Robert Renfroe “Bob” Riley serves as the president (ex officio) of the UM Board of Trustees. He is the 52nd governor of Alabama.

Riley was first elected as governor in 2002 and was re-elected during the 2006 mid-term election.

In 1996, Riley was elected a U.S. representative for Alabama’s Third Congressional District. He worked to pass the first balanced budget in a generation, the first tax cuts in 20 years, and a stronger national defense from his seat on the House Armed Services Committee. He also fulfilled a promise to serve only three terms.

He was born in the small Clay County town of Ashland, where his family has lived on ranches and farms for six generations. He has a degree in business administration from the University of Alabama. more

Dr. Joseph B. Morton serves as an ex officio member of the UM Board of Trustees. He is state superintendent of education.

Morton was selected by the Alabama State Board of Education to be the state superintendent of education July 13, 2004. Prior to his appointment as state superintendent of education, Dr. Morton served for eight years as deputy state superintendent of education.

Previously Dr. Morton was superintendent of education of Sylacauga City Schools and of Sumter County Schools. 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 Executive 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 and the Personnel 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

Jeanetta Corbett Keller, a resident of Birmingham, is the UM Board of Trustees’ vice chairman. Appointed by Gov. Don Siegelman in 1999 for a term ending in 2011, Keller is a member of the Executive Committee, chair of the Trustees Committee and vice chair of 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. She is recently retired executive vice president and editorial director of Southern Progress Corporation, a leading lifestyle magazine and book publishing company. 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 the Academic and Student Affairs Committee and Personnel 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 vice 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. A member of the Executive Committee, he is chair of the Personnel Committee and vice chair of the Trustees Committee. Recently reappointed to the board, his current term will run through 2020.

Chairman of the Montgomery County Commission since November 2004, Strange 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

George M. Walker of Mobile is chairman of the UM Board of Trustees. He was appointed by Gov. Guy Hunt in 1993 and reappointed by Gov. Bob Riley in 2005 for a term ending in 2017.  He is a member of the Executive Committee and the Trustees Committee.

Walker received his B.A. degree from the University of Montevallo in 1974, with a double major in history and political science. He earned his J.D. degree from the University of Alabama School of Law in 1977. In 1979, he joined the Hand Arendall law firm, with whom he still practices today. Walker is a civil trial lawyer who specializes in the defense of products liability, professional liability and banking practices lawsuits. more

Thomas G. Walker Jr. of Montevallo represents the state at large. He serves as chair of the Audit and Finance Committee and is a member of the Academic and Student Affairs Committee and the Trustees 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 a member of the Audit and Finance Committee and 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

Laura Morgan, a resident of Athens, serves as UM’s student trustee. Morgan is a member of the Board’s Public Relations and Development Committee and the Academic and Student Affairs Committee.

She is a senior history and political science major at UM with a minor in pre-law. She expects to graduate with University Honors in May 2009. She is active in the Student Government Association, having served as vice president in 2007–2008. She was sophomore senator in 2006–2007, a Freshman Forum member in 2005–2006 and a freshman senator in 2005–2006. She was Senator of the Year in 2005–2006.

Morgan served as an intern for Rep. Robert E. “Bud” Cramer (D-Ala.) during the summer of 2007 and as an intern for Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) during July 2008. more