Dumas: Humbled by BOT nomination

Contributed Auburn Villager Robert W. Dumas is the President and Chief Executive Officer of AuburnBank.

The nomination of Bob Dumas to the Auburn University Board of Trustees now moves to the Alabama Senate Confirmations Committee

AuburnBank President Bob Dumas says he is "very, very humbled" to have been nominated to a seven-year term on the Auburn University Board of Trustees.

Dumas was nominated for the 3rd District-Lee County position this week by a five-member selection committee. His nomination now goes the Alabama Senate Confirmations Committee.

"We had some great candidates. We are all friends and everyone has been supportive," said Dumas. "It has been a humbling thing, but it has been exciting."

Dumas was among nine nominees reported out of the Auburn University Trustee Selection Committee. Auburn has a total of 14 trustees, so the Senate needs to confirm several of the trustees for the Board this session to have a quorum as terms expire.

The Selection Committee is made of Gov. Robert Bentley, trustees John Blackwell and Raymond Harbert and Alumni Association President Bobby Poundstone. The fifth vote is rotated between Alumni association board members Nancy Fortner and Howard Nelson.

One source indicated that on the first ballot Dumas received two votes, Charles Pick two votes and Joe Beckwith one vote. Dumas then prevailed on a 3-2 vote with Bentley and the Alumni representatives voting for him and the sitting trustees voting for Pick.

Dumas said he knew nothing of why committee members voted as they did. He said he has no particular agenda, should he be confirmed.

"My plans would be to follow the existing Auburn strategic plan and listen to the Auburn faithful," he said. "I know there will be financial challenges, but I just want to listen, learn and continue to make Auburn University one of the premier educational institutions in the country."

Dumas has been involved in the Auburn community for decades. He was a member of the Auburn City Board of Education for ten years and was president when current superintendent Dr. Terry Jenkins was selected. Dumas, a Lee County native, attended Auburn on a golf scholarship and was captain of the 1976 SEC championship team.

If confirmed, Dumas will replace Virginia Thompson, who has moved to Montgomery and was a candidate for the Second District post, but was not selected by the committee. Another trustee, Byron Franklin, failed to win nomination to another term while trustees Jimmy Rane, Sarah Newton and Charles McCrary were nominated for new terms.

Also nominated were potential newcomers B.T. Roberts, Clark Sahlie, Jimmy Sanford, Liz Huntley and Jim Pratt.

The Alabama Legislature convened this week for its 2012 regular session. Names of nominees will first be sent to the Senate Confirmations Committee and those approved there will be sent to the Senate for final confirmation to seven-year terms.

Tom Whatley, R-Auburn, sits on the Confirmations Committee.

The selection process was restarted this past summer, when alumni complained that Bentley had rushed the procedure last year without sufficient alumni input. Among complaints was that former Colonial Bank executive Bobby Lowder had been renominated, even though his tenure had been controversial and even though he had moved from Montgomery to Auburn and into a new district.

Subsequently, Lowder withdrew his name from consideration and the nominees were selected after an open, lengthy interview process.

The Board of Trustees is charged with policy-making and the ultimate responsibility for running the university through its appointed leaders, including President Jay Gogue.