Trustees

Kay Ivey
ex officio President
Governor, State of Alabama
Sworn in 2017

Gov. Kay Ivey is the 54th governor of the state of Alabama. After graduating from Auburn University in 1967, Ivey worked as a high school teacher and as a bank officer at the Merchants National Bank of Mobile. She served as reading clerk of the Alabama House of Representatives under Speaker Joseph C. McCorquodale and as assistant director of the Alabama Development Office, where she worked to spur job creation and economic development across the state.

Ivey was elected state treasurer in 2002 and was re-elected in 2006. As treasurer, Ivey was committed to making the office more transparent and efficient.

She was elected lieutenant governor in 2010, becoming the first Republican woman to hold the office in Alabama’s history.

Ivey is a member of the First Baptist Church of Montgomery, the Montgomery Rotary Club, and the Board of Directors of the Montgomery YMCA. She is also the first Girls State alumnus to be elected to an Alabama Constitutional Office.

Arlene Mitchell
Chair pro tempore
33rd District
Mobile County
Philanthropist and Civic Volunteer
Appointed 2007

Arlene Mitchell is a civic leader and Mobile philanthropist whose family has generously supported the University of South Alabama.

Mitchell, who attended the University of Pennsylvania, has served on various boards, including the Mobile Preschool for the Sensory Impaired, Senior Citizens Services of Mobile, the Boys & Girls Clubs of South Alabama, the Alabama Institute for the Deaf and Blind, the Dauphin Street Synagogue Sisterhood and the Gulf Coast Exploreum Science Center. Mitchell is a past president of the Board of Directors of the Community Foundation of South Alabama.

Mitchell is a previous recipient of the Mobilian of the Year Award. In 1997, the Arlene F. Mitchell Philanthropy Award was established in her honor.

Mitchell was married to the late Mayer Mitchell, brother of Abraham A. “Abe” Mitchell. For their extraordinary contributions, USA’s Mitchell Center, Mitchell Cancer Institute and Mitchell College of Business were named to honor the Mitchell family.

Mitchell was appointed to complete her husband’s term on the USA Board of Trustees following his death in 2007. She has four children.

Katherine Alexis Atkins
Vice Chair
Mobile County
Human Resources
Appointed 2016

Alexis Atkins, principal in co-ownership of Budweiser Busch Distributing, Inc., of Mobile who also served as vice president of human resources for the company for many years, is a 1997 graduate of the University of South Alabama with a major in human resources.

Atkins is a member of the Jaguar Athletic Fund board, the USA Mitchell College of Business board of advisors, and Feeding the Gulf Coast (formerly the Bay Area Food Bank), of which she is the past chairman. Atkins is also past president of the University of South Alabama National Alumni Association and Executive Women International.

At Budweiser Busch Distributing, Atkins provided comprehensive management of human resources for the beverage distributor, ensuring compliance and enforcement of all state and federal mandates regarding employment, and was responsible for policy development and administration, risk management, and administration of employee records and benefits.

Atkins and her husband, Michael, have five children.

Lenus M. Perkins, born in Liberia, West Africa, matriculated at the University of South Alabama following acceptance as an international student and graduated from the College of Engineering in 1991 with a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering. He began his career as a staff engineer at Thompson Engineering in Mobile before joining Bhate Environmental Associates in 1992.

As director of programs for Bhate, Perkins is the direct report for all federal and commercial program managers, responsible for domestic and overseas environmental remediation, demolition, fuels, compliance, and construction contracts with capacity totaling more than $5 billion. His 26 years of environmental consulting include more than 20 years of project and program management experience in environmental, remediation, fuel storage tank system closures, removal, installation, repairs and upgrades, remedial investigations, remedial/corrective plan development, system installation/construction, site restoration and cleanup, compliance, pollution prevention, and other investigations and remedial activities under various federal and state regulatory programs.

