MONTEVALLO - Key Persons
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- University Photography Manager
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- Director of Human Resources, Title IX, and EO / AA Officer
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- Communications Specialist
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- Member of the Members and Ex - Officio
- REPRESENTATIVE of the SECOND CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT
Todd Strange is a businessman and former politician. He was elected the 56th mayor of the city of Montgomery on March 10, 2009 and served two terms.
Strange graduated from Murphy High School in Mobile, Alabama and received a B.A. degree in Political Science from the University of Montevallo.
Prior to becoming mayor, Strange served as chairman of the Montgomery (Alabama) County Commission for nearly five years. He also served as former president, CEO and co-owner of Blount Strange Automotive Group where he managed hundreds of employees.
As former director of the Alabama Department of Commerce (formerly known as the Alabama Development Office), Strange collaborated efforts that brought major industries to Alabama, including the Hyundai Manufacturing Facility in Montgomery. He also served as former senior vice president of Administration, Blount International, Ltds., former president and CEO, Blount Development Corporation and several management roles with South Central Bell Company (now AT&T).
Strange's extensive involvement in the community includes former chairman of the Capital City Club, former chair of Leadership Alabama and continues to serve on the Board and chairman of the Board of Trustees at University of Montevallo. He was also former chairman of the University of Montevallo National Alumni Association, former president and campaign chairman for Montgomery Area United Way, former chairman of the Board of Directors for the Montgomery Area Chamber of Commerce, Committee of 100, former president of the Alabama Institute for the Deaf and Blind Foundation, former chairman of the Montgomery's Riverfront Development Committee, and former President of Montgomery Kiwanis Club and Alabama National Fair. He also serves as Chair of the Governor's Study Group on the Gambling Policy for the State of Alabama.
Strange has received numerous awards and honors for his visionary and progressive leadership. His awards include Business and Professional Women Boss of the Year, March of Dimes' River Region Citizen of the Year, AUM Outstanding Community Leader Award, and Time Magazine's Quality Dealer Award for Alabama, as well as Alabama Director of the National Automobile Dealers' Association, Alabama Department of Rehabilitation Services 2016 Public Service Award, Martin Luther King, Jr. Beloved Community Award, Alabama State Council on the Arts' Legacy Award, Alabama Library Association 2019 Public Servant Award, Montgomery Aging Council of Alabama 2019 Seniors of Achievement, River Region Maury D. Smith Award for Excellence in Professional Ethics, Montgomery Zoological Society's Golden Egg Award, an Honorary Doctorate from Faulkner University and Hot Dogs & Heroes Awarded presented by local businessman and community activist.
He is married to the former Linda Davis. They have two daughters, Jennifer Strange Crumpton and Elizabeth Strange Whitehead.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Members and Ex - Officio
Fridy previously served as an adjunct professor of business law at UM. He is a member of the Supreme Court's Standing Committee on the Alabama Rules of Appellate Procedure, a Fellow of the Alabama Law Foundation, and a member of the Federalist Society. Fridy and his wife Kimberly, a pharmacist, live in Pelham and have five children - Jack, Beth, Cate, Emily and Caroline Mae. They attend Spring Creek Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Montevallo, where Fridy serves as an elder on the Session.
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- Creative Services Manager
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- Executive Director, University Marketing & Communications
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- Assistant Director of Human Resources, Talent Acquisitions and HRIS Systems
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- Member of the Members and Ex - Officio
- Member of the Board of Directors of Trillion Communications Corp
- President and CEO of Trillion Communications Corporation
Brian Hamilton has served as president and CEO of Trillion Communications Corporation since 2013. Trillion is a national, tier-one supplier of connectivity infrastructure products and services with annual sales exceeding $1.0 billion. Hamilton joined Trillion in 2011, serving as president and chief operating officer. Prior to Trillion, he was managing director of A.G. Gaston Construction and CEO of A.G. Gaston Engineering, from 2006 to 2011.
Hamilton is a member of the board of directors of Trillion Communications Corp. and A.G. Gaston Construction. Hamilton also serves as chairman of the board of directors of Brookwood Baptist Health System and board chair of the Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham. Hamilton is a former member of the board of directors of the Birmingham Branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, National Commerce Corporation and National Bank of Commerce. He is also the former chairman of the Birmingham-Jefferson Transit Authority.
Hamilton received a juris doctor degree from Birmingham School of Law and bachelor's degrees from Georgia Institute of Technology and Morehouse College.
