Our Leadership
Trustees
Dr. Harvey Durham - Chairman
Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor Emeritus and Professor Emeritus of Mathematics, Appalachian State University
Boone, NCDr. Durham received from Wake Forest University a Bachelor of Science degree in mathematics and from the University of Georgia a Master of Arts degree and a Doctor of Philosophy degree with each of these also being in mathematics. He was associated with Appalachian State University for 39 years where he worked primarily in the area of administration and held such positions as Chairman of the Department of Mathematics, Associate Dean of the Faculty, Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, Provost, Executive Vice Chancellor and Interim Chancellor. He retired from Appalachian in 2004 as Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor Emeritus and as Professor Emeritus of Mathematics.
Dr. Linda Combs - Vice-Chairman
Owner and Founder, MorrisonCombs.com
Winston Salem, NCLinda Combs is the former Controller of the United States Office of Management and Budget. She has held five Senate confirmed positions, including CFO and COO positions at the US Departments of Transportation, Treasury, Education, and EPA. Linda has also held several positions with state and local government and in the private sector. Linda was born in Caldwell County, NC, and has bachelors and masters degrees from Appalachian State University, and a doctorate from Virginia Tech. She is currently a writer, speaker, certified executive leadership coach, and a corporate and non-profit board director.
Brad Daniel – Treasurer
Chief Strategy Officer, Hospice & Palliative CareCenter
Lewisville, NCBrad’s background includes working, consulting and teaching in a variety of health care settings. Like many, his parkway story began with convincing his future wife that hiking to Humpback Rocks counted as a date. They are now raising their children Walker and Hope to start jumping up and down whenever they say “Lets go to the mountains!”. At the Foundation, Brad is Past Chair of Marketing Committee, has been active in strategic planning and is now the Treasurer.
Michael Hobbs - Secretary
Director of Communications, School of Education, UNC-CHapel Hill
Chapel Hill, NCMichael Hobbs is Director of Communications at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s School of Education. He has worked in journalism and higher education communications for more than 25 years, including stints at The Associated Press and The Herald-Sun in Durham, N.C. He has worked as director of internal communications at UNC-Chapel Hill and as director of communications for Peace College in Raleigh. His love for the Appalachian Mountains began as a child when his family took every opportunity to spend time at a family cabin near Banner Elk, N.C. His family moved to the area when he was 12. He developed a love for the land, the culture and the Blue Ridge Parkway during his years in the Boone and Banner Elk area, while in high school and in college at Appalachian State University, where he majored in history. Michael lives in Chapel Hill, N.C., with his wife, Sue. They have two children, Barbara, a student at Appalachian State, and Henry, who is in high school.
Anne Barnes
Community Volunteer, Fashion Consultant
Winston Salem, NCAnne was born and raised in Shelby, NC and graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill. She is a former teacher and has been a fashion consultant for couture women’s fashion for 30 years. She is active in Winston-Salem community affairs and volunteer organizations . Now retired, her special interests are master gardening, painting, cooking, hiking and golf with her husband , Norris, her children, Spencer and John, and 4 grandchildren.
Jack Betts
Retired associate editor, The Charlotte ObserverJack Betts retired in 2011 as associate editor of The Charlotte Observer after nearly 40 years in North Carolina journalism. He served in the Army, was Washington correspondent for the Greensboro Daily News, Roanoke Times and Norfolk Virginian-Pilot, was editor of North Carolina Insight magazine and was a member of the editorial board of the Observer, where he wrote daily editorials and blogposts and a weekly column. He was inducted into the N.C. Journalism Hall of Fame in 2006 and the Order of the Long Leaf Pine. He and his wife Martha live a few miles east of the Blue Ridge Parkway near Meadows of Dan, VA, where he writes Rocky Knob Blog (www.rockyknobblog.blogspot.com).
Dr. Greg Brown
Retired, Virginia Tech University
Asheville, NCGreg received a bachelor of science degree in forestry from Iowa State University. He then received a masters degree in forestry and plant physiology from Yale University, and a PhD in forestry and plant physiology from Duke University. His career has been in research and teaching, having been on the faculty of several universities. He most recently retired from Virginia Tech where he served for twelve years as dean of the College of Natural Resources. He currently resides near Asheville, NC and is active in the Rotary Club of Asheville, serving as chair of the youth exchange committee. He also remains active with the national Society of American Foresters where he serves as chair of the Educational Policy Review Committee (which establishes standards for accreditation of academic programs across the country). He serves on the steering committee of the Asheville chapter of FRIENDS of the Blue Ridge Parkway, and previously served as president of FRIENDS’ Board of Directors.
