Deal appoints 16 to boards

Phil Gingrey, M.D., Augusta University Health System Board of Directors (reappointment)
Gingrey is a senior advisor for the District Policy Group. He previously represented Georgia’s 11th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2003 to 2015. While in Congress, Gingrey was a member of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce and founded the GOP Doctors Caucus. He also represented the 37th District in the Georgia State Senate from 1999 to 2003 and previously served as the chairman of the Marietta City Schools Board of Education. Gingrey worked as an OB-GYN physician for more than 20 years. He is a member of the Cobb County Medical Society, the Medical Association of Georgia and the Georgia OBGyn Society. Gingrey is also a board-certified member of the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Georgia Tech and a medical degree from the Medical College of Georgia. Gingrey and his wife, Billie, have four children and 13 grandchildren. They reside in Marietta.

Steve R. Adams, Board of Governors of the George L. Smith II World Congress Center Authority (reappointment)
Adams is the founder and president of Southeastrans, Inc. He is also the founder and president of West Georgia Ambulance, Inc. Adams is a founding board member of the Carroll County Symphony Orchestra, a co-founding board member of the Carroll County Children’s Home and the chairman of the Tanner Medical Foundation. He sits on the board of directors for Tanner Medical Center and is a member of the center’s finance and patient safety committees. Adams is a former trustee for the University of West Georgia (UWG) and an honorary member of the Beta Gamma Sigma chapter at UWG. He received an honorary doctoral degree from the University of West Georgia in 2017 in recognition of his work in medical transportation services for west Georgia communities. Adams has one child and lives in Carrollton.

R. Stan Conway, Board of Governors of the George L. Smith II World Congress Center Authority (reappointment)
Conway is the executive vice president of Majestic Realty and Commerce Construction, LP. He sits on the board of directors for Majestic Reality and leads the company’s activities in the eastern United States. Conway is a trustee for the Atlanta Police Foundation and a former board member of Skyland Trail. He is a graduate of Southern Polytechnic State University. Conway has six children and resides in Atlanta.

Laura B. Gammage, Board of Governors of the George L. Smith II World Congress Center Authority
Gammage is the deputy commissioner of economic development for the Technical College System of Georgia (TCSG). She has more than 24 years of experience with TCSG and was previously the TCSG assistant commissioner for administrative services and external affairs. Gammage also served as the executive vice president for economic development and campus relations at West Georgia Technical College. She earned a bachelor’s degree in Accounting from the University of West Georgia. Gammage lives in Cedartown.

Andrew MacCartney, Board of Governors of the George L. Smith II World Congress Center Authority (reappointment)
MacCartney is the vice president of digital media and education at Georgia Public Broadcasting. He earned a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration Information Systems from Georgia Southern University. MacCartney and his wife, Teresa, have two children and reside in Marietta.

William C. Rice, Board of Governors of the George L. Smith II World Congress Center Authority (reappointment)
Rice is the president of RBH LaGrange. He retired as the director of marketing for Milliken and Company. Rice is a past president and former chairman of the Leadership Georgia board. He previously sat on the boards of directors for the Independent Textile Rental Association and the Industrial Textile Service Association. Rice earned a bachelor’s degree in Marketing from the University of Florida. He and his wife, Helen, have one child and three grandchildren. They live in LaGrange. 

Jeff Payne, M.D., Board of Governors of the George L. Smith II World Congress Center Authority
Payne is an ophthalmologist at North Georgia Eye Clinic. He is the president of the Georgia Society of Ophthalmology, a foundation trustee for the University of North Georgia and a trustee for Lakeview Academy. Payne is a member of the Medical Association of Georgia, the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery and the American Academy of Ophthalmology. He is also a graduate of Leadership Georgia. Payne earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of North Georgia and a medical degree from the Medical College of Georgia. He and his wife, Hart, have two children and reside in Gainesville.

Jennifer Clark, Georgia Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing
Clark is a listening and spoken language specialist. She currently works as an early intervention specialist with the Georgia Parent Infant Network for Educational Services. Clark previously taught deaf and hearing-impaired students in the Cobb County School District and worked with OPTION Schools, Inc. She is a member of the Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing and advocated for the passage of HB844, the Language to Literacy Initiative. Clark earned a bachelor’s degree in Deaf Education K-12 and Elementary Education 1-5 and a master’s degree in Deaf Education Birth-8 from Fontbonne University. She and her husband, Geoff, have one child and live in Atlanta.

