Current Members of the Board of Trustees
The Board of Trustees consists of sixteen members: one member from each congressional district, one member from Lee County, five at-large members, and the Governor, who is a member ex officio, with full voting powers.
Trustees are appointed by a committee, by and with the consent of the State Senate, for a term of seven years. Trustees may serve no more than two full seven-year terms. A member may continue to serve until a successor is confirmed, but in no case for more than one year after a completion of a term.
President of the Board
Governor Kay Ivey - President of Board
Montgomery, Alabama 36130
Gov. Ivey is Alabama's 54th governor, sworn in April 10, 2017, by Acting Chief Justice Lyn Stuart. She is the recipient of numerous awards, including the 2016 American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronauts Public Service Award and the 2015 ALFA Service to Agriculture Award. She was also named to Newsmax's 50 Most Influential Female Republicans in the Country.
Gov. Ivey graduated from Auburn University in 1967 and worked as a high school teacher and bank officer. She served as reading clerk of the Alabama House of Representatives under Speaker Joseph C. McCorquodale and as assistant director of the Alabama Development Office. In 2002, Gov. Ivey became the first Republican elected as state treasurer since reconstruction and was re-elected in 2006. She was then elected lieutenant governor in 2010, becoming the first Republican woman to hold the office in Alabama’s history. Re-elected in 2014, Gov. Ivey again made history by becoming the first Republican lieutenant governor re-elected to office.
Gov. Ivey is an active member of First Baptist Church of Montgomery, the Montgomery Rotary Club and the Board of Directors of the Montgomery YMCA. She is also the first Girls State alumnus to be elected to Alabama constitutional office.
B.T. Roberts - District 1
B. T. Roberts is President of Roberts Brothers Commercial and Property Management, Inc. in Mobile, a full service commercial brokerage firm that specializes in commercial sales, land and site acquisitions, property management and development activities. He has served as president of the Alabama Association of Realtors and on the Board of Directors of the National Association of Realtors. Roberts was confirmed by the Alabama Senate as an Auburn Trustee on April 10, 2012 for a seven-year term to begin May 11, 2012. His first term expired on May 10, 2019. He was reappointed by Governor Kay Ivey and confirmed by the Alabama Senate on February 13, 2020. His second term will expire on February 12, 2027.
Roberts is the former chairman of the board of the New Orleans branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta and has served on many community boards in the Mobile area. He has been greatly involved in the affairs of Auburn University – National Campaign Committee and co-chair of the Mobile/Baldwin County area; Board of Directors of the Auburn Alumni Association, etc., since his graduation in 1972 in Industrial Management.
He is married to Gale Heggeman Roberts and they attend St. Ignatius Catholic Church in Mobile.
Clark Sahlie - District 2
Clark Sahlie is a retired business owner from Montgomery. He was appointed to the Board of Trustees by Governor Robert Bentley and confirmed by the Alabama Senate on April 10, 2012 to represent the 2nd District. His first term expired on April 9, 2019, and he was reappointed to a second term by Governor Kay Ivey and confirmed by the Alabama Senate on February 13, 2020. His second term will expire on February 12, 2027.
He served as a member of several boards in the Montgomery area including The Montgomery Academy, The Alabama Forestry Association, The Montgomery YMCA Foundation, and the Montgomery Advisory Board of Oakworth Capital Bank.
He earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration from Auburn University in 1988. He is married to Cindy Ayers Sahlie, a 1985 Auburn graduate, and they have two sons, Will, a 2019 Auburn graduate, and Lee, a 2023 and 2024 Auburn graduate.
Bob Dumas - District 3 - Lee County
100 North Gay St.
Auburn, AL 36831-3110
(334) 887-2796 (Fax)
Robert W. Dumas is the retired President and CEO of AuburnBank and Auburn National Bancorporation, Inc., where he continues to serve as Chairman of the Board of Directors. Dumas was appointed to the Board of Trustees by Governor Robert Bentley and confirmed by the Alabama Senate on April 10, 2012, to represent the 3rd District. Dumas earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration with a major in finance from Auburn in 1976. His first term expired on April 9, 2022, and he was reappointed to a second term by Governor Kay Ivey and confirmed by the Alabama Senate on March 22, 2023. His second term will expire on March 21, 2030.
Dumas is actively involved in many civic and charitable organizations within the community (Lee County). Dumas previously served on the Auburn University College of Business Advisory Council, and he previously served as a Director of the Alabama Bankers Association and as Chairman of the association. He is a former Director of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. He continues to serve as a Director on the Board of the East Alabama Medical Center and as a Director on the Board of the Auburn Research Technology Foundation.
