Gov. Kay Ivey has appointed two people to the Alabama Commission on Higher Education.
Ann Forbes Sirmon will represent the 1st Congressional District and Paul W. Kennedy will be the 4th Congressional District representative. Both will be subject to confirmation by the 2021 Alabama Senate, according to a press release from the commission.
“The professional experience that Commissioners Sirmon and Kennedy will bring to ACHE will be invaluable during these unprecedented times in higher education,” said ACHE Executive Director Jim Purcell in a statement. “As we continue to navigate uncharted territory, we will need strong leadership to expand and explore new challenges. I feel totally confident in their ability to provide that leadership.”
Sirmon is executive director of the Alabama Bar Association and Mobile Bar Foundation and has held management positions with the Mobile County District Attorney’s Office, Distinguished Young Women and Mobile Convention and Visitors Corporation. Sirmon formerly owned PAF Management, a non-profit association, conference and event planning management company in Mobile.
Sirmon is a past president of the Junior League of Mobile, a 2007 graduate of Leadership Mobile and serves as a mentor for Big Brothers/Big Sisters of South Alabama. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Tourism and Commercial Recreation from the University of South Alabama.
Kennedy is president of the Walker Area Community Foundation in Jasper and has extensive experience in watershed management, historic preservation, economic development and environmental education through the United States Department of Agriculture. His work has included conservation planning assistance to both landowners and government entities throughout Alabama.
Kennedy is a past president of the Alabama Chapter of the Soil and Water Conservation Society, founder and past chairman of Your Town, Alabama, Designing Its Future and coordinated the first Alabama workshop for Project WET (Water Education for Teachers). He has a Bachelor of Science degree in Forestry from North Carolina State University.