Perkins has received the Patriot Award from the Office of the Secretary of Defense Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve for his contribution to national security and protecting liberty and freedom by supporting employee participation in America's National Guard and Reserve Force. He is on the executive committee of the Bong Education Center Alumni Association, which serves to meet the needs of students in Liberia, West Africa; a board member of the Birmingham Zoning Board of Adjustment; a member of the Highlands School Foundation board of trustees; and a member of the board of directors of Navigate Affordable Housing Partners in Birmingham.

Perkins and his wife, Michelle, reside in Birmingham and have two children.

Chandra Brown Stewart
Mobile County
Business Administration
Appointed 2014

Chandra Brown Stewart, executive director of Lifelines Counseling Services, holds a master’s degree in community counseling from the University of South Alabama. She earned a bachelor’s degree in Psychology/Pre-Med from Xavier University in New Orleans.

Brown Stewart is a member of the Leadership Mobile Class of 2001; a past board member of Victory Health Partners, the Mobile Civic Center Advisory Board, Prevent Child Abuse Alabama Board, Mobile United and the Friends of the African-American Heritage Trail; and a general member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.

In 2010, Mobile Bay Monthly named Brown Stewart one of their “40 Under 40 - Mobile’s Best and Brightest.” She received the Women of Achievement Rising Star Award from the YWCA and the Community Awareness Award from the Mobile Press Club. In 2002, she was a torch bearer for the Winter Olympics. She joined the Junior League of Mobile in 2001 and is a past president of the organization.

Brown Stewart is married to Leonard Stewart, Jr. They are members of St. Mary Parish, where she served on the parish council in 2011 and was lector from 2007-2011.

Dr. Scott A. Charlton
23rd, 25th and 30th  Districts
Coffee, Crenshaw, Dale, Dallas, Geneva and Lowndes counties
Physician
Appointed 2007

Dr. Scott A. Charlton, a physician practicing in Enterprise, Alabama, is a 1994 graduate of the University of South Alabama College of Medicine. He served as class president and earned top honors.

Following medical school, Charlton completed his residency at the University of Connecticut Health Center in Hartford. He graduated with honors from the University of Alabama with a bachelor’s degree in biology.

Charlton, an ear, nose and throat specialist, practices at Wiregrass ENT and serves on the staff at Medical Center Enterprise and Dale Medical Center. He is certified by the American Board of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery and by the American Academy of Otolaryngology Allergy. He is a fellow of the American College of Surgeons.

Charlton and his wife, Ashley, have four children.

E. Thomas Corcoran
21st District
Baldwin and Escambia counties
Business Administration
Appointed 2010

E. Thomas "Tom" Corcoran is a 1970 graduate of the University of South Alabama with a bachelor's degree in marketing. He was CEO of Fort Dodge Animal Health, a leading manufacturer of vaccines and pharmaceuticals for animals.

Corcoran led the company from a $28 million U.S.-based business to a billion-dollar global company. Under Corcoran's leadership, Fort Dodge Animal Health pioneered a number of industry advancements, including a Lyme disease vaccine and a West Nile vaccine.

Corcoran is past chairman of the Animal Health Institute, a trade association that represents the animal health industry. Prior to his retirement, he received a Lifetime Achievement Award from Animal Pharm, a leading publication for the animal health industry. He also received the Banfield Industry Leadership Award, a Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Veterinary Distributors Association, and the Industry Leadership Award from the Kansas City Economic Development Authority.

Corcoran previously served on the board of Animal Health International. He currently serves on the board of directors of Phibro, where he is chairman of the audit committee. He also serves on the board of Putney, a Maine-based company engaged in the development of generic pharmaceuticals for companion animals. Corcoran holds the position of lead director at Putney.

Corcoran is married to Barbara Blumer Corcoran, M.D. They have three children.

Dr. Steven P. Furr, who was first appointed to the Board in 2006 and has served as chair pro tempore, is a graduate of the University of South Alabama, earning a bachelor’s degree in biology in 1976 and a medical degree in 1981. He is a family medicine physician based in Jackson, Ala.  

