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Transition Advisory Committee

Committee Member	Biography
	Traci Otey Blunt – Executive Vice President, Corporate Marketing & Corporate Affairs, Robert L. Johnson Entertainment and former Director of Communications, Hillary R. Clinton 2008 Presidential Campaign. Blunt also worked in communication roles for Vice President Al Gore's presidential campaign and former Washington, D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams. A Tennessee State University graduate, she serves on several boards, including Malaria No More, ColorComm, and the National Black Caucus of Local Elected Officials Foundation
	Charles Robert Bone – Chief Executive Officer, Bone McAllester Norton, PLLC. Bone has represented clients in various complex litigation matters in both state and federal courts across Tennessee. In addition to his law practice, Bone has been instrumental in developing several Tennessee-based companies as an entrepreneur, investor and board member. , including as a founder of Phoenix Boats (Winchester, Tennessee), the Southern Steak & Oyster restaurant and Acme Feed & Seed.
	Lauren J. Brisky – Retired, Vice-Chancellor for Administration and Chief Financial Officer, Vanderbilt University. Brisky is currently the Chair of the Board of Trustees for the Sue Peters Foundation. Since 2000, she has served on the Board of Trustees of Simmons College where she is the immediate past chair of the board. Brisky is a member the Board of Directors of Nashville Public Radio, where she serves on the finance and campaign committees.
	Beverly Carmichael – Senior Vice President, Chief People Officer, Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, Inc. Carmichael has a 20-year track record of success in multiple industries as a leader in human resources and labor and employee relations. She was Senior Vice President of Labor and Employee Relations and Vice President of People at Southwest Airlines. Additionally, she served as the Chief People Officer at Ticketmaster.
	Dr. Kelley Castlin-Gacutan – Superintendent, Birmingham Public Schools. Dr. Castlin-Gacutan, a Tennessee State University graduate, was named superintendent of Birmingham City Schools in 2015. She is a seasoned educator with 24 years of experience, including classroom teacher, assistant principal, principal, district level administrator, and university professor/director.
	Colleen Conway-Welch – Dean Emerita and Professor Emerita, Vanderbilt University School of Nursing. Conway-Welch was a member of President Reagan’s 1988 Commission on HIV, and the 1998 Congressional National Bipartisan Commission on the Future of Medicare. She also served on the 2002 advisory council to the Secretary of Health and Human Services on Public Health Preparedness and the DHHS Center for Medicare and Medicaid’s Advisory Committee for Medicare Coverage. She is also a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Science.
	George L. Davis, Jr. – Co-Owner/Chief Technology Officer, Ultimate Progress, Incorporated. Davis is a graduate of Tennessee State University. His company provides assisted-living care services and life skills development to mentally disabled individuals in Southern California. Davis is also president of the Tennessee State University Engineering Alumni Association (TSUEAA).
	Dr. Fred Humphries – Retired, President of Florida A&M University and former President of Tennessee State University. While at TSU from 1974-1985, Dr. Humphries demonstrated administration skills that resulted in improved and expanded academic programs, upgraded faculty, increased enrollment and quality of students, and expanded scholarships and support activities. Dr. Humphries was also president of Florida A&M (1985-2001) and the National Association for Equal Opportunity (NAFEO).
	Jamie Isabel – Owner, Dalmatian Creative Agency, Inc. A graduate of Tennessee State University, Isabel founded Dalmatian Creative Agency, Inc. in 1996. Dalmatian is a full service promotional product company specializing in corporate apparel and uniforms. The company is currently the largest African- American owned promotional product company and uniform distributor in the world.
	Richard Lewis, Sr. – Owner, Lewis & Wright Funeral Home. Lewis is a 1966 graduate of Tennessee State University. He served on the Tennessee Board of Regents from 1981-1991. A successful businessman, Lewis owns three businesses, including Lewis and Wright Funeral Home that has served Nashville and surrounding communities for more than 50 years.
	Edith Peterson Mitchell, MD – President, National Medical Association. Dr. Mitchell is a graduate of Tennessee State University. In 2015, she was sworn-in as president of the National Medical Association, the nation’s oldest professional society for African-American physicians. Dr, Mitchell is also a retired brigadier general in the U.S. Air Force, and was the first female physician to attain this rank.
	Wendell Moore – Senior Public Policy Advisor Baker Donelson Law Firm, PLLC, and former Deputy Governor State of Tennessee. Moore is a senior public policy advisor in the firm's Nashville office. As the leader of the Tennessee State Public Policy team, he works with clients to identify legislative and regulatory issues and then develops strategies to address those issues. Moore, along with a carefully selected team of public policy advisors and attorneys, implements strategies and monitors progress at both the state and federal level.
	Dr. Shirley Raines – President Emeritus, University of Memphis. Dr. Raines served as president of the University of Memphis for 12 years, and was a faculty member for seven years at the Harvard Graduate School’s Summer Institute for New President’s and Chancellors. She is now President Emeritus, and enjoys speaking, consulting, training and writing. As a speaker, Dr. Raines has presented keynote addresses, seminars and workshops in the United States, Canada and Switzerland.
	Dr. Maria Thompson – President, Coppin State University. A graduate of Tennessee State University, Dr. Thompson completed the Institute for Educational Management at Harvard University in 2011 and, in 2013, completed the Spectrum Executive Leadership Program sponsored by the American Council on Education. Before coming to Coppin State, Dr. Thompson was the chief academic officer for SUNY Oneonta, where she led the educational mission for a public, regional, comprehensive university offering bachelor's and master's degrees to 6,000 students.
	Bishop Joseph Walker – Presiding Bishop, Full Gospel Baptist Church Fellowship International & Sr. Pastor Mt. Zion Baptist Church. Bishop Walker was chosen to succeed International Presiding Bishop Paul S. Morton, Sr. in 2015. Under Walker’s leadership at Mt. Zion in Nashville, TN, the church’s ministry has expanded beyond its original location on Historic Jefferson Street to seven weekly services in three physical locations and also includes a worldwide virtual church location that ministers to millions around the world, as well as the Word Network that reaches over 88 million viewers world wide.
	Brenda Wynn – Davidson County Clerk. Wynn, a Tennessee State University graduate, was elected Davidson County Clerk in 2012. She is the first African-American female to win election to a constitutional office in the county.