Parker College Advisory Board

Sue Cox Kath-Burchett (BUS, 76) began her business career in Atlanta in 1976. More than 32 years of her career were spent with Automatic Data Processing (ADP), an international company that she saw grow to over 60,000 employees, supporting more than 650,000 clients. Initially, she worked directly with small-to-medium-sized clients, implementing new business solutions for ADP. At ADP, Ms. Kath-Burchett held positions of increasing responsibility, culminating in her role as southeast regional vice president of client relationship management. Her team was responsible for building and maintaining strong business relationships with Fortune 200 client organizations. She was recognized for outstanding performance and qualified to attend multiple ADP President’s Clubs – the highest recognition event within ADP. In her career, she also engaged in a variety of outside activities including Junior Achievement, Leadership North Fulton, ACS Relay for Life, and the Foster Care Support Foundation among others. Since retiring in 2014, Ms. Kath-Burchett has worked as an independent business consultant. She serves on several boards and is involved with the Atlanta area Southern Women Alumni.

Jennifer Abshire is CEO and founder of award-winning Abshire Public Relations, the former minority owner of Lucky Savannah Vacation Rentals, and is active as a professional trainer for topics including blending multiple generations in the workplace and crisis management. Abshire PR has been nationally recognized for their creative client work by PRSA and PR News and locally, Abshire Public Relations has been selected best PR firm since its inception in 2015 by the readers of Savannah Magazine. 

Jennifer is a past recipient of Georgia Trend Magazine’s 40 Under 40 leadership award and was former Alumnus of the Year for the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences for Georgia Southern University, where she received her B.A. in Public Relations. 

A native of Marietta, GA, Jennifer came to Savannah upon college graduation in 1988 and began her professional career in the non-profit sector. From 1992-1996 Jennifer served as the Executive Director of Savannah’s Olympic Committee, helping Savannah prepare for a successful 1996 Olympic Yachting Competition.  In 2000, Jennifer created Abshire Public Relations, and to date has provided counsel and strategy for over 150 regional companies and municipalities. 

Jennifer was selected one of 40 prominent Georgians to serve as a member of the Board of Governors for the Georgia Chamber of Commerce and is the current vice-chair of the Georgia Chamber’s small business council. Jennifer is an active board member of Georgia Southern University’s Parker College of Business, is past chair of The United Way of the Coastal Empire Women United Committee, and is past chair of Savannah Technical College’s Foundation Board. A graduate and past program chair for Leadership Georgia, Jennifer serves as co-chair of Leadership Southeast Georgia’s alumni program, keeping her active with many pro-business statewide initiatives.

Jennifer has two adult children, Phillip Abshire, 29, a Citadel and Mercer Law School graduate who is currently an Assistant Solicitor for Charleston County, SC, and Reilly Abshire, 25, who works for Chick-Fil-A on their executive campus in Atlanta, Georgia.

David Edwards (ACCT, 1986) is the Director of Strategic Projects at United Bank. United Bank is a privately held community bank founded in 1905 with assets of approximately $2.4 billion that is chartered in Zebulon, Georgia, serving eleven counties in the southern crescent footprint beneath metro Atlanta. Edwards’ career in banking began in Atlanta 38 years ago with the Citizens & Southern National Bank (C&S). He spent 16 years with C&S through its transition to NationsBank and ultimately to Bank of America. After that, he worked for five years with a Synovus affiliate bank and then became a project manager working with the FDIC to resolve failed financial institutions during the Great Recession. During the Great Recession, he was a co-founder of Community & Southern Bank (CSB) where he was the Chief Credit Officer. CSB grew to $4.5 billion in assets and was sold to Bank OZK in July 2016 where he was appointed as the Regional Director for Bank OZK’s Alabama, South Carolina, North Carolina and Georgia region until October 2020. Edwards serves as a board member of the Georgia Southern University Foundation and the Delta Chi Fraternity Housing Corporation at Georgia Tech and the Delta Chi Fraternity Educational Foundation. He is the current Finance and Investment Committee Chair and Treasurer for the University of West Georgia Foundation and serves as a board member for the Atlanta Youth Academy. David is passionate about equipping youth and young adults to succeed in their endeavors. David and his wife, Katherine, live in Carrollton, Georgia. They enjoy spending time with their four adult children and their spouses, along with nine grandchildren. In his leisure time, David enjoys road cycling. 

