New Board of Trustees for the Cummer Museum

The Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens Board of Trustees announces the appointment of four new members: Atiya Abdelmalik, Yared Alula, Howard Dodson, Jr. and Nathanial P. Ford, Sr. The new trustees will each serve a three-year term that began on January 1, 2021.

Atiya Abdelmalik, Ph.D. (Dr. A.) has served in diverse roles in the fields of health care and community engagement. A sought-after keynote speaker, Dr. A. is the author of A Life Worth Saving: A Nurse's Journey from Sickness to Healing. She has led teams in health promotion, community programs and employee volunteerism. Dr. A. has led high level community initiatives and served on committees and the board of directors for the American Heart Association, National Kidney Foundation, Ward Home, August Wilson African American Cultural Center, YWCA and United Way. She holds a nursing degree from Eastern University, a graduate degree in nursing administration from Waynesburg University and a Ph.D. in community engagement from Point Park University.

Yared Alula currently serves as Vice President and Assistant General Counsel of the PGA TOUR, where he provides legal and strategic counsel across a wide variety of the PGA TOUR’s business units, and as General Counsel and Corporate Secretary for USA GOLF. Alula’s past experience included senior roles at the NBA Players Association, where he served as a key member of the NBPA negotiating committee that resolved the 2011 NBA lockout, and as an M&A attorney at Latham & Watkins. A proud native of Atlanta, Ga., Alula has also lived in Boston, New York and London. He has a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and economics from Emory University and a J.D. from Harvard Law School.

Howard Dodson, Jr. recently served as the Director of the Moorland-Spingarn Research Center and Howard University Libraries, and was formerly the long-time director of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in Harlem, a post he occupied for over a quarter of a century (1984-2010). Dodson is credited with extending the reach and reputation of the Schomburg Center through major exhibitions and acquisitions. Dodson has been active throughout his life in a number of projects, including service in the Peace Corps and later as a national Peace Corps staff member. He has produced a number of exhibitions and festivals celebrating Black history and African American life. Dodson is also the author of several books and articles, and the recipient of numerous awards, including being named to the President's Commission on the National Museum of African American History and Culture and the Malcolm X Museum Award. He serves on the boards of directors of the Apollo Theater Foundation and the UNESCO Slave Route Project, among many others.

Nathaniel P. Ford, Sr. is Chief Executive Officer of the Jacksonville Transportation Authority (JTA) and past Chair of the American Public Transportation Association (APTA). His distinguished career spans more than four decades, including tenures as CEO of the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency and the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority. Ford is the Chair of the Goodwill Industries of Northeast Florida Board of Directors and Vice Chair of the Transportation Research Board. He was named “Ultimate CEO” by the Jacksonville Business Journal, inducted into the First Coast Business Hall of Fame, honored with the 2019 “Thought Leader” Award by The Eno Center for Transportation and selected as APTA’s 2020 Outstanding Public Transportation General Manager of the Year. Ford holds an Executive MBA from the Davis School of Business at Jacksonville University and a Bachelor of Applied Science degree in organizational leadership from Mercer University. He is a graduate of the Executive Development Consortium Program at Emory University, and has completed executive training at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. He is a graduate of Leadership Florida (2015) and Leadership Jacksonville (2014).