Co-owner, Atlanta Hawks; first ballot Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame inductee
U.S. Army Lieutenant General (Ret.), 44th Army Surgeon General and Former Commanding General of the U.S. Army Medical Command
University of Florida Athletic Association, Executive Associate Athletics Director for Administration
Lynda Tealer joined the University of Florida Athletic Association staff in 2003, was elevated to Senior Associate Athletics Director - Senior Woman Administrator in 2007, and then to Executive Associate Athletics Director for Administration in 2012.
Tealer oversees the sports health, information and technology, and human resources departments, while supervising the men’s basketball, softball and volleyball programs. She headed the committee that explored and added the program’s 21st varsity sport, lacrosse, and she’s overseen University of Florida athletic programs that have collected 31 conference titles and five NCAA Championship trophies since 2003.
A current member of the NCAA Division I Council, Tealer began serving as the committee’s vice chair in July of 2021.
Tealer came to the UAA from the Southland Conference, where she was an Associate Commissioner. Prior to joining the Southland Conference, Tealer was at Santa Clara University (SCU) for four years as the compliance director, was elevated to SCU’s Assistant Athletics Director for Student-Athlete Services and senior woman administrator and, in 1999, was appointed Assistant Athletic Director for Intercollegiate Sports.
While at SCU, Tealer was named to the NCAA Division I Management Council as the Division I-AAA at-large representative. She then assumed the West Coast Conference representative position and later rejoined the Council as the Southland Conference representative in 2001. She also was a member of the NCAA Minority Opportunities and Interests Committee.
Tealer is a 1992 graduate of the University of San Diego, where she earned a degree in business administration while playing basketball. She also possesses a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Texas at Austin School of Law, where she was a member of the Thurgood Marshall Legal Society.
Director of Athletics and Associate Vice President, West Virginia University
In recognition of Shane Lyons’ leadership in helping West Virginia University (WVU) student-athletes succeed in the classroom and in competition, he was named 2021 NACDA Athletics Director of the Year. With his focus on the student-athlete and their development, Lyons has served on numerous national athletics committees.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Lyons chaired the Football Oversight Committee, helping make adjustments to allow for a 2020 season. He is also a member of the NCAA Council, serving as the 2021-2022 chair. Additionally, Lyons served on the NCAA Working Group on Transfers, the Football Competition Committee, and the NCAA Wrestling Academics Enhancement Working Group.
Lyons has also been chair of the Big 12 Athletic Directors Committee, a member of the Big 12 Administration Committee, Finance and Budget Committee and the Game Management and Officiating Subcommittee, as well as serving on numerous other national committees. His fundraising and planning efforts resulted in more than $200 million in WVU athletic facilities improvements.
Prior to coming to WVU, Lyons spent more than three years as the Deputy Director of Athletics and Chief Operating Officer at the University of Alabama. Before that, he spent 10 years as an Associate Commissioner at the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), focusing on conference-wide compliance and academic initiatives, as well as serving as the ACC’s Human Resources Manager. Lyons has also served as Associate Athletics Director at Texas Tech, as an NCAA Senior Membership Services Representative and as Assistant Commissioner for Compliance and Championships for the Big South Conference.
President, University of San Diego
James T. Harris III has served as the president and a professor of education at the University of San Diego (USD) since 2015. During his time as president, USD has been recognized for its work in environmental sustainability, diversity and inclusion, and advancing the public good. For example, in 2021 The Princeton Review ranked USD among the 50 most “green” colleges.
In 2021, USD launched the Horizon Project, a five-year initiative designed to move USD into the forefront of Catholic higher education by following Pope Francis’ guidance that as a Catholic community we must be more “open, inclusive and welcoming.” In the fall of 2021, USD enrolled its most diverse class of students in its history. Last year, USD was ranked #1 in the nation for public service by Washington Monthly magazine. In 2017, the university was recognized as having the most beautiful campus in America by The Princeton Review. USD athletic teams compete in the West Coast Conference and Pioneer Football League.