Furr served as founding chair of the USA Children's & Women's Hospital Development Council and on the USA 50th Anniversary Annual Fund Alumni Leadership Council. He was honored by the USA National Alumni Association in 2014 with a Distinguished Alumni Award.  That same year, he spearheaded the creation of the USA Board of Trustees Endowed Scholarship Fund, which provides a scholarship to each incoming freshman class’s top academic performer.  In June 2023, he was named one of the 50 People of Influence at the 50th Anniversary of the USA Whiddon College of Medicine.

A member of the Alabama Healthcare Hall of Fame, Furr has served on numerous hospital committees and as president of the Clarke County Medical Society.  Additionally, he has served on the board of directors of the Alabama State Committee of Public Health and the Alabama State Board of Medical Examiners. He is a past president of the Alabama Medical Directors Association as well as a Certified Medical Director. A past chairman of the board and president of the Alabama Academy of Family Physicians, he was the first USA College of Medicine graduate to serve as president of the Medical Association of the State of Alabama. Furr currently serves as president of the American Academy of Family Physicians.

Furr is married to Lisa Furr.

Luis Gonzalez grew up in Tampa, Florida, and enrolled at the University of South Alabama in 1985. He quickly established himself as one of the nation's top college baseball players and earned Baseball America's All-Freshman Second Team honors. He was drafted by the Houston Astros in the fourth round of the 1988 amateur draft.

Gonzalez serves as a senior advisor for the Arizona Diamondbacks. He joined the organization in 2009 after retiring as a player following his 19-year career in Major League Baseball.

Gonzalez was a five-time Major League All-Star and won a World Series title in 2001. He was voted by fans as their favorite Diamondbacks player of all-time in a poll of Phoenix Business Journal readers. 

Gonzalez was inducted into the University of South Alabama Hall of Fame in 1999, the Hispanic Heritage Baseball Museum Hall of Fame in 2011 and the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame in 2019. He will be a member of the inaugural class of the Arizona Diamondbacks Hall of Fame in 2024.

Gonzalez resides in Scottsdale, Arizona, and continues to make an impact in the Phoenix community with the Arizona Diamondbacks Foundation, as well as through many other charitable organizations. He serves as a member of the board of the Baseball Assistance Team dedicated to helping former professional players through financial and medical hardships. He also serves on the Board of Directors for the Arizona State Fair.

Gonzalez and his wife, Christine, have three children.

William Ronald Graham
16th and 17th Districts 
Butler, Conecuh, Covington, Monroe and Wilcox counties
Business Administration
Appointed 2017

William Ronald "Ron" Graham is a 1990 graduate of the University of South Alabama College of Engineering, with a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering, and has worked for PowerSouth Energy Cooperative for more than three decades.

Graham is the Vice President of Power Supply at PowerSouth Energy Cooperative. In this role, he leads PowerSouth's Bulk Power Services, Energy Services, Fuels, Technical Services, Computer Information Systems, Transmission Planning, and Regulatory & Compliance departments. In addition to serving on the Board of Trustees for the University of South Alabama, Graham currently serves on the Warrior-Tombigbee Waterway Association Board and Southeastern Federal Power Customers Board, and is actively involved in the Rotary Club of Andalusia.

Graham and his wife, Carolyn, also a USA alumnus, have two sons.

Robert D. “Ron” Jenkins III is a private aerospace consultant in Arizona. He is a 1974 graduate from the University of South Alabama and was awarded a master’s degree in National Security Affairs/Naval Technical Intelligence from the Naval Postgraduate School Monterey, Calif. He is a distinguished graduate of both the U.S. Naval War College and the Armed Forces Staff College. Jenkins is a proven specialist in strategic planning, technical intelligence, electronic warfare, air defense and strike warfare planning.

