Oak Hammock is governed by a local board of directors responsible for providing advisory governance, and we encourage resident collaboration in the operation of our community. Our board is comprised of 15 members, including five who are appointed by the University of Florida president, five who are local community members, two who are UF alumni and three who are Oak Hammock residents. They each bring a unique set of experiences to our community and we thank them for their unwavering dedication.
Support
from our board
Oak Hammock Board of Directors
Judith "Judy" Russell, MSLS
Board Chair
Dean, University of Florida Libraries
Russell is the current dean of University Libraries at the University of Florida. She is the first dean of the University of Florida George A. Smathers Libraries, with the position elevated to the dean rank from a directorship to reflect the increased importance of the libraries and information for the University of Florida. She has held this position since May 2007.
Russell currently serves as a member of the board of LLMC-Digital, a non-profit online platform that provides access to digitized legal and government documents. She is active in the American Library Association and the Association for College and Research Libraries. She also is a former president of National Federation of Advanced Information Services and former board member of the Association of Research Libraries.
In 2008, she published the report, Meeting the Information Needs of the American People: Past Actions and Future Initiatives.
Russell received her master’s degree in library science from Catholic University of America and bachelor’s degree from Dunbarton College of the Holy Cross.
Peter F. Gearen, M.D.
Board Vice Chair
Orthopedics, University of Florida College of Medicine (retired)
Gearen was a member of the University of Florida faculty for almost 30 years, retiring in 2012. He was chief of staff at UF Health Shands Hospital, the assistant dean of clinical affairs at the UF College of Medicine, chairman of the UF Department of Orthopedics and Rehabilitation, and has served as an associate professor of orthopedics. He taught hundreds of students, residents and fellows and performed thousands of operations helping his patients recover their freedom.
Gearen was recognized as a U.S. News and World Report as a “Top Doctor” in 2012,” and had the reputation of being a caring who was most supportive of his patients. His line of work was extremely demanding, and he put his patients’ well-being before his own. For recreation, Gearen is an avid golfer.
Gearen earned his medical degree from Stritch-Loyola Medical School and studied pre-med at the University of Illinois. He completed his internship at the University of Chicago Hospitals, his residency at the University of Florida and his fellowship at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation.
Andy Gray
Board Secretary
Vice President, Motorola Inc. (retired)
Gray was formally vice president for business development of Haven Hospice of North Central Florida from 2007-2011. He retired from Motorola, Inc. after 27 years, having served as vice president and director of numerous divisions, including the Latin American and Asia Pacific divisions.
As the emergency response system director with the Hawaii Department of Health, Gray led the creation of emergency response systems development in all rural areas of Hawaii. Working with the department of health for ten years, he also successfully developed statewide programs resulting in reduced mortality through implementation of an integrated response system.
Gray received his bachelor’s degree in sociology from the University of Hawaii.
Jim Kelly Jr.
Board Treasurer
Chief Executive Officer, UF Health Shands (retired)
Kelly served as the interim chief executive officer, the senior vice president and the chief financial officer at the University of Florida Health Shands healthcare system over more than a decade. He was responsible for overseeing the revenue cycle, managed care contracting, treasury, accounting, tax and reimbursement, financial planning and analysis and accounts payable.
Kelly’s vital role as part of hospital leadership team was instrumental in the system’s growth and stability. Kelly and other hospital leaders maintained a culture of excellence, which focused on the hospital system’s commitment to delivering the highest-quality care possible.
Immediately prior to his tenure at UF Health Shands, Kelly was the corporate controller at Partners HealthCare System, Inc. in Boston.
Kelly serves on the board of directors at LifeSouth Community Blood Centers and is an ex-officio board member of the UF Investment Corporation.
Kelly earned both his master’s and bachelor’s degrees in accounting from the State University of New York at Albany.
Kim A. Barton
Board Member
Alachua County Supervisor of Elections
Barton was elected Alachua County supervisor of elections in August 2016, reelected without opposition in 2020 and won by a decisive victory against her opponent in 2024. When she was elected in 2016, she became the first Black person to serve as Alachua County Supervisor of Elections. She is chiefly responsible for administering elections and voter registration in the county.
Prior to serving as supervisor of elections in 1993, Barton became the first outreach coordinator and was promoted to outreach director in Alachua County.
Barton is from Memphis, Tennessee. She graduated from the University of Florida in 1985 with a bachelor’s degree in advertising from the College of Journalism and Communications. She received a basketball scholarship to attend Connors State College in Warner, Oklahoma. She led her team to its first National Junior College Athletic Association tournament and was named a first-team NJCAA All-American. She was recruited by Debbie Yow to play NCAA Division I women’s basketball for Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Oklahoma. When Yow became the head coach for the UF women’s basketball team, she followed and became a proud Lady Gator.
