimer 's Disease Research Center