Jiovanne Hughart, Georgia Commission for Deaf and Hard of Hearing
Hughart is an adjunct professor at Auburn University and Salus University. She has 38 years of experience in clinical audiology, including 35 years in private practice. Hughart is the chair of the Academy of Doctors of Audiology’s mentoring committee and works as the webmaster for the Georgia Academy of Audiology. She earned master’s degrees from Ohio University and Brenau University and a doctoral degree from the University of Florida. Hughart and her husband, Joe, have two children and reside in Marietta.

Kelly Jenkins, Georgia Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing
Jenkins is the co-founder of Let Georgia Hear, a parent advocacy group for deaf and hearing-impaired children. She sits on the board of directors for the Atlanta Speech School. Jenkins received the 2013 Better Hearing and Speech Month Recognition Award from Hamilton Relay and the 2015 Big Voice for Children Award from Voices for Georgia’s Children. She was also named to the Atlanta Business Chronicle’s “40 Under 40” list in 2014. Jenkins earned a bachelor’s degree in English from Davidson College and a master’s degree in Business Administration from the Goizueta Business School at Emory University. She and her husband, Simms, have three children and live in Atlanta.

James Lynch, Georgia Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing
Lynch is a founding member of Lynchpin Associates, an international business development consultancy. He previously worked for the Coca-Cola Company and UPS. Lynch is a member of the Rotary Clubs of Greene and Putnam Counties, the Emory Alumni Association and the Greene County Regional Airport Authority. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Seattle University and a master’s degree in Business Administration from Emory University. Lynch and his wife, Jacqueline, have two children and six grandchildren. They reside in Greensboro.

Jimmy L. Peterson, Georgia Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing
Peterson is the executive director of the Georgia Center of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. He is a member of the Georgia Association of the Deaf and the National Association of the Deaf. Peterson earned a bachelor’s degree from Jacksonville State University. He and his wife, Amy, have two children and two grandchildren. They live in Snellville.

Ellen F. Rolader, Georgia Commission for Deaf and Hard of Hearing
Rolader is an early intervention specialist and the lead deaf mentor for the Georgia Parent Infant Network of Educational Services. She sits on the board of directors for Georgia Hands & Voices. Rolader is a member of the National Association of the Deaf, the Georgia Association of the Deaf, the American Society of Deaf Children, the Gallaudet University Alumni Association and Georgia Pathway to Language and Literacy. She is trained as a community emergency response team instructor for deaf and hearing-impaired individuals. Rolader earned a bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood Education from the University of Georgia and a master’s degree in Deaf Education from Gallaudet University. She and her husband, Robert, have three children and two grandchildren. They reside in Marietta.

Dana Tarter, Georgia Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing
Tarter is a teacher at the Georgia School for the Deaf. She earned a bachelor’s degree from Shorter University, a master’s degree from Jacksonville State University and a graduate certificate from Gallaudet University. Tarter is also certified as a Teacher of the Visually Impaired by Middle Georgia RESA. She has four children and lives in Armuchee.

Deshonda Washington, Georgia Commission for Deaf and Hard of Hearing
Washington is the executive director of Georgia Hands & Voices, an organization that supports families with deaf or hearing-impaired children. She is also the director of the Georgia Hands & Voices Advocacy, Support and Training Program. Washington earned a bachelor’s degree in Business Management. She and her husband, Lorenzo, have three children and reside in Marietta.

J. Comer Yates, Georgia Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing
Yates is the executive director of the Atlanta Speech School. He is a former president of Camp Twin Lakes and sits on the camp’s board of directors. Yates is a member of the Junior League of Atlanta Community Advisory Board and sits on the board of directors for the southeast regional office of the Anti-Defamation League. He is a member of the Get Georgia Reading Campaign Cabinet, the Brain Trust for Babies advisory council and the Rotary Club of Atlanta. Yates is the chairman of the Rotary Educational Foundation of Atlanta and a co-chairman of Georgia Pathway to Language and Literacy. He received the Distinguished Service Award from the Atlanta Bar Association and the Community Service Award from WXIA for his work with students at Daniel McLaughlin Therrell High School. Yates earned a bachelor’s degree and a law degree from Emory University, where he was a member of the Order of Coif, the Omicron Delta Kappa and the Order of the Barristers. He and his wife, Sally, have two children and live in Atlanta.