Bob Clark
Cone Family Scholar, Artist, Clark Gallery
Charlotte, NCBob began his association with the Parkway Foundation through his interest in the Moses H. Cone Memorial Park historically know as Flat Top Manor. While summering in Blowing Rock during his youth Bob enjoyed riding the trails of the Moses H Cone Park on horseback. Bob became impassioned with Flat Top Manor as he began to understand the estate’s fascinating past and associations with artist and historic figures while attending Appalachian State University. Bob is an advocate on behalf of Moses H. Cone Memorial Park and the Blue Ridge Parkway for historic interpretation and preservation.
Pat Shore Clark
Dave Combs
Composer and Producer, Combs Music
Winston Salem, NCA native of the mountains of East Tennessee and long time resident of Winston-Salem and Blowing Rock, NC., Dave has a BS in Mathematics and Physics from ETSU and MBA from Wake Forest University Babcock Graduate School of Management. He is the founder and owner of Combs Music, retired Chief Information Officer of US Dept of Agriculture, and retired Manager at AT&T Network Systems. In his spare time, he is an avid photographer and enjoys competitive table tennis.
Joanne Davis
Former CEO,
Hospice & Palliative CareCenterGraham Denton
Executive Vice President, Bank of America(Retired)
Dan Donahue
General Counsel, R. J. Reynolds (retired)
Winston Salem, NCA native of Boston, Ma., Dan moved with his family to Charlotte, where he grew up and graduated from high school. He has an undergraduate and a law degree from UNC Chapel Hill. He worked for a short time as a newspaper reporter at The Charlotte Observer between undergraduate and law school. Following his graduation from the UNC law school in 1968 he practiced as a civil defense trial lawyer in Greensboro for 10 years, and then as a partner with Womble, Carlyle, Sandridgre and Rice in Winston-Salem from 1978 until 1990. While there he was a national trial counsel for Ford Motor Co. and RJ Reynolds Tobacco, among others. He was inducted into the American College of Trial Lawyers in 1986. In 1990 he went in-house with the RJ Reynolds Tobacco Co. as a Sr. Vice-President and managed lawsuits against Reynolds until his retirement in 2005.
Joe Epley
Epley Consulting – Public Relations & Communication
Tryon, NCA native of the North Carolina mountains, Joe Epley is globally recognized for his leadership in public relations. His honors include North Carolina’s Order of the Long Leaf Pine, UNC’s School of Journalism Hall of fame, The Defense Information School’s Hall of Fame and the Gold Anvil, the highest recognition for lifetime achievement within the public relations profession. He now lives in Tryon, NC after selling the PR firm he successfully managed and ran for nearly 40 years in Charlotte. Joe is the past chair of the Polk County Economic Development Commission and serves on several boards.
Bob Hambright
Division Chief Executive Officer, Balfour Beatty Construction
Charlotte, NCBob earned his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering in 1970 from Clemson University and in 1974, earned his M.B.A. from Winthrop University. He is a guest lecturer at the Winthrop University Business School, Appalachian State University and Clemson University. He also holds the distinction of being a member of Winthrop University Pinnacle Leadership Society. Bob chairs the Discovery Place Board, is on the Center City Partners Board, the Winthrop University Foundation Board, the Appalachian State Foundation Board, the Gateway YMCA Board and was Co-Chair for the Arts and Science Council 2008 Annual Campaign.
Bob Shepherd
Land of Sky Council (retired)
Asheville, NCBob Shepherd was born and reared in Ashe County, N.C. He graduated from NCSU and received a masters degree (Economics) from Kansas State University. He served as a Lieutenant in the Army Reserve. Following five years with the Economic Research Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Washington, D.C., he began a career in regional planning and development, retiring in 2002. Since retiring, he has served as Interim Manager of Maggie Valley, Columbus and Tryon. He has also been a member of the Board of Directors of the HomeTrust Bank since 1987, where he chairs the Audit Committee. He is also a member of the General Board of Global Ministries of the United Methodist Church. His public service has been recognized by the following awards: Order of the Long Leaf Pine by the Governor’s Office, Circle of Excellence by the Leadership Asheville Forum, Outstanding Rural Leader by the N.C. Rural Economic Development Center, the Federal Co-Chairman’s Award by the Appalachian Regional Commission and being a Life Member of the NC City/County Management Association.
Gary Stewart
Chairman, Woolpert, Inc.Gary Stewart is the current Chairman of the Board of Woolpert, Inc., a national design-geospatial-infrastructure consulting firm. He is a registered landscape architect and has spent the majority of his personal career planning and designing parks for federal, state, and local government agencies. He has served the National Park Service, and the Blue Ridge Parkway on past projects.
