Wooten Attends First Meeting as Board of Regents’ Vice Chair
Atlanta — August 5, 2003
Today’s meeting of the Board of Regents is the first held with Regent Joel O. Wooten Jr. serving as vice chair of the 18-member governing body for the University System of º¬Ðß²Ý.
Wooten, who was appointed to the board by Gov. Roy E. Barnes in 1999, will serve as the board’s vice chair through June 30, 2004.
“I am proud to take a position of leadership on the Board of Regents and in higher education in the state of º¬Ðß²Ý,” Wooten said. “I consider these responsibilities highly important.”
Wooten is an attorney and has served as the managing partner at Butler, Wooten, Fryhofer, Daughtry & Sullivan, LLP, a law firm with offices in Columbus and Atlanta, since 1988. Before that, Wooten spent 10 years as a partner at the law firm of Kelly, Denney, Pease & Allison in Columbus. He was an associate at this firm from 1975 to 1978.
In addition to serving on the Board of Regents, Wooten has served as a member of the board of directors of º¬Ðß²Ý Legal Services, Inc., and he was a founding member and on the board of directors of the º¬Ðß²Ý Center for Law in the Public Interest. He is a past president of the Columbus Lawyers Club and a former chair and member of the executive committee of the General Practice and Trial Section of the State Bar of º¬Ðß²Ý.
In 2000, the State Bar honored Wooten with its Tradition of Excellence Award for outstanding service to the Bar and the state of º¬Ðß²Ý.
Raised in Hazlehurst, Ga., Wooten graduated from the University of º¬Ðß²Ý magna cum laude in 1972, with a bachelor’s degree in business administration. He earned a law degree from the UGA School of Law in 1975. Wooten and his wife, Sybrina, live in Columbus. His oldest son, Joel III, is a graduate of º¬Ðß²Ý Tech. His daughter, Katherine, and son, Frank, both are students at the University of º¬Ðß²Ý.
The Board of Regents is a constitutional body that governs and manages the University System of º¬Ðß²Ý, comprised of 34 public colleges and universities. Currently, more than 233,000 students are enrolled in System institutions and there are approximately 35,000 faculty and staff.
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