The Georgia Historical Society announced today that Frank Blake, retired Chairman and CEO of The Home Depot, Robert S. Jepson, Jr., Founder and CEO of Jepson Associates, Inc., and John Schuerholz, Vice-chairman emeritus of the Atlanta Braves will serve as the statewide Co-Chairs for the Georgia Historical Society’s 2021 Georgia History Festival.

“What an honor it is to work closely with this group of co-chairs, all Georgia Trustees themselves,” said Dr. W. Todd Groce, President and CEO of the Georgia Historical Society. “Each has been highly successful in his particular field; each embodies in his life the noble principle of the Georgia Trustees, ‘Not for Self, But for Others;’ and each is deeply committed to the educational and research mission of the Georgia Historical Society.  Together they make a formidable team and reflect the kind of leadership we need right now to ensure that Georgia’s teachers and school children continue to learn about our state and nation’s history.”

2019 Georgia Trustee Frank Blake served as Chairman and CEO of The Home Depot from January 2007 through November 2014, and then as Chairman through January 2015. Mr.  Blake joined The Home Depot in 2002 as executive vice president, business development and corporate operations. The Boston native previously served as deputy secretary for the U.S. Department of Energy, as general counsel for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, deputy counsel to Vice President George Bush and law clerk to U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens. Blake serves on the board of directors for the Georgia Historical Society, Agnes Scott College, Georgia Aquarium, Proctor & Gamble, Macy’s, and is currently serving as Chairman of the Delta and Grady Hospital boards. . He holds a bachelor’s degree from Harvard University and a jurisprudence degree from Columbia University School of Law.

2020 Georgia Trustee Robert S. Jepson, Jr. was Chairman and CEO of Jepson Associates, Inc., a private investment firm that he founded in 1989, the Jepson Corporation, which he sold in 1989, and Kuhlman Corporation, which he sold in 1999. He and his wife, Alice, are active philanthropists. They direct the main focus of their giving to the arts and to the field of higher education, most notably at his alma mater, the University of Richmond, where in 1992 he conceived of and created the Jepson School of Leadership Studies. Mr. Jepson is Chairman Emeritus of the GHS Board of Curators, and serves on many other Boards, including the Georgia Research Alliance, Dominion Resources, and many local and state charities in Georgia. He has received numerous other awards, including Georgia’s Most Respected Business Leader by Georgia Trend magazine.

2019 Georgia Trustee John Schuerholz served as general manager of the Kansas City Royals before assuming the same role with the Atlanta Braves in1990. Under his leadership the Braves established an American professional sports record by winning 14 consecutive division titles from 1991 to 2005. The Braves won the National League pennant five times, winning the 1995 World Series. Schuerholz was named Vice Chairman Emeritus by the Braves in 2018. Schuerholz’s many honors include inductions into the Braves Hall of Fame (2017), the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame (2015), and the Atlanta Sports Hall of Fame (2008). He received baseball’s highest honor when he was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2016. A native of Baltimore and a graduate of Towson University, Schuerholz served on the advisory board of Camp Sunshine and the board of Yes!Atlanta.

The Trustees Gala is the Georgia Historical Society’s premier annual event and the culmination of the Georgia History Festival.  The Trustees Gala reigns as one of Georgia’s most successful non-political black-tie events, bringing together business, philanthropic, and community leaders from across the state and nation as the Governor and Georgia Historical Society induct the newest Georgia Trustees, the highest honor the State of Georgia can confer.

The Georgia History Festival is the signature K-12 educational program of the Georgia Historical Society that teaches history to over 250,000 Georgia students each year. Beginning with the new school year in September, a variety of virtual and public programs, exhibits, in-school events, and educational resources bring history to life for students of all ages and encourage Georgians to explore the richness and diversity of our state’s past.

The 2021 Trustees Gala will take place on Saturday, April 24, 2021 in Savannah and will feature the induction of the 2021 Georgia Trustees.  For more information about the 2021 Georgia History Festival please contact Patricia Meagher at [email protected].