Governor Ivey Appoints Two to the Alabama Commission on Higher Education
Ann Forbes Sirmon and Paul W. Kennedy have been appointed by Governor Kay Ivey to the Alabama Commission on Higher Education (ACHE). Sirmon will represent the First Congressional District and Kennedy will be the Fourth Congressional District representative. Both will be subject to confirmation by the 2021 Alabama Senate.
Sirmon is the executive director of the Alabama Bar Association and Mobile Bar Foundation. Her career has included management positions with the Mobile County District Attorney’s Office, Distinguished Young Women, and Mobile Convention and Visitors Corporation. She formerly owned PAF Management, a non-profit association, conference and event planning management company in Mobile.
She is a past president of the Junior League of Mobile and a 2007 graduate of Leadership Mobile. She currently serves as a mentor for Big Brothers/Big Sisters of South Alabama. Sirmon 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. He 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.
He 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.
“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. “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.”
The Alabama Commission on Higher Education, founded in 1969, is the state’s coordinating board for all public institutions of higher education.
