Category: Past Speakers

ROBERT FRANKLIN BARROW

Lieutenant Colonel (Retired), U.S. Army

Director of Army Instruction

Mobile County Public School System – Junior Reserve Officer Training Program

Mobile, Alabama

 

Born in Wiesbaden, Germany, in 1958 and raised in Mobile, Alabama, Lieutenant Colonel Barrow graduated from Shaw High School in 1975 and the University of South Alabama in 1979.  He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Criminal Justice and was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in Air Defense Artillery.  Lieutenant Colonel Barrow earned a Master’s Degree in Administration of Justice from Webster University, St. Louis, Missouri, in 1984.  In addition, he completed a Master’s Degree in Liberal Arts from Spring Hill College in 2008.  He also completed a Master of Arts in Teaching Degree in 2011 from Grand Canyon University.  He is a graduate of the Army Command and General Staff College, and the Armed Forces Staff College Joint and Combined Staff Officer School.

 

Over the course of his career, Lieutenant Colonel Barrow’s tours of duty have included command and operations assignments in various commands.  His duty assignments include the 32d Army Air Defense Command in the Federal Republic of Germany, the 82^nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and Headquarters Allied Forces Central Europe, Ramstein Air Base, Germany.  Lieutenant Colonel Barrow retired from the Army on 1 January 2002 and immediately assumed duties as the Senior Army Instructor for the Junior ROTC program at LeFlore High School in Mobile, Alabama.  After teaching in the classroom for eleven years, he was selected for his current position as the Director of Army Instruction responsible for supervising all JROTC programs in the Mobile County Public School System.

 

Decorations awarded to Lieutenant Colonel Barrow include the Legion of Merit, Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Meritorious Service Medal w/3 Oak Leaf Clusters (OLC), Joint Service Commendation Medal, Army Commendation Medal (w/3 OLC), Air Force Commendation Medal, Army Achievement Medal (w/4 OLC), Joint Meritorious Unit Award, Air Force Organizational Excellence Award, National Defense Service Medal (w/Service Star), Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Armed Forces Service Medal, Army Service Ribbon, Overseas Service Ribbon (2 tours), NATO Medal, and Master Parachutist Badge.  He is a recipient of British, Canadian, and Honduran parachute badges and was awarded the German Rocket/Missile Qualification Badge.

 

Lieutenant Colonel Barrow is married to the former Cheryl K. Ellis of Daphne, Alabama.  They have two daughters, Corey and Lauren.

 

Colonel Anthony Sampson was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in May 1992, in the United States Army Reserve.  COL Sampson has over 29 years of military service and currently serves as Admin Chief, National Disaster Medical System, Dwight Eisenhower Army Medical Center in Augusta, Georgia.

COL Sampson is a graduate of the Army Medical Department Basic and Advanced Officer Courses, Combined Arms Service Support School, Command and General Staff College Intermediate Level Education. He has command at the company and battalion level and held key staff positions at the brigade level providing medical support.

COL Sampson holds a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Biology from Dillard University, a Masters of Arts degree in Curriculum & Instruction from Xavier University in New Orleans, and Specialist in Educational Leadership from the University of South Alabama.

As a civilian, COL Sampson serves as the Director of Prevention & Support Services for Baldwin County Public Schools.  He is responsible for ensuring a safe and secure environment for nearly 32,000 students and 3,700 employees in 46 schools.  He is also responsible for counselors, social workers, nurses, dropout prevention, alternative school programs, expulsion hearings, geographical information systems and the Chemical Abuse and Prevention Program.

Throughout his 23 years of service in Baldwin County Public Schools, COL Sampson has served in a variety of positions.  He has served as the Director of Safety, Security & Attendance, Director of Human Resources, Supervisor of Human Resources, Principal of Daphne Middle School, Assistant Principal of Fairhope High School, and Science Teacher at Fairhope High School.