Ann Horgas, Ph.D., R.N., FGSA, FAAN
Board Member
Executive Associate Dean and Chair, Department of Biobehavioral Nursing Science, College of Nursing/University of Florida
Horgas currently serves as professor and interim executive associate dean of the UF College of Nursing. She also has served as the department chair for the UF Biobehavioral Nursing Science department since 2017, leading approximately 40 faculty. Horgas has several decades of clinical, research, education and leadership experience in aging, focusing on health promotion.
Horgas joined the University of Florida in 2000 and conducts research on pain and aging. She has been funded by the National Institute on Aging to study cognitive interventions for older adults and by the National Institute of Nursing Research to investigate pain in nursing home residents with dementia. She is a fellow of the American Academy of Nursing and the Gerontological Society of America. Horgas teaches theory, research and statistics to graduate students in the Ph.D. and D.N.P. programs.
Horgas received her doctoral degree in human development and aging, master’s and bachelor’s degrees in nursing, all from Pennsylvania State University. She completed a post-doctoral fellowship in gerontology and geriatrics at the Free University of Berlin.
Robert H. "Bob" Jerry, II, J.D.
Board Member
Dean, University of Florida Levin College of Law (retired)
Jerry is dean-emeritus (2003-14) and a Levin Mabie and Levin Professor-emeritus (2003-15) at the University of Florida Levin College of Law. He is also the Floyd R. Gibson Missouri Endowed Professor-emeritus at the University of Missouri School of Law (1998-2003; 2015-2019).
Jerry’s research and teaching specialty was insurance law, and he is the author of numerous books, book chapters, articles and essays in this field. His book, Advanced Introduction to Insurance Law, was published in 2023. He has also written and presented in the fields of health care ethics, health care finance and access, alternative dispute resolution and leadership studies.
In 2020, he received the Robert B. McKay Law Professor Award, which is awarded annually by the American Bar Association’s Tort, Trial, and Insurance Practice Section to a law professor who has “shown commitment to the advancement of justice, scholarship and the legal profession, demonstrated by outstanding contributions to the fields of tort, trial practice or insurance law.”
Jerry received his Juris Doctorate from University of Michigan School of Law and his bachelor’s degree from Indiana State University
Donna Johnson, M.S.
Board Member, Oak Hammock Representative, Residents' Council President
Information Technology Director, University of Florida Warrington College of Business (retired)
Johnson worked for the University of Florida for thirty-five years before retiring. For the last fifteen of those years, she managed a large team of information technology professionals as director of information technology for the Warrington College of Business Administration. Her position involved oversight and budget authority for a programming team, a technical support team, an AV production team and an instructional support team. Johnson also team-taught and developed “Computing in the Business Environment,” an undergraduate course delivered online to hundreds of students each semester.
During her time at UF, Johnson served as chair of the Information Technology Advisory Council for Academic Technology. She won a Davis Productivity Award for work resulting in increased performance and cost savings, which enhanced the productivity of the Florida government and received several UF Superior Accomplishment awards.
She has been a member of Altrusa International of Gainesville, FL Inc. since 1984 and has served in almost every leadership role including international president and international treasurer. She was actively involved in the revitalization and rebranding of Altrusa International, developing the new logo, tag line and brand drivers.
She received her master’s degree in education administration and a bachelor’s degree in education from the University of Florida.
George Kolb, Jr., M.S.
Board Member
Assistant Vice President for budgets at the University of Florida
George Kolb, Jr., M.S., is assistant vice president for university budgets at the University of Florida, where he directs the UF Budget Office and oversees the institution’s budgeting processes, financial analysis and resource allocation. He also serves as treasurer of the UF Research Foundation and previously held roles as corporate secretary and in organizational management.
A double Gator, George earned his bachelor’s degree in accounting in 1992 and master’s degree in decision and information sciences in 2003 from UF. Over his 30+ year career at the university, he has held progressive leadership roles across academic, medical, administrative and core units, with experience spanning accounting, human resources and information technology.
George was part of the inaugural class of the UF Academy leadership program and later completed the Advanced Leadership for Academics & Professionals program. He has presented at national higher education finance conferences and served on numerous committees and task forces. Active in his community, George has volunteered in local scouting organizations, supports the Gainesville High School Band & Guard Boosters and co-founded the Blue Chips & Salsa investment club, where he has served as treasurer since 1997.
Doug Merrey, Ph.D., M.A.
Board Member, Oak Hammock Resident Representative
Independent Consultant
Merrey currently works as an independent consultant on water management for agriculture in Asia and Africa. He and his wife have lived for much of their adult lives in India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Egypt and South Africa. He worked for over 20 years at the International Water Management Institute, where he held several senior positions, including deputy director general of programs and the founding director for the Africa division.
Merrey was appointed by the minister in charge of water affairs as a member of the Board of Directors of the South African Water Research Council for three terms.
