The Elon University School of Law has added seven new members to its advisory board. The board, which is chaired by former presidential adviser David Gergen, includes prominent judges, attorneys and business leaders who are advising the university in establishing the school and in its future development.
New members include a former U.S. ambassador, two former North Carolina governors and a former chief justice of the N.C. Supreme Court. The board now consists of 17 members. Members recently added to the board include the following:
- Rhoda Bryan Billings, Lewisville, N.C., who served on the N.C. Supreme Court from 1985 to 1986 and was chief justice in 1986. Billings is professor emeritus of the Wake Forest University School of Law and previously served as president of the North Carolina Bar Association.
- R. Steve Bowden, Greensboro, N.C., principal of the R. Steve Bowden & Associates law firm. Bowden is a member of the University of North Carolina Board of Governors and has been a trustee at North Carolina A&T State University and Campbell University.
- Ellen M. Gregg, Winston-Salem, N.C., a partner in Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice PLLC. Gregg is a member of the N.C. Chief Justice’s Commission on Professionalism and the supervising member of Womble Carlyle’s innovative Case Management Facility.
- James E. Holshouser, Pinehurst, N.C., who served as North Carolina Governor from 1973 to 1977, and as a member of the General Assembly from 1965 to 1973. He is now senior partner in The Sanford Holshouser Law Firm PLLC. Holshouser is a member emeritus of the University of North Carolina Board of Governors and chair of the board of trustees of St. Andrews Presbyterian College.
- James B. Hunt, Raleigh, N.C., who served as North Carolina Governor from 1977 to 1985 and again from 1993 to 2001. He is now a partner in Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice PLLC. Hunt is founder and chair of the National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future at Stanford University, chair of the Hunt Institute for Educational Leadership at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and chair of the Institute for Emerging Issues at North Carolina State University.
- Bonnie McElveen Hunter, Greensboro, N.C., chairman of the American Red Cross and former U.S. Ambassador to Finland. McElveen Hunter is founder and CEO of Pace Communications, and is also founder of the United Way Billion Dollar National Women’s Leadership Initiative.
- Jonathan Wall, Greensboro, N.C., a partner in Robertson Medlin & Troutman PLLC. Wall is a member of the boards of governors for the North Carolina Academy of Trial Lawyers and the New Lawyers Division of the Association of Trial Lawyers of America. He is also on the steering committee of the Future Fund of the Community Foundation of Greater Greensboro.
Charter members of the advisory board include the following:
- David Gergen, former presidential adviser, commentator, director of the Center for Public Leadership at Harvard University and editor-at-large for U.S. News & World Report
- Noel L. Allen, partner, Allen and Pinnix P.A., Raleigh, N.C., and a member of the Elon University Board of Trustees
- Alfred (A.P.) Carlton Jr., partner Kilpatrick Stockton LLP, Raleigh, N.C., and former president of the American Bar Association
- David L. DeVries, partner in Kaplan DeVries Inc., Greensboro, N.C., and senior fellow at the Center for Creative Leadership
- James G. Exum, attorney with Smith Moore LLP, Greensboro, N.C., former North Carolina Supreme Court Chief Justice and former member of the North Carolina House of Representatives
- Henry E. Frye, attorney with Brooks, Pierce, McLendon, Humphrey & Leonard LLP, Greensboro, N.C., former North Carolina Supreme Court Chief Justice and former member of the North Carolina House of Representatives and North Carolina Senate
- Robert E. “Bobby” Long Jr., Granville Capital, Inc., Greensboro, N.C., a board member of Clark Consulting Inc., and member of the Elon University Board of Trustees
- Thomas Patrick (Pat) Maroney, principal owner of Maroney, Williams, Weaver & Pancake PLLC of Charleston, W. Va., and general counsel for the West Virginia AFL-CIO
- William G. (Bill) McNairy, an attorney with Brooks, Pierce, McLendon, Humphrey & Leonard LLP, Greensboro, N.C.
- James C. (Jack) Spencer Jr., North Carolina Resident Superior Court Judge, Judicial District 15A, Graham, N.C.