Newnan's Drake Elected as Lifetime Member of Mercer University Board of Trustees

MACON, GA (11/22/2013)(readMedia)-- The Honorable W. Homer Drake Jr., United States Bankruptcy Court Judge from Newnan, was elected as only the 11th lifetime member of the Mercer University Board of Trustees at the governing body's annual meeting on Nov. 22.

During Mercer's nearly 200-year history, the University has had only a handful of trustees who have been designated as Life Trustees. The prerequisites state that a recipient must have served at least two terms on the Board of Trustees and be at least 70 years of age, as well as have been individuals who have demonstrated extraordinary commitment to the work of the University over an extended period of time.

Judge Drake graduated from Mercer's College of Liberal Arts in 1954 and from its Walter F. George School of Law in 1956. He went on to become one of the nation's leaders in the law of bankruptcy. He is a past president of the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges, a fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy, and a former member of the Judicial Conference's Committee on the Administration of the Bankruptcy System. He founded the Southeastern Bankruptcy Law Institute, which recognized his enormous contributions to bankruptcy law by establishing the Walter Homer Drake Professorship of Bankruptcy Law at Mercer's law school.

On Nov. 22, he completed his third full, five-year term on the Mercer board, having joined it for the first time in 1996.

In nominating Judge Drake for election as a Life Trustee, Mercer President William D. Underwood praised his years of service to the institution.

"Along with his wonderful wife, Ruth, herself a Mercer graduate, Judge Drake has made many lasting contributions to the University. It is entirely fitting that he join the distinguished ranks of Mercer Life Trustees," President Underwood said.

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.; William J. (Bill) Ireland Jr., senior pastor of First Baptist Church, Dalton; Spencer B. King III, physician, professor of medicine and director of the Andreas Gruentzig Cardiovascular Center at Emory University, from Atlanta; 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.

Those who rotated off the board include James A. (Jim) Bishop, senior attorney with The Bishop Law Firm, from Sea Island, Ga.; G. Marshall Butler Sr., chairman of Butler Automotive Group, from Forsyth; Dwight J. Davis, senior partner with King & Spalding, from Atlanta; William A. (Bill) Fickling Jr., chairman of the board of Mulberry Street Investment Company, from Macon; J. Reg Murphy, vice chairman of the National Geographic Society, from Sea Island; and Julie Pennington-Russell, senior pastor of First Baptist Church, Decatur, from Atlanta; and the Honorable W. Louis Sands, judge, U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia, from Albany.

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