COL Sampson’s professional affiliations and community service includes: National Association of School Resource Officers, International Association of Emergency Managers, Council for Leaders in Alabama Schools, Baldwin County Local Emergency Planning Committee, Baldwin County Hazard Mitigation Planning Committee, Baldwin County Children’s Policy Council, Baldwin County Underage Drinking Task Force, Baldwin County United Board Member, Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Incorporated, Life Member; Southern Province, Life Member & Chairman of Military and Veterans Affairs Commission; Vice-Chairman Deacon Board, Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church, and Boy Scouts of America.

COL Sampson is married and currently resides in Daphne, Alabama, with his wife Pam and three children: Jordan (19) Kendall (16) and Anthony Jr. (12). He also has two rescue dogs, Henry and Charlie.

Captain Tom Daniel U.S. Navy (Retired) served 31 years on active duty highlighted by serving as Commanding Officer USS SAMUEL ELIOT MORISON (FFG-13), Commanding Officer NROTC Florida State and Florida A & M Universities and Special Assistant to the Chief of Naval Operations. Captain Daniel also completed a combat deployment as Executive Officer USS McINERNEY (FFG-8) during Desert Storm/Desert Shield in the Persian Gulf and discovered and destroyed 9 free floating Iraqi contact mines. U.S. Naval Proceedings Magazine published Captain Daniel’s “DON”T ASK ME BUT….” Article “ JROTC is an investment in the future” in the November 2021 issue.  Since retirement in 2007 Captain Daniel has served as the Senior Naval Science Instructor at WP Davidson High School in Mobile Al with 8^th graders cross enrolled from Admiral Denton Magnet School. One of the highlights of WP Davidson’s NJROTC program was General Colin Powell presenting a donation to WP Davidson High NJROTC via the Hargrove Foundation in 2019.

 

Daryl Taylor
Daryl Taylor is the Vice President and General Manager for
Airbus’ Commercial Aircraft Manufacturing in Mobile, Alabama.
Daryl transitioned into this position in November 2018 with Airbus’
addition of the A220 Final Assembly in Mobile. In this role, Daryl is
now responsible for the U.S. manufacturing operations for the
A320 and A220 families of aircraft.
Daryl joined Airbus in 2015 to lead the ramp-up of the new A320
U.S. manufacturing operations and site management, responsible
for ensuring the assembly and delivery of on-time, on-quality and
on-cost aircraft to the North American market. Daryl has led the
team in Mobile to a successful delivery of 100+ aircraft in its first
three years of operation.
Previously, Daryl was Vice President and General Manager at GKN Aerospace, from 2013 to
2015. At GKN, he was responsible for two machining and subassembly facilities: Precision
Machining, Inc. in Wellington, Kansas and Bandy Aerospace, Inc. in Burbank, California.
From 2010 to 2013, Daryl was General Manager of the Q400 Program at Bombardier
Aerospace in Toronto, Canada; and from 1997 to 2009 he held various roles at Hawker
Beechcraft Corporation in Wichita, Kansas, including Director of Operations H4000, Director
of Assembly Operations Hawker 900 & 750, and Director of Six Sigma & Performance
Excellence.
He was a Certified Engineering Apprentice at Airbus in the UK from 1989 until 1994. He
graduated from North East Wales Institute with a Higher National Diploma in Aeronautical
Engineering, Southwestern College in with a B.S. in Manufacturing Technology.
Daryl lives in Fairhope, AL with his wife and three children

Andrew Elliott
Director/Counsellor of the Northern Ireland Bureau Washington, DC
Andrew was appointed to his US Diplomatic Post in November 2019.
He joined the Northern Ireland Civil Service in 1988 and the Senior Civil Service in 2000.
His previous diplomatic post was as Head of the Office of the Northern Ireland Executive
in Brussels from 2015 until November 2019, where a major priority related to the
particular challenge of Brexit for the region of Northern Ireland.
From 2010 he was responsible for a programme of major reform to the delivery of EU
Common Agricultural Policy grants and subsidies to farmers in the Department of
Agriculture and Rural Development in Northern Ireland. As a result of this work, the
exposure of the Department to financial correction by the European Commission was
significantly reduced.
From 2005 until 2010, he was responsible for directing the development of population
health policy in Northern Ireland, including the introduction of legislation to ban
smoking in enclosed public spaces and the preparations for pandemic influenza.
From 2000 to 2004 he was Secretary to the Parades Commission with responsibility for
providing senior advice to the Commission on the discharge of its duties and powers in
relation to issues concerning human rights and the promotion of mediation and peacebuilding.
Andrew is married with two children.

