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Friday, October 8, 2021
Breaking News: AME Member Nominated to Serve as United States Ambassador to the Dominican Republic
Breaking News: AME Member Nominated to Serve as United States Ambassador to the Dominican Republic
On October 4, Georgia State Representative Calvin Smyre was formally nominated by President Joseph Biden to serve as United States Ambassador to the Dominican Republic. He will serve upon confirmation by the United States Senate, which is expected at some point later this year. He is a member and trustee of Ward Chapel AME Church in Columbus, Georgia.
State Representative Calvin Smyre, business executive, state legislator, community and national leader, earned his B.S. degree from Fort Valley State University, majoring in Business Administration, with a minor in accounting. His career path has taken him from being a community organizer and director of the “War on Poverty” program in Columbus, Georgia, to his current positions as executive vice president of Corporate External Affairs at Synovus and president of the Synovus Foundation. He also serves on the company’s eight-member Corporate Executive Group. Synovus (NYSE: “SNV”) is a diversified financial services holding company with over $32 billion in assets based in Columbus, Georgia.
He was elected to the Georgia House of Representatives in 1974 as its youngest member at 26 years of age. As a 47-year legislative veteran and one of the “Deans of the House,” he serves on the most important committees of the House. Rep. Smyre has a distinguished legislative record, which includes authoring the legislation making Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr’s birthday a state holiday and legislation creating the historic Georgia Dome, home of the Atlanta Falcons. He was also instrumental and co-sponsor of the historic legislation (House Bill 16) creating a new Georgia State Flag.
Nationally, he has served as president of the National Black Caucus of State Legislators, a member of the Assembly on State Issues of the National Conference of State Legislators, and he also serves as a Synovus representation on the Financial Services Roundtable; all three headquartered in Washington, D.C. Rep. Smyre has lectured at a number of colleges and universities and has received over 200 local, state and national honors and awards. In 1980, he was selected by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution as one of the “Ten Best Legislators” in the state and in 1985 and 2005, he was selected by his peers as the “National Legislator of the Year”. He has been honored twice as “Citizen of the Year” in his hometown of Columbus.
Rep. Smyre holds a variety of civic affiliations and memberships. He is a member of the Board of Trustees of: the Morehouse School of Medicine; the Medical College of Georgia Foundation; Columbus State University Foundation; the Columbus Museum; and the Fort Valley State University Foundation, where he serves as chairman. He is also a member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity; SO-C-837 Club; Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity; the Boy Scouts of America; and a life member of the NAACP and SCLC.
Rep. Smyre is a long-standing Democratic Party member and leader. He has served as an advisor to several Democratic campaigns at the Georgia state and Presidential levels. In a historic move, Governor Roy Barnes named Rep. Smyre as the chairman of the Democratic Party of Georgia in September 2001, thus becoming the first African-American to chair the State Party. Rep. Smyre has been selected as a delegate to attend seven Democratic National Conventions. He was an elector for the 1992 and 2020 Presidential elections, the only member of the Georgia Electoral College to do so.
The Christian Recorder is the official newspaper of the African Methodist Episcopal Church and the oldest continuously produced publication by persons of African descent.
Bishop David R. Daniels, Jr., Chair of the General Board Commission on Publications Rev. Dr. Roderick D. Belin, President/Publisher of the AME Sunday School Union Mr. John Thomas III, Editor of The Christian Recorder
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