Ivan Allen College Welcomes New Advisory Board Members

Posted November 1, 2021

The Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts recently welcomed three new advisory board members. The advisory board provides advice to the dean regarding priorities and directions for liberal arts and social science education and research.

The three new board members are:

Kobi Abayomi – Senior Vice President, Warner Music Group

Kobi Abayomi is the senior vice president for the Warner Music Group, a global music and recording company. Abayomi previously directed monetization for WarnerMedia’s broadcast media inventory. Prior to that, Abayomi held posts at Barnes & Noble Education and Dun & Bradstreet, and was a professor at Georgia Tech, Binghamton University, and the University of Cuenca. His business work has focused on audience behavior, activation, and segmentation; while his research work was on environmental sustainability, statistical dependency, and econometrics.

A sample of Abayomi’s applied work includes: creating the methodology for the Columbia University Earth Institute’s Environmental Sustainability Index; the World Bank Hotspots Report; the Duke/Ford Foundation’s National Asset Scorecard; the United Nations Millennium Development Goals 2015 predictions; and the New York City Department of Education College Undermatching Report.

Abayomi is a graduate of Georgia Tech and Columbia University, and he has completed post doctorate study at Duke and Stanford universities. He is a widely cited author – having penned novel work in statistics, econometrics, and probabilistic dependency– and holds appointments on the faculty and data science council at Seton Hall University.

 

Amanda Shailendra – Managing Partner, The Pendleton Group

Shailendra is an economic development and site selection specialist whose experience includes corporate recruitment, expansion strategy and leading negotiations between corporations and communities. During her time at the Georgia Department of Economic Development (GDEcD) she worked on more than 100 economic development projects for the state of Georgia. Her work at GDEcD includes leading the recruitment of Mercedes-Benz USA’s Corporate Headquarters, working with Health IT firm Athenahealth to expand its physician practice management and electronic medical records practice in metro Atlanta, and supporting the state’s efforts to recruit other major business moves to Georgia, including Baxter Pharmaceuticals, Kia Motors, Verizon Wireless, Premium Waters, and Unisys. While working for Google Fiber, Inc., she led expansions in metro Atlanta and Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill, providing governmental, community, and public relations advice. 

Shailendra currently serves on the advisory board for the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts School of Public Policy. In 2015, Georgia Governor Nathan Deal appointed her to the Georgia Non-public Post-secondary Education Commission (GNPEC) and the Tuition Guarantee Trust Fund (TGTF). She is a 2011 graduate of Leadership Georgia, and a 2008 graduate of L.E.A.D. Atlanta. She serves on the Honorary Board of Trustees for Atlanta Ballet and previously served on the Board of Directors for Dad’s Garage Theatre and the Georgia Economic Development Association. 

A native of Augusta, Shailendra earned her bachelor’s degree from Wake Forest University and a master’s of science from Georgia Tech, where she was a MacArthur Fellow.

 

Beverly Seay – Senior Executive

Beverly Seay is an entrepreneurial senior executive with global experience and a Fortune 500 track record in domestic and global business operations with a unique blend of strengths to include start-up, turnaround, high growth and acquisition. She currently enjoys advising and connecting companies, universities and investors in modeling and simulation, cybersecurity, blockchain, and computing technologies. Leadership roles include the startup of the Nebraska Applied Research Institute focused on Cyber Physical Systems for Building and Utility Control Systems and the CAE Global Integrated Enterprise Solutions Group.

From 1990-2011, she built the SAIC Modeling and Simulation systems business unit from startup, including an acquisition, internal merger and spinout. Inducted into the National Center for Simulation Hall of Fame, selected as Orlando Business Journal’s 2021 Business Woman of the Year and i4 Business Magazine’s 2020 Business Leader of the Year, and one of Florida’s most influential business leaders by Florida Trend, Seay is a recognized leader in innovative and creative technologies with strong university ties through personal commitment and industry collaboration.

She is a member of the University of Central Florida (UCF) Board of Trustees (2013-present) where she presides as the chair. She is past chair of the Deans’ Industry Advisory Boards at the UCF’s College of Engineering and Computer Science, and the Georgia Tech College of Computing. She is also vice-chair of the board of Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges (2015-present). As chair of the Florida Simulation Summit (2015-present), Seay works with the Orange County mayor’s office and the National Center for Simulation to increase awareness of modeling and simulation technologies and their applications in industries such as healthcare, entertainment, transportation, education and defense. 

Seay also serves as the southeast region’s senior advisor of the National Security Innovation Network, a program office within the U.S. Department of Defense. In this role, she is leveraging talent through new partnerships with major universities and the venture community to drive national security innovation. 

Sealy has a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and a master’s degree in computers, information and control engineering from the University of Michigan.

Abayomi, Shailendra and Seay join Ivan Allen IV, Stephen C. Hall, Hubert L. Harris, Jr., Ann Hoevel, Douglas R. Hooker, Richard R. House, Jr., James B. Langford, H. Bruce McEver, Joseph B. Owens, Jr., Amy Phuong, R. Hoke Smart, Haywood Solomon, John M. Stern, and L. Christopher Young on the Ivan Allen College advisory board.