The Greenville Hospital System University Medical Center (GHS) Board of Trustees is a volunteer board. It is made up of 12 members representing Greenville County, as well as two seats that are outside of the county.
Board of Trustees log-in
Chair
Jerry E. Dempsey
Vice Chair
R. Dennis Hennett
Secretary
Benjamin L. Allen Jr., M.D.
Members
Harry A. Chapman, Jr.
Frances DeLoache Ellison
S. Hunter Howard, Jr.
Margaret L. Jenkins
Rita M. McKinney
James C. Morton, Jr.
Thomas E. Simmons
Benjamin B. Waters, III
William M. Webster, IV
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Benjamin L. Allen Jr., M.D., is the Secretary of the GHS Board of Trustees. He is the former chief of staff at the Greenville Shriners Hospitals for Children. He earned his BS degree at Wofford College, graduating Summa Cum Laude. He earned his Doctor of Medicine at Duke University and completed his residency in orthopaedic surgery at Duke Hospital and affiliated institutions. He is a former board member of Greenville’s Ronald McDonald House and former member of the state medical advisory committee for children’s rehabilitative services. He previously served as faculty at Duke University School of Medicine and the University of Texas Medical Branch.
Widely published, he currently holds positions as professor of orthopaedic surgery at the Medical University of South Carolina; adjunct professor of bioengineering at Clemson University; and clinical professor of orthopaedic surgery at the University Of South Carolina School Of Medicine.
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Harry A. Chapman, Jr., a native South Carolinian, has been a practicing attorney at law in Greenville since 1960 and currently practices with Chapman, Harter & Groves, P.A. He earned a BA degree and a law degree from the University of South Carolina.
Mr. Chapman has served in both the S.C. House of Representatives and the S.C. State Senate. In the Senate, he chaired the Medical Affairs Committee and the Education Committee. He was named Legislator of the Year by the Greenville News-Greenville Piedmont for 1984. In 1987, Mr. Chapman was awarded the Order of the Palmetto. He has formerly served as a member or officer of the board of a number of leading South Carolina universities, institutions and agencies, including as president of the Greenville County Bar Association. He is currently a member of the American Bar Association and the S.C. Bar Association. He currently serves as a member of the University Center of Greenville Board of Advisors.
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Jerry E. Dempsey is the current Chair of the GHS Board of Trustees. He is the retired board chairman and CEO of PPG Industries Inc., a Fortune 500 company. He also served as Vice Chairman of WMX Technologies (now Waste Management Inc.) and chairman and CEO of its Chemical Waste Management subsidiary. A Landrum native, he is a mechanical engineering graduate of Clemson University. He earned a master’s degree in business administration from Georgia State University and attended the executive seminar of Aspen Institute of Humanistic Studies.
He has served on the board of directors of numerous publicly traded companies, including Eastman Chemical, Nalco Chemical, Borg-Warner Corporation, Waste Management, Birmingham Steel and Navistar International. He has been active in civic affairs throughout his career. He has received numerous honors from Clemson University for his distinguished service and co-chaired the Commission on the Future of Clemson University and its corporate committee in Clemson’s capital campaign. In 1995, he received a Horatio Alger Award from the Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans and the Anti-Defamation League American Heritage Award. He twice received Financial World Magazine’s service business CEO of the Year bronze award.
In Greenville he has been a member of the Peace Center for the Performing Arts Board, and elder in First Presbyterian Church, treasurer of the Presbyterian Community Foundation, a board member of Greenville Country Club and President of the Greenville Symphony.
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Frances DeLoache Ellison is the immediate past Chair of the GHS Board of Trustees. A lifelong resident of Greenville, she earned a BA degree from Vanderbilt University and a Juris Doctor degree from the University of South Carolina. She was a practicing attorney with the firm of Haynsworth, Sinkler & Boyd from 1978-1990 where her primary field of practice was health care.
Ms. Ellison has held numerous leadership roles on the boards of leading area corporations, organizations and institutes of learning. She currently serves as co-chair of Greenville Women Giving, a special initiative of the Community Foundation of Greenville, and as a trustee of the Joe C. Davis Foundation. She has served as an elder of Fourth Presbyterian Church, and she currently serves the church as an endowment trustee.
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R. Dennis Hennett is the Vice Chair of the GHS Board of Trustees. He is the retired CEO of Greer State Bank and has 38 years of banking experience. He attended the American Bankers Association’s Stonier Graduate School of Banking at Rutgers University, where he received his graduate degree in banking. He earned both his Bachelor of Arts and Masters of Arts degrees from Furman University. He is a native of Woodruff.
He’s long been active in the community and has garnered numerous awards. He currently serves on the Board of Directors for Greer Bancshares Inc., the parent company of Greer State Bank, the Greer Development Corporation’s board of directors, and the BMW Community Advisory Panel.
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S. Hunter Howard, Jr. is a former S.C. legislator and retired president and CEO of the S.C. Chamber of Commerce. Under his leadership, the organization received recognition by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in 2006 as the first state chamber to be Accredited with Distinction. He is currently a partner in the CPA firm Scott & Company, LLP. A native of Fountain Inn, he earned a B.S. in accounting from the University of South Carolina and later completed Harvard University’s Program in Senior Executives in State and Local Government.
He managed his own CPA firm, Hunter Howard & Company, for approximately eight years, during which time period he was also elected to the state’s House of Representatives as the state’s youngest legislator at that time. He has received numerous awards, including the Order of the Palmetto. He has served as a member of the S.C. Board of Economic Advisors, the Charleston Southern University Board of Trustees, the S.C. Retirement System Investment Panel and United Way of South Carolina. He currently serves on boards such as the Greenville Hospital System, Greenville Technical College Foundation, South Carolina Higher Education Foundation, and the Clemson University ICAR Economic Council.
