Committee Members

Gene B. Manning, T’01, Regent co-chair, is a current member of the Board of Regents and is the former sub-dean at Christ Church Cathedral in Nashville. She is currently an adjunct professor in the College of Theology and Christian Ministry at Belmont University. Gene is a graduate of the University of Tennessee, holds a master of education degree in human development counseling from Vanderbilt University, a master of divinity degree from the School of Theology at the University of the South, and a doctor of ministry degree in preaching from Seabury Western Seminary. 

Deon T. Miles, faculty co-chair, is a chemistry professor at the University of the South. His leadership experience includes being the current chair of the Chemistry Department, a previous co-director of Sewanee’s Center for Teaching, the former NCAA faculty athletics representative, and a former council member of Sewanee’s Center for Leadership. He has mentored more than 25 students in undergraduate research efforts at Sewanee, resulting in eight peer-reviewed publications and numerous presentations. He was a member of the Search Committee for the 17th Vice-Chancellor Reuben Brigety.

David Stark is the assistant professor of homiletics at the University of the South School of Theology. He is an ordained elder in the North Carolina Conference of the United Methodist Church and the English language editor for the International Journal of Homiletics. He has published on the problem of whiteness for preaching the Old Testament and is currently researching ways clergy in the Southeast are using preaching to engage monuments and memorials.

John C. Willis specializes in the history of the American South. He has written on slavery in antebellum Virginia, published an award-winning book on the settlement of the New South frontier, and is currently exploring the environmental and social history of the southern Tennessee’s Cumberland Plateau. In addition to offering a wide variety of courses, Professor Willis has also served as the director of the Center for Teaching, chair of the History Department, and faculty member of the Board of Trustees. He directs the Southern Appalachian Studies minor and holds the duPont Chair of History at the University of the South.

Erica O. Howard is the newly appointed associate provost and dean of students. She came to Sewanee from Occidental College in Los Angeles. Prior to Occidental, she served for nine years in student life at California Institute of Technology, and before Cal Tech, she worked six years at Stanford University.

Garron Daniels, T'23, is a current student at the School Theology where he is completing his Master of Divinity in hopes to be ordained a Priest in the Episcopal Diocese of Missouri. Garron's educational background includes a Bachelor of Science in Justice Systems with a Minor in Philosophy & Religion from Truman State University in Kirksville, MO.

Meghan J. Mazur, T’22, is a rising senior at the School of Theology where she was elected president of the St. Luke’s Community. She received a master of music degree from Southern Methodist University and master of library science from the University of North Texas in Denton, Texas. She grew up in the Dallas area.

Peggy Owusu-Ansah, C'23, is a current junior at the college. She is the secretary for the Order of the Gown, a resident of the Bairnwick Women's Center, a Sewanee Angel, and co-captain for the University dance team. She is from Springfield, Virginia.

Lakeisha A. Phillips, C '22, is a senior in the college. She is president of the Student Government Association, one of the head angels for the Sewanee Angel Team, and a member of the Order of the Gown and the women's basketball team. She is from Lampertheim, Germany.

Katherine Nielsen Currin, C’05, was the founding executive director of an East Chattanooga neighborhood revitalization project called Glass House Collective. Katherine currently serves on the boards of Lula Lake Land Trust and Stove Works, and she serves as a member of the Southern Environmental Law Center's Next30 Committee. Katherine is also currently on the vestry of Good Shepherd Church. Her previous board service includes the Lyndhurst Foundation, Hunter Museum, Tennessee Aquarium, Good Shepherd School, Glass House Collective, and the Trust for Public Land.

Caroline Tanner Everett, C’11, is vice president of corporate responsibility at Alliance Bernstein in Nashville, Tennessee. She is former director of strategy at BrightHouse. She is a former trustee and Sewanee Fund volunteer.

Michael Goldsmith, T’13, is currently rector of the Episcopal Church of the Nativity in Huntsville, Alabama, and former rector of the Church of the Resurrection, Gadsden, Alabama. He is a current member of the Board of Trustees for the University of the South. He worked in partnership with the Equal Justice Initiative as a member of the Community Remembrance Project since 2015. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Birmingham.

David Johnson, C’19, is a master's student and research assistant at the University of Chicago. He has interned at Baker McKenzie, the German Marshall Fund of the United States, the NAACP headquarters, and the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh. He explored transitional justice in Europe and Africa as a Thomas J. Watson Fellow.

Henry Nutt Parsley Jr., C’70, is a retired bishop of the Diocese of Alabama, former University chancellor, and former rector of Christ Church in Charlotte, North Carolina, and St. Paul’s Church in Summerville, South Carolina. He received a B.A. and D.D. from Sewanee and an M.Div. and D.D. from the General Theological Seminary.

Lou Tucker Parsons, C’77, T’02, is rector of St. Francis of Assisi Episcopal Church in Ooltewah, Tennessee. After being ordained, she served as curate for Saint James’ Episcopal Church in Knoxville, Tennessee, and as assistant rector of Grace Church in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Clinically trained at Emory University, she has served as a hospice, a hospital, and a police chaplain in the Chattanooga area.

Katie Pearson, C’89, T’17, is canon pastor of Saint John’s Cathedral in Denver, Colorado. She is a former class agent and Sewanee Fund volunteer, and is a parent of three Sewanee graduates. She is a current at-large trustee.

Don Rodgers, C’05, is an assistant attorney general with the Kentucky Office of the Attorney General in Louisville, Kentucky. He received a J.D. from the University of Louisville.

Rondal Richardson, C’91, is the senior entertainment and donor relations liaison for the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee, a nationally recognized initiative noted for connecting generosity to need in the philanthropic space. He has served in a number of roles in the entertainment industry, including as manager for Wynonna Judd in Nashville, Tennessee. He is currently serving as an Associated Alumni trustee.

Hugh Sharber, C’80, is an attorney at Miller & Martin in Chattanooga, Tennessee, where he practices business law with an emphasis on mergers and acquisitions, securities offerings, and counseling business owners, boards and management on legal aspects of transactions and strategic alternatives. He serves on the advisory committee for the Tonya Public Affairs and Judge Wilson Memorial Internship Funds for the University and formerly served as a member of the Parents’ Council and Board of Trustees

Debra Wilson, C’94, received a B.A. in English from Sewanee and a J.D. from the University of South Carolina at Columbia. She currently serves as the president of the Southern Association of Independent Schools, an accrediting organization with schools in 14 states and three other countries. Prior to joining SAIS, she served as general counsel for the National Association of Independent Schools for 19 years. In her role as chief legal officer for NAIS, she tracked and researched legal trends and issues impacting independent schools, and oversaw federal government relations during her last three years at the organization. Her work on legal trends, as well as in nonprofit governance, student health and wellness, and other K-12 issues, resulted in many articles as well as presentations that she delivered around the country and abroad to independent school staff and leadership. Debra was formerly a tax litigator with the Department of Justice.

James P. Wilson III, C’73, is co-owner of the Blue Chair Café, Bakery, and Tavern. He is former president and CEO of Automated License Systems, a subsidiary of the Active Network, Inc. Jimmy is a former alumni trustee.