A retired executive of the Raytheon Company, Jenkins joined Raytheon in 2003 and served as the first Director of the CVN 21 (21st Century Aircraft Carrier-USS Gerald R. Ford) program for Raytheon Integrated Systems Defense Systems. Moving to Raytheon Missile Systems in 2006, he was the business development executive for the Naval Weapon System/Naval and Area Mission Defense product line. Most recently he was the Director of the Precision Stand Off Strike Mission area in Raytheon Missile Systems, Tucson, Ariz.

Jenkins was a career U.S. Navy surface warfare officer, rising to the rank of captain. He commanded the Guided Missile Frigate USS McInerney (FFG-8) during Operations Desert Storm/Desert Shield and the Aegis Guided Missile Cruiser USS Philippine Sea (CG-58) where he led combat strike operations during Operation Allied Force and NATO Operation Sharp Guard, earning a Bronze Star medal. He also served as the deputy assistant secretary of the Navy (Theater Combat Systems) and received the U.S. Navy’s top two awards for leadership: the VADM James B. Stockdale and U.S. Navy League John Paul Jones Inspirational Leadership awards.

In 2007, Jenkins received the USA National Alumni Association's Distinguished Alumni Award. He is a life member of USA National Alumni Association, where he served as board director. He is also a member of the National Surface Navy Association Executive Committee, a trustee emeritus on the U.S. Naval War College Foundation, and a life member of the Naval Postgraduate School Foundation and the National Naval Officers Association.

Jenkins and his wife, Ashlie, have two children.

The Honorable Bill Lewis presides as a circuit court judge for the 19th Judicial Circuit, serving Autauga, Elmore and Chilton counties.

Prior to becoming circuit judge in October of 2016, Lewis was the senior partner of the Lewis Law Firm, a firm he started in 2006. Lewis served as Assistant District Attorney for the 19th Judicial Circuit before going into private practice.

Lewis serves on the Board of Directors of the Alabama Circuit Judges Association and has served as president of the Elmore County Bar Association, a member of the Federal Criminal Justice Act Panel and on the boards of directors for the River Region United Way, the Elmore County Community Foundation and the Wetumpka Chamber of Commerce. He is a graduate of Leadership Elmore County.

Lewis received his undergraduate degrees in political science and economics from The University of the South and his law degree from the Cumberland School of Law. He and his wife, Jenna, live in Wetumpka, Alabama, and have one son.

James H. " Jimmy" Shumock earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting from the University of South Alabama in 1980. He is a Certified Public Accountant.  

Prior to stepping down from a leadership role at Thompson Holdings Inc., a Mobile firm that includes Thompson Engineering, Watermark Design Group and Thompson Consulting Services, Shumock was the board chairman and chief executive officer.  Shumock is currently running his own business consulting practice and serves on corporate boards. 

Shumock’s career began in public accounting and he joined Thompson in 1983. His tenure there spanned more than three decades, during which he filled various roles and was instrumental in developing the company’s transportation services business throughout the Southeast. Shumock’s  leadership in transportation included his service on the Alabama Commission on Infrastructure and his participation in a study of the financing of innovative mega projects in several European countries for the Federal Highway Administration.    

Shumock served six years on the USA National Alumni Association Board, received a Distinguished Alumni Award from the USA National Alumni Association and is the president of the Jaguar Athletic Fund, a Mitchell College of Business fellow and serves on the USA Foundation Board.    

Shumock has served the Mobile community with his participation on the Mobile Area Sports Commission, Coastal Conservation Association, Mobile Preschool for the Sensory Impaired, Mobile Baykeepers, Mobile Area Chamber of Commerce, Mobile Jaycees, the Greater Gulf States Fair, and he is a past president of the Alabama Deep Sea Fishing Rodeo. Shumock is also a graduate of Leadership Mobile.  

Shumock and his wife, Debbie, live in Daphne. They have one daughter.

Dr. Steven H. Stokes, a radiation oncologist, earned his medical degree at the University of South Alabama in 1980. He returned to his hometown of Dothan to establish his medical practice, was the medical director of the Southeast Cancer Care Network and currently practices at North Florida Cancer Care. He was appointed to the Board in 1993 and reappointed in 2005. He has served the Board as vice chair and as chair pro tempore.

