Alumni Board of Governors
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The Beta Zeta Alumni Association and Board of Governors are charged with maintaining the long term finances of the Beta Zeta Chapter, capital upgrades to the house, and mentoring of the undergraduates. Currently all board members are Beta Zeta Alumni, however alumni from other chapters have also served.
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Scott Yates serves as President of the Board. Scott grew up in Franklin, Tennessee, attended the all-boys preparatory school Montgomery Bell Academy, and graduated from Auburn in 1995 with a BS in Computer Engineering. While as an undergraduate at Auburn, he served the Chapter as President, Secretary, and Rush Chairman, and the Army ROTC unit as Cadet Major. During his tenure as Chapter President, Beta Zeta received the coveted Memorial trophy as Theta Xi’s top performing chapter in the nation. He is also the recipient of Auburn’s Joel E. Hatchel Outstanding Fraternity President award.
Upon graduation, Scott received a commission in the United States Army and served as a Signal Officer with Warfighter units across the globe including the 2nd Infantry Division (Republic of Korea), 25th Infantry Division (Hawaii), and 1st Cavalry Division (Texas). While on active duty, he earned the Airborne (Paratrooper) and Air Assault specialty badges as well as the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal. After an honorable discharge from the military, he joined Cox Communications where he has had the pleasure of working in a variety of Departments including Technology, Finance, and Supply Chain. Scott is now an Executive Director of Strategic Sourcing where his team is responsible for all IT category of spend across the company. He resides in Roswell, GA with his wife and children.
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Zach Scott serves as Vice President of the Board. Zach graduated Auburn in 1999 with a BS in Mechanical Engineering. While an undergraduate, Zach served as Rush Chairman and President of Beta Zeta. Zach particiapted in the Auburn University Co-operative program and was fortunate to recieve Auburn University Scholarships including the Mark Morgan Leadership Scholarship and a pulp and paper (TAPPI) scholarship. Upon graduation, Zach entered the US energy industry. Zach grew up in New Orleans, and now resides in Houston, Texas with his family.
Zack Nelson serves as Treasurer. Zack grew up in Hoover, Alabama and graduated from Auburn in 1999 with an MIS bachelors. In 2004, he received his MBA from Georgia State University with a CIS concentration. Zack worked for Starwood Hotels for 16 years with roles in technology, owner relations, franchise finance, and corporate FP&A. Zack currently runs owner relations for the Americas at IHG and resides in Dunwoody, GA.
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Jeff Harris serves as Secretary. While an undergraduate, Jeff served as Rush Chairman, Vice-President, and President of the Beta Zeta Chapter, receiving a BA in Economics in 2001 and an MBA in 2002. He has worked in a variety of commodity trading roles since leaving Auburn, trading lumber in Atlanta and has been trading electricity for several firms, including JP Morgan, Mercuria and most recently, EDF Trading. He and his family reside in Humble, Texas.
Billy Davis serves as a Member-at-Large. Billy graduated from Auburn in 1999 with a BS in International Business, after serving as president of Beta Zeta from 1997-1998. He worked in Atlanta for four years as a financial advisor for Merrill Lynch and Morgan Keegan. He attend law school at LSU from 2003-2006, after which he practiced as a trial attorney in his home town of New Orleans for three years before returning to Atlanta, where he now is a partner with the firm Bovis, Kyle, Burch & Medlin, LLC where he defends professionals and businesses in litigation.
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Ryan C. Scott serves as a Member-at-Large. Ryan began his college experience at the Beta Zeta chapter of Theta Xi, and was recruited in his Junior year to start and lead the Theta Xi chapter at University of Southern California (USC) under full scholarship. Ryan received his BA in Economics from USC in 2001 and his MBA and JD from Case Western Reserve University in 2005. Currently Ryan is the Senior Policy Director for the Consumer Energy Alliance, where he is responsible for developing amicus briefs to the US Supreme Court on energy issues and briefing books for the US Congress. Prior to CEA, Ryan practiced in Deloitte Consulting’s Strategy & Operations business in New York City and Chicago. Clients included Bristol-Myers Squibb, Caterpillar, Sprint-Nextel and Wal-Mart. Ryan managed the design and implementation of capital and technology intensive projects. Ryan played an integral role in the successful rechartering of Beta Zeta in 2011. Ryan and his family reside in Chicago, Illinois.
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Brad Thomason (BT) serves as a Member-at-Large. BT previously served as President of the Beta Zeta Board of Governors and Association. BT founded his own firm, Thomason CPA in 1997 and was formerly an auditor with Ernst & Young, focused primarily on companies within the financial sector, such as banks and mortgage companies. He also held an NASD Series 24 Principal’s license and served as the head of the local office of a national broker/dealer. BT grew up in Montgomery, AL and graduated Auburn in 1993. BT and his family reside in Birmingham.
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Artie Vaughn serves as a Member-at-Large. Artie is currently commissioned as a Major in the United States Air Force JAG Corps. Artie grew up in Athens, Alabama where he attended West Limestone High School. In 1998, he enrolled at Auburn and joined Theta Xi. During his four years at Auburn, he served as Vice President & President of the Beta Zeta Chapter of Theta Xi and served two terms on Auburn University’s Interfraternity Council. He next attended Appalachian School of Law where he graduated Magna Cum Laude in 2007. In 2008, he was commissioned in the Air Force JAG Corps and after completing training, served as the Chief of Military Justice at Robins AFB, GA, the largest industrial complex in the State of Georgia. In 2011, he was reassigned to Travis AFB, CA as the Chief of Civil and Operations Law for Air Mobility Command's busiest base. In 2013, he was selected as an Area Defense Counsel at Travis AFB where he was responsible for providing defense services to America's Airmen in adverse actions to include courts-martial and other criminal proceedings. In 2016, he earned an LL.M. in Military Law with a Criminal Law Specialty. He currently serves as an instructor in the Military Justice Division at the Air Force Judge Advocate General's School at Maxwell AFB, AL.
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Shaun Staton serves as a Member-at-Large. Shaun was initiated into Theta Xi at University of Louisiana at Lafayette in 2003. After serving as President of the AO Chapter at ULL in 2006, he was selected by the BZ Board of Governors to transfer to Auburn in 2007 and join a team of three brothers tasked with refounding the BZ Chapter. After three semesters and a successful refounding of the Chapter, Shaun received his BS in Computer Science from Auburn University in 2008. He is currently a Data Warehouse Engineer at Daxko, a SaaS software company in Birmingham.