Governor Nathan Deal - Georgia’s 82nd Governor (2011-2019)

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Deal appoints 16 to boards

October 11, 2013
Ruth L. Lee, Georgia Council on Aging
Lee retired as director of Hospice of Tift Area in Tifton. She previously served as executive director of Hospice of Central Georgia in Macon and director of Oncology Services at Tift Regional Medical Center. Before retirement, Lee was a member of the Georgia Hospice Organization Board of Directors, serving as president and treasurer. She also served on the Georgia Department of Medical Assistance Hospice Advisory Committee and the Quad State Hospice Medicare Advisory Committee. Lee is a registered nurse, having earned her diploma in Nursing from Georgia Baptist Hospital School of Nursing and a bachelor’s degree in Nursing from Albany State College. Ruth and her husband, Michael, have three children and five grandchildren. They reside in Tifton.
 
Brittany Pittman, Georgia Environmental Finance Authority
Pittman is the first elected female to serve as the sole commissioner in Murray County. She currently serves on the board of directors for the Georgia Northwestern Technical College, Healthcare Partnership, Boys and Girls Club and the Northwest Georgia Regional Commission. Pittman earned a bachelor’s degree from Covenant College and a master’s degree from Central Michigan University. She and her husband, Anthony, have four children. They reside in Chatsworth. 
 
Judy T. Brownell, Board of Human Services
Brownell is employed by Center Point and is working on a statewide alcohol prevention project focused on underage drinking. She has worked in several capacities including 11 years with the Department of Family and Children Services in Child Protective Services and eight years with the Northeastern Judicial Circuit as Victim Services Director for the District Attorney’s Office. She was instrumental in the development of a sexual abuse treatment program now known as the Children’s Center for Hope and Healing. Brownell earned a bachelor’s degree from Agnes Scott College. She and her husband, Bill, have three children and six grandchildren. They reside in Gainesville.
 
Jack F. Williams, Board of Human Services (reappointment)
Williams is a professor at Georgia State University College of Law/ Middle East Institute and the senior managing director for Mesirow Financial Consulting, LLC. He is a member of the American Institute of Archaeology, the Society for American Archaeology, the Native American Bar Association, the American Bankruptcy Institute and the Coast Guard Auxiliary. Additionally, Williams is resident scholar for the Association of Insolvency and Restructuring Advisors. He earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Oklahoma, a law degree from George Washington University School of Law and a Ph.D. from the University of Leicester in the United Kingdom. He and his wife, Pam, have four children. They reside in Atlanta.
 
Monica Walters, Board of Human Services (reappointment)
Walters is a retired educator and library media director from the Lamar County School System. She serves on the Lamar County Board of Elections and the Lamar County Board of Equalization. She is a past president of Barnesville-Lamar County Chamber of Commerce and Barnesville Women's League. She is a graduate of Leadership Lamar under the Fanning Institute. She was a grant writer and director of the Lamar County High afterschool program. Walters earned a bachelor’s degree in Education from Georgia Southern University, a master’s degree in Education from Columbus State University, a master’s degree in School Library Media and a specialist degree in Educational Leadership from Georgia College and State University. She and her husband, John, have two children and five grandchildren. They reside in Barnesville.
 
Robertiena (Tiena) Fletcher, Board of Human Services (reappointment)
Fletcher is the director of Pharmacy at Houston Healthcare Complex in Warner Robins, where she has been employed for 37 years. She serves on the boards of the Community Foundation of Middle Georgia, Inc., the Fort Valley Chapter of the Links, Inc., and Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. Fletcher earned a bachelor’s degree in Biology and Chemistry from Mercer University, a bachelor’s degree in Pharmacy from Xavier University and dual master’s degrees in Science Administration and Business Administration from Georgia College and State University. She and her husband, Donnie, have three children. They reside in Perry.
 
Robin Alverson, State Board of Examiners for Speech and Language Pathology and Audiology
Alverson is a clinical audiologist in practice with Otolaryngologist M. Edwin Davis, M.D. Alverson has also served as a medical consultant with the Social Security Disability adjudication services for the past 20 years. She earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Georgia, a master’s degree in Medical Science from Emory University and a doctorate of Audiology from A.T. Still University. She and her husband, Joey, have three children and two grandchildren. They reside in Fayetteville.
 
Lauren Wright, State Board of Examiners for Speech Language Pathology and Audiology (reappointment)
Wright serves as director of Organizational and Resource Development for the State Charter Schools Commission of Georgia. Prior to joining the commission staff, Wright directed the Race to the Top projects in the Governor’s Office of Student Achievement and served as the Education Policy Adviser to Gov. Sonny Perdue. She also worked previously in Perdue's communications office managing external affairs. Wright received dual bachelor's degrees in Journalism and Political Science from the University of Georgia and a master's degree in Public Administration with an emphasis in Policy Analysis from Georgia State University. She currently resides in Marietta. 
 
