Kenneth Luckie Vandervoort was elected last week to the University of Alabama System’s board of trustees. A resident of Anniston, Vandervoort was elected by the current board member’s to represent the Third Congressional district.

Vandervoort is a 1978 graduate of Alabama.  He was an active student at the Capstone, a member of Phi Beta Kappa, Omicron Delta Kappa, Mortar Board and the prestigious Anderson Society.

He graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor of science and then attended the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Medicine where he left with an M.D. in 1982.

Vandervoort has been a partner with Anniston Orthopedic Associates since 1987 and received his board certification from the American Board of Orthopedic Surgery in 1989.

The Board governs the University of Alabama system, which encompasses UA, UAB and the University of Alabama in Huntsville.

The website for the board describes the purpose of the organization as to “ensure the effective leadership, management and control over the activities of the three doctoral research universities in The University of Alabama System.”

The website’s description continues, “This structure provides for a definitive, orderly form of governance, and secures and continues responsive, progressive, and superior institutions of higher education.”

The Constitution of the State of Alabama dictates that the board may be made of three members from the Congressional district where the Tuscaloosa campus falls. Campus is currently located in the Seventh Congressional district.

The Constitution further stipulates that two members from each of the other six Congressional districts will serve on the board, giving the Capstone slightly more influence.

Kellee Reinhart, spokeswoman for the Board of Trustees, explained how the election process worked.

The Board of Trustees is comprised of fifteen elected members and two ex officio members, the Governor and the State Superintendent of Education.  The elected Trustees must reside in the Alabama Congressional District they represent; there is no requirement about where they attended college.  Due to the recent Congressional redistricting, there was a Board vacancy in the Third District.

Vandervoort’s term begins immediately.

With the election of Vandervoort, fourteen members of the board attended UA, while only two attended UAB, including Vandervoort. None attended UAH.

The Third District stretches from the Georgia line in the east to Talladega County in the west. The cities of Auburn, Tuskegee, Talladega and a portion of Montgomery are in the district.

Vandervoot is married to wife Martha, another UA graduate, and both of his sons, Kenneth and Will, attended the Capstone.