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Five new members joined LaGrange College’s Board of Trustees on July 1, according to a press release from the college. 

The Rev. Dr. Quincy D. Brown is the senior pastor of Snellville United Methodist Church. He has nearly 30 years of ordained ministry experience serving as a youth pastor, associate pastor, college chaplain and vice president, church planter and executive pastor.   

From 2017-2021, he served as the District Superintendent and Missional Specialist for the Central South District, where he oversaw 85 churches in DeKalb, Rockdale, Newton and Henry counties of the North Georgia Conference of the United Methodist Church. Dr. Brown is a Certified Transitional Guide and a Church Transformation Coach, working with churches through the process of revitalization. He is the author of three books, including “Discipleship Path: Guiding Congregations to Connect with Jesus.” 

A native of Gainesville, Georgia, Dr. Brown is a graduate of DeVry Institute of Technology (B.S. in Electronic Engineering Technology), Candler School of Theology at Emory University (Master of Divinity, cum laude), and Gammon Theological Seminary at the Interdenominational Theological Center (Doctor of Ministry, cum laude). 

Jane Cooley ’83, M.Ed.’84 is a retired educator. She taught for 26 years in Cobb County, two years in Paulding County and two years in Troup County.   

Cooley earned a B.A. and an M.Ed. in Early Childhood Education from LaGrange College. She also has an Ed.S. in administration and supervision from the University of West Georgia in Carrollton.   

Cooley has served as a trustee at Marietta First United Methodist Church, a board member of Marietta High School’s Mentoring for Leadership Program, and an interim youth minister at Marietta First United Methodist Church. She has served on the Leadership and Alumni councils and is a member of the Quadrangle Society at LaGrange College.

In her spare time, Cooley enjoys traveling, spending time with her three grandchildren, and collecting beloved tchotchkes (knickknacks) of thimbles, magnets or Christian crosses while traveling.   

Michael Fay ’86 is chairman of the U.S. Capital Markets Group Executive Committee at Avison Young, a global commercial real estate firm. He is also principal and managing director of its Miami office.

Over his career, Fay has been recognized as a top producer and power leader in real estate by his firm and several national publications. He serves on the prestigious Florida Council of 100 as well as many other board appointments. His family foundation, Fay Family Investments, focuses on real estate and philanthropy.

As a student, Fay played on the Panther basketball team. He is a member of the Quadrangle Society and received the Shackleford Alumni Achievement Award in 2021.

Dr. George Lankford ’11 of Huntsville, Alabama, is the founder of NeoMax, an information technology firm. Previously, he worked in Virginia as a systems engineer for Infinimetrics and a data scientist for Leidos.   

He graduated from LaGrange College with a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics with a minor in Accounting. Dr. Lankford also holds a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in applied mathematics from North Carolina State University in Raleigh. 

While earning his Ph.D., he worked as a team member and project manager at the Institute for Mathematics and its Applications Math to-Industry Bootcamp in Minneapolis; an intern with SPAWAR Systems Center Atlantic in North Charleston, South Carolina; a precalculus algebra instructor at North Carolina State University; and a cryptographic design intern with the National Security Agency in Fort Meade, Maryland. 

Dr. Lankford earned a National Physical Science Consortium fellowship from the NSA and a research scholarship and diversity enhancement grant from North Carolina State. 

He received LaGrange College’s Outstanding Young Alumni Award in 2017. 

Lisa Tunstall ’84 is a strategic senior human resources business partner at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee.   

She earned a bachelor’s degree in history from LaGrange College and began her career in human resources, joining the medical center in 2017. Tunstall partners with senior leaders to provide people-related solutions to accomplish business objectives.   

At LaGrange, Tunstall was a member of the Phi Mu Fraternity and the Alumni Executive Committee and is a member of the Quadrangle Society. 

Outside of work, Tunstall serves as a board member of the Susan G. Komen Central Tennessee affiliate. She is also a member of the Middle Tennessee Society for Human Resources Management and the Society for Human Resources Management.

Ascending to the role of chair of LaGrange College’s Board of Trustees is Kathy Reese McCollum ’81, M’16, who has served on the board since 2007. In July, she became the board’s first female chair succeeding Robert “Bobby” Carmichael Jr. Since May 2020, she has been the president and chief executive officer of the Middle Georgia Community Food Bank. Previously, she worked in leadership positions at AT&T and Bellsouth.

The board also welcomed returning members Dr. James F. Bruce Jr., Edward Smith, Nancy Kight Stevens ’71, M.Ed.’74, and James “Jim” Wood III.

Dr. Bruce is a retired orthopedist who began his LaGrange practice in 1982. He played an integral role in LaGrange College Athletics for over 30 years, tending to injured student-athletes on the field, on the court or in his office at the Southern Center for Orthopedics. He was named an Honorary Alumnus in 2013.

Smith is the CEO of Oakbridge Insurance, formed in 2020 from the merger of Hutchinson Traylor Insurance and three other firms. He serves as a board member for the Downtown LaGrange Development Authority. He was president of the LC Leadership Council in 2008-09 and a chairman of the college’s business and accountancy advisory council.

Stevens is a longtime educator who retired as principal of West Side Magnet School in LaGrange. She earned two degrees from LaGrange College and two advanced degrees in education. She was named to the college’s Wall of Outstanding Alumni in 1998 and received the Distinguished Service Alumni Award in 2012.

Wood is a retired vice president of AT&T’s technical field services Southeast. He earned a bachelor’s in mathematics from LaGrange College and a master’s in business administration from the University of Virginia. He received LaGrange College’s Shackelford Alumni Achievement Award in 2009 and Distinguished Service Alumni Award in 2019.