Dennis W. Ashley, Georgia Trauma Care Network Commission (reappointment)
Ashley is interim chair and professor in the Department of Surgery and the director of Trauma and Adult Critical Care at the Medical Center of Central Georgia and Mercer University School of Medicine. He is a member of the American Association for the Surgery of Trauma, the Eastern Association for the Surgery of Trauma, the Society of Critical Care Medicine, the Southern Surgical Association, and the Society of University Surgeons. He currently chairs the Information Technology Committee of the American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma. Ashley earned a bachelor’s degree from Transylvania University in Lexington, Ky., and a master’s degree from the University of Kentucky. He completed a general surgery residency at the Medical Center of Central Georgia and Mercer University School of Medicine, followed by a Trauma Fellowship at Grady Hospital and Emory University School of Medicine, and a Surgical Critical Care Fellowship at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center in Pittsburgh. He has one child. They reside in Macon.
 
Joel O. Wooten, Georgia Ports Authority
Wooten is an attorney with the law firm of Butler, Wooten & Fryhofer, LLP. He served as chair of the University System of Georgia Board of Regents from 2004-2005, and was a board member from 1999-2006. He has been recognized as one of Georgia Trend’s 100 Most Influential Georgians and repeatedly selected as a Georgia Super Lawyer. He received the State Bar of Georgia’s Tradition of Excellence Award in 2000, and the UGA Law School’s Distinguished Service Scroll in 2012. Wooten graduated from the University of Georgia in 1972 with a bachelor’s in Business Administration and received a law degree from the University of Georgia School of Law in 1975. He and his wife, Sybrina, have five children and two grandchildren. They reside in Columbus.
 
David W. Retterbush, Georgia Composite Medical Board (reappointment)
Retterbush is a board certified general surgeon practicing in Valdosta and is on the active medical staff of South Georgia Medical Center and Smith Northview Hospital. He has served as chief of staff and chairman of the Department of Surgery at South Georgia Medical Center. He is a fellow of the American College of Surgeons and is a cancer liaison physician with the Commission on Cancer. Retterbush earned a master’s degree from the Medical College of Georgia and completed a general surgery residency at the University of Louisville. He and his wife, Denise, have three children and two grandchildren. They reside in Valdosta.
 
Kelly H. Gay, Board of Driver Services (reappointment)
Gay is the chief executive officer and president of Omnilink. She is the past chairman, chief executive officer and president of KnowledgeStorm. Prior to joining KnowledgeStorm, she led IBM in the entertainment, publishing, printing, advertising, broadcast, cable and sports markets as vice president of IBM's North American Media and Entertainment Division. She serves on the boards of directors of Omnilink, Bank of Atlanta, 1105 Media, Ashworth College, OnBoard, and is a past chairman of the Technology Association of Georgia (TAG) and past president of OnBoard. She is a magna cum laude graduate of Newcomb College of Tulane University with a bachelor’s degree in Economics. She and her husband, Alan, have two children. They reside in Atlanta.   
 
Debbie Brilling, State Board of Hearing Aid Dealers and Dispensers (reappointment)
Brilling is the chief executive officer for the Auditory Verbal Center. She serves on the Hearing Screening Stakeholders Committee and is a member of the Georgia Pathway Coalition for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. She is an active member of the Kiwanis Club of Northlake-Tucker and past lieutenant governor of Division 14. She earned a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration with a minor in Economics from Berry College. She has two children. They reside in Atlanta.
 
Allana L. Cummings, Board of Community Health
Cummings is chief information officer at Northeast Georgia Health System. She serves as chair of the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) Worldwide Board and as a member of the HIMSS Analytics Board and Most Wired Advisory Board. Cummings earned a bachelor’s degree in Organization Leadership from Mercer University in Atlanta and an executive master’s degree in Business Administration from the Ken Blanchard College of Business at Grand Canyon University. She is a certified professional in Healthcare Information and Management Systems, a certified healthcare chief information officer and has also earned a project management professional certification. She resides in Gainesville.
 
Nancy A. Addison, Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission
Addison is vice president and chief financial officer for Health Service Centers, Inc. She is also a corporate adviser for Southern Woods Plantation and is a director for Majormatic, a South Africa-based company. Addison serves on the Board of Natural Resources, Safari Club International Foundation Advisory Board, and is chairman of the North Georgia Mountain Authority Board. She has three children and resides in Savannah.
 
James P. Martin, Georgia State Board of Accountancy
Martin retired as executive director of the Georgia Society of Certified Public Accountants after 35 years of service. He serves on the board of Hart Partners and on the finance committee at the First United Methodist Church in Hartwell, where he also teaches Sunday school. Martin earned a bachelor’s degree in Journalism from the University of Georgia and a law degree from the Woodrow Wilson College of Law. He and his wife, Carolyn, have four children and eight grandchildren. They reside in Lavonia.