Bryant Hosch (ACCT 2006, MAcc 2007) is a controller at Piedmont Healthcare.  Mr. Hosch spent 11 years at Ernst & Young, LLP in the assurance service practice serving as an audit executive of both public SEC filers and private companies.  In 2018, Mr. Hosch left Ernst & Young to serve as a controller at Piedmont Healthcare in Atlanta.  Mr. Hosch also serves as the chair of the Friends of the Georgia Southern Honors College board.  Mr. Hosch served on the Parker College Young Alumni Board for seven years including a stint as chair.  He enjoys spending time with his family and friends or on the golf course.

Michael Johnson is the Market Manager – Industrial Products for Norfolk Southern Corporation.  Michael, a native of Swainsboro, graduated with his MBA from the Parker College in 2007.  He started at Norfolk Southern in 2008 as a management trainee and has held a variety of positions at NSC before becoming market manager.  Michael has deep ties to Georgia Southern and Statesboro.  He was a former sportswriter for the Statesboro Herald, past coach at Bulloch Academy, and worked in the Paulson Stadium Press Box during the Paul Johnson era.  

Michael and his wife, Donna Scott Johnson who received her master’s in public administration at Georgia Southern, live in Atlanta.  They are members of Atlanta First Presbyterian Church and are godparents to two girls.

Sean Knox (MKTG, ’1998) is co-owner and president of Knox Pest Control.  He and his wife, Crawford, have 3 children: Addie, Sim, and Pate.  He holds a BBA from Georgia Southern University, a MA from Regent University, and a MBA from Baylor University.  Sean currently or has recently served on the boards for the Columbus Chamber of Commerce, the Columbus Convention and Trade Center Authority, the Georgia Chamber of Commerce, the Country Club of Columbus, Boys and Girls Club of Columbus, Young Life, Rotary Club of Columbus, and the Georgia Southern University Athletic Foundation.  In addition, he is Past-Chair of the Parker College of Business Dean’s Advisory Board. He is a graduate of Leadership Columbus, Leadership GPCA, and Leadership Georgia.  Sean is a J.R. Allen Young Leader Award recipient as well as being recognized as 5 under 40 by Columbus and the Valley.  He and his family attend Church of the Highlands and in his spare time enjoys being with family, golfing, snow skiing, watersports, and running.

Information coming soon!

Amy Noland Pack is the Co-founder and Principal Partner at AccruePartners, the largest independently owned Staffing, Search, and Project Solutions provider in the Charlotte, NC region. With 70+ internal employees, her company supports both mid-size and large, Fortune 500 companies across the following lines of business: Information Technology, Human Resources, Finance and Accounting, Marketing, Corporate Support, and Financial Services. Amy is well known as an experienced thought leader in the staffing industry. The organization has successfully expanded the AccruePartners footprint nationally across 41 states and has been recognized as one of the fastest growing companies by Inc 5000.  In 2021 Amy was recognized by the Charlotte Business Journal as a Top Woman in Business where she actively participates in the Charlotte community. Amy currently serves on the board for Good Friends Charlotte, Jr Achievement of the Carolinas and has been both a Co-Chair and active member of Go Red for over 10 years.  In both her personal and professional life, Amy is dedicated to being a valued talent solutions provider and building the people, companies, and careers of the Queen City and beyond.  In her spare time, Amy enjoys traveling, cooking and exercising. She is a native of Atlanta and a graduate of Georgia Southern University.    

Sharon Jester Ponder is vice president of finance for Bennett International Group, a Georgia-based logistics and transportation company headquartered in McDonough. She oversees all accounting aspects of the 25-entity company. When she is not working on the expansion of Bennett, she is heavily involved in two areas that she is very passionate about, business expansion and education. These passions have led her to become heavily involved with the local chamber of commerce. Once serving as its executive board chair and currently as chair of its Strategic Development & Communication committee, she has pushed to ensure the members not only get networking opportunities but also added value services. She also works closely with the local chapter of Communities in Schools, as well as sits on the Superintendent’s Advisory Council and the Henry County Library Board.

Michiel Soeting (MBA, 1984) is a Dutch national and the former global head of Energy and Natural Resources of KPMG. Based in the United Kingdom, he led close to 20,000 professionals based all over the world, delivering audit, tax and advisory services to organizations in the Oil & Gas, Power & Utilities, Mining, Energy Services and Renewables industries. During his 32-year career at KPMG, he has led global teams providing audit and advisory services to some of KPMG’s largest clients, including BHP Group, Equinor, LafargeHolcim, Philips Electronics and RD Shell.

