Our Board Of Directors

John O. Hodges, a 1963 graduate of Broad Street High in Greenwood, received a B. A. from Morehouse College and a M. A. and PhD from the University of Chicago Divinity School.

He received a Master’s degree in English from Atlanta University and a Master’s and PhD in religion and literature from The University of Chicago Divinity School.  He accepted a position at the University of Tennessee in 1982 and worked there until his retirement from the Department of Religious Studies in December 2010.

 While at UT, he was recognized as an outstanding teacher by the UT National Alumni Association and has won several other awards, including the Lorayne Lester Award in 2010 for distinguished service to the University. 

Recently, he has spearheaded the effort to raise funds for the Chares E. Merrill, Jr. Endowment at IES Abroad, to benefit students from Morehouse and Spelman.  John and his wife Carolyn have one son Daniel, who lives in Irving, Texas, with his wife and daughter.

Daniel O. Hodges is the Vice President of Engineering at OrderMyGear (OMG), a leading ecommerce platform for team sports dealers and promotional product distributors, in Dallas, Texas. He spends much of his effort on finding ways to grow OMG’s business through platform
integrations with clients and strategic partners.

Before OMG, Daniel worked on software
platforms in a variety of industries supporting government agencies, executive recruiters, automotive dealers, and amateur golfers.

Daniel received his B.S. in Computer Engineering from Northwestern University where he was also awarded a Certificate of Excellence for graduating at the top of his class. He completed his M.S. in Electrical Engineering with a focus in Computer Architecture at the University of Illinois
at Urbana-Champaign.

Daniel and his wife, Manisha, are the proud parents of their daughter Divya who will be starting kindergarten in the fall.

Minnie Elliott Whittaker is a native of Greenwood, MS by way of Duck Hill, MS. She was raised by her sharecropper parents on a farm in Duck Hill, relocating to Greenwood while she was a still a child. She is a 1963 graduate of Broad Street High School.

Minnie Elliott Whittaker graduated from Mississippi Valley State University with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Social Science and received Certification in Reading from Delta State University. Upon graduating from Mississippi Valley, she began her teaching career with Leflore County Schools where she served for more than 30 years. She is a retired educator with a total of 37 years of teaching History, Reading, JTPA Employability Skills, and GED in the Greenwood Public and Leflore County School Districts, now the Greenwood Consolidated School district. Prior to teaching, she worked as a Social Worker for the Leflore County School District.

Because of the strong work ethic her parents instilled in her, Minnie serves on numerous committees and lends her gifts and talents to the various organizations around Greenwood. During her teaching career, she served a term as the president of The Greenwood Association of Educators. She devotes her time as a member of the National Educators Association and the Greenwood Leflore Chamber of Commerce, serving on the Education committee and as a Chamber Ambassador. Minnie is also a member of the Museum of the Mississippi Delta where she currently volunteers weekly.

Aside from her civil duties, Minnie is a dedicated member of the Shiloh SDA Church where she currently serves as Head Elder, where she is responsible for carrying out various roles and duties, including but not limited to creating a worship outline for the order of service, organizing participants to lead out for the weekly services, and visiting and encouraging members of the church. Because of her desire to uplift others, Minnie has organized a Neighborhood Prayer Line and encourages those who live near and far to attend as she lifts them up in prayer.

Minnie has been consistently recognized for her efforts and has received awards for being Teacher of the Month, Teacher of the Year, Woman of the Year, and has also received an Excellence in Education Award, presented by the Legendary D.I.V.A.S.

She believes that it is her duty to give back to her community and lives by this daily as she strives to be a positive contributing force in society.

Holly Jackson-Sullivan is the Advancement Director II for in the College of Arts & Sciences at the University of Tennessee.  In this role, Holly raises funds and oversees donor relations for the $10M UT Humanities Center, which provides select faculty and graduate students a year-long experience in a “humanities lab” where they can bring their academic research and publications to fruition.  In addition, Holly raises funds for various departments—College Scholars, Psychology, Marco, Microbiology, Theatre, Classics, History, and Religious Studies.

Prior to joining the University in June 2013, Holly held various executive roles in business and non-profits both in East Tennessee and South Carolina prior to spending almost a decade as Vice President for Advancement, Community Relations and Marketing at Maryville College.  

Personally: Holly’s father, the late Dr. Charles O. Jackson served the University of Tennessee both in the College of Arts & Sciences Administration as Interim Dean and Associate Dean as well as taught graduate level courses in the History Department from 1969 – until his passing in 1986. Holly has two adult children: Kathleen “Paige” Gregory 23 and Tyler Jackson Ludlow, age 27; and is raising her 7 year old granddaughter AnnaBelle Jean Ludlow. Holly also has two additional grandchildren Lyla Kate Gregory, 2 years and Lawson James Gregory 12 months.  Holly is married to David Sullivan and resides in Oak Ridge. She is pleased to be serving her alma mater, the University of Tennessee, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in Interpersonal and Public Communication in 1987 and also competed on the UT Debate Team from 1985 – 1987. 

Teresa S. Bowman is a non-profit executive, researcher and professor. She served as Executive Director of Historic Rugby, Inc. for four years, and has been an instructor of cultural anthropology and sociology at the University of Tennessee, Maryville College, and Roane State Community College. 

She has also been a volunteer for United Way of Anderson County. 

Solomon Henderson was a 1967 graduate of Threadgill High School in Greenwood, MS.  He majored in Mathematics and received a B.S. degree from Jackson State University in 1971. Solomon served in the U. S. Army as a Data Analyst and was stationed at the Pentagon for two years after graduating from JSU.

Afterward, he remained in the Washington, DC metropolitan area working for several Information Technology corporations as a Software Developer until his retirement in 2019. Solomon served and held various leadership positions in the Jackson State University national and local Washington DC Metropolitan Area alumni chapters.