Category: Past Speakers

The Rotary Club of Mobile: Speaker for May 31: Chris Curry
In October of 2017 Chris Curry was named Executive Director of the Mobile Airport Authority. He has 35 years of experience and has served in an executive capacity at three airports including the Tallahassee International Airport. During his tenure in Tallahassee he made substantial improvements to the facility and in 2016 was named Aviation Professional of the Year by the Florida Department of Transportation.
He holds a degree in professional aeronautics from Embry Riddle Aeronautical University and an associate degree from the Community College of the U.S. Air Force.

Mark Foley, PhD.
Dr. Mark Foley is an active Christian speaker, teacher, and consultant in the arena of spiritual development. He is an organizational consultant with focus upon guiding organizations to effective purpose-driven presence in changing environments; incorporation of faith principles with strategy and operations; and establishing a culture of mission effectiveness in organizational systems.
Dr. Foley served as president of the University of Mobile from 1998 to 2016 and was the third president of the university since its founding in 1961. Dr. Foley led the move to intentionally integrate learning, faith and leadership in all areas of university life, while raising academic standards, conducting significant capital expansion, establishing outstanding programs such as the Center for Performing Arts, and leading the university to national rankings.
His emphasis on the core values of faith, learning, conviction, integrity, stewardship and leadership extended to all operations of the university, from the classroom to the administrative offices. With these core values in place, the university committed to graduating confident Christian men and women who mastered the body of knowledge required by the degree they earned; who know how to think; who know what they believe and why they believe it; who possess the courage to live and work according to those beliefs; who accept responsibility as caretakers of that with which God has entrusted them; and who possess the willingness and skill to use their influence in appropriate and effective ways to change the world around them.
He served in leadership at national and regional levels in a variety of educational and charitable organizations, including the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, the Alabama Association of Independent Colleges and Schools, the Council of Presidents of the Southern States Athletic Conference, and the Board of Directors of Volunteers of America, Southeast, Inc.
Before his service at the University of Mobile, Dr. Foley was executive vice president of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. He holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene, Texas; a Master of Divinity and a Doctor of Philosophy in psychology and counseling from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary; and conducted post- doctoral studies at Harvard University. He is an ordained minister, a former business owner, and has practiced as a professional counselor.
His wife, Marilyn, is involved in many community activities. She holds a Bachelor of Science in education from Midwestern State University in Wichita Falls, Texas, and is a former classroom educator. The Foleys have two children and five grandchildren.

Cartledge Weeden Blackwell, III – “Cart”
Cartledge Weeden Blackwell, III, is the curator of the Mobile Carnival Museum Blackwell was born in Selma, Alabama. He obtained undergraduate degrees in art history and historic preservation from the College of Charleston He received his MA in Architectural History from the University’s School of Architecture in 2008. His scholarly focus is the art and architecture of the 19th Century and 20th Century America, particularly that of the Southeast. Cart is currently working on two three books. One focuses on Alabama artist-designer Clara Weaver Parrish. A second is on the portraiture in Alabama, while a third, one on architect George B. Rogers, is the beginning stages of development. His writings have appeared in Alabama, Alabama Heritage, ARRIS, Mobile Bay Monthly, Access, and other publications. In addition to his research and writings, Cart also serves as the Alabama representative to the Southeast Chapter of the Society of Architectural Historians, a board member of the Cahaba Foundation, a trustee of Wilmer Hall, and a board member of the Friends of the Alabama Department of Archives & History. From 2009 to 2017, Cart worked for the City of Mobile as part of the Mobile Historic Development Commission. From 2015 forward, he served as acting and then deputy director of the MHDC. H