Dr. Harris also holds the title of President Emeritus of Widener University and earlier in his career served as the President of Defiance College. Dr. Harris has served in leadership roles on several national education associations including CASE, NCAA, Campus Compact, NAICU, CUMU as well as on multiple other state and local governing boards. He currently serves as the Vice Chair of the Monarch School Project in San Diego, a public k-12 school dedicated to serving children who are unhoused.
He has been named one of the Top Fifty Character Building Presidents in the Nation by the John Templeton Foundation, received the Chief Executive Leadership Award by the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education, and has been recognized by the NAACP and for his work in support of civil rights. His alma maters have formally recognized him for his service to society, and the Pennsylvania State University Board of Trustees awarded him the distinguished alumnus award, the highest honor given to a graduate. He remains an active scholar and teacher.
U.S. Army Lieutenant General (Ret.), 44th Army Surgeon General and Former Commanding General of the U.S. Army Medical Command
Lieutenant General (Ret) Nadja West is the 44th U.S. Army Surgeon General, and the former Commanding General of U.S. Army Medical Command (USAMEDCOM). In 2015, West became the first African American woman 3-Star General in the Army’s history and is the highest-ranking woman to ever graduate from the United States Military Academy West Point.
A graduate of George Washington School of Medicine, West completed residencies in Family Medicine and Dermatology, and has held various clinical, operational and leadership positions throughout her 30+ year career as a U.S. Soldier.
West served as a Hauser Leader at the Harvard Kennedy School Center for Public Leadership from 2019 to 2020 and serves on the boards of directors for Johnson & Johnson, Nucor Corporation and Tenet Healthcare Corporation. She is a trustee of the National Recreation Foundation, an organization dedicated to enhancing the role of recreation as a positive force in improving the quality of life of youth. She is also a trustee of Americares, a non-profit that saves lives and improves health for people affected by poverty or disaster so they can reach their full potential. West was recently selected as a trustee of the board of Mount St. Mary’s University and as a board member of the Bob Woodruff Foundation.
U.S. Army Lieutenant General (Ret.), 44th Army Surgeon General and Former Commanding General of the U.S. Army Medical Command
Lieutenant General (Ret) Nadja West is the 44th U.S. Army Surgeon General, and the former Commanding General of U.S. Army Medical Command (USAMEDCOM). In 2015, West became the first African American woman 3-Star General in the Army’s history and is the highest-ranking woman to ever graduate from the United States Military Academy West Point.
A graduate of George Washington School of Medicine, West completed residencies in Family Medicine and Dermatology, and has held various clinical, operational and leadership positions throughout her 30+ year career as a U.S. Soldier.
West served as a Hauser Leader at the Harvard Kennedy School Center for Public Leadership from 2019 to 2020 and serves on the boards of directors for Johnson & Johnson, Nucor Corporation and Tenet Healthcare Corporation. She is a trustee of the National Recreation Foundation, an organization dedicated to enhancing the role of recreation as a positive force in improving the quality of life of youth. She is also a trustee of Americares, a non-profit that saves lives and improves health for people affected by poverty or disaster so they can reach their full potential. West was recently selected as a trustee of the board of Mount St. Mary’s University and as a board member of the Bob Woodruff Foundation.
U.S. Army Lieutenant General (Ret.), 44th Army Surgeon General and Former Commanding General of the U.S. Army Medical Command
Lieutenant General (Ret) Nadja West is the 44th U.S. Army Surgeon General, and the former Commanding General of U.S. Army Medical Command (USAMEDCOM). In 2015, West became the first African American woman 3-Star General in the Army’s history and is the highest-ranking woman to ever graduate from the United States Military Academy West Point.
A graduate of George Washington School of Medicine, West completed residencies in Family Medicine and Dermatology, and has held various clinical, operational and leadership positions throughout her 30+ year career as a U.S. Soldier.
