Meet the Board
The Board of Directors
Hear from the Athens Chautauqua Society’s inaugural Board of Directors as they share what the movement means to them and why they are excited about its future.
THE BOARD - PART ONE
“It’s a phenomenal place”
- Peter Balsamo
“When you were in the White House,
Mr. President, did you have any pets”?
- Terry Kaley
“It’s preserving history for our future, for our children”
- Kendell Turner
THE BOARD - PART TWO
“We’ve moved faster than I’ve ever seen an organization like this before”
- Tom Kenyon
“So much to be thankful for...Mike Hamby, Paul Cramer, and Linda Ford”
- Art Crawley
“A Chautauqua performer said that being in school drama as a kid changed his life”
- Terry Kaley
Board Members
Dr. Peter Balsamo, President
Peter retired in 2010 after working more than 35 years in the continuing higher education and workforce development fields at three diverse universities and a community college. While living in Lexington, SC, Peter was the founder and first board chair of the Shepherd’s Center of Lexington and served as Vice President of Hearing Health for the Lexington Sertoma Club. He’s currently an active member of the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) at The University of Georgia. Peter earned his BA and MA degrees from Montclair State (NJ) University and his Ph.D. degree from The University of Alabama.
Terry Kaley, Secretary
Following a 25-year career as a licensed Property & Casualty Insurance Agent, Terry became a Registered Dietitian. She managed health promotion research projects at the University of Georgia until retirement. Since then, she has volunteered as a tutor and mentor to elementary school students and is an active member of the University of Georgia Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI).
Dennis Crum, Treasurer
Dennis recently retired as Chief Financial Officer for Tift Regional Health System in Tifton, GA. His span of service as a health care chief financial officer totaled 43 years at two health systems. Dennis is a CPA and a Fellow in the Healthcare Financial Management Association. Dennis and his wife, Kathy, moved back to Athens to make Athens their retirement home. They have two grown children and two granddaughters. Dennis is as a board member and Treasurer of Casa de Amistad. Casa’s mission is to address the needs of the under-served Hispanic community primarily through education. Dennis looks forward to using his financial and accounting skills with Athens Chautauqua Society.
Dr. Navin Patel
Navin Patel, born in Gujarat, India, in 1952, has been a resident of Athens since 1984. His journey took him from Southern Africa to the United States via England, where he met his wife Judy and later married in Chattanooga. After completing Medical School and Residency Training, Navin began his career in Emergency Medicine at Athens Regional Medical Center in October 1984, eventually becoming the Director of Urgent Care locations in 1997. He retired in 2019, just before the 2020 pandemic, and has been at home since.
Joining the Athens Chautauqua Society three years ago, Navin was drawn to the presentations and the Chautauqua concept, prompting his involvement on the Board this year. He looks forward to contributing to the ongoing cultural enrichment in Athens.
Steve Shoemaker
Steve Shewmaker is a happily retired bum. He had a long and interesting legal career. He started in private practice in a small Kentucky town in a firm of four doing everything that walked in the door. Criminal defense, plaintiffs claims, defend insurance companies, divorce, adoption, bankruptcy, etc. He then spent two years as an assistant U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky. He then was elected Circuit Judge (civil cases over $4000, criminal cases 1 year in penitentiary to the death penalty, divorce, adoption, appeals from the lower Court). He served in that capacity 16+ years. He and his family then moved to Athens as he became Executive Director of Legal Affairs. He served there 13+ years.
He now travels with his wife of 45 years attempting to spend their two children’s inheritance (which they heartily support), plays golf, works out and does yoga. His parents instilled in him a love of learning. Chautauqua keeps that happening.
Former Board Members
Dr. Art Crawley, Past President
Arthur L. Crawley, is originally from Louisville Kentucky and received his Ed.D. from University of Georgia in Adult Education. After 40 years as an adult educator and university administrator, he retired from Louisiana State University, School of Human Resources in 2010. Dr. Crawley currently resides in Athens with his spouse, Connie Crawley, who retired from the University of Georgia, School of Family and Consumer Sciences in 2017. Dr. Crawley is an avid gardener, opera buff, and local “foodie”. Dr. Crawley is the co-founder (with Dr. Peter Balsamo) of the Athens Chautauqua Society and served as its first President.
Dr. Bill Alworth
William (Bill) Lee Alworth was born in 1939 in Twin Falls, Idaho. After graduating Twin Falls High School he attended Harvard College and after graduating from Harvard, he attended graduate school at the University of California, Berkeley and received his Ph.D. from Berkeley in chemistry. After a year of postdoctoral work at Harvard he accepted a position in the chemistry department at Tulane University in New Orleans. He retired from Tulane University in 2004 as Professor Emeritus. In 2005, after hurricane Katrina damaged their house in New Orleans, Bill and his wife Lois moved to Athens, GA where their two daughters lived and soon decided to relocate to Athens permanently. Soon after moving to Athens Bill became active in Olli@ and served as a board member and then as President of this organization. Bill looks forward to helping restore Chautauqua programs to Athens where they will add to the already rich environment of educational and cultural events
Madeline Van Dyck
Madeline Van Dyck is a retired Nurse Practitioner/Instructor who has called Athens home for the last 40 years. Volunteer interests include work with the Athens Nurses Clinic, the Oconee River Land Trust, the Athens Arts Council, and the Greenway Commission. Her family has spent two weeks of every summer for some decades in Chautauqua, New York, a National Historic District whose movement is founded on deepening the public's understanding of the world around us through the arts, education, spirituality and recreation.
Tom Kenyon
Tom is a graduate of St. Louis University. BS and Georgetown University, MA. He worked for 25 years in the private sector and 25 years in the nonprofit sector.
He is the past president of the National Alliance to End Homelessness. He has served on many committees including the White House Community Service Committee, America Works Partnership and Georgetown University Liberal Studies Executive Council and the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, (OLLI@UGA).
Dr. Andy Horne
Andy Horne was a faculty member of the counseling psychology program and an administrator at the University of Georgia until 2012. Since retiring he has been active with the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute and other organizations, both locally and nationally.
Kendell Turner
Kendell Turner earned a degree in Art History from the University of Miami after studying art history and the history of architecture in Munich, Germany and Florence, Italy. Kendell lives in Athens, Georgia, with her husband Tony. Her many years of community service include community activism and serving on preservation, museum, and library boards.