New Members Elected to SMC Board of Trustees

12/21/10

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

SPARTANBURG, SC -- The South Carolina Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church recently elected four new members to Spartanburg Methodist College's Board of Trustees.

New trustees elected include Ray Lattimore, Rev. Will Malambri, John Ramsey, and Jim Thompson. They were elected by the Conference to replace outgoing trustees Mellnee Buchheit, Jerry Calvert, Rev. Kenneth Timmerman, and Dr. Bruce Yandle.

Ray Lattimore, of Greenville, SC, is president and chief executive officer of Marketplace Staffing Solutions.  He also serves on the boards of the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce; the Carolina Minority Supplier Development Council; Southern Wesleyan University; the United Way of Greenville; the BB&T Regional Advisory Board; the Greenville Area Development Corporation; the Greenville TEC Area Commission; and the Greenville TEC Multi-Cultural Advisory Board.

He is a member of the Greater Greenville Chamber of Commerce; the Greater Greenville Forum; the Mu Pi Chapter of Omega Psi Phi; the Society for Human Resource Management; the National Minority Development Corporation; and the Carolina Minority Development Corporation.

Lattimore and his wife Jackie have one son and are members of Poplar Springs Baptist Church.

Rev. Will Malambri, of Spartanburg, is the minister of St. James United Methodist Church in Spartanburg.  He serves on the Board of Ordained Ministry; and the Conference Journal Committee, for which he is assistant conference secretary.  He is also a 2009-2010 Lewis Fellow of the Wesley Theological Seminary.

Rev. Malambri and his wife Sally have two children.

John Ramsey, of Darlington, SC, is chief executive officer of Diamond Hill Plywood Co.  He serves on the boards of the SCANA Corporation; the South Carolina Independent Colleges and Universities; the McLeod Hospital Foundation; the Charleston Southern University Board of Visitors; and the Darlington County Emergency Management Services, for which he is chairman.

Ramsey was the 1990 South Carolina Ambassador for Economic Development; and is currently a reserve deputy with the Darlington County Sheriff's Department.

He  also serves as a member of the finance committee of Trinity United Methodist Church of Darlington, where he and his family are members.  Ramsey and his wife Jane have one son.

Jim Thompson, of Spartanburg, is principal attorney for James Fletcher Thompson, LLC. He serves on the boards of the Spartanburg Regional Hospice; the Spartanburg Regional Healthcare System Foundation; the Spartanburg Regional Medical Center; Children Come First; the Ellen Smith Hines Girls' Home; the Children's Advocacy Center; the Family Care Council; and the Arts Partnership of Greater Spartanburg.  Thompson is also a member of the Spartanburg Lions Club.

Thompson was named to the South Carolina Adoption Hall of Fame in 2008, and is also the recipient of the 2005 South Carolina Adoption Advocate of the Year award and the 1999 South Carolina Angel in Adoption award. He is also a fellow with the American Academy of Adoption Attorneys.

He and his wife Mia have three children and are members of the Episcopal Church of the Advent in Spartanburg.

The SMC Board of Trustees' officers for 2010-2011 are John Gramling II, chairman, and Bill Painter, vice chairman.

The SMC Board of Trustees is comprised of 24 members, with five clergy members and 19 laity. Terms are staggered on a three-year basis. Other members of the Board include recording secretary Marianna Habisreutinger, John Bell, Justin Converse, Phyllis DeLapp, Dr. Edgar Ellis, Dr. Phinnize Fisher, Steven Hahn, Mark Hammond, Rev. Larry Hays, Patrick Henry, Rev. Mitch Houston, Rev. Jean Osborne, Liz Patterson, Craig Phillips, Patsy Simmons, Guy Spriggs, Rev. Lillian Washington, and Andy Westbrook.

Spartanburg Methodist College is in its 100th year of providing quality education to students in a Christian environment. More than 90 percent of SMC graduates continue their education at other institutions of higher learning.

###