ACTC receives appointments for Board of Directors
June 29, 2023
ASHLAND, Ky. – Governor Andy Beshear recently appointed a new member and reappointed three members to the Ashland Community and Technical College Board of Directors.
Reappointments included Rick Clark, Ann Perkins, and John Stewart. Laura Patrick was appointed to the Board for her first term.
Rick Clark has served on the Board since 2017 and chaired the Board since 2019.
“I am honored to serve another term on the ACTC Board. I thank Governor Beshear for appointing me back on the Board,” said Clark. “I enjoy working with Dr. Ferguson and the faculty that serve on the Board. ACTC is a huge part of the local economy, and the Board works to help make it better.”
Laura Patrick has been with King’s Daughters for fifteen years and currently serves as the Director of the King’s Daughters Health Foundation and Team Recognition. She has served in a variety of roles involving event management, business development, public relations and fundraising. She is a 2004 graduate of Russell High School and went on to obtain her B.A. in Communication Studies from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. She also has an M.A. in Managerial Communication and Business from Bellevue University. Laura currently resides in Wurtland with her husband Jarred, a former student of ACTC and now a retail pharmacist at McMeans in Ashland.
“I am truly honored to be appointed by Governor Andy Beshear for the ACTC Board of Directors,” said Patrick. “I’m energized to work with the leadership team and fellow Board members to develop, lead and enhance ACTC’s mission and vision. We are very lucky to have such high-quality education right here in our local community.”
Ann Perkins has been the Executive Director of Safe Harbor of Northeast Kentucky since 1998. She is also the owner of Second Hand Rose Consignment Shops in Ashland, a business she began with her husband in 2000. She is a 1974 graduate of the University of Kentucky and a proud alumnus of Ashland Community College. She was appointed to the ACTC Board of Directors in 2008 and remained on the Board until 2019, serving as chair in the 2018-19 year. Her current appointment will allow her to serve until 2029. She has also served on the Community and Technical College Foundation of Ashland, Inc. Board since 2019.
“It is my honor and my joy to being re-appointed to the ACTC Board of Directors by Governor Beshear,” said Perkins. “My success in life has roots in my education and relationships that I have formed through the college. I will always be a strong advocate for ACTC and hope that my grandson will become a 4th generation alumni next year.”
Perkins father, Harry Brown, was also a graduate of ACTC.
“When he came back from the war, he went to work and had a family. He was committed to attending college to get his degree. He had his own shoe store and worked six days a week in it while attending night classes at ACTC every semester for almost twenty years. He eventually transferred to Marshall and graduated from Marshall the same day that I graduated from Holy Family high school,” Perkins said.
She added, “His love for his instructors and the excellence that they provided in preparing him for a Biology degree was a constant topic of discussion in our home for over forty years. Upon his graduation, he became the second Executive Director of KEDC Corporation. He was a lifelong learner that valued the ability to get his degree in an unconventional way. ACTC provided that opportunity for him.”
John Stewart served on the Board from 2006-2017 and chaired the Board from 2011-2017.
“I thank Governor Beshear and Rocky Adkins for appointing me to the ACTC Board of Directors,” said Stewart. “The college is an essential asset to our community. I am honored to be part of the college and support its impact on area students and the communities that it serves.”
