The Office of Governmental and Community Affairs
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Our Staff

 

Our Staff

John T. Engelen
Vice President for Governmental Affairs

Betty E. Willis
Senior Associate Vice President for Governmental & Community Affairs

Linda Womack
Director of State Government Affairs

Cameron P. Taylor
Washington Representative

Lesley Denise Walker
Assistant Director of Community Affairs

Jenka T. Fyfe
Executive Administrative Assistant

Kaletta Moody
Administrative Assistant


John T. Engelen

Vice President for Governmental Affairs

Contact: 404-727-5166 or john.engelen@emory.edu

Engelen

John Engelen is Vice President for Governmental Affairs for Emory University where he oversees Emory’s state, federal, and local government affairs efforts. He joined Emory in January 2007.

From July 1999 to December 2006, Mr. Engelen served as Director of Federal Relations for the University of Minnesota where he represented the University of Minnesota’s interests with Congress and federal funding agencies and directed the activities of the Office of Federal Relations.

Prior to joining the University of Minnesota, Mr. Engelen served on the legislative staff of U.S. Senator David Durenberger from 1981-1985 and was subsequently appointed professional staff member of the U.S. Senate Government Affairs Committee. From 1989-1993, Mr. Engelen directed government affairs in Washington, DC for American Cyanamid, a Fortune 100 pharmaceutical and agricultural product company where he also chaired ACEPAC, the corporate political action committee.

In 1993, he joined Ecolab, an international manufacturer of cleaning and sanitizing products, where he directed government relations and regulatory agency affairs in all 50 states and Canada. At Ecolab, Mr. Engelen created a corporate get-out-to-vote program and chaired the Ecolab Lifeline-for-Children-At-Risk initiative.

In 2002, Mr. Engelen was named by the Minnesota congressional delegation as one of the most influential lobbyists in Washington in a survey published in the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

He is a member of the YMCA Wilderness Camp Menogyn Board of Directors and the DeLaSalle High School athletic field steering committee. He was previously a Board member for the Park Square Theater from 1994-1999.

Mr. Engelen is a graduate of University of St. Thomas with a B.A. in Political Science and was president of the UST Washington, DC alumni chapter.

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Betty E. Willis

Senior Associate Vice President for Governmental & Community Affairs

Contact: 404-727-5312 or betty.willis@emory.edu

willis

Betty Willis is Senior Associate Vice President for Governmental and Community Affairs at Emory University and directs the governmental and community affairs program on the local, state and federal levels for the University and Emory Healthcare.   She joined Emory in 1996 as Director of Community Affairs and assumed her current position in 1999.

 

Prior to coming to Emory, Betty worked in governmental affairs for 15 years in Washington, D.C.   She was Assistant Director of Government Relations for the American Psychological Society, the professional association representing behavioral research scientists, and worked as a legislative analyst for the Society for Neuroscience, the world's largest organization of scientists and physicians engaged in research of the brain and central nervous system.

 

As Director of the Washington office for the State of Georgia during Governor Joe Frank Harris' second term, Betty served as the Governor's liaison to the Georgia congressional delegation, federal and state agencies and the executive branch.   She began her career in Washington in the office of Congressman Charles Hatcher, for whom she worked as a legislative assistant for five years.

 

Betty serves on the Board of Directors of the Georgia Chamber of Commerce, Central Atlanta Progress, the DeKalb Chamber of Commerce (past Board Chair, current Chair of Government Affairs Committee), the Regional Business Coalition (executive committee), the DeKalb Historical Society (past president), the Clifton Corridor Transportation Management Association (president), Atlanta Streetcar, Inc., the DeKalb Council on Literacy, Leadership DeKalb, the Georgia Brain Train Group (executive committee), and the DeKalb County Workforce Investment Board.   She is a member of the Decatur Rotary Club (2004-06 Board of Directors), the Commerce Club, Leadership DeKalb (class of 1997), Leadership Atlanta (class of 2002), the Regional Leadership Institute (class of 2000), the Association of American Universities, Council of Federal Relations, the Atlanta Regional Civic League, the Governmental Affairs Council of the Georgia Chamber of Commerce, and the Georgia Executive Advisory Board of AAA Auto Club South.

 

A native of Bainbridge, Georgia, Betty received a B.S. degree from Radford University in Virginia.


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Linda Womack

Director of State Government Affairs

Contact: 404-727-5306 or linda.womack@emory.edu

Linda Womack has worked in governmental and public affairs for over 30 years with the past 12 years in healthcare.   Prior to joining Emory University, Linda served as State Government Regional Manager for the Warner Lambert company, and was responsible for 10 Southeastern states. While at Warner-Lambert, she was twice honored as a recipient in the Winners Circle program, designed to acknowledge the company's very top performers.   She also received the National Management Achievement Award.   As State Regional Manager for the Southeast, Linda represented Warner-Lambert before state legislatures, Medicaid agencies, boards of pharmacy and medicine, as well as other health care agencies and regulatory bodies.   Linda not only represented the company on pharmaceutical and consumer products issues, but on a wide range of health care issues impacting public policy. Specific to each state, she developed appropriate legislative/regulatory strategy on legislation and regulations. In addition, she served as both chair and vice-chair of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers Association's Georgia Task Force.

