Deal appoints 17 to boards

Roger L. Folsom, Board of Community Health

Folsom is president and owner of Med1st. He is a past-chair and current board of trustees member of Fairview Park Hospital and past-chair and current vice-chair of the Dublin-Laurens Development Authority. He is a member of the board of directors of Farmers State Bank and the Georgia Chamber of Commerce. Folsom earned a bachelor’s degree in biology from Valdosta State University and completed his graduate studies at the University of Georgia. He resides in Dublin.

Russ Childers, Board of Community Health 

Childers has been a life and health insurance agent for 42 years. He has served as president and legislative chair of the Georgia Association of Health Underwriters and was chosen in 2000 as the Health Underwriter of the Year in Georgia. In 2010, he served as president of the National Association of Health Underwriters. He is the recipient of the 2014 Harold R. Gordon Memorial Award. Childers earned a bachelor’s degree from Georgia State University. He resides in Americus. 

Brenda Rowe, Georgia Board of Nursing (reappointment)

Rowe is an associate professor at Mercer University’s Georgia Baptist College of Nursing. She served 28 years in the Army Nurse Corps of the U.S. Army Reserves and retired at the rank of colonel. She is a member of the Georgia Nurses Association, Sigma Theta Tau International and the State Bar of Georgia. Rowe earned a bachelor’s degree from University of Evansville, a master’s degree in Nursing from Emory University and a law degree from Georgia State University. She and her husband, Grant, have three children and two grandchildren. They reside in Grayson.

Nancy S. Barton, Georgia Board of Nursing (reappointment)

Barton currently serves as director of Clinical Resource Management/Nursing Support Services at Northeast Georgia Medical Center. She is a member of the American Organization of Nurse Executives, the National Association of Healthcare Quality and Sigma Theta Tau. Barton has been a registered nurse for 42 years, serving in a variety of nursing positions. She earned a bachelor’s and master’s degree in Nursing from the Medical College of Georgia. She has one child and four grandchildren. She resides in Gainesville.

Travis Turner, Georgia Environmental Finance Authority

Turner currently serves as chairman of the White County Board of Commissioners. He worked in the financial industry for a number of years and previously managed his family’s lumber business. He and his family attend the Cleveland Worship Center, where he serves on the board of deacons. He has previously served on the State and Local Workforce Investment Boards and the Association County Commissioners of Georgia’s Workers’ Compensation Board of Trustees. Turner received an associate’s degree from Truett McConnell College and a bachelor’s degree in Finance from the University of North Georgia. He and his wife, Catherine, have two children. They reside in Cleveland.

Boyd L. Austin, Jr., Georgia Environmental Finance Authority (reappointment)

Austin has served as mayor of Dallas since 1996. He is chairman of the Metropolitan North Georgia Water Planning District, a member of the Georgia Immigration Enforcement Review Board and serves as third vice-president of the Georgia Municipal Association. He was listed as one of Georgia Trend's "100 Most Influential Georgians" in 2014.  Austin earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Georgia. He resides in Dallas.

E. Gary McCullough, Georgia Environmental Finance Authority (reappointment)

McCullough retired from Georgia Power after 41 years of service. He was a councilman for 14 years and has been mayor of Dahlonega for 11 years. He is a member of the Georgia Municipal Association Hall of Fame and currently serves on the Lumpkin County Board of Health, Lumpkin County Water and Sewer Authority and Chamber of Commerce. He is a former Georgia Municipal Association Board Director and also served on the Legislative Policy Committee. He and his wife, Charlotte, have three children and nine grandchildren. They reside in Dahlonega.

James W. Andrews, Georgia Environmental Finance Authority (reappointment)

Andrews has been the mayor of Sandersville for the past 15 years, where he has also served on the city council. He is retired from Kaolin Industry and was also a part-time funeral director. He serves on the Central Savannah River Area Regional Commission, Southern Municipal Conference Board of Directors, Washington County Board of Health and the Washington Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors. In 2004, Andrews was named Washington County Citizen of the Year and has been voted Best City Official in Washington County several times. He was inducted into the Georgia Municipal Association Hall of Fame in 2006. He and his wife, Sara, have two children and one grandson. They reside in Sandersville.

