TROY, Ala. – Troy University Chancellor Jack Hawkins, Jr. has announced the selection of five Chancellor’s Fellows for 2007.

Selected were: Sohail Agboatwala, director of auxiliary services; Jerry Johnson, chairman of the Department of Art and Design, and Dr. Jeff Spurlock, assistant professor journalism, all of the Troy Campus.  Also selected were Dr. Maureen Hannay, associate professor of management/human resource management, the University’s Florida Region, and Dr. Marty Olliff, director of the Archives of Wiregrass History and Culture and associate professor of history, of the Dothan Campus.

The Chancellor’s Faculty and Staff Fellowship Program enables qualified full-time faculty and staff to develop increased knowledge and understanding of the programs and operations of Troy University. Participants, selected because of their leadership potential and past service to the University, will work under the direction of Dr. John A. Kline, director of the TROY Institute for Leadership Development. Each fellow is mentored by the chancellor or one of the University’s senior vice chancellors.

The program, which spans the spring academic semester, enables participants to receive on-the-job training and education, observe first-hand how the institution solves problems and meets challenges, gain new ideas and perspectives on broad institutional concerns and become more astute and better informed about the operations of the university as a whole.

Fellows will have the opportunity to visit other campuses, benefit from briefings and meetings with senior University officials and take part in several field trips and visits with military leaders, chief executive officers and state government officials, Kline said.

The group will also work together on a project that will benefit the University. Past fellow’s projects have included a comprehensive proposal for a Troy Teaching Academy, a study related to the “One Great University” initiative, a study of the enrollment process at Troy University, Study Abroad Opportunities for faculty and students and a study of strategies to increase participation in the seeking and receiving of grants.

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Dr. John A. Kline, director of the Troy University Institute for Leadership Development, (left) and TROY Chancellor Jack Hawkins, Jr. (right) are shown with the University’s 2007 Chancellor’s Fellows. The Fellows, selected because of their leadership potential and past service to the University, are (left to right) Dr. Maureen Hannay, associate professor of management/human resources management for the University’s Florida Region; Dr. Marty Olliff, director of the Archives of Wiregrass History and Culture and associate professor of history at TROY’s Dothan Campus; Jerry Johnson, chair of the Department of Art and Design; Sohail Agboatwala, director of auxiliary services; and Dr. Jeff Spurlock, assistant professor of journalism.

Biographies of Troy University’s 2007 Chancellor’s Fellows

Sohail Agboatwala is director of auxiliary services and student activities for Troy University with responsibility for operations including bookstores, post office, golf course, transaction and identification card systems and many other facilities and student activities. Agboatwala earned his B.S. in Economics in 1991 and Masters in Business Administration in 1993 from TROY. From 1991-2004, he worked with the University’s athletics department, instituting many initiatives including an academic support program for student athletes and a football television program.  Agboatwala is a 2004 graduate of the NCAA Leadership Institute for Ethnic Minority Males and is active in various academic and civic organizations in the Troy community.  He has lived in Troy since his arrival from India in 1988. Agboatwala and his wife, Cissy, have an 8-year-old daughter and a 5-year-old son.

Maureen Hannay is an associate professor of management/human resource management at Troy University.  She received her B.A. from the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada.  Hannay earned her Master’s Degree in Industrial Relations and Ph.D. in Industrial Relations/Human Resource Management from the University of Toronto (Canada).  Prior to entering academia she worked as a human resources manager in both the oil and banking industries. She has published in numerous professional journals and presented at both national and international conferences.  Her research interests include the application and assessment of management principles in the workplace, along with the growing role of online learning in higher education.  She was elected Faculty Member of the Year in University College of Troy University in 2002-2003. Hannay and her husband Mike reside in Panama City Beach, FL.

Jerry Johnson is chairman of the Department of Art and Design at TROY and has previously taught at both Oklahoma State University and Southern Arkansas University where he was also chairman of the Department of Art for nine years.  Johnson’s B.A in graphic design and Master of Education in art education are from Southwestern Oklahoma State University.  His M.F.A in graphic design is from Louisiana Tech University.   He exhibits analog and digital works of fine art in national and international juried exhibitions, manages a growing academic department, is a sought after consultant in industry, speaks at national and international conferences, has won numerous ADDY awards and is recognized nationally for his excellent design work.  He recently received a grant to develop an International Collaboration and Creativity center at TROY.  Johnson and his wife, Lana, have two children: Aaron, who is a senior at Charles Henderson High School in Troy, and Nikki, who is a freshman at TROY.

Marty Olliff is director of the Archives of Wiregrass History and Culture and associate professor of history at Troy University and in 2006 served as interim directory of the University’s library on the Dothan Campus.  Olliff earned his B.S. in Education in 1976 and M.A. in European History in 1979 from Auburn University.  He worked as a cook and chef in Oregon until 1992 when he returned to Auburn, completing his doctorate in American History in 1998.  He became assistant university archivist in 1996 and taught classes at Columbus State University before accepting his current appointment in 2002.  He is past president of the Society of Alabama Archivists and Alabama Association of Historians.  He also serves on the board of the Alabama Humanities Foundation, the Historic Chattahoochee Commission, and the Dothan Landmarks Foundation, Inc.  Olliff and his wife, Liz, have three daughters.

Jeff Spurlock, a native of Nashville, TN, received his B.A. in Broadcasting from Western Kentucky University, his M.S. in Mass Communication from Middle Tennessee State University and his Ph.D. in Mass Communication from The University of Southern Mississippi. For 15 years, Jeff was an award winning news anchor, reporter, producer and managing editor at television stations in Tennessee, Kentucky, and Indiana.  He joined Troy University’s Hall School of Journalism as a broadcast journalism professor in 2001. In addition, Jeff serves as chairman of the University’s Undergraduate Academic Council and the Athletics Advisory Committee.  He is married to the former Amy Yoder (a nursing professor at TROY), and has four children, Stephanie, Jeb, Bobby and Sam.