Dalton's Ireland Elected to Mercer University Board of Trustees

MACON, GA (11/22/2013)(readMedia)-- Mercer University's Board of Trustees at its annual meeting on Nov. 22 elected Dr. William J. (Bill) Ireland Jr., of Dalton, to serve a five-year term on the governing body. Ireland is senior pastor of First Baptist Church of Dalton. His daughter, Virginia, is currently a student at Mercer.

Ireland has previously served churches across the Southeast, in Mississippi, Kentucky, Louisiana, Georgia and North Carolina. A native of Greenville, Miss., he earned his Bachelor of Arts from Mississippi College before earning a Master of Divinity and Doctor of Philosophy from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. His research has focused on New Testament studies.

Also joining the board for new five-year terms were Heather Darden, corporate counsel at RaceTrac Petroleum, from Atlanta; A.V. Elliott, founder of Elliott Machine Shop, from Macon; O. Gene Gabbard, businessman, from Cary, N.C.; Spencer B. King III, physician, professor of medicine and director of the Andreas Gruentzig Cardiovascular Center at Emory University, from Atlanta; Zell Miller, former U.S. senator and Georgia governor, from Young Harris; James W. Thomas Jr., partner with Arnold & Porter LLP, from Arlington, Va.; the Honorable Hugh P. Thompson, chief justice of the Georgia Supreme Court, from Milledgeville; and the Honorable Marc Treadwell, judge, U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia, from Forsyth.

About Mercer University

Founded in 1833, Mercer University is a dynamic and comprehensive center of undergraduate, graduate and professional education. The University enrolls more than 8,300 students in 12 schools and colleges – liberal arts, law, pharmacy, medicine, business, engineering, education, theology, music, nursing, health professions, and continuing and professional studies – on campuses in Macon, Atlanta and Savannah – and four regional academic centers across the state. The Mercer Health Sciences Center, launched July 1, 2012, includes the University's medical, nursing, health sciences and pharmacy schools. Mercer is affiliated with four teaching hospitals – Memorial University Medical Center in Savannah, the Medical Center of Central Georgia in Macon, and The Medical Center and St. Francis Hospital in Columbus. The University also has educational partnerships with Warner Robins Air Logistics Center in Warner Robins and Piedmont Healthcare in Atlanta. It operates an academic press and a performing arts center in Macon and an engineering research center in Warner Robins. Mercer is the only private university in Georgia to field an NCAA Division I athletic program. www.mercer.edu