Robert E. Hill, Jr., chair of the Furman University Board of Trustees, announced today that six new trustees and one trustee emeritus have been elected to the board.<\/p>\n
The new trustees are Yendelela Neely Anderson of Atlanta, Ga., Carl Kohrt of Salem, James A. Lanier, Jr., of Marietta, Ga., Jason W. Richards of Greenville, Todd Ruppert of Owings Mill, Md., and Daniel S. Sanders, Jr., of Greenville.\u00a0 Merl F. Code of Greenville will join the board as trustee emeritus.<\/p>\n
The new trustees will begin their terms July 1.\u00a0 It will be the first time that Anderson, Lanier, Richards and Sanders, Jr., have served on the Furman board.<\/p>\n
The bios for each of the trustees are below.\u00a0 For more information, contact Furman\u2019s News and Media Relations office at 864-294-3107.<\/p>\n
Yendelela Neely Anderson<\/strong> is Executive Director-Senior Legal Counsel with AT&T Services, Inc., where she manages the defense of employment class and collective actions as well as systemic EEOC litigation.\u00a0 Prior to that, she was a partner in the law firm of Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP.\u00a0 She has been recognized as a Georgia \u201cRising Star\u201d in the area of Labor & Employment, a legal 40 under 40 rising star by the Daily Report and was named one of Atlanta\u2019s \u201c40 Under 40\u201d by the Atlanta Business Chronicle.\u00a0 In 2015, she also received the Anti-Defamation League Young Lawyer Award.\u00a0 She serves on the boards of Jumpstart Atlanta, the Atlanta Workforce Development Agency, Atlanta Legal Aid Society, and Families First. She graduated from Furman in 2003 and earned her law degree at Duke University School of Law.<\/p>\n Merl F. Code<\/strong> is an attorney with the firm of Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart, P.C. He has been an active board member of over 30 organizations in the Upstate, including the Palmetto Institute, Phillis Wheatley Association, Greenville Urban League, Greenville Chamber of Commerce and United Way of Greenville.\u00a0 He was awarded the Order of the Palmetto by the Governor of South Carolina in 1996, the same year he was named Business Person of the Year by the SC Business Network and honored by Vision Magazine as one of the Top 25 Business Influencers.\u00a0 He was inducted into the South Carolina Black Hall of Fame in 1999. He is a graduate of North Carolina A&T and earned his law degree from the University of South Carolina School of Law.<\/p>\n Carl Kohrt<\/strong> is a 1965 graduate of Furman.\u00a0 In addition to serving multiple terms on the school\u2019s Board of Trustees and receiving an honorary degree from the university, he was interim President of Furman during the 2013-14 academic year.\u00a0 He spent 29 years with Eastman Kodak, retiring from the company as the executive vice president and chief technical officer.\u00a0 He later served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Battelle Memorial Institute, one of the world\u2019s largest, non-profit research and development corporations. He has a Master of Management Science degree from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a Ph.D. in physical chemistry from the University of Chicago. Kohrt and his wife, Lynne, are also recipients of Furman\u2019s Bell Tower Award.<\/p>\n James A. \u201cJaime\u201d Lanier, Jr.<\/strong>, retired in May 2016 after working 35 years for Interface, the world\u2019s largest modular carpet manufacturer and a global leader in sustainability. He most recently served as Vice President for Customer Development, but also held the positions of Vice President of Sales for the areas of Higher Education, Transportation and Multifamily. In addition to being a member of the United States Green Building Council, he is a trustee on the Ray C. Anderson Foundation, which promotes sustainability in businesses, institutes of higher learning and other organizations. He is Project Chair for St. Joseph Catholic Church\u2019s Building Committee, Development Chair and Board Member for the Catholic Foundation of North Georgia, and serves on the Marist Way Board at Marist School. Both he and his wife, Mary Anne, are 1979 graduates of Furman.<\/p>\n Jason W. Richards<\/strong>, a 2001 Furman graduate, is Chief Operating Officer of NAI Earle Furman, one of South Carolina\u2019s largest commercial real estate firms.\u00a0 He has been with the company since 2007 when he joined the firm as the Vice President of Operations. He is currently board president of the Greenville Police Foundation and a board member of the South Carolina Independent Colleges and Universities.\u00a0 He previously served on the boards of Pendleton Place Children\u2019s Shelter and Greenville Symphony Orchestra. He was named an \u201cEmerging Leader\u201d by The Greenville News and chosen for Greenville Magazine\u2019s \u201cBest and Brightest Under 35.\u201d His wife, Marie Spalding Richards, is also a 2001 Furman graduate.<\/p>\n Todd Ruppert<\/strong> is founder and Chief Executive Officer of Ruppert International, Inc., a firm with global interests in financial services, education, publishing, arts and entertainment, and youth development.\u00a0 He retired from T. Rowe Price in 2012 after a successful 27-year career that included positions as CEO and president of the firm\u2019s Global Investment Services and co-president of T. Rowe Price International. He is a venture partner at Greenspring Associates, a U.S.-based venture capital firm with $4 billion under management.\u00a0 He serves on various boards globally, including INSEAD business school, London\u2019s Royal Parks Foundation (USA), the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, Strategic African Investment Advisors, and Kenyon College, where he is a graduate.<\/p>\n Daniel S. Sanders, Jr.<\/strong>, is Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary at Michelin North America. He has also served the company as Vice President Internal Audit and Risk Management, and spent two years in France working with Group General Counsel. Before joining Michelin in 1996, he practiced law in Atlanta with the firms King & Spalding and Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough.\u00a0 He is a board member with the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce and chair of the board of YMCA of Greenville.\u00a0 He is also a trustee with Christ Church Episcopal School. He is a 1986 Furman graduate and earned his law degree at the University of South Carolina School of Law.\u00a0 His wife, Suzanne Von Harten Sanders, is a 1988 graduate of Furman.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Robert E. Hill, Jr., chair of the Furman University Board of Trustees, announced today that six new trustees and one trustee emeritus have been elected to the board. 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