Press Release
Fernbank Museum Inaugurates New Trustees and Board Chair
Fernbank Museum of Natural History held its first quarterly Board of Trustees meeting on February 28, initiating two new members, Rebecca Shepherd and Kevin Maxim, and marking the first meeting presided over by new Chairman, Hampton Morris.
W. Hampton Morris has served as a trustee of the Fernbank Museum of Natural History Board since 1999 and began a one-year term as Chairman of the Board in January 2008. Morris received a B.A. degree from University of Virginia, a J.D. degree from the University of South Carolina School of Law, and is a partner in the law firm of Cushing, Morris, Armbruster & Montgomery, LLP.
Rebecca Shaw Shepherd is an active community volunteer who graduated from the University of Georgia with a degree in Political Science and Secondary Education. Her career has included positions with a Congressional Office in Washington, D.C., American Express and Merrill Lynch, as well as the owner of an antiques and floor coverings business.
Kevin A. Maxim has served on the Board of Fernbank’s Artemis Young Professionals Guildsince 2000 and as Chairman of the Artemis Board from 2005-2007. He and his wife, Adrienne, served as event co-chairs for the 2002 Lost Oasis benefit and honorary chairs in 2004. They will again serve as honorary chairs for the 2008 event on June 14. Kevin received his Bachelor of Science degree in chemical engineering, summa cum laude, from the University of Cincinnati, and his J. D. degree from the University of Virginia School of Law. Kevin is an attorney at Troutman Sanders.
The new members were welcomed to the year’s first quarterly Fernbank Museum Board Meeting by President and CEO, Susan E. Neugent, who updated the group on a number of important programming notes.
Neugent acclaimed the Museum’s new birthday party packages for children; the successful opening of the special exhibition In the Dark; a request for recruiting more volunteers, and a variety of archaeological programs, including the addition of a Native American dugout canoe to the First Georgians exhibition, a Society of Georgia Archaeologists Symposium scheduled for April 26, the annual Archaeology Day for families on May 1, and the continuation of Fernbank’s summer archaeology program this June.
Since 1992 Atlanta’s Fernbank Museum of Natural History has provided a gateway for discovery and exploration for all ages, unfolding the story of the earth’s history, the environment and human culture through exhibitions, dynamic programs, and films in the IMAX Theatre. As one of the South’s preeminent museums, Fernbank’s reputation for innovative programming continues to rise, recently launching public programs in archaeology—featuring the search for a lost Spanish mission settlement—and environmental studies—where families and classrooms engage in urban environmental monitoring.
Fernbank is accredited by the American Association of Museums and is regarded as “Atlanta’s Home to Dinosaurs,” a reputation highlighted by Giants of the Mesozoic, which features the world’s largest dinosaurs. Fernbank is also home to the St. Catherines Island Foundation and Edward John Noble Foundation Collection, a collection of one million artifacts from the first Spanish mission site in Georgia.
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