USA Board of Trustees Elects Officers

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Posted on June 18, 2019

Bob Lowry

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The University of South Alabama Board of Trustees, at its meeting on June 6, elected officers for three-year terms. Businessman James H. “Jimmy” Shumock of Mobile was elected chair pro tempore, Mobile philanthropist and civic volunteer Arlene Mitchell was elected vice chair and businesswoman Alexis Atkins of Mobile was elected secretary.

A certified public accountant, Shumock earned his bachelor’s degree in 1980 from USA’s Mitchell College of Business. Prior to stepping down from his leadership role at Thompson Holdings Inc., a Mobile firm that includes Thompson Engineering, Watermark Design Group and Thompson Consulting Services, he was the board chairman and CEO. He is currently a member of Thompson’s board and is leading the owner advisor team for the Alabama Department of Transportation’s procurement of the Mobile River Bridge and Bayway project, as a public-private partnership. Shumock was appointed to South Alabama’s board in 2010 by Gov. Bob Riley for a state-at-large position, and has served as board secretary and, most recently, as vice chair. He served six years on the USA National Alumni Association board and is president of the Jaguar Athletic Fund.

Mitchell was appointed to the board in 2007 by Gov. Riley to represent Mobile County, and was reappointed by Riley in 2010.  Mitchell, who has generously supported the University of South Alabama, attended the University of Pennsylvania. She established the Arlene and Mayer Mitchell Chair in Medical Oncology, provided funds to acquire the da Vinci Surgical System and numerous other enhancements at USA Health Children’s & Women’s Hospital and, with her late husband, Mayer, worked to create the USA Health Mitchell Cancer Institute, just to name a few. She has served on numerous boards, including the board of directors of the Community Foundation of South Alabama, for which she served as president. In 1997, the Arlene F. Mitchell Philanthropy Award was established in her honor by Mobile’s Senior Citizens Services.

Atkins, vice president of human resources/principal in co-ownership of Budweiser Busch Distributing, Inc., of Mobile, was appointed to the board by Gov. Robert Bentley in 2016 to represent Mobile County. She is a 1997 USA graduate with a major in human resources. Atkins is a member of the Jaguar Athletic Fund board, the USA Mitchell College of Business board of advisors, and Feeding the Gulf Coast, of which she is the past chairman. Atkins is also past president of the University of South Alabama National Alumni Association and Executive Women International.

As chair pro tempore, Shumock replaces Birmingham attorney Kenneth O. Simon. A native Mobilian, Simon received his bachelor’s degree in history from USA in 1976, where he was the first African American to be elected Student Government Association president. A former trial judge with more than 100 jury trials under his belt, Simon is presently practicing his mediation and legal work through his law firm, Ken Simon Law. Simon was appointed to the board in 2009 by Gov. Riley, representing the state at large, and reappointed in 2014 by Gov. Bentley.

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