Four New Directors Join ACT Board

Axley has worked with State Farm for nearly 20 years. She has a bachelor’s degree in sociology from Illinois Wesleyan University in Bloomington. She earned the Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter (CPCU) designation in 1995 and the Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU) designation in 2001. She currently serves on Illinois Wesleyan’s Central Illinois Fund Board; the Corporate Advisory Board for both The American College and Illinois State University’s Katie School of Insurance; and the National Hispana Leadership Institute Advisory Board.

Bostic retired from Georgia-Pacific in 2005. He also has served as a deputy assistant secretary in the U.S. Department of Agriculture and as chairman of the Commission on Higher Education in South Carolina, where he worked to fund and approve the South Carolina Higher Education Desegregation Plan. Bostic holds a bachelor’s degree in textile chemistry from Clemson University in South Carolina. In 1972, he became the first African American to earn a doctorate from Clemson. He has been a director of the Clemson University Foundation and has served on the board of trustees at both Tuskegee and Clemson universities. He is a member of the President’s Commission on White House Fellowships and a member of the Georgia State Board of Education.

Cohn has more than 35 years experience in education, serving as a teacher, counselor, central office administrator, and superintendent. Before coming out of retirement in July 2005 to join San Diego City Schools, he worked for 10 years as superintendent of the Long Beach Unified School District, California’s third largest district. During that tenure, he became the longest-serving superintendent of any large urban district in the nation.

He is the recipient of the Harold W. McGraw Jr. Prize in Education for his leadership in boosting student achievement. Following his retirement in 2002, he served as Clinical Professor at the Rossier School of Education at the University of Southern California and was appointed to a four-year term on the National Assessment Governing Board. He also serves on the boards of the Re-Inventing Schools Coalition, the Wallace Foundation Education Leadership Advisory Committee, and the National Heritage Academy.

Cohn earned a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from St. John’s College, a master’s in counseling from Chapman University, and a doctorate in urban educational policy and planning from UCLA.

Graham, who retired from the Senate in 2005 after serving three terms, ran for president of the United States in 2004. Prior to his service in the Senate, Graham was twice elected governor of Florida and he also served in the Florida state legislature. A lifelong advocate of public education, Graham served as chair of the Education Commission of the States and the Southern Regional Education Board while governor of Florida. He graduated with high honors from the University of Florida and earned his LLB from Harvard Law School in 1962.

Since retiring, Graham has served as a senior fellow at the Harvard University Kennedy School of Government and on the board of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the Norwegian Cruise Line. He has established the Bob Graham Center of Public Policy at the University of Miami and the University of Florida. The initial concentration of the Center will be on public leadership, homeland security, and the Americas. Graham is also the author of Intelligence Matters, published by Random House.

The ACT Board of Directors comprises 14 representatives from businesses, colleges, universities, and secondary schools.