New chair, vice chair announced for MC Board of Directors
Oct. 21, 2020
Cole Piper ’68 and Diane Humphreys-Barlow ’70 began their terms as Chair and Vice Chair of the Maryville College Board of Directors – the College’s governing body – on Oct. 16, 2020.
As the new Board Chair, Piper is the 20th person to hold the position in the College’s 201-year history. He succeeds Dr. Mary Kay Sullivan, who has served as Chair since 2016.
Piper, who joined the Board in October 2019, also is chair of the Board’s Advancement Committee, and he is on the Executive Committee. After earning his bachelor’s degree in sociology from Maryville College, he completed post-graduate work at the University of Tennessee and Penn State University. He spent most of his career as an executive with Proffitt’s department stores. Most recently, he has served as executive in residence in the Department of Retail and Consumer Science at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, since 1999. He was past president of the Tennessee Retail Federation and has served on several boards.
Humphreys-Barlow, who previously was secretary of the College’s Board of Directors, served on the Board from 1986 until 1997 and was reappointed in 1998. In addition to serving as vice chair, she serves on the Board’s Advancement Committee and Executive Committee.
She holds a bachelor’s degree from Maryville College, a master’s degree from Middlebury College and a Master of Social Work degree from Tulane University. A clinical social worker, she has had her own private practice since 1981, focusing on adult psychotherapy and marital therapy. She is a member of the Appalachian Psychoanalytic Society and the Knoxville Botanical Garden and Arboretum’s board, and she serves on the University of Tennessee’s Clarence Brown Theatre Advisory Board’s Diversity and Inclusion Committee.