Linda 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.
Greg is recently retired from Virginia Tech where he served for twelve years as dean of the College of Natural Resources. He remains active with the national Society of American Foresters where he serves as chair of the Educational Policy Review Committee and serves on the steering committee of the Asheville chapter of FRIENDS of the Blue Ridge Parkway.
Director of Communications, School of Education, UNC-CHapel Hill
Chapel Hill, NC
Michael 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.
Jack retired in 2011 as associate editor of The Charlotte Observer after nearly 40 years in North Carolina journalism. He was inducted into the N.C. Journalism Hall of Fame in 2006 and the Order of the Long Leaf Pine.
Anne 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.
Bob began his association with the Parkway Foundation through his interest in the Moses H. Cone Memorial Park historically know as Flat Top Manor. He is an advocate on behalf of Moses H. Cone Memorial Park and the Blue Ridge Parkway for historic interpretation and preservation
Dave 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.
Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor Emeritus and Professor Emeritus of Mathematics, Appalachian State University
Boone, NC
Dr. Durham retired from Appalachian State University as Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor Emeritus and as Professor Emeritus of Mathematics. During his 39 years at ASU, 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.
Attorney, Public Policy Consultant, Conservationist, Community Volunteer
Roanoke, VA
A former litigating and estate planning attorney, Broaddus continues to work on land conservation and resource management initiatives as well as community service projects. 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.
Olson is a semi-retired pediatrician and pediatric medical consultant to Mission Hospital in Asheville. He is a strong advocate for children's health ad is active in the war on childhood obeity. He was instrumental in founding the "Kids in Parks" program and is the chair of its advisory board.
President, Intertech; Chair, Polk County Economic and Tourism Development Commission
Tryon, NC
Ambrose 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 chair of the Polk County Economic and Tourism Development Commission, and has served on the board of the Polk County Community Foundaton.
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.
Katie is a commercial general contractor and leads Tyler 2, a company she founded in 1983. Her father retired after 40 years with the Boy Scouts of America. Her summers were spent camping, hiking
Becky Anderson Consulting, Founder – Handmade in America
Asheville, NC
Becky 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.
Paul has produced and directed nine full-length documentary films, with most distributed on PBS system and screened at numerous film festivals. 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.
Chairman-President Emeritus, Old Salem, Inc.; National Park Service (retired)
Lewisville, NC
Hobie 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. 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.
Brad is currently the Treasurer of the Foundation and has served in the past as Chair of the Marketing Committee. His background includes working, consulting and teaching in a variety of health care settings, include the Hospice and Palliative CareCenter
Dan has a law degree from UNC Chapel Hill, and 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. 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.
Epley Consulting – Public Relations & Communication
Tryon, NC
A native of the North Carolina mountains, Joe's 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. Joe is the past chair of the Polk County Economic Development Commission and serves on several boards.
Public and Community Relations, Cone Mills (retired)
Blowing Rock, NC
Frank has been active in numerous community organizations since retiring from Cone Mills, 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.
Andrew 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.
Ray is chairman of Forge Communications, a strategic communication and public relations consulting firm based in Raleigh, NC. . He is a founding board member of the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation. 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.
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.
Phil 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.
Bob Shepherd was born and reared in Ashe County, N.C. Following a career which inclued the arm, the US Dept of Agriculture, 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, and he currently chairs the Audit Committee of the Home Trust Bank.
Director of Research, Communications, and Programs, Office of Faculty Governance; Adjunct Associate Professor of History and American Studies, UNC-Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, NC
In addition to her duties at UNC, Anne is the author of "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, and a children's book, "When the Parkway Came". She is also the scholarly advisor for “Driving Through Time: The Digital Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina,” a digital geospatial history collection of Parkway information.
