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Peter White, founder and former president of The Southern Center for International Studies, graduated from Fordham University, attended the Academy of International Law at The Hague and the National War College. He has more than thirty years of experience in international programming, and advises a number of governors, university, and state government officials and corporations.

Georgia Labor Commissioner and noted historian Michael L. Thurmond was born in rural Clarke County, Georgia on January 5, 1953, the youngest of the nine children of Sidney and Vanilla Thurmond. For eleven years he attended all black schools, graduating from consolidated Clarke Senior High School in 1971 as co-president of the student council and holder of the 100-yard dash record. At Paine College he started a student paper, was class president and graduated cum laude with B.A. in philosophy and religion in 1975. He graduated from the University of South Carolina Law School. In the summer of 1975, he helped start the black *Athens Voice newspaper* and upon graduation from law school in 1978, published *A Story Untold: Black Men and Women in Athens History*. Thurmond returned to Athens to practice law and took an active role in civic affairs. In 1986, he became the first African American to be elected to the Georgia General Assembly from Clarke County since Reconstruction. In 1994, Governor Zell Miller selected Thurmond to head Georgia's transition from welfare to work. He became distinguished practitioner/lecturer at the University of Georgia's Carl Vinson Institute of Government. Thurmond became the first African American elected Georgia State Labor Commissioner in 1998. As commissioner, he oversees some four thousand employees while serving 90,000 families. Thurmond chairs the Martin Luther King, Jr. Georgia State Holiday Commission, and serves on the board of curators of the Georgia Historical Society. He published a second book entitled, *Freedom: An African American History of Georgia*. Thurmond and his wife Zola have a daughter and are members of the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Athens, Georgia.

Dr. John Wells Kuykendall, PhD, DD, received a Bachelor of Divinity from Union Theological Seminary, a Master of Sacred Theology from Yale Divinity School, and a MA and PhD from Princeton University. Prior to accepting the presidency of Davidson College, Kuykendall served as the Presbyterian campus pastor for Princeton University. He also served as professor of religion and campus pastor for Auburn University. In 1982, he was awarded the Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award and was selected as the Outstanding Teacher in the School of Arts of Sciences for Auburn University. During his tenure as president, Davidson College completed a $160 million capital campaign, the largest financial campaign ever mounted by a liberal arts college at the time. Davidson also witnessed the construction of Baker Sports Complex and the Visual Arts Center, and six upperclassmen apartment buildings. Two programs receiving national attention were, also, added to the college curriculum: the Dean Rusk Program in International Studies and the medical humanities program.

Jack Riggs’ writing has been published in *The Crescent Review*, *The Chattahoochee Review*, *The Habersham Review*, and *Writing, Making It Real*. In 2000, he was selected as an “Emerging New Southern Voice” at the Millennial Gathering of Writers of the New South at Vanderbilt University. He has been a finalist in the Glimmer Train Fiction contest and was nominated for a Pushcart Prize.

Reginald Hudlin is a writer, producer, director and executive in the modern black film movement, creating movies such as House Party, Boomerang and Bebe's Kids. His work in television includes producing and directing The Bernie Mac Show, directing the pilot of the hit series Everybody Hates Chris and executive producing the animated series The Boondocks. Hudlin was also the first President of Entertainment for Black Entertainment Television, creating 17 of the top 20 rated shows in the history of the network. Hudlin sits on the boards of the Black Filmmaker Foundation, the UCLA Film, Television and Theatre Department, and the Hollywood Television and Radio Society.

Jack M. Wilson is the 25th President of the five-campus, 60,000-student University of Massachusetts System- serving since September 2, 2003. During his career, he has served various institutions as Professor of Physics, Department Chair, Research Center Director, Dean, Vice President, Provost, and a private sector entrepreneur. At the University of Massachusetts, he served previously as the Vice President for Academic Affairs and as founding CEO of UMassOnline. Prior to arriving at UMass, Wilson was the J. Erik Jonsson '22 Distinguished Professor of Physics, Engineering Science, Information Technology, and Management at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, where he also had served as a Dean, Research Center Director, and Provost. Before being appointed at Rensselaer, he served at the University of Maryland, College Park and as an officer of the American Association of Physics Teachers, the American Institute of Physics, and the American Physical Society. Wilson is nationally and internationally known for his leadership in the reform of higher education programs, winning the Theodore Hesburgh Award, the Boeing Award, and the Pew Charitable Trust Prize for his innovative programs. He was awarded an Outstanding Civilian Service Medal by the U.S. Army for service to the Army Education program. Wilson earned his bachelor's degree at Thiel College in 1967, his master's degree in 1970 and his doctorate in 1972 in Physics, both from Kent State University.

China Martens is the editor of *The Future Generation*, a zine for subculture parents, kids, friends and others. She has a short story published in *Breeder: Real Life Stories from the New Generation of Mothers* and is a columnist for *Slug and Lettuce*I was...a student nurse

Former First Lady Rosalynn Carter has worked for more than three decades to improve the quality of life for people around the world. She is an advocate for mental health, early childhood immunization, human rights, and conflict resolution through her work at The Carter Center in Atlanta. She also champions professional and family caregivers through her work at the Rosalynn Carter Institute for Caregiving at Georgia Southwestern State University in Americus, Georgia, near her home town of Plains, GA.