ATLANTA, Ga. (WALB) - Governor Brian Kemp announced on Feb. 7 104 appointments to state boards, authorities and commissions. Of those 104 are two South Georgians appointed to the University System of Georgia’s Board of Regents.

Chris Cannon, of Albany, and Haynes Maier Studstill, of Valdosta, joined the board, according to Gov. Kemp.

The Board of Regents governs over all public colleges and universities that make up the University System of Georgia (USG). There are currently 19 appointed members.

Find Cannon and Studstill’s biographies below

Chris Cannon is an active member of the Albany community in addition to being a business owner, according to the press release.

In 1992, Cannon founded a business group that worked to “provide a variety of environmental services to businesses and city and county governments in Georgia, Florida and Alabama.”

He also founded Flint Holdings, Inc. in 1992. Cannon still owns and operates Flint Equipment Company, which includes Flint Ag and Turf, Flint Power Systems and Barber Petroleum Equipment Company.

The governor’s announcement said Cannon served as the president of many local civic organizations including the Boys and Girls Club Board, the Albany Technical College Foundation Board, The State of Georgia Department of Industry and Trade Board and the Deerfield Windsor School Board.

Cannon is a graduate of the University of Georgia with a bachelor’s degree in business.

Haynes Maier Studstill is a partner at her Valdosta law firm Studstill Firm, LLP. The firm focuses on disputes with insurance companies, according to the release.

Studstill is originally from Rome, Georgia, and she has a bachelor’s degree from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee.

She worked as a journalist for many years in Washington, D.C.; Nashville; Brunswick, Ga.; and Augusta, Ga. She then went to Mercer University’s Walter F. George School of Law.

Studstill is the former president of both the Valdosta Bar Association, the Alapaha Judicial Circuit Bar Association, and the Valdosta Chapter of the Georgia Association of Women Lawyers.

The governor’s announcement said Studstill was admitted to practice in all State Appellate Courts in Georgia, all U.S. District Courts in Georgia, and the Supreme Court of the United States.

Studstill currently serves on the State Botanical Garden of Georgia’s Board of Advisors, the Judicial Nominating Commission, and as a Special Master on attorney discipline cases, according to the release.

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