Governor Perdue Announces Executive Appointments

Thursday, December 30, 2010

Contact: Office of Communications 404-651-7774

ATLANTA – Governor Sonny Perdue announced today the following executive appointments effective January 1, 2011.  Brief biographies are provided below:

 

Board of Natural Resources

Robert D. Leebern, Jr., 41, Atlanta, 5^th Congressional Representative − Leebern is a principal with Troutman Sanders Strategies where he leads the federal affairs practice and serves on the firm’s Board of Directors.  He is a member of Leadership Georgia and has served on the Boards of Directors for the Georgia State Society of Washington, DC, The Coverdell Leadership Institute, and the Georgia Republican Foundation. In 2006, he was appointed by President George W. Bush to serve on the President’s Advisory Council on the Arts at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. From 1995-2002, Leebern served as chief of staff to U.S. Representative Saxby Chambliss.  He is a graduate of Southern Methodist University.  He and his wife, Wendy, are members of Northside United Methodist Church. 

 

Mark V. Smith, 54, Savannah, Coastal Representative   −   Smith is a hotel management executive at Prince-Bush-Smith Hotels and is chief executive officer at South Atlantic Utilities. Smith serves as chairman of the Georgia International Maritime Trade and Convention Center. He serves as a member of the Historic Savannah Foundation Board, was elected as a curator of the Georgia Historical Society, and is past chairman of the Savannah Area Convention and Visitor Bureau. Smith earned a bachelor’s degree from the Georgia Institute of Technology. He and his wife, Kim, have two children.

 

Board of Regents of the University System of Geogia

Rutledge A. Griffin, Jr., 66, Valdosta, 1^st Congressional District Representative − Griffin is past chairman and chief executive officer of Griffin LLC.  He serves as a co-chair on the capital campaign for the Boys and Girls Club of Valdosta and has served on the Georgia Ports Authority, Emeritus Trustee of the University of Georgia, and is past chairman of the South Georgia Fellowship of Christian Athletics. Griffin earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Georgia. He and his wife, Barbara, have three children and eight grandchildren.

 

 

 

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