Dumas is a lifetime member of the Auburn Alumni Association and is married to the former Martha Butz, who holds two degrees from Auburn University. Their two children are graduates of Auburn University and reside in Auburn. Dumas and his wife have seven grandchildren.
James W. Rane - District 3
P.O. Box 610
Abbeville, AL 36310
(334) 585-9037 (Fax)
James W. Rane is chairman, president, and CEO of Great Southern Wood Preserving, Inc., the leading producer of pressure treated lumber in the United States. Rane has been a member of the Auburn University Board of Trustees since 1999. Following the change in the Alabama Constitution that shortened board terms from twelve to seven years, Rane was confirmed by the Alabama Senate for his first seven-year term on March 22, 2012. His first seven-year term expired on March 21, 2021, and he was reappointed to a second seven-year term on March 22, 2023. His second term will expire on March 21, 2030.
Rane, from southeast Alabama, graduated from Marion Military Institute before earning his bachelor of science in business administration at Auburn University. He received a doctor of jurisprudence from the Cumberland School of Law of Samford University. He has also successfully completed the Owner/President Management Program, the Sustainable Marketing Leadership Program, and the Families in Business: From Generation to Generation Program at the Harvard Business School.
Rane is actively involved in many civic and educational organizations. Additionally, he is president of the Jimmy Rane Foundation and actively works to raise money to fund college scholarships for deserving students.
Rane resides in Abbeville, Ala.
Vice President Pro Tempore
Jimmy Sanford - District 4 - Vice President Pro Tempore
James (Jimmy) Hopson Sanford is the former chairman of the Birmingham Branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, the National Cotton Council of America in Memphis, and a former board director of Alabama Power Company. As a student, Sanford was Commander of Sigma Nu Fraternity and graduated from Auburn University in 1968 with a bachelor's degree in business administration and in 1971 with a master of science in economics with his thesis accepted by the Ralph Brown Draughon Library. In 2021, the Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine (VCOM) awarded him the Doctor of Humanities and Letters.
Jimmy serves the following organizations: Chairperson of HOME Place Farms, Choice Cotton, Alabama Cotton Commission, EDPA Foundation, and Auburn Technology and Research Foundation; President of Autauga Quality Cotton Association and Legends Properties; Vice Chairperson of Judson College and the Judson Foundation; and, Director of VCOM. Also as a board director, he serves on a number of not for profit civic and industry organizations.
He was appointed to the Board of Trustees by Governor Robert Bentley and confirmed by the Alabama Senate on March 15, 2012, to represent the 4th District. His first term expired on March 14,2019, and he was reappointed to a second term by Governor Kay Ivey and confirmed by the Alabama Senate on February 3, 2021. His second term will expire on February 2, 2028.
He is married to Dorothy (Dot) Hardage Sanford. They have three Auburn graduated children and (spouses): Susan Jones, Catherine Porter (Walt Porter), Will Sanford (Anne Womack) and three grandchildren (Annabeth Jones (AU Class of 2026), Mack and Hardy Sanford.
William P. Ainsworth - District 5
Ainsworth was appointed to the Board of Trustees by Governor Kay Ivey and confirmed by the Alabama Senate on March 22, 2023 to represent the 5th District. His first term expires on March 21, 2030.
Ainsworth earned a bachelors degree in marketing from Auburn University in 1978. Ainsworth served as CEO of Progress Rail (a Caterpillar Company), a diversified railroad services company, for most of his career and finished his career as Group President of Caterpillars Energy and Transportation group retiring in December of 2020. He currently serves on various corporate boards as well as being active in various civic and charitable organizations.
Ainsworth resides in Guntersville with his wife, Sharon. They have three children and ten grandchildren.
Elizabeth Huntley - District 6
Elizabeth Huntley, a civil litigation attorney with Lightfoot, Franklin & White in Birmingham, was appointed to the Auburn University Board of Trustees by Gov. Robert Bentley and confirmed by the Senate on April 10, 2012, to represent the 6th District. She was re-confirmed by the Alabama Senate on March 21, 2024. Her second term will expire on March 20, 2031.
Huntley earned a bachelor's degree in political science from Auburn University in 1993, and a law degree from the University of Alabama in 1997. Huntley has served as a member of various business and civic organizations and boards. She is a committed child advocate, author, and Co-founder of the Hope Institute which helps schools build a culture of character.
She and her husband Tony Huntley '85 reside in Clanton, Alabama. They have two daughters, Ada Ruth (graduate of Auburn University) and Sarah Beth and one son, AJ.
