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GAA Installs New Board Members

D. Jordan “Jordy” Whichard III ’79 of Greenville was installed as chair of the GAA Board of Directors at the Annual Alumni Luncheon on Saturday, succeeding Eleanor Saunders Morris ’55 of Chapel Hill. Donald W. Curtis ’63 of Raleigh assumed office as chair-elect.

Jordy Whichard '79.

D. Jordan Whichard III ’79

Whichard, the retired publisher of The Daily Reflector in Greenville and group publisher for Cox North Carolina Publications Inc., has previously served on the GAA board as first vice chair and as an N.C. district representative. He has chaired the board’s Enrichment Committee and was vice chair of its Awards Committee. As a student at UNC, he was president of Phi Gamma Delta, treasurer of Order of Gimghoul and a member of the Chancellor’s Committee on Student Conduct. He has served as a director of the UNC Health Care System. Whicard was chosen last year as chair-elect by the GAA board.

Curtis is chairman and CEO of Curtis Media Group. He has served on the GAA board since 2006 as an N.C. district director. As a student at UNC, he was chairman of the University Party, summer school student body president, dormitory manager of Old West and a member of the Student Union Activities Board. He is a member of the School of Journalism and Mass Communication’s board of visitors and is a former member of the boards for UNC’s Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center and the Rams Club. He serves on the boards of the N.C. Community Foundation, the UNC-TV Foundation and the UNC Health Care System. He is a member of the N.C. Broadcasters Hall of Fame and in 2005 received the Board of Trustees’ William Richardson Davie Award, recognizing extraordinary service to the University or society.

As a result of elections decided by Carolina Alumni members, Morris, who becomes immediate past chair, announced that Judith Allen Vinroot ’65 of Charlotte is the board’s new first vice chair and James R. Zook Jr. ’87 of Atlanta is the new second vice chair.

Vinroot, a retired instructor with Central Piedmont Community College, has served on the board since 2007 as an N.C. district director. She is a former leader of the Mecklenburg County Carolina Club and member of the Mecklenburg Morehead (now Morehead-Cain) Scholarship selection committee. As a student at UNC, she was a member of the Order of the Old Well, junior marshal, junior class officer, freshman women orientation coordinator, secretary of the Men’s Honor Council and a varsity cheerleader.

Zook, senior communications manager with Deloitte Services LP, has served on the board since 2007 as an at-large district director. As a student, he was editor of The Daily Tar Heel and a member of the Order of the Golden Fleece, the Chancellor’s Committee on Student Financial Aid and Delta Upsilon fraternity, and participated in the N.C. Fellows Program. He also has been a contributing writer to the Carolina Alumni Review.

New directors elected to three-year terms representing N.C. districts are:

  • John M. Betts Jr. ’68 of Raleigh, to the district for Franklin, Granville, Harnett, Johnston, Vance, Wake and Warren counties. Betts is associate editor of The Charlotte Observer and served on the GAA board from 1995 to 1998 as a constituent representative for journalism and mass communication alumni. He has been inducted into the N.C. Journalism Hall of Fame and has served on the School of Journalism and Mass Communication board of visitors and as president of the Journalism Alumni and Friends Association. At UNC, he was a cheerleader and member of Beta Theta Pi fraternity.
  • Georgiana Bircher ’92 of New Bern, to the district for Beaufort, Bertie, Bladen, Camden, Carteret, Chowan, Craven, Currituck, Dare, Duplin, Edgecombe, Gates, Greene, Halifax, Hertford, Hyde, Jones, Lenoir, Martin, Nash, Northampton, Onslow, Pamlico, Pasquotank, Pender, Perquimans, Pitt, Sampson, Tyrell, Washington, Wayne and Wilson counties. Bircher is a partner at Impact Communications. She previously served as leader of the Twin County (Nash and Edgecombe) Carolina Club, garnering outstanding club recognition, and she is the leader of the Twin Rivers Carolina Club. As a student, she served on the Sports Club Council advisory board, received the Sports Club Council Polk Achievement Award, served as treasurer and president of the Water Ski Club and participated in study abroad at the Universidad de San Francisco, Quito, Ecuador.
  • William A. Warren Jr. ’99 of Cincinnati, to the district for Alexander, Burke, Caldwell, Cabarrus, Catawba, Cleveland, Gaston, Iredell, Lincoln, Mecklenburg, Rowan, Rutherford and Union counties. Warren, a senior account executive with Procter & Gamble, moved to Cincinnati after the board election and will continue to serve that N.C. district. He is chair of the Kenan-Flagler Business School Alumni Council and member of the Kenan-Flagler Business School board of visitors. He has served as leader of the Charlotte Carolina Club and co-chair of the Charlotte Young Alumni Council. As a student, he was a member of the Order of the Golden Fleece, exchequer/treasurer of the Order of the Grail-Valkyries, president of Pi Kappa Alpha, recipient of the Most Outstanding Senior in Student Government Award, member of the Commencement and class gift committee, a senior marshal and recipient of Pi Kappa Alpha’s International Most Outstanding Undergraduate Award.
  • John B. Wilson Jr. ’85 of  Chapel Hill, to the district for Orange County. Wilson, a documentary filmaker, has served as an advisory board member for the UNC department of communication studies and board chair for UNC Student Television Inc. As a student, he was co-founder of UNC Student Television, a Student Congress representative, social chairman of Chi Psi fraternity, president of the Order of the Golden Fleece, member of the Order of the Grail and the Order of the Old Well, and board member of WXYC radio.