West served as a Hauser Leader at the Harvard Kennedy School Center for Public Leadership from 2019 to 2020 and serves on the boards of directors for Johnson & Johnson, Nucor Corporation and Tenet Healthcare Corporation. She is a trustee of the National Recreation Foundation, an organization dedicated to enhancing the role of recreation as a positive force in improving the quality of life of youth. She is also a trustee of Americares, a non-profit that saves lives and improves health for people affected by poverty or disaster so they can reach their full potential. West was recently selected as a trustee of the board of Mount St. Mary’s University and as a board member of the Bob Woodruff Foundation.
Robert Gates served as the 22nd Secretary of Defense (2006-2011) and is the only Secretary of Defense in U.S. history to be asked to remain in that office by a newly elected President. President Barack Obama was the eighth president Gates served. He previously served under President George W. Bush. On Gates's last day in office, President Barack Obama awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom, America's highest civilian honor.
Before becoming Secretary of Defense in 2006, Gates was the president of Texas A&M University, one of the nation’s largest universities. Prior to assuming the Texas A&M presidency on August 1, 2002, he served as interim dean of the George Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M from 1999 to 2001.
Gates joined the Central Intelligence Agency in 1966 and spent nearly 27 years as an intelligence professional. During that period, he spent nearly nine years at the National Security Council, the White House, serving four presidents of both political parties.
Gates served as Director of Central Intelligence from 1991 until 1993. He is the only career officer in CIA's history to rise from entry-level employee to director. He served as Deputy Director of Central Intelligence from 1986 until 1989 and as assistant to the president and deputy national security adviser at the White House from January 20, 1989 until November 6, 1991, for President George H.W. Bush.
Gates has been awarded the National Security Medal, the Presidential Citizens Medal, has three times received the National Intelligence Distinguished Service Medal, and has three times received CIA's highest award, the Distinguished Intelligence Medal.
He is the author of four books, Exercise of Power: American Failures, Successes, and a New Path Forward in the Post-Cold War World, published in 2020, A Passion For Leadership: Lessons on Change and Reform from Fifty Years of Public Service, published in 2016, Duty: Memoirs of a Secretary at War, published in 2014, and From the Shadows: The Ultimate Insider's Story of Five Presidents and How They Won the Cold War, published in 1996.
Gates currently is a partner in the consulting firm, Rice, Hadley, Gates & Manuel, LLC, with former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and former National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley. He is a member of the national executive board of the Boy Scouts of America, where he served as president of the National Eagle Scout Association from 1996-2006 and National President of the Boy Scouts of America from 2014-2016. He has also served on the board of directors of Starbucks, the board of directors and executive committee of the American Council on Education, the board of directors of the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges.
A native of Kansas, Gates received his bachelor's degree from the College of William & Mary, his master's degree in history from Indiana University and his doctorate in Russian and Soviet history from Georgetown University. In 1967, he was commissioned a second lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force and served as an intelligence officer at Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri.
In February 2012, Gates was installed as chancellor of the College of William & Mary. He is the first William & Mary alumnus in the modern era to serve as chancellor of the college. In May of 2018, Gates succeeded General Colin Powell as National Chairman of the Eisenhower Fellowships.
One of the most accomplished NBA and college players of his generation, Grant Hill was officially inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame as a first-ballot member of the 2018 class. The seven-time NBA All-Star and two-time NCAA Champion made the successful transition from 19 years as a professional athlete to a successful business leader.
With a variety of college and professional experiences, both on and off the court, the NBA Retired Players Association named Hill a board member and an officer. Hill also serves on the Board of Directors for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and Lake Highland Preparatory School.
Shortly after he entered the NBA in 1994, Hill established Hill Ventures, a private company through which he has successfully invested in commercial real estate ventures including several multi-family complexes and other commercial real estate in Florida, Arizona, North Caroline and Washington, D.C. Hill is a featured speaker before business, academic and large sales audiences addressing a range of topics including the NBA, the importance of teamwork, the private entity business, art, music and contemporary culture.
Prior to the NBA, Hill was a two-time national champion at Duke University. He spent four years playing for the Blue Devils and was inducted into the Duke Athletics Hall of Fame Class of 2016 for his contributions to the program. Hill was named the 2017 recipient of the NCAA President’s Gerald R. Ford Award, recognizing his significant leadership as an advocate for college sports.
