Dr. Robert Bentley serves as the president (ex officio) of the UM Board of Trustees. He is the 53rd governor of Alabama.

Dr. Robert Bentley began serving as Alabama’s governor in January 2011. A native of Columbiana, Bentley is a founding partner of Alabama Dermatology Associates, one of the largest practices of its kind in the Southeast. He entered politics in 2002, when he was elected to the Alabama State House of Representatives from Tuscaloosa County. more

Tommy Bice serves as an ex officio member of the UM Board of Trustees. He has served as interim state superintendent of education and, on Nov. 10, 2011 was named state superintendent of education.

Dr. Bice joined the Alabama Department of Education on June 2, 2008, as the Deputy State Superintendent of Education for Instructional Services. In that capacity, he had responsibility for the areas of Curriculum and Instruction; Assessment and Accountability; Federal Programs; Special Education; Prevention and Support Services; Instructional Leadership and Evaluation; Information Systems; the Alabama Reading Initiative; and the Alabama Math, Science, and Technology Initiative. more

Caroline McDonald Aderholt of Haleyville is the board’s representative for the Fourth Congressional District. She was elected secretary of the Board and is also a member of the Executive Committee. She serves as chair of the Public Relations and Development Committee and is a member of the Personnel Committee. Her term expires in 2017.

Politics became Aderholt’s prominent activity when her husband, Robert, ran for the U.S. Congress in 1996 for the Fourth Congressional District of Alabama. He was elected in November 1996 and began serving in January 1997.

Caroline Aderholt now divides her time between Alabama’s Fourth Congressional District and Washington, D.C., where she is active in the Republican Spouses Club, The Congressional Club and the International Club. more

J. Danny Cooper of Montgomery was appointed in 2008 by Gov. Bob Riley as a trustee for the state at large. His term will continue through 2020. He is a member of the board’s Public Relations and Development Committee, the Trustees Committee, and serves as vice chair of the Audit and Finance Committee.

Cooper earned his bachelor’s degree in 1970 in political science and history and a master of education degree in administration in 1973, both from the University of Montevallo. He is executive vice president of the Alabama Association of Realtors^®, a position he has held since 1990. In 1990, he received the Nathalie Molton Gibbons Alumni Achievement Award and in 2003 was named Montevallo’s Distinguished Alumnus.

In May 2004, Cooper was inducted into the Dr. Almon R. “Bud” Smith Association Executive Leadership Society. more

Brian Hamilton of Birmingham, president and CEO of Saber Engineering, has been appointed by Gov. Bob Riley to serve as a Montevallo Trustee from the Seventh District. He will complete E.B. McClain’s term, which will expire in 2011.

As Saber’s president/CEO, Hamilton is responsible for planning and strategic development in accordance with the firm’s business plan. In addition to his executive responsibilities, he also oversees client services and sales/marketing for the firm; directs all personnel and office administrative functions; and serves as a technical resource on selected projects. more

Jeanetta Corbett Keller, a resident of Birmingham, was appointed by Gov. Don Siegelman in 1999 for a term ending in 2011. Keller serves on the Executive Committee, the Trustees Committee and the Audit and Finance Committee.

She received her bachelor of science degree from the University in 1975. She holds a Ph.D. in higher education administration from the University of Alabama, where she also earned her master’s degree. A recently retired executive vice president and editorial director of Southern Progress Corporation, she has returned to the workforce as chief administrative officer at UAB Health System. more

Elizabeth Ann “Libby” Queen of Alexander City, a 1959 Montevallo graduate, is vice chair of the Trustees’ Personnel Committee and is a member of the Academic and Student Affairs Committee and the Public Relations and Development Committee.           

After 27 years of service to the Alexander City Board of Education, Queen retired in 1993. Prior to her retirement, she was the coordinator of programs for exceptional students in Alexander City schools. Upon retiring, she spent much of her free time volunteering in the UM Alumni Office. more

Wynelle Sanders Sewell of Huntsville was appointed to the Board of Trustees by Gov. Bob Riley in 2008 for a term ending in 2020. She is a member of both the Audit and Finance Committee and the Academic and Student Affairs Committee, and serves as vice chair of the Pubic Relations and Development Committee. She represents the Fifth Congressional District.

A Montevallo alumna, Sewell recently completed 30 years in public education with the Huntsville City Schools.  She served most recently at Mountain Gap Middle School as a school counselor. more

Sen. Rodger Smitherman of Birmingham represents the state at large on the UM Board of Trustees. His term will continue through 2011.

Smitherman is chair of the Trustees’ Academic and Student Affairs Committee and is a member of the Executive Committee and the Audit and Finance Committee. He was recently elected as president pro-tempore of the Alabama Senate.

He received his bachelor of business administration degree from the University of Montevallo in 1976.  Smitherman, an attorney with the Smitherman & Smitherman law firm, is serving his fourth term in the Alabama Senate. more

Todd R. Strange of Montgomery represents the Second Congressional District on the Board of Trustees. Chair of the Executive Committee, he also serves on the Personnel Committee and the Trustees Committee. Recently reappointed to the board, his current term will run through 2020.

Strange, the mayor of Montgomery, represents District 1. He is president and CEO of Blount Strange Holdings LLC and is former director of the Alabama Development Office.

He received his bachelor of science degree from Montevallo in political science in 1966. more

Thomas G. Walker Jr. of Montevallo represents the state at large. He serves as chair of both the Audit and Finance Committee and the Trustees Committee, and as vice chair of the Executive Committee. His term will expire in 2017.

Walker founded The Citizenship Trust at The American Village in Montevallo in 1998 and has since acted as its executive director. Located on 113 acres in Montevallo, The American Village is a unique education center dedicated to teaching citizenship through experiential learning programs in constitutional history and law.

Prior to becoming executive director of The Citizenship Trust at The American Village, Walker was the special assistant to the president and legislative liaison at the University of Montevallo from 1989 to 1998. more

David W. Wheeler of Vestavia was appointed to the UM Board of Trustees by Gov. Bob Riley in 2008 for a term ending in 2020. He is vice chair of the Academic and Student Affairs Committee, Chair of the Personnel Committee and Vice Chair of the Trustees Committee.

Wheeler spent much of his professional life at Alabama Power Co. He began a 29-year career with Alabama Power in 1972, the year he graduated from Montevallo with a bachelor’s degree in accounting. He continued his education at Samford University, earning a master’s degree in business administration there in 1976. Wheeler also is a certified management accountant.

When he retired from Alabama Power in 2001, he was director of accounting, finance and regulatory services. more