 

Prior to joining Warner-Lambert, Linda worked for seventeen years in the electric utility industry. She established the first Governmental Affairs Department for Oglethorpe Power and was responsible for legislative and regulatory proposals, analyzing and formulating company policy and position, and implemented strategies to address and resolve issues. Linda followed through in representing the company with the Georgia Legislature, Georgia Congressional Delegation, Georgia's Public Service Commission, Environmental and other regulatory agencies.

 

Linda has been a member of the Georgia Chamber of Commerce Governmental Affairs Council for 30 years, previously serving a two-year term as chair.   She has chaired the Council's Labor and Employment Committee, and is a member of the Health, Judiciary, Education and General Business Committees.

 

Linda currently serves on the Wesley Woods Long Term Care Hospital Board and also serves on the Mental Health and Aging Policy Committee, a coalition of individuals representing organizations in Georgia that are committed to issues affecting aging and mental health.   She is a member of the Georgia Hospital Association's Lobbying Committee and works with the Medical Association of Georgia and specialty societies including: Georgia Society of Ophthalmology; Georgia Association of Anesthesiology; Georgia Chapter American Society of Pediatrics; Georgia Psychiatric Physicians Association; Georgia College of Emergency Physicians and Georgia Radiological Society.   Linda also works with the Georgia Academy of Family Physicians and health advocacy groups that include the Georgia chapters of the American Cancer Society, American Heart Association, the Diabetes Foundation, National Alliance for the Mentally Ill and Families First of Georgia.

 

After graduating from Middle Georgia College and Georgia Southern University, Linda began her career in Washington, D.C., serving on the staff of her own Member of Congress from Georgia.   She worked in the areas of Constituent Services and Special Projects.

 

Linda is a resident of Decatur, and an enthusiastic Atlanta Braves fan who enjoys playing the piano.

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Cameron P. Taylor

Washington Representative

Contact: 202-441-0058 or cameron.taylor@emory.edu

Cameron P. Taylor is Emory's Washington representative and advocates on behalf of the University and Emory Healthcare to develop and maintain productive relationships with members of Congress and key staff and other government decision-makers; promotes Emory's accomplishments and contributions; and helps formulate national policy positions on issues related to higher education, and academic and medical research.

 

Cameron has over a decade of experience working on Capitol Hill.   From 1993 through 1995, she worked for the Office of Technology Assessment, advising congressional Committees on resource policy issues. From 1996 through mid-1998, she served as Legislative Assistant and Legislative Director to Congressman Tim Holden of Pennsylvania, who serves on both the Agriculture and Transportation and Infrastructure Committees.   In addition to overseeing Committee work, Cameron's responsibilities included healthcare, tax and budget, and energy issues.

 

In June 1998, Cameron moved from the House to the Senate to serve as Legislative Director for the Northeast-Midwest Senate Coalition.   At that time co-chaired by Senators James M. Jeffords of Vermont and Daniel Patrick Moynihan of New York, the bipartisan Coalition works to advance economic development and environmental quality in the Northeast-Midwest region.

 

Cameron orchestrated the development of the Senate Smart Growth Task Force (SGTF), designed to focus federal efforts on assisting local communities with growth management planning.

 

In June, 2001, Cameron joined the staff of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. She managed legislative strategy during committee hearings, markups, Senate floor action and conference with the House of Representatives.   One of her accomplishments was the enactment of the Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields Revitalization Act (H.R. 2869) in 2002.

 

She has a M.S. in Resource Policy and Administration from the University of Michigan and received a B.A. in Sociology and Ecology from Emory University in 1990. She has served on Emory's Board of Governors since 2000, and is the past vice-president of the DC-Baltimore Chapter of the Association of Emory Alumni.   A native of Potomac, Maryland, Cameron lives in Washington, D.C. with her husband, Gordon, also an Emory graduate, and their children.

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Lesley Denise Walker

Assistant Director of Community Affairs

Contact:  404-727-5172 or lwalke6@emory.edu

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Jenka T. Fyfe

Executive Administrative Assistant

Contact:  404-727-5311 or jenka.fyfe@emory.edu

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Kaletta Moody

Administrative Assistant

Contact:  404-727-5166 or klmoody@emory.edu

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© 2004 Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia
Office of Governmental and Community Affairs
1599 Clifton Road, 5th Floor
Atlanta, GA 30322-4200
phone 404-727-5166
fax 404-727-5313

For web comments or questions, contact jenka.fyfe@emory.edu