Dr. Anne Mitchell Whisnant
Director of Research, Communications, and Programs, Office of Faculty Governance
Adjunct Associate Professor of History and American Studies, UNC-Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, NCAnne Mitchell Whisnant is a university administrator and scholar who earned her Ph.D. in history from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1997. In 2006, UNC Press published her Super-Scenic Motorway: A Blue Ridge Parkway History, the most extensive serious study to date of the development of the National Park Service’s most visited site. Through Primary Source History Services, the consulting firm she runs with husband, Whisnant has been the co-principal historian on three National Park Service (NPS) projects: an administrative history of De Soto National Memorial, a historic resource study of Cape Lookout National Seashore, and a visitor handbook for Shenandoah National Park. She also presently chairs a task force commissioned by the Organization of American Historians and the NPS that is studying the state of historical practice within the Park Service. That task force will conclude its work in 2011. At UNC, Whisnant serves as scholarly advisor for “Driving Through Time: The Digital Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina,” a grant-funded digital, geospatial history collection being developed collaboratively with the Carolina Digital Library and Archives, part of the UNC Libraries. Each fall she teaches UNC’s Introduction to Public History course for advanced undergraduates and graduate students. By day, she is Director of Research, Communications, and Programs for UNC’s Office of Faculty Governance.
Council of Advisors
Becky Anderson
Becky Anderson Consulting, Founder – Handmade in AmericaBecky Anderson of Becky Anderson Consulting, Inc. serves as a consultant for cultural and economic development projects related to The Creative Economy. Most recently she served as Founding Director of HandMade in America, a community development organization located in Western North Carolina. HandMade in America works to implement environmentally sustainable economic solutions that emphasize the craft industry, enhance opportunities in the marketplace, and develop entrepreneurial strategies for the region’s artisans. HandMade was the recipient of The Economic Development Planning Award of The American Planning Association, The Award of Merit for Sustainable Development from Renew America, Inc. The Best Community Outreach Award from Niche Magazine and in 2003 Worth Magazine ranked HandMade as one of the top 24 arts non-profits in The United States.
Prior to HandMade she served as Director of Economic Development for The Asheville Chamber of Commerce, Director of Community Development for Land of Sky Regional Council and Director of Economic Development for The City of Asheville. In 2000, U.S. News and World Report named Anderson as one of The United States top 20 visionaries for her work in community and civic development.
Jim Beeler
Training & Development Manager, Apple, Inc.W. Louis Bissette
Partner, McGuire, Wood & Bissette, Former Mayor – Asheville, NC
Paul Bonesteel
President, Bonesteel FilmsPaul Bonesteel has produced and directed nine full-length documentary films, with most distributed on PBS system and screened at numerous film festivals. They include the 201l biographical film The Day Carl Sandburg Died, the 2005 The Great American Quilt Revival the story of the resurgence of quilting as craft and art, and in 2003 the biography of a Japanese photographer who immortalized the Appalachian Mountains in his vivid images, The Mystery of George Masa. After taking over the family Super 8 camera at an early age, Bonesteel officially began his career in 1985 with North Carolina Public Television. After graduating from NC State University in 1987 he worked in Atlanta for 10 years in Atlanta, first for a production company, freelance before forming his own full-service production company, Bonesteel Films, Inc. which he moved to Asheville in 1997. In addition to documentary films Bonesteel Films produced marketing, advertising and programming for national distribution. Frequent clients include Biltmore, HGTV and DIY Network. In 1991, Bonesteel traveled to the USSR to direct If The People Will Lead, which explored the role of the media in the fall of communism. In addition, his projects have focused on subjects as diverse as his own family in Caribou Bones, folk singer Robert Hoyt (Travels With Claude) and whitewater kayaking in The Adventures of Johnny Utah, folk dance in the Emmy-nominated Folkmoot USA, telling the story of the largest international folk dance festival in the world. He is a husband to his wife Wyndy, father to ten year old Jonah and six year old Luke.
Hobie Cawood
Chairman-President Emeritus, Old Salem, Inc.
National Park Service (retired)Hobie is a native of Middlesboro, Kentucky and a graduate of Emory and Henry College, and has also has been awarded five honorary degrees. He served thirty-three years with the National Park Service in eight different assignments and was Superintendent of Independence National Historical Park (1971-1991) during the bicentennial era of the United States. See: “Celebrations! A Personal Memoir Commemorating America’s Bicentennial Era, 1971-1991″ by Hobie Cawood, Diane Publishing Company, 2007. After retirement from the National Park Service, he became President of Old Salem, Inc. in Winston-Salem (1991-2001). He is a past Chairman of the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation.