Since coming to Oak Hammock in 2016, he has been mentoring a high school student enrolled in the Take Stock in Children Program. He is a member of several Oak Hammock Residents’ Council committees, including the curriculum committee for the Institute for Learning in Retirement.
Merrey received his received doctoral degree in anthropology and his master’s degree in Asian studies, both from the University of Pennsylvania. He received his bachelor’s degree in history from Tufts University and graduated magna cum laude. He was also a Peace Corps Volunteer in India.
Cydney McGlothlin, A.I.A
Board Member
Assistant Vice President, Planning, Design & Construction/University Architect, University of Florida
McGlothlin joined the University of Florida in 2003 and became UF’s primary architect in 2019. Among her projects are the Steinbrenner Band Building, Harn Museum Asian Art Wing, Fackler Foyers at the Phillips Center for Performing Arts, the Reitz Union Expansion and Renovation and the Herbert Wertheim Laboratory for Engineering Excellence.
McGlothlin has worked to bring many of UF’s most important construction projects to life, including the Wertheim Laboratory for Engineering Excellence and the Reitz Union expansion. She has served in a leadership role for multiple projects, including the Malachowsky Hall for Data Science & Information Technology and the UF Public Safety Building. In addition to her professional experience, McGlothlin has served in leadership roles as the president of the Gainesville chapter of the American Institute of Architects, as well as the chair of UF’s Architectural Review Council.
In 2023, she provided leadership on over $2 billion in active projects at UF. She presents regularly to UF leadership, serves on many UF committees and sits on the AIA Gainesville Board.
She received her bachelor’s degree in architecture from Kansas State University and is a licensed architect in both Colorado and Florida.
Margaret Portillo, Ph.D., FIDEC
Board Member
Professor of Interior Design, College of Design, Construction + Planning/University of Florida
Portillo joined the University of Florida faculty as chair of the department of interior design in the College of Design, Construction, and Planning, or DCP. She led the program for three consecutive terms, recruiting top-tier faculty in lighting, creativity studies, design history and multiculturalism, emerging technologies and data science and healthcare design. The college of DCP includes programs in architecture, construction management, historic preservation, landscape architecture, interior design, sustainability and the built environment, and urban and regional planning.
Portillo now enjoys teaching undergraduate and graduate students. She taught undergraduate courses in design innovation, color theory, environment behavior, graduate-level research methods and topical seminars. She received the state-wide Florida Educational Foundation Jones Mentoring Award twice for working with African American doctoral students.
Portillo has been honored with a UF Research Foundation Professorship based on scholarly achievements. She has written numerous books, including the Color Planning for Interiors: An Integrated Approach to Color in Designed Spaces, a book that proposed impact markers of interior space that elevate, for example, contextual civility, empathy, innovation and place identity.
Portillo received her doctoral and her master’s degrees in related design
from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Martha Rader, Ph.D., M.P.H.
Board Member, Oak Hammock Resident Representative
Dean of Health Sciences, University of Charleston (retired)
Rader spent most of her professional life in and around healthcare. After 16 years practicing physical therapy, she became a faculty member at University of Florida in the physical therapy department and then developed a new physical therapy program at the University of North Florida, serving as its first director for several years. To be nearer her aging mother, she moved back to Ohio and was appointed dean of professional studies at Shawnee State University in Ohio, supervising some 75 faculty members in fields ranging from accredited health programs to business administration to engineering.
While at the University of Florida, Rader won several teaching awards, including being named 1989-1990, University-wide, Teacher of the Year. She was appointed by President John Lombardi to chair the faculty committee on Intercollegiate Athletics and served on the board of the University Athletic Association.
She and her husband, David, have lived at Oak Hammock since 2016 where she has been actively involved with the Residents’ Council since moving in.
Rader has four degrees from Ohio State University: doctoral degree in educational policy and leadership; master’s degree in allied medicine; master’s degree in public health for practicing health professionals and bachelor’s degree in physical therapy.
Lee Revere, Ph.D., M.S.
Board Member
Chair & Professor, Department of Health Services Research, Management and Policy, University of Florida College of Public Health and Health Professions
Revere is a professor and Florida Blue Endowed Chair of Health Services Research, Management and Policy, at the College of Public Health and Health Professions. She has a background in industrial engineering, more than 10 years of managerial experience and over 30 years as an academic researcher. Her research is focused on improving the efficiency and effectiveness of healthcare, lean six sigma and quality improvement and the effects of payment structures on utilization and cost. She has been the principal investigator on numerous grants totaling over $5.6 million in funding and published over 50 journal articles in a variety of healthcare, quality and business journals. Before earning a doctorate in public health, she held positions in quality and managed healthcare with SunHealth Alliance, Christus Health System, Humana Health Plans and HealthHelp Networks.
Revere received a doctoral degree in public health from the University of South Florida, a master’s degree in healthcare administration from Trinity University and bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology.