MBA Alum Taunya Phillips Appointed UK Alumni Association President

LEXINGTON, Ky. (July 9, 2019) — The University of Kentucky Alumni Association recently announced its 2019-2020 Board of Directors officers during its annual Summer Workshop. This year’s officers are Taunya A. Phillips, president; Hannah Miner Myers, president-elect; Mary Shelman, treasurer; and Timothy Walsh, secretary. The new slate officially took office July 1 and will serve until June 30, 2020.

Taunya A. Phillips of Lexington has been elected president of the UK Alumni Association. She earned a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from the UK College of Engineering in 1987 and an MBA from the UK Gatton College of Business and Economics in 2004. She is serving her second three-year term on the UK Alumni Association Board of Directors. Phillips has held committee leadership positions with the association, including chairwoman of Nominating for Board and Diversity and Group Development, and vice-chairwoman of Nominating for Board. She has also served on the Club Development and Budget, Finance and Investments committees. She was a 2015 recipient of the UK Alumni Association Distinguished Service Award. She is the senior associate director of New Ventures and Alliances in the UK Office of Technology Commercialization. Phillips is a past president of the UK College of Engineering Alumni Association Board and currently serves on the UK College of Engineering Dean’s Advisory Council. She is married to Bryan Mitchell.

Hannah Miner Myers of Madisonville, Kentucky, has been elected president-elect of the UK Alumni Association. She graduated in 1994 with a bachelor’s degree in middle school education from the UK College of Education. She was a member of Delta Delta Delta sorority, a student ambassador and a Student Development Council member. Myers has a second bachelor’s degree in interior design and has a double master’s degree in education and education administration. She served eight years on the Madisonville City Council and is serving her second term on the Hopkins County Fiscal Court as a magistrate for District 7. She is an active community member and has served on the Economic Development Council, Community Foundation Board, the Chamber of Commerce (past chairwoman), Tourism Board and the Cardinal Garden Club (past president). Myers is employed by Murray State University as an adjunct professor of education on the regional campus in Madisonville. She is a UK Alumni Association Life Member, UK Fellow and is active with the local Hopkins County UK Alumni Club. She is married to Bradley Myers.

Mary L. Shelman of Belmont, Massachusetts, was elected treasurer of the UK Alumni Association. She graduated with high distinction in 1981 with a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering. She held engineering and marketing positions with Texaco before attending Harvard Business School, where she completed an MBA and was awarded a dean’s doctoral fellowship for further research in economics and marketing at Harvard University. A native of Elizabethtown, Kentucky, where she still owns a farm, Shelman has spent the last 30 years in the global agribusiness and food industry. Shelman is the former director of the Harvard Business School Agribusiness Program; was chairman of the board of RiceTec Inc., a fully integrated agribusiness company; and has served on boards of various international companies and industry associations. She is a past-president of the International Food and Agribusiness Management Association (IFAMA) and was named an IFAMA Fellow for her contributions to the industry. She is a Life Member of the UK Alumni Association and a founding member of the Kentuckians of Boston. She is also active in her local community, where she has served as president of the board of English At Large, an adult literacy organization. She and her husband, Nathan “Chip” Cohen, have one son, AJ.

Tim Walsh of Lexington is secretary for the UK Alumni Association. Walsh joined the association in 2017 as the associate vice president for alumni engagement and executive director, having served more than 25 years in alumni affairs at other universities. He is a Life Member of the UK Alumni Association and a member of the Wildcat Society, as well as Mortar Board, Phi Kappa Phi and Omicron Delta Kappa. He holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Mississippi.

The UK Alumni Association is committed to fostering lifelong engagement among alumni, friends, the association and the university. For more information about the UK Alumni Association, visit www.ukalumni.net or call 800-269-2586.

This article originally appeared on UKNOW

Photo: The University of Kentucky Alumni Association officers are (from left) Tim Walsh, secretary; Taunya A. Phillips, president; Hannah Miner Myers, president-elect; and Mary Shelman, treasurer. Photo by Tim Webb.