Four new members will join the Board of Directors in 2010: Dr. J. Herman Blake of Charleston, Karen Garcia of Aiken, Dr. Courtney L. Tollison of Greenville, and L. Andrew Westbrook, III of Greenville.
Dr. J. Herman Blake is the Humanities Scholar in Residence at the Medical University of South Carolina. Prior to this appointment, Dr. Blake was a Senior Scholar in Residence at the University of South Carolina Beaufort, where he started the Sea Islands Institute. A doctorate in sociology from the University of California Berkeley, Dr. Blake has been a faculty member and administrator at several universities including the University of California Santa Cruz, Iowa State University, IUPUI in Indianapolis, and he was President of Tougaloo College in Mississippi. He currently serves on the Gullah Geechie Cultural Heritage Corridor Commission.
Karen Garcia is co-owner of RCS, a corporation that provides skilled professional staffing for engineering, infrastructure, nuclear, petrochemical, and power industries throughout the United States, Europe, China, and the Middle East. Garcia works in both professional staffing and business development. A graduate of William Paterson College in New Jersey, Garcia serves as an Executive Board Member of the University of South Carolina Aiken Partnership Board and is a member of First Presbyterian Church in Aiken.
Dr. Courtney L. Tollison is an Assistant Professor of History at Furman University in Greenville. Along with her teaching and departmental responsibilities, Dr. Tollison is also the Museum Historian for the Upcountry History Museum in Greenville where she oversees the oral and digital history programs and adult programming. A Ph.D. graduate in history from the University of South Carolina, Tollison was recently named a Fullbright Scholar and will be teaching the 2010 spring semester at the Chernivtsi National University in the Ukraine. She was the recipient of the Greenville Chamber of Commerce's Young Professional of the Year award in 2006.
Mr. L. Andrew Westbrook, III is the President and CEO of the Peoples National Bank in Easley. Westbrook also serves as President and COO of Peoples Bancorporation, Inc. prior to his current position, Westbrook was an Area Executive for BB&T in Spartanburg and Greenville. A graduate of the College of Charleston, Westbrook is very active in community affairs. He is on the Executive Committee of the Blue Ridge Council Boy Scouts of America, a Trustee of Spartanburg Methodist College, a member of the Board of Visitors for The University Center of Greenville, and active in the College of Charleston Alumni Association. He and his wife Catherine have two children and are members of Westminster Presbyterian Church in Greenville.
Board Members continuing to serve are: Judy Burke Bynum of Spartanburg (Chair), Sara Sanders of Conway (Vice Chair), James Bryan of Columbia, Helen Fellers of Columbia, Virginia Friedman of Charleston, John T. Garman of Anderson (Past Chair), Thomas R. Gottshall of Columbia, Ghussan R. Greene of Orangeburg, Samuel M. Hines, Jr. of Charleston, Elizabeth Holmes of Anderson, Paul Horne of Columbia, Walton J. McLeod of Little Mountain, S.C. Cal McMeekin, Jr. of Columbia, Maggi M. Morehouse of Aiken, The Honorable Elizabeth D. (Betty Jo) Rhea of Rock Hill, David E. Rison of Summerville, Bartow (Bo) S. Shaw of Sumter, Earl J. Wilcox of Rock Hill, D. Reece Williams III of Columbia, and Jane Zenger of Blythewood.
SC Humanities bids a sad farewell to two outstanding Board Members whose terms expire on October 31, 2009. June Murff of Aiken and Byron E. Gipson of Columbia both served the Council with great diligence and passion and will be sincerely missed.
The Board of Directors of SC Humanities consists of volunteer academic and public members. Board members initiate and develop projects, seek to make the humanities accessible statewide, and take active roles in Council fundraising.
