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Florida Southern announces
new chair for board of trustees

LAKELAND, Fla. (Aug. 4, 2003) - The Florida Southern College board of trustees has elected Sarah D. McKay as its new chair. McKay has been a member of the board since 1996. 

McKay replaces T. Terrell Sessums, who has retired as chair but remains on the board. Other board officers include Frank H. Furman, Jr., vice chairman; John M. "Jack" Varasse, secretary; and Hoyt R. "Barney" Barnett, treasurer. 

A Lakeland native, McKay is president of McKay Enterprises, a real estate-development firm. She has held leadership positions in numerous local groups and organizations, including the Community Foundation of Greater Lakeland, the Downtown Lakeland Partnership, the Junior League of Lakeland sustaining group, the Polk Museum of Art, and the Polk Theatre. She has been honored with the Walter E. Wolf Award and Governor Lawton Chiles' "Florida's Finest Recognition Award." She is currently on the Board of Trustees of the College Heights United Methodist Church and also serves on the Finance Committee.

McKay was pleased and honored to be elected the new chair. "It is my aim to try to continue the progress of the board... through thoughtful investigation and development of new ideas that will benefit Florida Southern College," said McKay. She is FSC's first woman chairperson. 

"Sarah McKay has been an engaged and effective board member," said Dr. Thomas L. Reuschling, FSC's president. "She will serve Florida Southern College very well in this important leadership position. I look forward to working with her." 

About Florida Southern College
Florida Southern is a four-year, private, co-educational liberal arts college affiliated with the United Methodist Church. The college offers more than 40 undergraduate majors and a master of business administration degree accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. Located in Lakeland, Fla., the college is home to the largest, single-site collection of Frank Lloyd Wright architecture in the world.

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