Governor Appoints New Transportation Board Members

Perdue fills Five Vacancies on the North Carolina Board of Transportation

August 6, 2009

NC NEWS -- Governor Bev Perdue has appointed the following persons to the N.C. Board of Transportation.

• John Collett Leigh Harvey McNairy
• Major General Hugh R. Overholt (Ret)
• Wanda J. Proffitt
• Charles D. Watts Jr.
• Ralph Womble

John Collett is the chairman and founder of Collett & Associates, a commercial real estate development business in Charlotte. The company profile includes nine partners, two associates, four real estate managers, two leasing agents and eight staff members whose customers range from small businesses to Fortune 500 companies such as Verizon, Home Depot, State Farm Insurance, and Nationwide Life Insurance Company. Specialized in retail development, Mr. Collett holds a bachelor's degree in economics from Duke University, and is adept at researching the best locations and strategically directing of land assemblage.

Leigh Harvey McNairy serves as secretary for the board of directors of the N.C. Eastern Regional Partnership for Economic Development, and also is chairperson of the committee for Strategic Planning and a member of the Committee for Regional Logistics. From 2003 to 2005, McNairy served as the N.C. Special Assistant for Military Issues, specifically dealing with BRAC federal legislation. She was a founding member of the East Carolina University Women's Roundtable, member of the University of North Carolina Lineberger Comprehensive Center and director of the UNC-Chapel Hill Friends of the Library. McNairy holds a bachelor's degree from the UNC-Chapel Hill and a Master's degree in teaching from Duke University.

Major General Hugh R. Overholt (Ret) is an attorney for Ward & Smith in New Bern. While commissioned officer in the Army, he served in numerous leadership roles, including judge advocate general. Overholt is a member of the NC Bar and of the NC Governor's Commission on Military Affairs. He received a bachelor's degree and his juris doctorate from the University of Arkansas.

Ralph Womble is a retired vice president from Leggett & Platt in Winston-Salem. He has served on numerous boards, including the N.C. School of the Arts Board of Trustees and Executive Committee, the Winston-Salem Alliance and the Winston-Salem Foundation Board of Directors. Womble received his bachelor's degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and his master's degree in business administration from the Wake Forest University Babcock School of Management.

Wanda J. Proffitt is another member of the real estate industry, Proffitt is the president and owner of Carolina Mountain Realty, Inc. in Burnsville, NC, which specializes in the listing and selling of real estate in Yancey and Mitchell Counties. She is director of the Better Business Bureau, past commissioner of the N.C. Real Estate Commission and past director of the N.C. Association of Realtors. Ms. Proffitt was named Realtor of the Year in 2001 from the Yancey-Mitchell Board of Realtors, and in 2008, Proffitt received the Distinguished Service Award from Mayland Community College of Spruce Pine, NC.

Charles D. Watts Jr. was the senior vice president of the North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance Company in Durham from 1998 to 2007, and also was an attorney for the Law Office of James D. Williams from 1997 to 1998. Additionally, Watts has been the chairman of the N.C. Museum of Life and Science. Other posts include a corporate board member of the YMCA of the Triangle and board member of the UNC School of Nursing Foundation. He holds a bachelor's degree in economics from UNC-Chapel Hill, and a master's degree in business administration from Indiana University as well as his juris doctorate from the Howard University School of Law in Washington, D.C.

Congratulations to your new appointments to the North Carolina Board of Transportation by the Governor of North Carolina, and we wish you success in your endeavors to service the state.