Langford and Owens Join College Advisory Board

Posted March 26, 2018

Georgia Tech Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts announced two new members of its advisory board: James B. Langford, executive director and co-founder of the Georgia Prevention Project (GPP), and Joe Owens, chief financial officer (CFO) of Indego Africa. 

About James B. Langford

Langford brings many years of business and non-profit experience to his public service work. GPP evolved from its roots as the Georgia Meth Project and accomplishes its work through awareness campaigns, educational programming, and strategic partnerships with national and community based organizations. Langford was appointed by five Georgia governors to a variety of commissions and boards including the Board of Natural Resources and the Georgia Humanities Council. He served as the State Director of the Trust for Public Land and created the connected park system of the Atlanta BeltLine and helped expand the parklands along the Chattahoochee River protection corridor. He is founder of other land conservation, greenway, and archaeology education organizations including Million Mile Greenway and the Coosawattee Foundation. In business, Langford created and managed successful high technology companies over a 20-year period. Prior to that he was an executive of The Coca-Cola Company in Atlanta, New York, Puerto Rico, and Argentina. Langford holds an undergraduate degree in journalism from the University of Georgia and an M.B.A from the Harvard Business School.   

About Joseph B. Owens Jr. 

Joe Owens is CFO of Indego Africa, a nonprofit that supports women artisans in Rwanda and Ghana through business education and market access. Previously, he was with American Express for 34 years, holding positions in several business units. Most recently in the Global Business Travel division, one of the largest corporate travel management companies worldwide, he served as Chief Financial Officer and also Vice President of Strategic Transformation, where he identified and implemented significant revenue development, cost reengineering, and process improvement opportunities. His extensive finance related experience includes business planning, controllership, audit, and activity-based costing. He has held cross product line CFO positions in Asia, Europe, and Latin America. During his career with American Express, he has lived in Bangkok, Rome, London, Frankfurt, and Miami, as well as his base in New York. Joe holds an M.B.A with concentration in finance and accounting from the Owen Graduate School of Management at Vanderbilt University, and a B.S. in Economics from the Georgia Institute of Technology. Joe is a member of the Alumni Council of the Owen School at Vanderbilt, and also serves on the Board of Advisors to the Georgia Tech School of Economics. He lives in New York City.

The board provides advice to the Dean regarding priorities and directions for liberal arts and social science education and research. Board members are from the private sector and academia and include both alumni and other individuals who are interested in the success of Georgia Tech.

For more information on the Ivan Allen College Advisory Board, visit the College’s website.