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Margaret L. Jenkins, of Greenville, is founder and president of Margaret Jenkins & Associates, a Greenville-based consulting firm specializing in strategic marketing and philanthropic development. A native of Los Angeles, she earned a bachelor’s degree in communications from the University of Colorado.
Ms. Jenkins has an extensive background in consumer marketing and advertising and was previously senior vice president and chief marketing officer of Spartanburg-based Denny’s Corp. She is also the former chief marketing officer of El Pollo Loco Restaurants, a 500-unit Southern California-based company. In addition, she has held various senior management positions with Taco Bell Corp. and PepsiCo International Foodservice and has extensive experience in advertising agency management. She is a director of Phillips-Van Heusen Corp., a New York-based international apparel and retail company. Ms. Jenkins is an avid supporter of the visual and performing arts and is a trustee of the Greenville Symphony Association and Artisphere. She also serves on the board of Greenville Women Giving.
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Rita M. McKinney currently practices with McNair Law Firm, where she directs the firm’s Upstate employment and labor practice and was listed as one of the Best Lawyers of America (2007, 2008). She has also served as director of the South Carolina Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation. She earned a BA in journalism from the University of South Carolina and a Juris Doctor degree from Northeastern University School of Law.
She as served as president of the Greenville County Bar Association, on the S.C. Bar’s ethics advisory and judicial qualifications committees and was elected president of the National Association of Government Labor Officials. She also served as president of the USC Alumni Association and on the USC Board of Trustees and the Columbia College Board of Visitors, with civic participation including Greenville Urban League, United Way of Greenville, Warehouse Theatre and participation in Leadership Greenville and Leadership South Carolina.
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James C. Morton, Jr., is a retired vice chairman of Nissan North America, with 30 years experience working for international companies in senior management positions. He is presently under contract with various companies in an advisory role for government relations and community affairs. As president of the Nissan Foundation for six years, he was responsible for a 100 percent increase in its corpus. He received a law degree from the University Of Missouri School Of Law and a B.A. degree from Westminster College. He also served in the U.S. Army, where he awarded a Bronze Star during his service in South Vietnam, and in the Missouri Army National Guard.
As vice president of Nissan, he focused on Nissan’s federal, state and local government and community affairs activities. He was particularly focused on Nissan’s diversity efforts, both internally and in communities where Nissan had a significant presence. He served on the National Urban League for three years. He has served on boards or leadership positions with groups such as S.C. Chamber of Commerce, California Chamber of Commerce, National Urban League, Greenville Tech Foundation Inc., S.C. Ports Authority and the Hollings Cancer Center at the Medical University of South Carolina.
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Rev. Thomas E. Simmons is pastor of Reedy Fork Baptist Church of Simpsonville, where membership increased 75 percent under his leadership. He graduated from the Interdenominational Theological Center at Morehouse School of Religion in Atlanta, Ga., and earned a bachelor’s degree from South Carolina State University.
Prior to going into the ministry, he worked at W.R. Grace & Co., Cryovac Division, Simpsonville. He has served as moderator of the Reedy River Baptist Union of Churches and as chairman of the Greenville Convention and Visitors Bureau. He has also served as a board member of the Urban League of the Upstate and the National Baptist Convention USA Inc.
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Benjamin B. Waters, III, is the retired president of Cunningham-Waters Construction Co., Inc. in Greer, which he helped grow from a $500,000 company to a $10 million company. Mr. Waters earned a BA from The Citadel and an AS in civil engineering technology in Greenville Technical College. Waters also served as an officer in the U.S. Army for nearly a decade.
Civic experience includes serving as a board member and president of the Greer Lions Club, director of the Greer Chamber of Commerce and director and chairman of the board of the Citizens Building and Loan Association, 120 million dollar Federally Chartered Thrift. He is a member and committee chair of the Governor’s Workforce Investment Board. He has also served on boards affiliated with Greenville Technical College and North Greenville University, as well as serving on the Governor’s Education Taskforce for Excellence in Public Education. He has received numerous awards and honors, including being inducted into the Citadel’s Arland D. Williams Society in recognition of his outstanding humanitarian service to the community. He is a past deacon chair and Sunday School teacher at the First Baptist Church of Greer.
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William M. Webster, IV, of Spartanburg, is the co-founder and Chairman of the Board for Advance America, Cash Advance Centers, Inc., and has previously served in the White House. He earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University Of Virginia School Of Law in 1983 and a Bachelor of Arts in English and German from Washington & Lee University in 1979, where he graduated Summa Cum Laude. He attended Germany’s University of Regensburg on a Fulbright Scholarship.
Mr. Webster served multiple roles in the White House, including as assistant to the president and director of scheduling and advance, where he was responsible for the coordination and planning of all presidential events with management responsibility for a staff of 25 full-time and 300 part-time employees. He also served as chief of staff to U.S. Secretary of Education Richard W. Riley and chief of staff for the presidential transition where he was responsible for coordination and administration of sub-Cabinet appointments in the Clinton Administration. Previously, he was president of Greenville-based Carabo Inc., which at that time operated 27 Bojangles Chicken ‘n Biscuit restaurants in S.C. His community activities include service as chairman of the Board of Trustees for Converse College and on the Washington and Lee University Board of Trustees, the M.D. Anderson Medical Center Board of Visitors, the Spartanburg Day School Board of Trustees and Liberty Fellows Board of Directors.
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