Jere Morehead
22nd President of the University of Georgia
President Jere W. Morehead began his tenure as the 22nd University of Georgia President on July 1, 2013. Under his leadership, the University has risen in the rankings of the best public colleges and universities and has completed a series of initiatives to enhance student learning and success, including a requirement for experiential learning for all undergraduates.
Additionally, the University completed the most successful capital campaign in its history, raising $1.45 billion, and launched an Innovation District initiative to create UGA’s campus of the future, where students and faculty will partner with industry to generate ideas and solutions to continue the University’s role as a powerful driver of economic development in Georgia. During President Morehead’s tenure, UGA has increased its research expenditures by 41% and has been ranked among the top five universities in the U.S. for research-based products reaching the marketplace for the past five years. UGA was ranked No. 1 in the nation for FY2017.
In keeping with his focus on student success, President Morehead launched the ALL Georgia Program to support students from rural areas and created the Double Dawgs program, which enables students to save time and money by earning an undergraduate and graduate degree in five years or less. UGA graduates are in demand: in 2019, 95% of graduates were employed or in graduate school within six months of graduation.
President Morehead has served the University of Georgia since 1986 in both faculty and administrative roles. Before becoming President, he was Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost from 2010 to 2013. Prior to 2010, he held several key administrative assignments, including Vice President for Instruction, Vice Provost for Academic Affairs, Associate Provost and Director of the Honors Program, and acting Executive Director of Legal Affairs.
He is the Meigs Professor of Legal Studies in the Terry College of Business, where he has held a faculty appointment since 1986. He is a co-author of several books and book chapters, including The Legal and Regulatory Environment of Business, and he has published scholarly articles on legal topics ranging from export controls to jury selection. He has served as Editor-in-Chief of the American Business Law Journal.
President Morehead serves as Co-Chair of the University Leadership Forum, a national initiative led by the Council on Competitiveness. He also serves as Vice Chair of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Board of Directors, a member of the NCAA Division I Administrative Committee, and a member of the NCAA Board of Governors. He previously served on the NCAA Presidential Forum; the Working Group on Name, Image, and Likeness; and the Federal and State Legislation Working Group. He is Vice President of the Southeastern Conference (SEC) and a member of the SEC Executive Committee, and formerly chaired the SEC Working Group on Compliance, Enforcement, and Governance. Additional service includes membership on the boards of the Georgia Chamber of Commerce, Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, Georgia Research Alliance, University System of Georgia Foundation, Atlanta Regional Council for Higher Education, and Emory University Candler School of Theology.
He has received several University-wide teaching awards, including the Josiah Meigs Award—UGA’s highest honor for teaching excellence, the Richard B. Russell Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching, the Teacher of the Year Award in the Terry College of Business, and the Lothar Tresp Outstanding Honors Professor Award.
President Morehead holds a bachelor’s degree from Georgia State University and a law degree from the University of Georgia.
Lieutenant General (Ret) Nadja West is the 44th U.S. Army Surgeon General, and the former Commanding General of U.S. Army Medical Command (USAMEDCOM). In 2015, West became the first African American woman 3-Star General in the Army’s history and is the highest-ranking woman to ever graduate from the United States Military Academy West Point.
A graduate of George Washington School of Medicine, West completed residencies in Family Medicine and Dermatology, and has held various clinical, operational and leadership positions throughout her 30+ year career as a U.S. Soldier.
West served as a Hauser Leader at the Harvard Kennedy School Center for Public Leadership from 2019 to 2020 and serves on the boards of directors for Johnson & Johnson, Nucor Corporation and Tenet Healthcare Corporation. She is a trustee of the National Recreation Foundation, an organization dedicated to enhancing the role of recreation as a positive force in improving the quality of life of youth. She is also a trustee of Americares, a non-profit that saves lives and improves health for people affected by poverty or disaster so they can reach their full potential. West was recently selected as a trustee of the board of Mount St. Mary’s University and as a board member of the Bob Woodruff Foundation.