Kemp Names 14 Appointments

Atlanta, GA – On Friday, October 23, Governor Brian P. Kemp announced his selection of fourteen appointees to serve on various state authorities, commissions, and boards.

Private Colleges and Universities Authority

Joseph William Evans serves as the vice chairman of Cadence Bancorporation and as the director of Cadence Bank, NA. Prior to merging with Cadence in January 2019, he was the chairman and former CEO of State Bank Financial Corporation and State Bank and Trust Company, which he co-founded in 2009. Evans is actively involved in the Atlanta and Georgia business communities. He holds a bachelor's degree in Industrial Management from Georgia Tech, and he serves as the chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Georgia Tech Foundation and on the advisory board of the Scheller College of Business at Georgia Tech. Evans is a native of Smarr, where he has a beef cattle operation of a farm that has been in his family for six generations. He is married to Raena Weaver Evans and has two adult daughters and eight grandchildren.

Raymond C. Cobb is a small business owner in Gwinnett County. Prior to launching his own company, JBM Marketing Solutions, he worked in corporate and commercial finance for several Fortune 100 companies, including Bank of America and GE Capital. Cobb received an MBA from the University of Pittsburgh and a bachelor's degree in Communications from the University of Toledo.

James S. Timberlake is the president of Timberlake Realty Company of Georgia and a member of Abernathy & Timberlake Investment Group, LLC. He earned a BBA in Real Estate from the University of Georgia in 1978. Timberlake and his wife live in Watkinsville and have four grown children.

Board of Directors of the Georgia Technology Authority

Robert (Rob) Gene Bearden is an experienced enterprise software executive who currently serves as the CEO of Cloudera, a publicly traded software company focused on managing big data analytics for cloud and hybrid data platforms. He was the co-founder and CEO of Hortonworks, a publicly traded open-source company that merged with Cloudera in 2019. Bearden also served as the president and COO of SpringSource until its acquisition by VMWare in 2009. Before joining SpringSource, he served as an entrepreneur in residence at Benchmark Capital. He also served in senior roles at Oracle. Bearden earned a bachelor's degree in Business Management from Jacksonville State University, and holds the title of entrepreneur in residence at the University of Georgia's Terry College of Business.

Robert (Bob) Ward Gray is the Management Director, Southeast Region Market Leader, and Advisory Services with BDO USA, LLP. He has thirty years of experience driving profitable growth companies and clients, and he has held senior market facing executive positions in management consulting and technology services, while serving clients in the Global 1000 and private equity across several industries. Gray earned an MBA in Finance from the University of Chicago and a bachelor's degree in Industrial Engineering from Purdue University. He and his wife, Susanne, live in Johns Creek, and they have four children.

Ronald Edward Ham serves as the SAP Project Management/SR ERP Analyst with Rayonier Advanced Materials in Jesup. He has managed IT systems and infrastructure at multiple manufacturing plants across the U.S. since 1989, working with user communities and corporate leadership to develop and implement systems and automation in line with the individual unit strategy that aligned the corporation. He also managed multiple large-scale multi-state manufacturing and IT projects simultaneously, with project costs exceeding $18 million. Ham earned a bachelor's degree in Computer Science from Southern Polytechnical Institute. He and his wife, Paula, live in Nahunta and have two children.

Dan Israel is the Executive Director of FDMM (Food, Drug, and Mass Merchandise) Product Management with NCR Corporation in Atlanta. As the global director of FDMM, he manages point of sale software solutions sold to grocery stores around the world. Israel earned a bachelor's degree in Economics from Emory University in 1989, a MS in Economics of the EU from the London School of Economics in 1991, and an MBA from the University of Michigan in 1991. He and his wife, Joanna, have two children and live in Dunwoody.

Michael Caldwell is an owner and managing partner at Black Airplane, an application and software development agency. He earned his BBA in Finance from Kennesaw State University. Caldwell represented Woodstock and Cherokee County in the Georgia House of Representatives from 2013 until 2021. He and his wife, Kathryn, live in Woodstock with their children, Oliver and Elizabeth.

Board of Directors of the Georgia Emergency Communications Authority

Steve Horton is a lifelong Newton County resident of more than forty-five years and serves as the mayor for the City of Covington. He earned a BBA from Mercer University and a MPA from Troy State University. Before retiring in 2019, he worked for the City of Covington for thirty-six years, where he held various positions, including patrolman, chief of police, safety risk manager, public works director, deputy city manager, and city manager. He and his wife, Mary, have been married for thirty-eight years, and they have a son, daughter-in-law, and two grandchildren.

Board of Directors of the Georgia Equal Opportunity Commission

Shawnzia Thomas is the Assistant Deputy Commissioner for the Department of Human Resources. She previously served as the director of the Georgia Secretary of State's Corporations Division, where she played a vital role in the implementation of eCorp, a streamlined online filing system for companies. In her spare time, Thomas enjoys baking and spending time with her two children and their dog, Jackson.

Board of Juvenile Justice

Gary A. Yandura was appointed to be the first chief of the Brookhaven Police Department in April 2013, following a national search. He began his law enforcement career in Lake Forest, Illinois, and later served as a chief of police in Hiram and College Park. During his tenure in College Park, he managed 160 employees and a $12 million annual budget. Yandura was also credited with reducing crime by thirty percent during his first four years there. He is a graduate of the FBI Academy of Law Enforcement Executive Development Program and Northwest University's Staff and Command School, and he is certified by the Georgia Police Officers Standards and Training Council. He earned a master's degree in Public Administration from Roosevelt University in Chicago and a bachelor's degree in Criminal Justice from the University of Illinois. Yandura and his wife, Lynne, live in Brookhaven, and they have two adult children.

Judge Lisa Colbert was reappointed.

Board of Community Supervision

Heath Elliott is the sheriff of Seminole County. He and his wife have three children, and they reside in Donaldsonville.

Georgia Board of Dentistry

Misty Angel Mattingly is appointed to the dental hygienist seat on the board. She is the Vice President and Director of Hygiene at Sage Dental. Mattingly attended Georgia State University, Perimeter College, and O'Hehir University. She and her husband live in Marietta and have three children.

Dr. Richard Bennett was reappointed.