Sea Island Residents Recognized for Service as Mercer University Trustees

MACON, GA (11/22/2013)(readMedia)-- James A. (Jim) Bishop, senior attorney with The Bishop Law Firm, and J. Reg Murphy, vice chairman of the National Geographic Society, both from Sea Island, were recognized for completing five-year terms on Mercer University's Board of Trustees during its annual meeting on Nov. 22.

Other trustees who rotated off the board include 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; David E. Hudson, partner with Hull & Barrett B.C., from Augusta; 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.

Additionally, 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; 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