West comes to her position after a decade at the University of Alabama. There she was assistant dean and director of the Masters of Business Administration programs for the Manderson Graduate School of Business, a position she held from August 2001. West is also a graduate of Alabama, earning a Bachelor’s degree in finance in 1986 and an MBA in 1998.

West’s background is not in tourism or sports, but insurance. Before coming to UA she held positions as a manager or executive for insurance companies in Nashville, Tenn., and Newport Beach, Calif.

But West has insisted that the important aspects of her job require excellence in leadership and management, and in that regard she is very well prepared for the challenges of her new job.

For more information on West and the TTSC, visit http://visittuscaloosa.com.

Bob Johnson knew all about the consequences of natural disasters when he came to Tuscaloosa on June 1, 201, as director of the local 

In the wake of hurricane Katrina, he had worked with Habitat in Hancock County, MS, and with FEMA and HUD to help rebuild. Bob had been one of the first to respond to calls for help in Tuscaloosa in April, 2011. He came in May to help Habitat here, and he now finds himself a leader for the organization in the city, even though he still lives in Atlanta. Johnson told Rotarians a little about what his organization has done locally in the aftermath of the storm. Rotarian Chuck Turner introduced the speaker.

Habitat has sponsored 5,000 volunteers since July, 2011. They work here to help build attractive and affordable homes that add value to family and neighborhoods. And the houses are safe! They can withstand 140 mph winds, and are equipped with safe rooms. Habitat usually builds one house every 12- 18 months, Johnson said.

And the Habitat mission, he emphasized, is about more than building homes. It is about building lives and communities. Habitat has partnered with Nick’s Kids and the Literacy Council of West Alabama, for example, to create a temporary community-learning center for the Literacy Council of West Alabama. The aim is to help families through education, financial literacy and other life skills, to move from poverty to middle class.

In the aftermath of April 2011, among an army of volunteers and organizations, Habitat for Humanity has led the way in recovery in Tuscaloosa. This Tuesday Rotarians will hear more about the organization’s recent work. Bob Johnson, Director of Habitat for Humanity of Tuscaloosa, will speak to the club.

Bob grew up in Decatur and studied Economics and Political Science at the University of Alabama. He then completed graduate work at Fuller Seminary in California and Wheaton Graduate School in Illinois. He spent 18 years in pastoral ministry before going to work for Habitat for Humanity International.

Habitat owes is origins to Koinonia Farm, founded in 1942 by farmer and biblical scholar Clarence Jordan. Millard Fuller , who graduated from University of Alabama before building a successful business in Montgomery, later connected with Jordan, and together they developed the concept of “partnership housing.” This led to the creation of Habitat for Humanity International in 1976.

Habitat for Humanity of Tuscaloosa began in 1987 through the efforts of Hank Hawkins, a friend and classmate of Fuller’s at the University of Alabama.

For more information on Habitat for Humanity and its work in Tuscaloosa, visit www.habitattuscaloosa.org.

State Superintendent of Education Tommy Bice has heard all of the complaints and cries for reform that surround public education: the schools are in crisis; they are failing our children and do not serve the public; our dropout rates are too high, and our state is last in education. Last week, Bice came to the Rotary Club of Tuscaloosa to dispel some of those myths, and to paint a realistic future for our schools. Rotarian Jim McLean introduced the speaker.

Bice noted that Quality Counts, an organization that ranks public education throughout the country, recently put Alabama at 25th in the nation for public education. Another organization, part of Colin Powell’s initiatives for public education, ranked our state 4th in the nation for work in reducing dropout rates.

Alabama schools have other points of pride as well: an increase of 207% of minority participation in AP programs, for example, and distance learning for underserved rural areas. And recent measurements show the initiatives are working: one important national assessment, for example, shows that Alabama leads the nation in 4th grade reading.

Looking to the future, Bice emphasized that the success of any school system will be based on the quality of its teachers. He challenged Alabama to invest and to innovate, and especially to improve its pre-K education. He pointed to studies proving that a 129 million investment in state wide pre-K education would save 2 billion in future losses from poverty, drop-out rates and their consequences.

Last Tuesday evening, Rotarian Jim McLean presented a $1,000 Tuscaloosa Rotary Club Scholarship to Mr. Brandon Hall, a graduating senior at Northside High School, our Adopt-a-School partner. Mr. Hall will be attending The University of Alabama in the fall and majoring in Engineering.

Honor students at Northside also received t-shirts for Honors Week that were provided by the Rotary Club of Tuscaloosa. Congratulations to Brandon and to all of Northside’s honor students!

This week, the Rotary Club of Tuscaloosa continues its long tradition of hearing from leaders in public education on the challenges and opportunities facing Alabama’s schools. State Superintendent Dr. Tommy Bice will speak to the club.

Bice was appointed Alabama’s State Superintendent of Education on November 10, 2011, and assumed the position on January 1, 2012. Prior to his appointment, Dr. Bice served as Alabama’s Deputy State Superintendent of Education for Instructional Services; Superintendent of the Alexander City School System, high school principal, career tech director, alternative school teacher/director, special education/residential school director, and an early childhood teacher/parent trainer. He began his career as a teacher at the Alabama Institute for the Deaf and Blind. Dr. Bice also serves as an adjunct professor of Educational Leadership at Auburn University.

Dr. Bice received his B.S. and Ed.D. degrees from Auburn University and his M.S. degree from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He now lives in Alexander City with his wife, Nancy, and their three sons, Andrew, Bennett, and Cambron.