2020 Annual Report

Alan Wallace named chief information officer

Gadsden State Community College announced in February that Alan Wallace had accepted the position of chief information officer. He replaced Tim Smith, who retired in December 2019. 

Wallace has spent his entire career in higher education. In April 1988, he was hired at Jacksonville State University as a microcomputer maintenance specialist. During his almost 32-year tenure at JSU, Wallace worked as a computer programmer, technology analyst, manager of application and system support and project manager. In 2005, he earned the position of director of Enterprise Information Systems. 

Wallace, a Piedmont native, also spent his collegiate career at JSU, where he earned three degrees: a Bachelor of Science in Computer Information Systems; a Bachelor of Technology with an emphasis in electronics; and a master’s degree in Business Administration. 

Wallace, who started his job at Gadsden State on Feb. 3, said he looks forward to the challenges and opportunities that come with being the CIO, a position that includes a seat on the college president’s cabinet.

“So far, things have been great at Gadsden State,” he said. “The information technology staff is very good; very knowledgeable. We will keep moving forward and doing what’s best for Gadsden State.”

Lavender retires; Murphy takes helm

Dr. Martha Lavender officially retired as president of Gadsden State Community College on Sept. 1. She served in the position for five years. She has worked in nursing, education and consultation for over 45 years. 

Lavender graduated from Hokes Bluff High School and was a first-generation student when she enrolled at what was then Gadsden State Junior College. She earned an associate degree in nursing before transferring to Jacksonville State University, where she earned a Bachelor of Science in Nursing and a Master of Science in Nursing. She earned her doctoral degree from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. 

During her career, she held administrative and faculty positions at JSU and served as a visiting professor at UAB School of Nursing. She also held administrative posts with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. 

In 2008, she accepted the position as assistant to the president under the leadership of Dr. Renee Culverhouse before being named director at Gadsden State Cherokee and then dean of Health Sciences. She became the interim president in 2014 before earning the position full time in October 2015. 

Upon Lavender’s Sept. 1 retirement, Gregg Bennett was appointed interim president of Gadsden State, a position he held until the completion of the presidential search. 

Bennett is the director of the Alabama Technology Network located in the Bevill Center on the East Broad Campus. He has more than 35 years of workforce and economic development experience, most of which has been with the ATN and the University of Alabama. He has also worked in the U.S. Department of Commerce in Washington D.C. as well as a senior economic developer for the South Carolina Appalachian Council and director of the Governor’s Export Advisory Council. He also was an instructor at Limestone College in Gaffney, S.C.  

In October, Alabama Community College System Chancellor Jimmy Baker announced that Dr. Kathy Murphy would replace Lavender effective Jan. 2, 2021. Her career has spanned over three decades. Most recently, she served for five years as the superintendent of Hoover City Schools. 

A native of Butler County, Murphy attended Troy University, where she earned a Bachelor of Science in Education in 1981. She received a Master of Education in 1982, a Doctor of Education in 1987 and a Master of Education in Educational Leadership in 1994, all from Auburn University at Montgomery. 

Murphy has served on the board of directors for the National Beta Club, where she was the first female to serve on the board and the first female elected chairperson. She was appointed to the Governor’s Commission on Physical Fitness and the Governor’s Congress on School Leadership. She has served on many Alabama State Department of Education Committees, including most recently, the Course of Study Committees for Physical Education and Health Education. 

In higher education, she has served on the Dean’s Education Advisory Councils at Troy University, Judson College and Samford University.