Kristen Cone
President, Kristen Cone Interiors, LLC
Frank Fary
Public and Community Relations, Cone Mills (retired)Frank graduated from Duke University in 1955, and after completing Officers Candidate School served a tour of duty in the U.S. Marine Corps as an infantry officer.He worked for Cone Mills Corporation in Greensboro for 34 years, the last half as the public and community relations executive for the company.After retiring in 1995 he and his wife Meg moved to Blowing Rock, where their home has a winter view of Price Park on the Blue Ridge Parkway. He has been active in numerous community organizations since retiring, serving as president of the Rotary Club of Blowing Rock and on the boards of the Blowing Rock Historical Society, the Blowing Rock Charity Horse Show Foundation and two terms as trustee of the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation.
Broaddus Fitzpatrick
Attorney, Public Policy Consultant,
Conservationist, Community VolunteerA former litigating and estate planning attorney, Broaddus continues to work on land conservation and resource management initiatives as well as community service projects. An Elder of his Presbyterian church, a senior high Sunday school teacher and a member of the Dominican Republic Mission Team that continues to build clinics and schools, he is also a disaster relief volunteer and coordinator, working in flood-ravaged parts of West Virginia, Florida, North Carolina, Alabama and Mississippi. Broaddus has rehabbed homes in the eastern Kentucky coalfields with the Appalachia Service Project and has built Habitat homes in Virginia since 1987. In addition to serving on a number of local, state, and national boards, Mr. Fitzpatrick has been a dedicated volunteer for the Blue Ridge Parkway and is committed to protecting and improving the Parkway for the future. Broaddus took his Bachelor’s Degree in Foreign Affairs from the University of Virginia, studied International Law at Queens’ College, Cambridge University, and received his Juris Doctor from the University of Richmond.
Andrew Harding
Senior Vice President, Merrill Lynch Wealth Management
Charlotte, NCAndrew has served high net worth individuals and privately held company retirement plans throughout the tenure of his 17 year financial services career with Merrill Lynch and Bank of America, creating strategic asset allocation models for individual and company wealth management plans. Andrew is a native North Carolinian. He was educated by attending the United States Military Academy at West Point and received his B.S. in finance at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. He enjoys the outdoors where he spends time hunting, fishing and biking with his wife Alexia and their two children.
David Holt
Musician, Artist
Raymond Hornak
Chairman, Forge CommunicationsRay is chairman of Forge Communications, a strategic communication and public relations consulting firm based in Raleigh, NC. He formerly served in a variety of positions with Epley Associates/Public Relations and was president of The Catevo Group. An active member of the local community, Ray has served on the public relations committee of the Wake Education Foundation and as a member of the board of directors of the Wake County Public Schools Business/Education Leadership Council. He is a founding board member of the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation. A graduate of Wheeling Jesuit University, Wheeling, W. Va., Ray is an accredited member of the Public Relations Society of America and is a past president of the Society’s North Carolina Chapter and national delegate to PRSA. He was recently honored with the Watt Huntley Lifetime Achievement award in public relations by the Raleigh PR Society.
Olson Huff, MD
Mission Memorial Hospital Foundation
George Kegley
Business Editor, Roanoke Times (retired)George Kegley is a retired business editor of The Roanoke Times and an active Roanoke Valley volunteer. He covered the Blue Ridge Parkway when its headquarters was in Roanoke in the mid-1900s and he formerly served on the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation board. A board member of the Western Virginia Land Trust and the Roanoke Valley Preservation Foundation, he edits the Journal of the Historical Society of Western Virginia and the Virginia Lutheran. He and his wife, Louise, have a conservation easement, the only one in the City of Roanoke.
William Ambrose Mills, III
President, Intertech
Chair, Polk County Economic and Tourism Development CommissionAmbrose is a native of Polk County, NC. As a youth he camped and hiked trails near the Parkway, and later enjoyed frequent motor trips on it. He is a graduate of NCSU, was commissioned an Infantry officer, and retired from the Army as Lieutenant Colonel after 27 years of service. He was International Sales Manager for a subsidiary of Martin Marietta, leaving to found Intertech,an international trading company. This took him to many countries, with a concentration on Asia, especially China. Now living in his hometown of Tryon, he is chair of the Polk County Economic and Tourism Development Commission, and has served on the board of the Polk County Community Foundaton. He is Project Manager,developing the Bradley Nature Preserve at Alexander’s Ford, a 160 acre preserve that includes a segment of the Overmountain Victory National Historic Trail.
Phil Noblitt
Former Management Assistant,
Blue Ridge ParkwayPhil Noblitt began his Parkway career in 1987 as a district ranger. He subsequently served for 10 years as the Parkway’s specialist for interpretation and education. For several years prior to his retirement in 2007, he worked as a management assistant, coordinating public information and serving as the Parkway’s liaison with the travel and tourism community. Phil is also author of Mansion in the Mountains, a history of Moses and Bertha Cone and Flat Top Manor.
Bittle Porterfield, III
President, Rice Management, Inc.Nancy Sorrells
Independent Historian & Freelance Writer
