CONTACT: Michelle Eubanks, UNA, at meubanks@una.edu, 256-606-2033 or 256-765-4392 March 3, 2021

FLORENCE, AL - University of North Alabama alumnus and Florence native Joel R. Anderson II has been appointed by Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey to fill the vacancy on the UNA Board of Trustees left by Anderson's father, Joel R. Anderson, who passed away in October of 2020.

"UNA is a vital part of the Shoals," Anderson said of the appointment. "We would not be the community we are today without it. I look forward to working with fellow Trustees and UNA staff to continue making the Shoals one of the best places in the country to live."

Anderson graduated from UNA in 2018 with a major in business management, making him the youngest member of the Board of Trustees in modern history. He is a Vice President at JRA Management, LLC, where he manages the company's real estate and private business holdings. Anderson and his wife, Sophie, founded Studio 220, the first co-working space in the Shoals.

"We are pleased to welcome Joel Anderson II to our Board of Trustees," said UNA President Dr. Ken Kitts. "His commitment to the University and the Shoals is evident in the many ways he gives of his time."

In addition to his role on the UNA Board, Anderson also serves as a director for the Shoals Economic Development Authority and the Joel R. Anderson Family Foundation. He is also an advisory director at First Southern Bank. Anderson is also a vocal proponent for the Shoals as a great place to live. In partnership with SEDA, he helped create the Remote Shoals program, which offers incentives for remote workers who relocate to the Shoals. In its most recent year, the program received more than 500 applications from across the United States.

About The University of North Alabama

The University of North Alabama is an accredited, comprehensive regional state university offering undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral degree programs through the colleges of Arts and Sciences, Business, Education and Human Sciences, and the Anderson College of Nursing and Health Professions. Occupying a 130-acre campus in a residential section of Florence, Alabama, UNA is located within a four-city area that also includes Muscle Shoals, Sheffield, and Tuscumbia. UNA Athletics, a renowned collegiate athletics program with seven (7) Division II National Championships, is now a proud member of the NCAA Division I's ASUN Big South

Conference. The University of North Alabama is an equal opportunity institution and does not discriminate in the admission policy on the basis of race, color, sex, religion, disability, age, or national origin. For more: www.una.edu and www.una.edu/unaworks/