Job Titles:
- State Superintendent of Education
Job Titles:
- Member of the Members and Ex - Officio
- REPRESENTATIVE of the FIRST CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT
Montevallo alumnus, Gary Ellis is a resident of Gulf Shores and the president and CEO of Compass Media. Prior to assuming his role on the Board of Trustees, Ellis served as a member of the UM Foundation Board and the Stephens College of Business Advisory Board. Ellis serves on the PR and Development Committee, as well as the Audit and Finance Committee.
Ellis graduated from the University of Montevallo in 1973 with a degree in business administration services.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Members and Ex - Officio
- Director of Federal Governmental Affairs for Southern Company
- REPRESENTATIVE of the STATE at LARGE
Leroy Nix is the Director of Federal Governmental Affairs for Southern Company in Washington, DC. In this capacity, he works closely with national elected officials, community leaders, and stakeholder groups on issues related to energy and environmental policy. Leroy is a part of the team responsible for representing Southern Company before Congress, federal agencies, trade associations and major coalitions on U.S. public policy issues.
Prior to joining Sothern's DC Federal Governmental Affairs department, Nix led the External Affairs efforts for Alabama Power, a Southern Company subsidiary.
Leroy is a 2003 graduate of the University of Montevallo where he received a bachelor's degree in political science. He has served in various legislative capacities in Washington, DC, and participated in multiple Presidential and Congressional races across the nation.
Before joining Alabama Power in 2009, Leroy earned his law degree from The University of Alabama School of Law and was admitted to the Alabama State Bar. While at Alabama, he was a member of the Blackburn Leadership Institute, Bench and Bar Legal Honor Society, Student Bar Association, and also served as president of the Black Law Students Association.
Currently Leroy is an active member of several boards and organizations, including the University of Montevallo Board of Trustees, Renasant Bank Community Board and the Society of International Business Fellows (SIBF).
Job Titles:
- Member of the Members and Ex - Officio
Matt Arnold is a native of Birmingham, Alabama. He began working at the Marshall County Economic Development Council in 2000 and was promoted to President/CEO in August 2001. Prior to Marshall County, he served as Economic Development Coordinator for Bibb County, Alabama. He is a graduate of the University of Montevallo and holds a Masters in Business Administration from the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
He has served as the Alabama state director of the Southern Economic Development Council, a board member of the Economic Development Association of Alabama and the Chamber of Commerce Association of Alabama. His community involvement includes past-president and Paul Harris Fellow of the Guntersville Rotary Club, United Way, the Boy Scouts of America and the First United Methodist Church of Guntersville. He is a 2002 graduate of the Marshall County Leadership Challenge and a member of Leadership Alabama (Class XVII). He has served as Vice-President of the University of Montevallo National Alumni Association and in 2016 was appointed by Alabama Governor Robert Bentley to serve on the University of Montevallo Board of Trustees. He is the 2013 Recipient of the President's Award from the North Alabama Industrial Development Association.
Matt resides in Guntersville with his wife Shana and has two daughters, Madeline and Chloe and a son, Miller.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Members and Ex - Officio
- Chairman and CEO of the Baker Donelson Law Firm
Tim Lupinacci of Vestavia was appointed to the Board of Trustees from the Sixth Congressional District by former Gov. Bob Riley in 2008.
Lupinacci, chairman and CEO of the Baker Donelson law firm's Birmingham office, previously served as chair of the firm's financial services department.
Lupinacci's practice of more than 31 years has focused on helping financial institutions solve complex issues arising in restructuring throughout the country with extensive experience with workouts and bankruptcies involving defaulted health care loans.
Lupinacci is a 1988 graduate of the University of Montevallo, where he received his bachelor's degree in mass communication. He went on to earn his Juris Doctor from Vanderbilt University School of Law in 1991.
Lupinacci serves on Baker Donelson's Diversity Committee and previously served as co-chair of the firm's Women's Initiative Pathways to Leadership Committee. He is also the co-founder of Baker Donelson's CMBS Special Servicer blog. He was honored as Fellow of The American College of Bankruptcy in 2015.
He has received numerous professional honors including being named the Best Lawyers' 2015 Birmingham Bankruptcy Litigation Lawyer of the Year. Alabama Super Lawyers listed Lupinacci as one of the top 50 attorneys in Alabama in 2012 and 2013. The Best Lawyers in America® has listed him in the areas of bankruptcy and creditor, debtor rights/insolvency and reorganization law and bankruptcy litigation since 2005. He has also been listed since 2009 in the bankruptcy/restructuring category of Chambers USA: America's Leading Business Lawyers.
