Two New FAU Board of Trustees' Members Appointed

Florida Atlantic University.

Two new Board of Trustees' members appointed at Florida Atlantic University.

By joshua glanzer | 9/15/2021

The Florida Board of Governors recently appointed Earnie Ellison Jr. to the Florida Atlantic University Board of Trustees (FAU BOT). This is Ellison’s first time serving on the board. Veteran FAU BOT member, Anthony Barbar, returned to service thanks to an appointment by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

“It is a great honor and privilege to serve as a member of the board of trustees,” Ellison said. “I look forward to working with my fellow board members, administration and faculty to ensure we far exceed the pursuit of excellence in preparing our students to be productive and contributing citizens.”

Ellison is the managing partner of Ellison Consulting Group, LLC, and a partner with EPB Golf, LLC, Walk-Off Golf, LLC and Mosaic Golf Partners, LLC. His businesses help professional sports organizations and businesses implement inclusionary strategies and event management. His career also includes serving as director of business and community relations for the Professional Golfers’ Association of America from 1997 to 2013.

Ellison serves on several local and national Race, Equity and Inclusion committees. He is an inaugural member of Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity’s Blacks on Corporate Boards Committee which successfully nominated black people who were elected to serve on Fortune 500 and Russell 3000 Index Boards. He is also the past chairman of the board for the United Way of Palm Beach County and served on the Community Foundation, Children’s Golf Foundation, Economic Council, Business Development Board and Black Chamber of Commerce.

Ellison has received several outstanding civic and business awards. Notable recognitions include the 2021 Urban League of Palm Beach County Lifetime Achievement Award and the 2015 Milwaukee Fellowship Open Lifetime Achievement Award. Ellison graduated from Alabama A&M University with a bachelor’s degree in accounting.

He succeeds Robert Stilley, who joined the board in 2006 and is the longest-serving trustee in university history. Stilley served as chairman of the board from 2011 to 2013, during which time he earmarked crucial funding to support the growth of the John D. MacArthur Campus in Jupiter. His vision helped turn the sparsely populated campus into the epicenter of Palm Beach County’s life sciences industry. Stilley was awarded the FAU President’s Distinguished Service Medallion in 2013 for his extraordinary service to the university. He has served as president and chief executive officer of HeartCare Imaging, Inc. since 1998.

Soon after his appointment by the governor, the board elected Anthony Barbar to the role of vice chair during a recent board meeting. He will bring years of experience and service to his role. Barbar was originally appointed to the board in 2008 and served in various roles during his 12 years on the board, including as the Board’s chair from 2013 to 2020. Under his leadership as chair, FAU selected John Kelly, Ph.D. as its seventh and current president; the Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine received full accreditation; and the Florida Board of Governors ranked FAU as the top performing public university in the state.

“I am honored to serve the university again as a trustee and vice chair,” Barbar said. “I have a great perspective of the institution’s amazing trajectory thanks to my previous years on the board, and I’m excited to see where we go from here.”

He succeeds trustee Malcolm Dorman, M.D., who recently passed away. Dorman joined the board in 2016. A retired heart surgeon, he was also a member of the Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine Advisory Board. He was known among his colleagues as the go-to doctor when a miracle had to be performed and was recognized with multiple Patients’ Choice Awards and Compassionate Doctor Recognitions over the course of his career.

FAU’s Board of Trustees is a 13-member group responsible for cost-effective policy decisions appropriate to the university’s mission, the implementation and maintenance of high-quality education programs, the measurement of performance, the reporting of information and the provision of input regarding state policy, budgeting and education standards.

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