John Phillip Cougill ’69
A nnita Palmer Nelson
D. Scott Showalter ’73
Irma Hermes Smart
Richmond, VA
Ferrum, VA
Raleigh,NC
Axton, VA
LEADERSHIP
Board Welcomes New Trustees
Hon. M artin (M arty) Edward Williams Richmond, VA
John Phillip Cougill ’69 of Richmond, VA, played football and track at Ferrum Junior College and was a member of the 1968 NJCAA National Football Championship team. After receiving his AA at Ferrum, he transferred to RandolphMacon College, earned a football scholarship and graduated with a BA in history. He taught in the Hanover County school system before starting his real estate career in 1977, eventually founding Seven Hills Realty, Inc., a company focused on small to medium income-producing property, residential sales and property management. John is a past member of the Museum District Association, past president of the Society of Alumni at Randolph-Macon and past Chairman of the school’s Presidents Society, and served four terms on the Randolph-Macon Board of Trustees. John and his wife Alison have two children and attend Reveille UMC in Richmond. They make frequent trips to Deltaville, VA, where they fish, read and enjoy boating and hunting. Annita Palmer Nelson of Ferrum, VA, is the newest UMW appointee to the Board. She attended the Baptist Hospital School of Nursing in Nashville, TN, and received her BS in nursing from Jefferson College of Health Sciences in Roanoke. Now retired from Carilion Franklin Memorial Hospital in Rocky Mount, she serves on the boards of the Ferrum Rescue Squad and the Henry Fork Service Center, and as president of the Danville District UMC. She is a member of the Association of Women’s Health Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses and the Sons of Norway Blajfell Lodge. The mother of three, Annita is a member of St. James UMC in Ferrum. D. Scott Showalter ’73 of Raleigh, NC, is an awardwinning professor of practice in the Accounting Department at the Poole College of Management at North Carolina State University. After graduating from Ferrum, Scott earned his BS in business administration from the University of Richmond. Prior to his academic career at North Carolina State, he was an audit partner with KPMG, LLP, one of the “Big Four” auditors. Accounting Today named Scott one of the “Top 100 Most Influential People in Accounting.” His affiliations include the Federal Accounting Standards Advisory Board, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board’s Standing Advisory Group, the Three Fires Council of the Boy Scouts of America and service as an elder in the Presbyterian Church. He belongs to the American Institute
of Certified Public Accountants and the North Carolina Association of Certified Public Accountants. Scott and his wife, Elizabeth Allison Showalter ’73, who met when they were students at Ferrum, have three children. Irma Hermes Smart of Axton, VA, graduated from Roanoke College, earning degrees in both education and psychology. She taught elementary school in Virginia and Florida and worked at Martin Processing, Inc. in the textile division before becoming owner and president of Smart Machine Technologies, Inc., an international company located in Ridgeway, VA. The company is a world-class designer, fabricator and manufacturer of custom-made machinery for varied industries, including film, brewing, textiles, energy, food, furniture, mining, transportation, tobacco and the environment. Irma holds a U.S. patent for a relaxed dryer used in the textile industry and was the first woman to sit on the Executive Board of the Virginia Manufacturers Association. Now retired, Irma has served on the boards of Patrick Henry Community College, the Carlisle School, Adult Day Care and Chatmoss Country Club. She was the first woman president of Forest Park Country Club, and is a member of Chatmoss and Water’s Edge country clubs and Women in Philanthropy. The mother of five, she attends Holy Trinity Lutheran Church. The Hon. Martin (Marty) Edward Williams ’72 of Richmond, VA, was elected to the Newport News City Council in 1990 and served two terms in addition to his selection as vice mayor. He was elected to the Virginia Senate in 1995 and was chairman of the Senate’s Transportation Committee, serving three terms until 2007. In May 2014 he was appointed by the governor to serve on the Commonwealth Transportation Board. Marty has received many leadership awards, including LEAD Hampton Roads’ Courage in Leadership award and the Virginia Transit Association’s Public Transportation Leadership Award. He was named the Virginia Association of Municipal Wastewater Agencies’ Clean Water Legislator of the Year and the Treasurers Association of Virginia Legislator of the Year. He currently works as a consultant for River City Strategies, LLC. Marty and his wife, Stephanie, have four children and are active in St. James Episcopal Church.
FERRUM MAGAZINE | ANNUAL ISSUE 2014–2015
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