Lupinacci and his wife, Ellen McElwee Lupinacci, are active alumni of the University of Montevallo. They have donated both their time and financial resources toward student scholarships. The Lupinaccis have also served as class representatives for the UM National Alumni Association. He served as co-chair of the UM comprehensive campaign, which successfully concluded in early 2020.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Members and Ex - Officio
- REPRESENTATIVE of the FIFTH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT
Wynelle Sanders Sewell of Huntsville was appointed to the Board of Trustees by former Gov. Bob Riley in 2008, and was reappointed to a second term by Gov. Kay Ivey in 2020. She is a member of both the Executive Committee and the Trustee Committee. She also serves as chair of the Academic and Student Affairs Committee and vice chair of the Marketing and Communications Committee. She represents the Fifth Congressional District.
A Montevallo alumna, Sewell served for 30 years in public education with the Huntsville City Schools. She most recently served as a school counselor at Mountain Gap Middle School before her retirement in 2007.
While working in middle school, Sewell sponsored the Student Government, was cheerleader coach, coordinated the spelling bee, co-chaired the SACS reviews, developed workshops for teachers and students on numerous topics and was very involved in educational and counseling organizations.
In 1982, she became a member of the Beta Iota Chapter of Alpha Delta Kappa, an international honorary organization for women educators. She has held various chapter offices and served as president of the Huntsville President's Council.
In 1989, the State of Alabama recognized her as the Middle School Counselor of the Year. During the 1990s, she represented the state as president of the Alabama School Counselor Association.
For several years, Sewell served as the liaison between the local chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness and the school system. For two years she served as the secretary on the local chapter's board of directors.
As a student at Montevallo, she was in the first pledge class of the Kappa Chi Chapter of Phi Mu Fraternity. She participated on the Gold Side during College Night and was a Little Sister to Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity.
Upon graduation, Sewell returned to her hometown of Huntsville and became active in the Huntsville Alumni group. Over time, she has served in several positions and leadership roles, including the establishing of the Martha Byrd Gates Norton Scholarship for a Madison County student. She still remains active in the group, now known as the Tennessee Valley Area Alumni Club.
Sewell married William "Bill" Sewell, a 1973 University of Montevallo graduate. Bill had a very entrepreneurial spirit and owned and operated several small businesses in the Madison County area. Upon his passing in 2021, she took his role and is maintaining the operations of these businesses.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Members and Ex - Officio
Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey appointed Anita McDaniel Brueck to the University of Montevallo Board of Trustees. She began her 12-year term in May 2023.
Brueck, who graduated from UM with a bachelor's degree in business administration in 1977, worked in the property insurance claims business for 41 years up until her retirement in 2018. She and her husband, Alan "Buddy" Brueck, started ClaimSouth in 1985, and in 1991 they sold it to a subsidiary of SwissRe. The Bruecks then moved to Chicago to open an office for them, serving multi-national insurers specializing in Fortune 500 and Global 1000 programs for property and business income. They would spend the next 23 years with Sedgwick Claims Management Services.
In her time at UM, Brueck was a member of Phi Mu sorority and was actively involved in College Night. She now funds the Anita McDaniel Brueck '77 Endowed Scholarship for Phi Mu Members. She and her husband have two daughters, Amy and Becca.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Members and Ex - Officio
Job Titles:
- Member of the Members and Ex - Officio
- President
- REPRESENTATIVE of the STATE at LARGE
Senator Smitherman, born in Montgomery, Alabama on March 2, 1953, is serving his fifth term in the Senate. He graduated from the University of Montevallo with a B.B.A. degree and with honors from Miles Law School with a Juris Doctorate Degree.
Senator Smitherman and his wife, the former Carole Catlin of Birmingham, are the parents of four children: Rodger, II, Tonya Renee, Mary Elaine, and Crystal Nicole. He is a practicing attorney, a Democrat, an Elder at More Than Conquerors Faith Church, and a tireless advocate for education, youth programs and senior citizens.
Senator Smitherman was elected President Pro Tempore of the Alabama Senate on Thursday, February 5, 2009, and served until November 2, 2010.
Job Titles:
- Human Resources Generalist
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- Assistant Director of Human Resources, Statistical Reporting and Affirmative Action
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- Director of Communications
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- Human Resources Coordinator / Human Resources