Wednesday, July 11, 2018 Fairhope, Alabama: Presiding District Judge, Michelle Thomason, has been tapped to join the newly formed Board of Directors of the University of Mobile Foundation. The Foundation, dormant for many years, has been re-purposed with a new vision by the University’s President, Dr. Tim Smith, and Foundation Director, Tonya Gollotte. The Foundation will serve to support the University and its Board of Trustees, while managing and investing the top-ranked liberal arts school’s endowment.
The University, formerly Mobile College, was established in 1961 and sits on over 880 beautiful wooded acres in north Mobile. It is ranked as one of the top colleges and universities in the region and in the south, both by U.S. News and World Report and by College Census. It is a Baptist-affiliated, Christ-centered liberal arts and sciences institution with a vision of higher education for a higher purpose. Under the new leadership of Dr. Tim Smith, the University is building upon its heritage of faith while working toward even stronger academics (including two new doctoral programs) and continued growth in the spiritual formation of students. The resurrection of the University’s Foundation is a key component in these goals, as well as in expanding community partnerships.
A proud alumnus of the University, Thomason graduated with a BS in Business Administration in 1992, and was in the last class to graduate from Mobile College before the school became University of Mobile. Her son and two stepsons, as well as all three daughters-in-law, are also UM graduates. Judge Thomason went on to graduate from Tulane School of Law in 1995, before practicing law in south Alabama and becoming a judge in Baldwin County. “The University of Mobile provided me and other members of my family with a tremendous Christian education, and laid a rock-solid foundation for me to further my education in the law”, stated Judge Thomason. “I am honored to be asked to serve on the Foundation Board, and I look forward to the opportunity to give something back to the University that has given so much to me.”