Caroline McDonald Aderholt - District 7
Caroline Aderholt was confirmed by the Alabama Senate as an Auburn Trustee for a seven-year term to begin February 16, 2022. Her first term will expire on February 15, 2029.
Aderholt is an owner, manager and shareholder in family-owned businesses involved in farming and real estate, including McDonald Farms Partnership, Greenbrier Enterprises LLC and Armadale Properties LLC. Since 2012, she has served as committee co-chair for The Women’s Events for the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, D.C., hosting more than 400 national and 200 international women on behalf of the Congressional Spouses of the United States.
Aderholt graduated in 1990 from Birmingham-Southern College with a double major in political science and business management. Aderholt has strong ties to Auburn University. She is the daughter of Albert McDonald—an Auburn alumnus, former Alabama Commissioner of Agriculture and Industries, former Alabama state senator and prior Auburn Board of Trustees member from 1996 to 1997. Aderholt’s brother, Stan McDonald, graduated from Auburn in 1983 and was among student leaders who started Legislative Days in Montgomery that allowed Auburn students to lobby the state legislature on behalf of their university. Most recently, Aderholt’s daughter, Mary Elliott Aderholt, graduated from Auburn in 2021 with a degree in public relations and served on the Student Government Association and was president of Chi Omega sorority. Aderholt and her husband, Robert, also have a son, Robert Hayes.
In 1991, Aderholt joined the Metropolitan Development Board—the economic development agency for the five-county area surrounding Birmingham, Alabama. While there, she served as director of Medical Economic Development, being responsible for marketing Birmingham’s growing medical and research assets to prospective companies. Three years later, Aderholt continued contract work for the Economic Development Partnership of Alabama and the Business Council of Alabama, and in 1996 her husband won a bid for the U.S. Congress in the Fourth Congressional District of Alabama. In 2015, Aderholt joined Concerned Women for America as their chief of staff in Washington, D.C. and later joined their national board of directors. She completed a 12-year term on the University of Montevallo Board of Trustees in 2017 and currently serves on the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame Selection Committee.
Michael A. DeMaioribus - District 8
Michael DeMaioribus retired as executive vice president from Dynetics, Inc., a high-technology company headquartered in Huntsville, AL. He now consults through DeMaioribus Technologies LLC. He was appointed to the Board of Trustees by Governor Robert Bentley and confirmed by the Alabama Senate on February 14, 2013, to represent the 8th District. His first term expired on February 13, 2020, and he was reappointed to a second term by Governor Kay Ivey and confirmed by the Alabama Senate on February 3, 2021. His second term will expire on February 2, 2028.
DeMaioribus earned his bachelor's degree (1976) and a master's degree (1977) in electrical engineering from Auburn University.
He is married to the former Leta Hornbuckle of Huntsville. They have four married children, all of whom attended Auburn University, and nine grandchildren.
James Pratt - District 9
James Pratt, of James Pratt LLC in Birmingham, was appointed to the Board of Trustees by Gov. Robert Bentley and initially confirmed by the Alabama Senate on April 10, 2012, to represent the 9th District. His first term on the Auburn Board expired on April 9, 2019, and he was reappointed by Governor Kay Ivey and re-confirmed by the Alabama Senate on February 13, 2020. His second term will expire on February 12, 2027.
Pratt is a past president of the Alabama State Bar.
Pratt earned a bachelor's degree in english literature from Auburn University in 1972 and a law degree from Cumberland School of Law at Samford University in 1978.
He is married to the former Marcia Weems and has four children.
President Pro Tempore
Quentin P. Riggins - President Pro Tempore
Quentin Riggins is senior vice president of Governmental and Corporate Affairs for Alabama Power. His first term on the Auburn University Board of Trustees began upon his confirmation by the Alabama Senate on February 9, 2017. He was confirmed by the Alabama Senate on March 21, 2024. His second term will expire on March 20, 2031.
Riggins' past experience includes 24 years in Alabama government, including serving as a member of Gov. Bob Riley's cabinet as director of legislative affairs. He also served as a legislative affairs analyst for former Speaker of the House of Representatives Seth Hammett.
As senior vice president of the Business Council of Alabama, he led governmental affairs efforts for the organization's 5,000 members. After six successful years, Riggins began his own governmental affairs firm.
Riggins earned a bachelor's degree at Auburn in marketing and distributive education. He also was a second team All-American and All-Southeastern Conference linebacker. He's served on the Auburn Athletics Chief Operating Officer Advisory Committee and is chairman of the capital campaign for the university's Office of Inclusion and Diversity.
