Officers named for board of visitors

Joel Butler, vice president of community services at Pitt County Memorial Hospital, has been named chair of the Board of Visitors at East Carolina University.

The 50-member board is an advocacy group that assists the chancellor and Board of Trustees in improving and promoting the university.

Other Board of Visitors officers are Vice Chair Doug Byrd of Raleigh, manager of community relations for the North Carolina department of Commerce, and Secretary E.A. “Tod” Thorne of Charlotte, a real estate investor and developer.

Butler, who holds a master’s degree in public administration with concentration in community health admininstration from ECU, joined the board last year. He is a former vice president of support services at the hospital and has more than 27 years of experience in health care.

Butler has been widely recognized for civic activities. He has received the Community Schools Systemwide Volunteer of the Year Award from Pitt County Schools and an award from the Pitt County chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People for contributions to improving race relations in Pitt County.

Board of Visitors officers are appointed by the ECU Board of Trustees for one-year terms.