From 2012 until 2014 he was a member of the Resource Efficiency Platform of the European Commission, building policy for efficient use of resources in the European Union. He is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountant in England and Wales, qualified as certified public accountant in both the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Michiel is an Independent Director at Veon Ltd, the NASDAQ listed international digital operator and a Non Executive Director at Serica Energy, a UK listed independent oil and gas company.

David began his career in the staffing industry in 1992 after receiving his BBA in marketing from Georgia Southern University. David formed SelecSource in 1997. David has worked with hundreds of hiring managers gaining a unique understanding of what employers look for in talent. He also understands the power of compassionately engaging with job seekers to optimize their chances to grow and prosper.

SelecSource established its roots with operations in Atlanta. Over the course of its existence, they are recognized as a leader in staffing solutions throughout the Southeast with a large footprint in Georgia. David has a daughter Lindsay, 26 (UGA, BBA Management) and son Will, 24 (Studied at Georgia Southern). David is deeply involved in several charitable causes both personally and through SelecSource. He is involved in many areas of Georgia Southern and finds great joy investing in students, athletics, and the Parker College of Business. Also, he has served in multiple capacities at the American Staffing Association.

Rusty Williams (ECON, 2005) is the Sr. Director of Technology Solutions for Vaco; a $1.5 billion talent solutions company that provides consulting, project resources, executive search, direct hire and strategic staffing with expertise in numerous areas including accounting and finance, technology, operations, human resources and sales.  His direct hire and strategic staffing team is responsible for developing deep relationships with clients, candidates and consultants ranging from start ups to Fortune 100 companies.  Rusty has been recognized for outstanding performance and has qualified to attend multiple President’s Clubs – the highest recognition within Vaco.

Rusty, a Bulloch County native, is a founding member of the Delta Chi Fraternity and Member of the Board of Directors for Barrister Capital; an international corporation that owns and manages over $5 million of real estate assets near university campuses.  At Georgia Southern, Rusty is a Board Member for the local Delta Chi Fraternity House Corporation and a former member of Parker Young Alumni Board and Athletic Foundation.

In 2013 he received his Master of Business Administration degree from Troy University and is a 2005 Parker College graduate in Economic Development.  Rusty resides is Roswell, Georgia, and his wife Kelly, have two daughters.  When not working, you can find Rusty at Lake Sinclair enjoying the water.

Harry S. Carter (BSM, 1966) received his Ph.D. in management science and information systems from The University of Georgia. Formerly vice president for academic affairs and president at Georgia Southern, Carter was provost and dean of college at The Citadel, Charleston, SC, where he is currently professor of business administration. The Carter Lecture Series, created under the W. E. Carter Eminent Scholar Endowed Chair in Business Administration, honors Professor Emeritus Carter. In 1998, Carter was named Georgia Southern Alumnus of the Year.

Julian Deal (BSEd, 1960), has been a long time leader in Statesboro and the Georgia accounting profession. He has served as past president and member of the Georgia Society of Certified Public Accountants. Mr. Deal was appointed to the Georgia State Board of Accountancy in November 2011 by the Governor and recently was appointed chair of the board. He has received numerous University awards including induction into the Georgia Southern University Parker College of Business Hall of Fame, Athletics Hall of Fame, Outstanding Alumnus of the Year Award, Parker College of Business Annual Alumni Award, Beta Alpha Psi Alumnus of the Year, and Chapter Honoree of Beta Gamma Sigma. Mr. Deal also received the 2000 Meritorious Service Award from the Georgia Society of Certified Public Accountants. He is a lifetime member of the Alumni Association and a charter member of Dean’s Advisory Board. Mr. Deal serves on the boards of directors of the Georgia Southern Athletic Foundation, School of Accounting Advisory Council, and Ogeechee Tech.

Don Howard (GEN BUS, 1973) began his banking career in 1965. Mr. Howard is a graduate of the Georgia Banking School and the School of Banking of the South. He was president, CEO, and COO of several banks in the Roswell and North Georgia areas. In 2003, Mr. Howard was named Synovus Regional CEO for Atlanta and North Georgia. In 2010, Mr. Howard was named chair and CEO of Bank of North Georgia.  In 2013, he was named COO of Community Banking for Synovus and served in that capacity until his retirement in July 2018.  Currently, he serves as chair of the advisory board for the Atlanta and North Georgia Divisions of Synovus. He is a member of the Roswell Rotary Club and on the board of the Leitalift Foundation.  Among his civic awards are Outstanding Rotarian of the Year, James H. Blanchard Leadership Award, Parker College Alumnus of the Year and a recipient of the Greater North Fulton Chamber of Commerce Lifetime Achievement Award.