His additional community and civic involvement include serving on the boards of Grandview Medical Center, Voices for Alabama's Children, the Energy Institute of Alabama and the Business Council of Alabama's Progress PAC. He has previously served on the boards of Leadership Alabama and the Baptist Foundation.
He and his wife, Kimi, have one daughter Madison, a graduate of Auburn University and the University of Arkansas Law School, and they live in Trussville.
Wayne T. Smith - At-Large
Community Health Systems
P.O. Box 689020
Franklin, TN 37068-9020
Wayne T. Smith is the executive chairman of Tennessee-based Community Health Systems Inc.
Smith earned a bachelor's degree in education (1968) and a master's degree in educational administration (1969) from Auburn University, and a master's degree in healthcare administration from Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas (1972).
He was appointed to the Board of Trustees by Governor Robert Bentley and confirmed by the Alabama Senate on February 14, 2013, as an At-Large representative. His first term expired on February 13, 2020, and he was reappointed to a second term by Governor Kay Ivey and confirmed by the Alabama Senate on February 3, 2021. His second term will expire on February 2, 2028.
He is married to Cheryl Smith. They have one daughter.
Zeke Smith - At-Large
Zeke Smith was confirmed by the Alabama Senate as an Auburn Trustee for a seven-year term to begin February 16, 2022. His first term will expire on February 15, 2029.
Smith serves as Alabama Power’s executive vice president of external affairs and is responsible for governmental relations, corporate affairs, regulatory affairs, environmental affairs, public relations and charitable giving. He also serves as chairman of the Alabama Power Foundation’s Board of Directors.
Smith has served across multiple business units of the company, including marketing, corporate planning, financial planning and external affairs. Prior to his current position, he worked as vice president of financial and regulatory planning, vice president of regulatory services and director of regulatory and pricing. Smith earned a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering from Auburn and his master’s degree in business administration from Samford University.
Smith is a member of the Auburn Alumni Engineering Council, a member of the McCrary Institute Advisory Council, the benefactor of the Zeke and Darlene Smith Endowed Scholarship for Engineering, the benefactor of the Zeke and Darlene Smith Ever Auburn Scholarship, a member of the Keystone Society, a member of the Katherine Cooper Cater Circle of the Foy Society, the recipient of the Industrial and Systems Engineering Outstanding Alumni Award and the recipient of the Distinguished Auburn Engineer Award.
Smith also has been recognized with Yellowhammer News’ Most Influential Alabamian Award and was a 2019 inductee into the State of Alabama Engineering Hall of Fame. He served as chairman of the Alabama Workforce Council and president of the Commission Advisory Council of Innovate Alabama. Smith serves as a member of the Board of Trustees of Samford University and the Board of Directors of the Business Council of Alabama. Smith and his wife, Darlene, have three children: Drew, Heather, and Lindsey, and five grandchildren.
Timothy Vines – At-Large
450 Riverchase Parkway East
Birmingham, AL 35244
Mr. Timothy Vines serves as President and Chief Executive Officer of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama. Mr. Vines received his bachelor’s degree in finance from Auburn University in 1988. Mr. Vines was appointed by Governor Kay Ivey to fill the remainder of General Lloyd Austin’s term on the Board of Trustees and was unanimously confirmed by the Alabama Senate on April 15, 2021. He was re-confirmed by the Alabama Senate for a seven-year term on March 21, 2024. Mr. Vines is married to Antoinette (Toni) Vines. Mr. and Mrs. Vines have three daughters and two grandchildren. Mr. Vines’ daughter, Hannah, graduated from Auburn University.
Walt Woltosz – At-Large
Mr. Walt Woltosz holds a bachelor’s and master’s from Auburn University in Aerospace Engineering, 1969 and 1977, and a master’s in administrative sciences from the University of Huntsville. He worked as an electronics engineer with the Federal Aviation Administration and later with Northrop Services developing simulation/optimization computer programming for the space shuttle ascent trajectory. In 1981, he established Words+, Inc, a company that designs, manufactures, and sells computer-based communication systems. His work in this area radically transformed the way in which people with disabilities communicate. In 1986, Mr. Woltosz and his team developed the first system with adaptive word prediction and developed the comprehensive ACES (Augmentative Communication Evaluation System) the largest software development project undertaken in the field.
Mr. Woltosz was confirmed by the Alabama Senate on March 21, 2024, for a seven-year term that will expire on March 20, 2031. Mr. Woltosz is married to Ginger Woltosz. They have five children Stephen, Tanya, Rachel, Daniel, and Jennifer.
