Shepherd Center Co-Founder Alana Shepherd Named a 2015 Georgia Trustee

The Georgia Historical Society announced today that Shepherd Center co-founder Alana Shepherd and Savannah College of Art and Design president and co-founder Paula S. Wallace will be the latest inductees to the Georgia Trustees at the annual Trustees Gala in February 2015.

In 1975, Mrs. Shepherd -- along with her son James Shepherd and husband Harold Shepherd -- co-founded Shepherd Center, now an Atlanta-based, world-renowned rehabilitation hospital specializing in medical treatment, research and rehabilitation for people with spinal cord injury, brain injury and other neurological conditions.

Ms. Wallace is the president and co-founder of the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD), an accredited, nonprofit, degree-granting university established in 1978. Today SCAD awards undergraduate and graduate degrees in more than 40 areas of study at its locations in Savannah, Atlanta, Hong Kong, and Lacoste, France.

“The Georgia Historical Society and the office of the governor have chosen two individuals whose drive and determination have advanced the cause of medicine, art and education in Georgia,” said W. Todd Groce, president and CEO of the Georgia Historical Society. “Through their leadership and accomplishments, they have touched the lives of thousands, not just in Georgia but around the world, and we are honored that they will be inducted as the newest Georgia Trustees."

The induction will take place Saturday, Feb. 14, 2015, at the Georgia Trustees Gala, “The Seven Empires.” For information on how to purchase individual seats and tables for the event, please visit www.georgiahistory.com/gala.

Also, Georgia Historical Society director of programs Christy Crisp announced that the Featured Historical Figure for the 2015 Georgia History Festival will be legendary Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto.

“We have chosen Hernando de Soto in observance of the 475^th anniversary of his journeys in Georgia,” Crisp said. “We look forward to bringing the story of his exploration in Georgia and the broader legacy of Spanish exploration in the American southeast to classrooms across the state through educational materials and in-school visits.”

Mark Bennett, senior manager of corporate responsibility for Gulfstream, presented the Georgia Historical Society with a check as the Signature Level Sponsor for the Georgia History Festival, and Dr. Thomas B. Lockamy, Jr., superintendent of Savannah-Chatham Public Schools emphasized the positive impact of GHF educational events on Savannah's students.

The festive atmosphere at the announcement ceremony today was capped off by greetings from General James E. Oglethorpe as portrayed by interpreter Scott Hodges and third graders from Hancock Day School, winners of the 2014 GHF Banner Competition, wearing their Georgia Day Parade colonial costumes. Also on hand were colonial interpreters from Wormsloe State Historic Site the home of the annual three-day Georgia History Festival Colonial Faire and Muster and an interpreter portraying a Spanish conquistador from Fort King George State Historic Site, one of nearly 50 locations open free of charge during Super Museum Sunday, one of the Festival’s most popular events.

The Georgia History Festival is the signature K-12 educational program of the Georgia Historical Society. Held annually around the anniversary of the founding of the colony of Georgia on Feb. 12, 1733, this commemoration brings history to life for students of all ages through a variety of programs including a series of school events and curriculum, crafts workshops, the two-day Colonial Faire and Muster living-history program held at Wormsloe State Historic Site, and the colorful Georgia History Festival parade. By engaging students in interactive learning experiences, Georgia History Festival sparks the imagination, develops critical thinking processes, and opens the exciting world of the past to exploration, study, and understanding.