Ricardo A. Woods is a trial lawyer and shareholder in Burr & Forman, LLP’s Mobile office. He is a creative problem solver who provides his clients with innovative and cost effective solutions and strategies. Ricardo has first-chair jury trial experience, as well as extensive pre-trial litigation experience. He has successfully defended matters, which included allegations of wrongful death, paralysis, severe bodily injuries, and toxic torts.
Ricardo currently serves as the Chair of DRI’s Diversity and Inclusion Committee. He also serves as the City Attorney for Mobile.

Doug Otto recently retired from the Corps of Engineers’ Mobile District,
where he served as the Chief of the Engineering Division. A licensed
Professional Engineer, he was responsible for all engineering services for the
District’s Civil Works and Military programs. In addition to his engineering
career, he also served in the Air Force Reserve for over thirty years, retiring
as a Colonel in 2015. As a Command Pilot with over 4,000 military flight
hours, he is a veteran of Operation Just Cause, Operation Desert Shield, and
over 150 hurricane eyewall penetrations while serving as the Commander of
the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron “Hurricane Hunters”. He earned
a Master of Science degree in Civil Engineering from Georgia Tech, a
Bachelor of Civil Engineering degree from Auburn University, and is a
graduate of the USAF War College. As a spouse of a working wife, his
current career goals are to ensure the meals are made, the laundry folded,
and the kids get where they need to be . .

About Governor Ivey
Official Portrait
Download Full Size Photo
Growing up in the small town of Camden in Wilcox County, Alabama, and working on her father’s farm taught Kay Ivey to value hard work and living within one’s means. Her parents instilled values of faith, family, and community.
After graduating from Auburn University in 1967, Kay worked as a high school teacher and a bank officer. She served as Reading Clerk of the Alabama House of Representatives under Speaker Joseph C. McCorquodale and was Assistant Director of the Alabama Development Office, where she worked to spur job creation and economic development across the state.
In 2002, Kay became the first Republican elected State Treasurer since Reconstruction and she was re-elected in 2006. As Treasurer, Kay was committed to making the office more open, transparent, and efficient. Kay was elected Lieutenant Governor in 2010, becoming the first Republican woman to hold the office in Alabama’s history.
She again made history on November 4, 2014, by becoming the first Republican Lieutenant Governor re-elected to the office. The Lieutenant Governor’s primary Constitutional duty is to preside over legislative proceedings of the upper house as President of the Senate.
Kay has been honored to receive numerous awards for her service to the State of Alabama, including the 2015 ALFA Service to Agriculture Award, Newmax’s 50 Most Influential Female Republicans in the country and, most recently, the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) 2016 Public Service Award; 2017 Citizen of the Year, by River Region Living Magazine. In September 2019, the Alabama-Florida Council of the Boy Scouts of America distinguished Governor Ivey as a Golden Eagle for her ‘scout like service’ and being a trailblazer for women.
On April 10, 2017, Kay was sworn in as the 54th Governor of the State of Alabama in the Old Senate Chamber in the Alabama State Capitol by Acting Chief Justice Lyn Stuart. Following a successful nineteen months in office, the people of Alabama made history again in November 2018 by electing Governor Ivey to a full term. She is the first Lt. Governor of Alabama elected to a full term after taking over as governor due to a vacancy in the governor’s office.
On January 14, 2019, Governor Ivey was officially sworn in for her full term by Associate Justice Will Sellers. Kay will continue to bring conservative leadership with effective results to make this generation more productive and the next generation more prosperous.
She is a member of the First Baptist Church of Montgomery, the Montgomery Rotary Club, and the Board of Directors of the Montgomery YMCA. Kay is also the first Girls State alumnus to be elected to an Alabama Constitutional Office.