Mercer University’s Board of Trustees installed nine new members, elected new officers and approved two new degree programs during its annual Homecoming meeting today.
 
New trustees who began their five-year terms at the conclusion of today’s meeting include William H. (Billy) Anderson II, Mercer graduate and chairman and CEO of Southern Trust Corp. and Southern Trust Insurance Co., Macon; Thomas P. (Tom) Bishop, a double Mercer graduate and senior vice president, general counsel, and chief compliance officer at Georgia Power Company, Acworth; Dwight Davis, a graduate of Mercer Law School, co-owner and managing partner of King Springs Pecans in Hawkinsville, and retired partner with Atlanta’s King and Spalding law firm; the Hon. Sarah L. Doyle, chief judge for the Georgia Court of Appeals and Mercer Law School graduate, Atlanta; Margaret (Maggie) Gill, president and CEO of Memorial Health in Savannah; Robert F. Hatcher Sr., president and CEO of MidCountry Financial Corp., Macon; James Thomas (Tom) McAfee III, Mercer graduate and chairman and president of Hallmark Systems Inc., Macon; the Hon. Maxine Cynthia (Cindy) Morris, double Mercer graduate and Georgia Superior Court judge, Dalton; and Dr. Barbara Brown Taylor, author, priest and lecturer, Demorest.
 
Trustees who rotated off the board and were recognized for their service include Cathy Callaway Adams of Marietta; Malcolm S. Burgess Jr. of Macon; John W. Collier of Macon; Milton L. Cruz of San Juan, Puerto Rico; Linda Willis of Atlanta; Nancy Grace of Atlanta; N. Dudley Horton Jr. of Eatonton; Carolyn Townsend McAfee of Macon; and William L. Self of Johns Creek.
 
Tommy Malone, an Atlanta attorney and Mercer Law School graduate, was elected chair of the Board of Trustees, and Dr. Spencer B. King III, an Atlanta cardiologist and graduate of Mercer’s College of Liberal Arts, was elected chair of the board’s Executive Committee.
 
In other action, the board approved a new master’s degree in comparative jurisprudence in the School of Law and a master’s degree in health informatics in Penfield College of Mercer University.
 
The master’s in comparative jurisprudence is designed to give foreign lawyers both academic and practical training with a focus on international business and trade law. It will be offered beginning in summer 2016, subject to approval by the American Bar Association. The one-year program will be the only one of its kind in the Southeast and will involve study on both the Macon and Atlanta campuses.
 
The master’s in health informatics will be delivered entirely online by Mercer’s Penfield College. It is designed for information technology and healthcare professionals who want to expand their knowledge and skills in the evolving field of health informatics, which involves the acquisition, storage, retrieval, integration and use of healthcare information through computing and communication technologies. The program will be offered beginning in fall 2016.