The Georgia Historical Society announced that John and Marilyn McMullan of Atlanta have established the Marilyn Memory McMullan Director of Programs position at GHS. The position was created with a $1 million dollar gift and is named in honor of Mrs. McMullan.

The McMullans have been long-time supporters of GHS. In 2015, they endowed the Thomas Leverette McMullan Boardroom, named in honor of John’s late father, in the Society’s Jepson House Education Center.
 
Marilyn Memory McMullan is an accomplished artist and member of the Board of Advisors for the Georgia Museum of Art, and former president of the Lullwater Garden Club in Atlanta. She is the mother of four and grandmother of four. John McMullan is the founder of McMullan & Company, an accounting firm that he eventually sold to his partners in 1986. He is currently president of Camden Real Estate Company but continues to practice accounting on a limited basis. He also serves on the board of Life Care Centers of America, a $2-billion-a-year health-care facilities company for which he has been a financial consultant since the mid 1970s. He is past president and current treasurer for the Touchdown Club of Atlanta and is a member of the Georgia Historical Society Board of Curators.

GHS President and CEO Dr. W. Todd Groce announced the gift following the Society’s Board of Curators meeting in Atlanta. Dr. Groce also announced that Christy Crisp, GHS Director of Programs, has been appointed to the endowed position and will serve as the first Marilyn Memory McMullan Director of Programs.

“We are grateful to John and Marilyn for this transformational gift,” Dr. Groce said. “By creating an endowed position they will enable future generations of Georgians to enjoy the robust public and educational programs of the Georgia Historical Society for many years to come.”

Christy Crisp joined the staff of the Georgia Historical Society in 2003 as Program Coordinator and was named Director of Programs in 2007.  She is responsible for management of the Society’s Historical Marker and Affiliate Chapter programs, as well as educational and outreach programs for adults, school children, and teachers. She holds an undergraduate degree in International Relations from Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama, and an M.A. in History from James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia. She is a 2014 graduate of the Developing History Leaders @SHA seminar, a national leadership training program for public history professionals.
 
This is the third endowed position at GHS. The first was The Dr. Elaine B. Andrews Distinguished Historian, established in 2014 by Dr. Victor Andrews in memory of his late wife, followed by The Dr. William T. Moore Distinguished Editor of the Georgia Historical Quarterly, established earlier this year by a conditional pledge from Dr. William T. “Ted” and Linda Moore of Savannah. Other endowed positions, as well as facilities like the GHS Research Center, are also available as naming opportunities.