Did You Know? New UNC Board of Governors Members | Eastern North Carolina Now

Publisher's Note: This post appears here courtesy of The James G. Martin Center. The author of this post is Shannon Watkins.

    In March, the North Carolina legislature appointed five new members to the University of North Carolina Board of Governors. The new members will start their terms on July 1 and will attend their first full round of meetings on July 21 and 22.

    The new members are:

• John Fraley, House appointee
• Kirk Bradley, Senate appointee
• Lee Roberts, Senate appointee
• Sonja Nichols, Senate appointee
• Joel Ford, Senate appointee

    Fraley is a former state representative from Iredell county. He served as chairman of two higher education-related committees: the education-universities committee and the appropriations on education committee. Fraley is also on the board of directors of MyFutureNC, a non-profit organization focused on educational attainment. He attended UNC-Chapel Hill as an undergraduate where he received a bachelor of science degree in business administration.

    Bradley is a real estate developer who lives in Chapel Hill. He earned his MBA in finance and real estate from Duke University.

    Roberts was a state budget director under former Gov. Pat McCrory. He is the co-founder of the investment firm SharpVue Capital. He earned his bachelor's degree from Duke University and his JD from Georgetown University.

    Nichols is a businesswoman from Charlotte and a former candidate for the state Senate. She is CEO of Nicholant Enterprises, a security-services firm. Nichols received a bachelor of science degree in accounting and an MBA from Florida A&M University.

    Ford is a former state senator from Charlotte. He is senior vice president of sales and operations for Partners Risk Strategies, a "commercial insurance intermediary." Ford received a bachelor's degree in business administration from North Carolina A&T University.

    During the BOG meeting in May, the following board members were thanked and honored for their service to the university system and the state:

• R. Doyle Parrish
• Marty Kotis
• Steven Long
• Dwight Stone