FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 11, 2008
Media Contact: Michael Corby 904.632.3310

McGehee elected chair of Florida Community College District Board of Trustees

Asay, Yates to serve as vice chairs for Nassau, Duval counties

The Florida Community College District Board of Trustees unanimously elected members Thomas R. McGehee, Jr., Linda H. Asay and Gwendolyn C. Yates to serve as their officers at the first meeting of 2008-2009, held on August 5.

Elected to chair the Board is Thomas R. “Mac” McGehee, Jr., who most recently served as vice-chair for Duval County. McGehee was appointed to the Board by Governor Bush in 1999 and reappointed by Governor Crist in July 2007. He is executive vice president of Mac Papers, Inc., a family-owned paper distribution company. He received his B.A. degree in business management from the University of Florida. McGehee presently serves as secretary of the St. Vincent’s Hospital Foundation Board. He previously held posts as director of the Printing Association of Florida; chair of the Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce Military Affairs Committee and president of the Navy League of Jacksonville.

Linda H. Asay, J.D., was elected to serve as vice chair for Nassau County. She was appointed to the Board in 1999. Asay retired from Tulane University where she was vice president for external affairs. Her earlier career included service in state and federal government, and with an international corporation. She is a director of INMED—Partnerships for Children, and a board member of the Northeast Florida Healthy Start Coalition. A member of the bar associations of Kansas and New York, she completed undergraduate work at Mills College, Oakland, California and received her Juris Doctor degree in 1965 from Washburn University in Topeka. Asay served as vice chair of the Board for Nassau County for two terms.

Gwendolyn C. “Gwen” Yates was elected to serve as vice chair for Duval County. She was appointed to the Board by Governor Crist in 2007. She has made a lifelong career of public service as a City of Jacksonville employee since 1974. She was founder and director (until 1980) of what is now the Youth Crisis Center. She subsequently served in high-level management positions including division chief and interim director (by appointment) under three Jacksonville mayors. Yates served as president of the Florida Council on Aging Board of Trustees. She was elected to the Jacksonville City Council in 1999 and reelected in 2003. Her term expired June 30, 2007. As City Council member she chaired committees on Public Health and Safety and Education; served as Finance chair for the Tourist and Development Council; and was vice chair of both the Rules and the Recreation Community Development and Education committees. Yates is a graduate of Edward Waters College and completed the University of North Florida Government Fellows Program and Jacksonville University’s Management Development Certificate Program.

The Board’s six other trustees are Kevin F. Delaney, Emily B. Smith, Michael B. Weinstein and N. Wyman Winbush II serving Duval County; and James E. “Jim” McCollum and Suanne Z. Thamm serving Nassau County.