New directors elected to three-year terms representing out-of-state alumni are:

  • Linda Partee Stephenson ’68 of Atlanta, to the district for Alabama and Georgia. Stephenson is the retired executive director of the Georgia Amateur Athletics Foundation. At UNC, she was a member of the National Development Council, the Carolina Women’s Council and the Mental Health Committee, and she graduated Phi Beta Kappa.
  • Dr. Robert W. Madry Jr. ’63 of Corpus Christi, Texas, to the district for Colorado, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Wisconsin and Wyoming. Madry, who also earned his medical degree from UNC in 1967, is a founding partner and senior cardiologist with Cardiology Associates of Corpus Christi. At UNC, he was inducted into the Phi Eta Sigma freshman honor society, a member of the Order of the Old Well and the Order of the Beanbirds, chairman of freshman orientation, and president and rush chairman of Sigma Nu fraternity.
  • Kevin M. Levy ’92 of Pinecrest, Fla., to the district for Florida, Illinois and Indiana. Levy is an attorney and partner with Gunster, Yoakley & Stewart P.A. He is a former leader of the Miami Carolina Club. At UNC, he was president of Tau Epsilon fraternity and a member of the Carolina Athletic Association, the Honor Court and the Peer Leadership Council.

Appointed as at-large directors for three-year terms are:

  • Robyn S. Hadley ’85 of Graham. Hadley is executive director of the “What’s After High School?” program for the Burlington-Alamance school system and founder of the YESICAN nonprofit to help students get ready for college. She has been active with the Black Alumni Reunion, is a recipient of its Harvey Beech Outstanding Alumni Award and is a founding member of its Light on the Hill Scholarship Society. She serves on the Morehead-Cain Scholarship Central Selection Committee and has served on UNC’s Board of Visitors. As a student, she was a Morehead Scholar and a Rhodes Scholar. She was a member of the women’s basketball team, the Valkyries, the Order of the Grail, Black Student Movement and Delta Sigma Theta sorority, was an N.C. Fellow, founded the Women’s Forum and served as executive assistant to the student body president and on the Student Supreme Court.
  • Eric S. Montross ’94 of Chapel Hill. Montross, a member of the 1993 NCAA championship Tar Heels basketball team and former professional player, is a commentator for men’s basketball games on the Tar Heel Sports Network radio broadcast. Montross has served on the UNC Board of Visitors and on the GAA board as a representative to the University’s Athletic Council. He received the GAA’s Distinguished Young Alumnus award in 2009.

New director elected to a three-year term on UNC’s Athletic Council is:

  • Ronald J. Wooten ’81 of Raleigh. Wooten, executive vice president at Quintiles Transnational Corp. and a director of Invida Corp., is a member of the UNC Parents Council. As a student, he played on the football team and was chosen All-American, All ACC and ACC Lineman of the Year. He played professionally with the New England Patriots and was the starting offensive guard in Super Bowl XX and twice a Lineman of the Year.

Student representatives joining the board as ex-officio members for 2010-11 are:

  • Hogan Medlin, senior, president of the student body.
  • Elizabeth Deane, president of the senior class.
  • Sarah Frier, senior, editor of The Daily Tar Heel.
  • Chelsea Smith, senior, president of the Order of the Bell Tower.

Valerie V. Ashby ’88 of Durham was appointed as the faculty representative on the board. Ashby is Bowman and Gordon Gray Distinguished Term Professor of chemistry and faculty marshal. Ashby, who also earned a doctorate from UNC in 1994, received the Black Alumni Reunion’s Outstanding Faculty Award in 2008.

William P. Aycock II ’65 of Greensboro, counsel to the board, and Anthony Eden Rand ’61 of Fayetteville, treasurer, were reappointed to their posts, and former board chair Dwight M. “Davy” Davidson III ’77 of Greensboro was appointed assistant treasurer.


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