Ray Minor is chairman of the Mathews Center. He served as a member of the Board of Directors of the National Issues Forums Institute. Minor was appointed vice president of advancement for United Methodist Homes of New Jersey, which provides quality and caring services to senior men and women in 10 Christian communities across the state of New Jersey.

Minor served as president of the Alabama Center for Civic Life, vice president for institutional advancement at Wiley College, executive director of national and community service for the State of Alabama, Alabama area development director of The College Fund/UNCF and as development director at Miles College.

Dr. Robert McKenzie is president of the Mathews Center and a senior associate of the Kettering Foundation. McKenzie is also professor emeritus of New College.

McKenzie served thirty years in the U.S. Army Intelligence Corps as a reserve officer and is a retired colonel. He served as a resident faculty and as faculty, advisor and supervisor of prior learning in the External Degree Program in New College (1980-1997). He was executive assistant to the secretary of the United States Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (1975-1977). He was the director of research for the Center for Public Law and Service (1977-1982) and was an administrative assistant to the president of the University of Alabama (1969-1975).

Dr. Cathy Randall is chair of the Board of Pettus Randall Holdings, LLC. She also serves as chair of the Alabama Academy of Honor.

Randall served as chair of the Board of Randall Publishing Company and the director of the University Honors Programs at the University of Alabama. She also served as the national president of Mortar Board, Inc., president of the Board of Directors of the Alabama Women’s Hall of Fame and director of Alabama’s Girls State. Randall has been a member of the Board of Directors of Mercedes Benz USI, the American Village, the Alabama Law Foundation, the Alabama Archives and History Foundation and the Tuscaloosa City Schools Education Foundation.

Stan Murphy is vice-president of the Mathews Center. He is a partner at the law firm of Murphy & Murphy, LLC. Murphy also serves as an adjunct professor at the University of Alabama Law School, as well as a researcher for both the University of Alabama’s Office of Academic Affairs and the Kettering Foundation.

Murphy was senior counsel in the Office of Counsel for the University of Alabama System, senior counsel for International and Strategic Initiatives at the University of Alabama and was the academic coordinator for the University of Alabama Cooper Cuba Initiative. He was also a special assistant to the secretary of the United States Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (1975-1977).

Sandy Gunter is treasurer of the Mathews Center. He is a partner in the law firm of Shields & Gunter, Attorneys.

Previously, Gunter was a partner in the law firm of Stephens, Shields & Gunter, Attorneys. From 1981 to 1987, he was a partner in the law firm of Stephens & Gunter, Attorneys. Gunter served as assistant to the president of the University of Alabama (1977-1980) and was an administrative assistant to the secretary of the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (1975-1977). He is the former president of the Family Counseling Service Board of Directors and the Alabama Boychoir, Inc.

Dr. Joffre T. Whisenton is currently serving as president of Joffre T. Whisenton and Associates, Inc.

Whisenton was president of the Southern University System and associate executive director with the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. Whisenton also held a joint appointment as professor and chairman of the Division of Education and Psychology at Stillman College and as a program associate in the Office for Student Development at the University of Alabama. He served as special assistant for educational policy to the secretary of the United States Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (1975-1977).

Dr. David Wilson serves as the chancellor of both the University of Wisconsin Colleges and the University of Wisconsin-Extension. He is on the Board of Directors of MDC, Inc. and the University Continuing Education Association, and is a co-founder of the Alabama Black Belt Community Foundation.

Wilson was vice-president for University Outreach at Auburn University. In addition, Wilson has been the associate provost at Rutgers University and was a program officer and director of the Office of Minority Programs at the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation. He has won numerous fellowships, such as the Woodrow Wilson Fellowship and the Kellogg Fellowship.

Dr. William Muse is president of the National Issues Forums Institute in Dayton, Ohio. He formerly served as a Lombard Fellow with the Kettering Foundation.

Muse has had a career in higher education spanning almost forty years. During his career, he has served as chief executive officer of three major universities: the University of Akron, Auburn University and East Carolina University. From 1970 to 1983, Muse served as the dean of the business school at three different universities, including Appalachian State University, the University of Nebraska at Omaha and Texas A&M University. He was vice-chancellor for Academic Programs for the Texas A&M University System.

Dr. Joe A. Sumners is Director of the Economic & Community Development Institute, a partnership of Auburn University and the Alabama Cooperative Extension System. He also is a founding member of the Board of Directors of the Alabama Communities of Excellence (ACE) Program.

Dr. Sumners has conducted over 200 workshops and courses for Alabama state and local elected officials, economic developers, and community leaders. He is an experienced consultant with over 20 years experience working to improve the civic and economic health in Alabama communities. He was technical advisor to Governor Bob Riley’s Black Belt Action Commission and Alabama Rural Action Commission.

Mark is originally from Saraland, Ala. and has degrees from the University of Mobile, Mercer University, and Auburn University. He coordinates community and civic engagement activities for the College of Liberal Arts at Auburn University and lives in Auburn with his wife and two young children.

Ellen Corbett is the events coordinator for the Mathews Center at the American Village. She spent 30 years serving in administration at the University of Montevallo, which included coordinating the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Office. Additionally, Corbett helped establish the Leadership Shelby County program, which serves community leaders throughout the county. She was the coordinator of the Shelby Leadership program for 12 years.

Chris is Executive Director of the David Mathews Center for Civic Life. He graduated from Auburn University with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science in 2006 and a Master’s Degree in Public Administration in May 2009, and he has been working with the Center since September 2009. He is originally from Montgomery, and his office is housed at the American Village.

Ashley Kontos manages the Jean O’Connor-Snyder Community-Based Research Internship and is employed as Director of Community-Based Research for New College at University of Alabama.  Ashley graduated from the University of Central Florida with a Bachelor’s of Science in Elementary Education in 2004 and from Florida State University with a Master’s of Science in Instructional Systems Design in 2009.  She has been working for the center since January 2011. Originally from Tallahassee, FL she and her husband have been living in Tuscaloosa, AL since 2010.  Her office is in the Russell Building on the University of Alabama’s campus.