Deal names eight to boards

Lurue Lord, Georgia State Board of Dispensing Opticians
Lord co-owns and operates Lord Eye Center with her husband, Dr. Whit Lord, an optometrist. Lord Eye Center has six locations in Georgia including Statesboro, Savannah, Rincon, Augusta, Brunswick and St. Marys. She earned a bachelor’s degree from Georgia Southern University and she is a member of the advisory board to the College of Business Administration for her alma mater. Lurue is also a member of the advisory board for the Opticianry program at Ogeechee Technical College. Lord and her husband reside in Statesboro.

Antonio Rios, Georgia Board for Physician Workforce
Rios was born and raised in Mexico City. After medical school, he completed his residency in Internal Medicine at Emory University. His private practice is part of Northeast Georgia Physicians Group (NGPG), which is affiliated with Northeast Georgia Health Systems. Rios also serves as the Chief Physician Executive for NGPG. He is past Chief of Medicine at Northeast Georgia Medical Center (NGMC) and currently co-chairs the Continuing Medical Education Committee at NGMC. Rios has been a strong advocate and participant for the largest free clinic in the state, Good News Clinic, where he has been volunteering since 1998. He currently serves on the board of the clinic. He has also been a board member for the North Georgia Community Foundation. He and his wife, Margaret, reside in Gainesville and have three children.

Mark G. Hanly, Georgia Board for Physician Workforce
Hanly is in private practice in southeast Georgia. He is currently chairman of the Department of Pathology at the Southeast Georgia Health System and also serves as clinical faculty at the Medical College of Georgia and the College of Coastal Georgia. He is active in the Glynn County Medical Society as well as the Medical Association of Georgia and the Georgia Association of Pathologists. Hanly earned a medical degree from the University of Rhodesia and undertook graduate studies at the Medical College of Georgia and the University Of Texas, M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. He and his wife, Kim, reside in St. Simons and have two children.

Lynwood D. Jordan Jr., Board of Commissioners of the Judges of the Probate Courts Retirement Fund of Georgia
Jordan is a Probate Judge of Forsyth County. He is the immediate past president of the Council of Probate Court Judges of Georgia and has served a two-year term on the Judicial Council of Georgia. Jordan was chosen the Outstanding Probate Court Judge of the Year in 2011. He presently serves on the board of trustees for the Institute of Continuing Judicial Education at the University of Georgia. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Emory University and his juris doctor, cum laude, from Mercer University. He and his wife, Susan, reside in Cumming and have three children and nine grandchildren.

Jeff W. Smith, State Board of Veterinary Medicine
Smith has been a dairy farmer since 1990 and is CEO of Smith Dairy Farms Inc. He serves on the board of directors of the American Dairy Association of Georgia, the Georgia Dairy Youth Foundation, the Georgia Milk Producers, Inc. and the Southeast Council of Dairy Farmers of America. Smith earned a bachelor’s degree in Agriculture Education from the University of Georgia. He and his wife, Kerith, reside in Comer and have one daughter, Jessica.

H. Grady Smith III, State Construction Industry Licensing Board: Division of Master and Journeyman Plumbers
Smith is president of Smith Brothers Mechanical Contractors. He is a member of the Augusta State University board of trustees and the Augusta State University President’s Club. He is also president of the Augusta Golf Association, past president of the Augusta Exchange Club, Tournament Director of the ASU Collegiate Invitational and a past director of the ASU Alumni Association. He was appointed to the Georgia State Plumbing Board in 1992 and has been the chairman since 1999. He is a Richmond County Commissioner and a member of the Augusta Country Club. In 1999, Smith received the ASU Gold Key Award and in 2004 received the ASU President’s Club Award. He and his wife, Cathy, live in Augusta.

Counte L. Cooley, State Construction Industry Licensing Board: Division of Low Voltage Contractors
Cooley has been a low voltage contractor since 1958 and is president and owner of the Electronic Sales Company. He has served as president and director of the Georgia Burglar and Fire Alarm Association and has served as vice president of the National Burglar and Fire Alarm Association. Recently, Cooley was involved in chartering the new Georgia Electronic Life Safety and Systems Association. He and his wife, Jackie, are co-founders of the foundation “For Her Glory,” which provides wigs and other items to cancer patients who cannot financially secure these products. They reside in Gainesville and have three children and three grandchildren.

Sandra J. Putnam, Sexual Offender Registration Review Board
Putnam is the Assistant Special Agent in Charge of the GBI’s Child Exploitation and Computer Crimes Unit and has been with the GBI for more than 15 years. She also serves as the Commander of the Georgia Internet Crimes Against Children task force, which is composed of more than 120 local, state and federal law enforcement agencies from all over the state of Georgia. Putnam earned her bachelor’s degree from Georgia College and State University and her master’s degree in Public Administration from Columbus State University. She and her husband, Spurgeon, reside in Covington and have two children.