Grady M. Thompson, Jr., Georgia Environmental Finance Authority (reappointment)

Thompson currently serves as chairman of the Tift County Commissioners and as supervisor of the Middle Georgia Soil and Water Conservation District. He is a member of the Tifton Rotary Club and the Georgia Driller's Association. He and his wife, Sarah, have two children and four grandchildren.

Greg Grosch, State Well Water Standards Advisory Council

Grosch is manager of Grosch Irrigation Company in Dublin. He began his career as a geologist for the University of Nebraska Conservation and Survey Department. He is currently serving as president of the Georgia Association of Ground Water Professionals. Grosch earned a bachelor’s degree in Geology from Georgia Southern University. He and his wife, Christy, have three children. They reside in Dublin.

Milton Thompson, State Well Water Standards Advisory Council

Thompson has worked in the well water industry since 1980. He currently serves as vice-president of Bishop Well. He holds a Georgia Well Driller license, Florida Well Drillers license, a Master Electrician license and a Public Water System Operator license. He is involved in the Local Exchange Club and is a member of First United Methodist Church in Tifton. He and his wife, Susan, have two sons. They reside in Tifton.

Michael P. Roberts, State Well Water Standards Advisory Council (reappointment)

Roberts currently administers the Clean Water State Revolving Fund for the Georgia Environmental Finance Authority. He is an active member of his community, serving on the Brookhaven Peachtree Community Alliance Board and volunteering at Skyland Trail. Roberts earned a bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from Auburn University and is a registered Professional Engineer in Georgia. He resides in Brookhaven.

Raymond J. Wilke, State Well Water Standards Advisory Council (reappointment)

Wilke has more than 25 years of experience in a broad range of civil engineering, environmental and transportation projects. He has practiced in 13 states and a registered civil engineer. He is a past-president of the American Society of Civil Engineers, Georgia Section. He was named 2004 Civil Engineer of the Year in Georgia by the American Society of Civil Engineers. Wilke earned a bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Cincinnati and a master’s degree in Business Administration from Georgia State University. He and his wife, Georgia, reside in Johns Creek.

Jerry C. Colwell, State Well Water Standards Advisory Council (reappointment)

Colwell has been a director of the United Bank in Zebulon for the last 25 years. He currently serves on the board at Gordon State College and as a director for the Georgia Association of Ground Water Professionals. Colwell previously served on the Industrial Development Authority of Pike County and was also a director for the Pike County Chamber of Commerce. He has three children and seven grandchildren. He resides in Zebulon.

Dan Elder, III, State Well Water Standards Advisory Council (reappointment)

Elder currently serves as president of Oconee Well Drillers. He is a member of the Georgia Association of Groundwater Professionals, National Groundwater Association, Georgia Rural Water Association, American Water Works Association and Georgia Association of Water Professionals. Elder earned a bachelor’s degree in Agriculture from the University of Georgia. He and his wife, Ellen, have two children. They reside in Watkinsville.

Susan S. Whittle, State Board for the Certification of Librarians (reappointment)

Whittle is the director of the Southwest Georgia Regional Library System and is librarian for the Blind and Physically Handicapped Sub-Regional Library. She is a former State Library of Florida Library consultant and former publications editor, information/archives and records manager for the Northwest Florida Water Management District and Tall Timbers Research Station. She serves on the Southwest Georgia Regional Education Service Agency Board of Control and the National Library Services Public Education Advisory Committee. She has previously served on the American Library Association, Library Administration and Management Association, Personnel Administration Committee and Decatur County Chamber of Commerce. Whittle earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Florida and a master’s and advanced master’s degree from Florida State University School of Library and Information Science. She and her husband, Ken, have nine godchildren. They reside in Attapulgus.

Linda R. Most, State Board for the Certification of Librarians

Most is associate professor and interim department head for the Department of Library and Information Studies in the Dewar College of Education and Human Services at Valdosta State University. She has worked in the field as a reference librarian at the Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore, Maryland, and as the business reference librarian for the Palm Beach County Library System in Florida. She currently serves as a member of the board of directors of the South Georgia Regional Library System in Valdosta. Most earned a bachelor’s degree from Goucher College, a master’s degree in History from Florida Atlantic University, and a master’s degree in Library and Information Science and a doctorate from Florida State University. She resides in Valdosta.