Media Alert
SPELMAN COLLEGE BOARD ELECTS JERRI DEVARD VICE CHAIR/CHAIR-ELECT AND ROSALIND BREWER VICE CHAIR/SECRETARY OF THE BOARD
ATLANTA (May 1, 2009) In its annual April meeting, the Spelman College board of trustees selected Jerri DeVard, C’79, vice chair and chair-elect of the board of trustees. A senior marketing executive with more than 25 years of leadership at Fortune 100 companies, she is principal of DeVard Marketing Group, a firm that specializes in advertising, branding, communications, and traditional/digital/multicultural marketing strategies.
“It is an honor to serve Spelman as chair-elect of the board of trustees, and I am humbled to succeed Yvonne Jackson C’70, whose love for and dedication to Spelman are immeasurable,” said DeVard, who has been a trustee since 2005. “The total education I received at Spelman equipped me with the tools needed to successfully compete, as well as meet my personal and professional goals. It is my desire to ensure that Spelman continues to attract and educate some of the best minds in the world, and that our resources continue to grow.”
An economics major at Spelman who went on to receive her MBA from Atlanta University, it was outside the gates that DeVard became a marketing industry powerbroker. Prior to forming DMG, she was the senior vice president of marketing for Verizon. She has also held impressive positions as chief marketing officer of e-consumer business at Citigroup; vice president of marketing for Revlon’s Color Cosmetics; vice president of marketing for Harrah’s Entertainment; and director of marketing for the NFL’s Minnesota Vikings. She also held several brand management positions at the Pillsbury Co.
The board also elected Rosalind G. Brewer, C’84, vice chair and secretary of the board. Division president of Southeast operations for Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Brewer has served on the board since 2006. Prior to joining Wal-Mart, she held leadership positions in various marketing, sales, and product development organizations with Kimberly-Clark.
In addition to electing a new chair, the board also elected four new trustees including Lovette Russell, C’83, Kathy N. Waller, Cynthia Neal Spence, Ph.D., C’78, and Celeste Watkins-Hayes, Ph.D., C’96. Russell, an adviser to Children’s Advocacy of Fulton County, is working with Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard to create a centralized child advocacy center for the county. Waller is vice president and chief of Internal Audit for The Coca-Cola Co. Spence, director, UNCF/Mellon Programs and associate professor of sociology at Spelman, serves as faculty trustee to the board. Hayes is assistant professor of sociology and African-American studies at Northwestern University.
“We are very fortunate to have such a wealth of experience on our board, an impressive group of alumnae and friends of the college willing to give of their time, talent and their financial resources in support of our important mission,” said Dr. Beverly Daniel Tatum, Spelman College president. “Our success as an institution has certainly been enhanced by the leadership of board chair Yvonne Jackson over the past five years. I look forward to working with chair-elect Jerri Devard and vice chair Roz Brewer as well as with all our new trustees as we continue our tradition of excellence in board governance at Spelman.”
Also, the board added two new nonvoting representatives. Morgan Pierce, C’2010, Spelman Student Government Association president-elect, will represent the student government, and Dr. Mark Maloney, professor of biology and president-elect of the Faculty Council, will serve as the faculty representative.
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Spelman College:
Founded in 1881, Spelman College is a prestigious, highly selective, liberal arts college that prepares women to change the world. Located in Atlanta, Ga., this historically black college boasts a 79 percent graduation rate, and outstanding alumnae such as Children's Defense Fund Founder Marian Wright Edelman; former U.S. Foreign Service Director General Ruth Davis, authors Tina McElroy Ansa and Pearl Cleage; and actress LaTanya Richardson. More than 83 percent of the full-time faculty members have Ph.D.s or other terminal degrees, and the average faculty to student ratio is 12:1. More than 2,100 students attend Spelman. For more
information, visit: www.spelman.edu.
