University of Chattanooga Foundation, Inc. announces 2021-2022 officers and eight new members of its board of directors
Four current board members have been elected to the following offices:
- Chair: Douglas Brown, ’85 senior vice president for wealth management, UBS Financial Services
- Vice Chair: Ashlee Patten, president and CEO, portfolio manager, The Patten Group
- Treasurer: Steven L. Frost, ’75 chairman, Tuftco Corp.
- Secretary: William B. Kilbride, member, TVA board of directors
Immediate past chair is D. Michael Costello, ’75 ’96 litigation services leader, CPA and shareholder, Elliott Davis.
Eight new members joining the board will serve four-year terms expiring in 2025. They are:
Kelly Alling, co-founder with her husband, Ted Alling, of Chattanooga Preparatory School for boys, which opened in August 2018. Kelly Alling is Chattanooga Preparatory School vice-chair and a member of its Development and Facilities Committee. She is a graduate of Samford University and the mother of three.
David Belitz ’00 is CEO of the Lupton Co., which he joined in 1997 as controller and chief financial officer before being named CEO in 2012. Belitz is a Lupton Family trustee and a member of the Benwood Foundation Investment Committee. He is a member of the board of directors of Advanced Catheter Therapies and Audience Point and is a partner of the Chattanooga Renaissance Fund. He has bachelor’s and master’s degrees in accounting from UT Knoxville and an MBA from UTC. He is the father of two sons attending UTC.
Ben Brown is founder and chairman of Alderman Enterprises. He is a member of the board of directors for the Community Foundation of Greater Chattanooga, Baylor School and Southeastern Trust Co. He has a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of Virginia and an MBA from Vanderbilt University. Brown is a husband, father of three and the grandson of Scotty Probasco, for whom the Probasco Chair of Free Enterprise in the Gary W. Rollins College of Business is named.
Alan L. Cates is a partner in Husch Blackwell, a member of the board of directors for Siskin Children’s Institute and serves on the UTC Planned Giving Council. He was planned giving officer for UT Knoxville before entering private law practice in 1975. He has a bachelor’s degree in business administration and a law degree from UT Knoxville.
Suzanne Forlidas ’75, ’87 is former vice president, deputy general counsel and corporate secretary for Coca-Cola Enterprises, Inc. While at CCE, her legal responsibilities included human resources, tax and corporate law. After 22 years in Atlanta, she now lives in Chattanooga and is a joint owner in several family businesses. She has bachelor’s and master’s degrees in education from UTC and a law degree from UT Knoxville.
Kathy O’Brien ’90 is the Atlanta sales office director of market development for Unum, where she has worked for more than 25 years. O’Brien’s volunteer service with the Gary W. Rollins College of Business includes working with students on resume writing and mock job interviews. O’Brien and her husband, Eddie O’Brien ‘87, are longstanding UTC supporters in both the academic and athletic areas and fund an international studies scholarship for UTC business students. She has served as a member of the board of directors for FACES: The National Craniofacial Association and is the current chair of the Staff Parish Council at First Centenary United Methodist Church. She has a bachelor’s degree in accounting from UTC and is the mother of two adult children.
Donna C. Williams served as administrator for the City of Chattanooga Department of Economic and Community Development. She has served as vice chair of the Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport Authority and on the board of the Chattanooga Community Housing Development Organization. She has served as a board member of the Chattanooga Historic Zoning Commission, Chattanooga Habitat for Humanity, Cornerstones, Inc.; Chattanooga Launch and the UTC Chancellor’s Roundtable. She studied marketing at UTC.
Albert Woodard ’74 is a founder and former chairman and CEO of healthcare technology company KaZee. He is a member of the UTC School of Engineering and Computer Science Board of Advisors. Woodard has served on UTC Chancellor’s Roundtable and the board of directors of Genesis Homeless Shelter in Atlanta and Erlanger Medical Center. In 1984, Woodard was named outstanding UTC alumnus of the year and was the first graduate in UTC history to be honored within just 10 years of graduation. Woodard has a bachelor’s degree in engineering science from UTC, an MBA from Georgia State University and was inducted into the Gary W. Rollins College of Business Entrepreneurship Hall of Fame in 2019.
More About the UC Foundation
The University of Chattanooga Foundation, Inc. was created in 1969 when the University of Chattanooga merged with the University of Tennessee system. Beginning with $6 million in 1969, the UC Foundation now manages total assets of nearly $250 million and is governed by
a board of trustees comprised of local and regional volunteers. From 1969 through FY 2021, approximately $140 million has been provided to UTC from UC Foundation Endowments.