Stokes received a bachelor’s degree from Auburn University, working his way through college on an ROTC scholarship, before leading a platoon in Vietnam in the early 1970s. His military service took him to Arlington National Cemetery, where he coordinated funerals and accommodations for grieving families.

In honor of his contributions to USA, the Board has named Stokes chair pro tempore emeritus, and Stokes Hall was named in honor of Stokes and his wife, Angelia, making them the first alumni to receive such an honor.  He has been presented USA’s highest alumni honor, the USA National Alumni Association Distinguished Alumni Award.  Their contributions to the University also include establishment of the Angelia and Steven H. Stokes Center for Creative Writing.

His public service includes elected office as chairman of the Dothan Board of Education and two terms on the Dothan City Commission. Central to his life of service is a medical mission trip he leads each year to Panama.  Stokes has received many civic honors, including being named Dothan’s Man of the Year by the Hawk-Houston Boys Club. He and his wife, Angelia, have three children.

Michael P. Windom
State at Large
Attorney
Appointed 2014

Michael P. Windom is a Mobile County Circuit Court judge and a 1983 magna cum laude graduate of the University of South Alabama. He is a 1986 graduate of the University of Alabama School of Law. Prior to earning a bachelor’s degree in finance at USA, Windom served in the United States Army, Infantry, from 1975-1979.

Windom’s legal career began as associate attorney for insurance defense firm Brown, Hudgens, Richardson, PC, of Mobile. He later became a partner in the firm of Windom and Tobias, LLC, focusing on civil litigation practice. In 2011, he started Windom Law, LLC, a civil trial practice firm.

Windom has been Special District Judge for Mobile County since 1996 and is a member of the Alabama State Bar, and the Florida Bar. He previously served as treasurer of the Mobile Bar Association.

Windom served on the USA National Alumni Association board of directors from 1999-2006, and was association president in 2004-2005. He has been a board member of the Alabama School of Mathematics and Science Foundation since 2004, and was board chairman from 2009-2012.

Windom was also on the board of directors of L’Arche Mobile from 2005-2011. Windom is married to Marion Steinfels. He has three children.

James A. Yance
State at Large
Retired Attorney
Appointed 2006

James A. "Jim" Yance, a lifelong resident of Mobile and Baldwin counties, graduated from the University of South Alabama in 1970 and then attended the University of Alabama School of Law, receiving his Juris Doctorate degree in 1973. He entered private practice with the firm of Cunningham, Bounds and Byrd, which later became Cunningham, Bounds, Yance, Crowder and Brown, and remained with the firm for 30 years. He later assumed “of counsel” status.

In 1975 he was appointed to the Executive Committee of the Alabama Trial Lawyers Association and became the youngest president in the history of the organization in 1982 at the age of 35. In 1983 he was elected to the Board of Governors of the Association of Trial Lawyers of America. He was inducted into the International Academy of Trial Lawyers in 1985 at the age of 39. He was selected as an advocate by the American Board of Trial Advocates in 1992, is a fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and was certified by the National Board of Trial Advocacy as a Civil Trial Specialist. He served as president of the Mobile Bar Association in 2004. He has been listed in the national publication “The Best Lawyers in America” for many years and Chambers’ “Best Lawyers for Business.” He is included in the “Alabama Super Lawyers” list.

Yance has served his community and state in many civic and charitable activities including as chair pro tempore of the USA Board of Trustees and as a board member or chairman of the State of Alabama Forever Wild Land Trust, the University of Alabama Law School Foundation, the University of Alabama Law School Farrah Law Society, the Board of Alabama Trial Lawyers for Children, the Corporate Foundation for Children, the Boys and Girls Clubs of Southwest Alabama, the Moorer YMCA, the Southwest Alabama YMCA, and the Alabama Wildlife Federation. Yance has coached youth sports in both Mobile and Baldwin counties.

Yance lives near Malbis with his wife, Frances. He has four children.