Centre attorney and former U.S. District Judge Dean Buttram Jr. has been appointed to the Gadsden State Community College presidential search committee.

Buttram was among 10 nominees approved by the state Board of Education on Thursday. He served on the search committee two years ago when Darryl Harrison was chosen president of Gadsden State. Harrison resigned in October for family reasons and William Blow was named interim president.

Buttram said he is honored to be chosen again for this committee.

“Gadsden State has changed our county. It has given our high school graduates an opportunity to continue their education and the Cherokee campus has made the college an even more important factor in our community,” he said.

The search committee, which will meet for the first time Wednesday morning at Gadsden State, will narrow the field of about 50 applicants to a few semifinalists who will be interviewed by the committee. Three top candidates are expected to be chosen from those semifinalists and the committee will recommend those three for interviews with Postsecondary education Chancellor Freida Hill, her staff and state School Board member Mary Scott Hunter.

Buttram said the committee will screen candidates for exceptional leadership skills, creative thinking and an understanding of the vital need for work force development in our area.

A lawyer for 33 years and a former federal judge, Buttram said he has had a close association with the school for many years. He was a student at Gadsden State and taught paralegal classes as an adjunct faculty member.

“Gadsden State has a tremendous impact academically and economically in our region,” he said.

The panel also includes Kathy L. Brown, an administrative assistant at GSCC; Vicki Albright, cosmetology instructor and applied technologies division chair; George Terrell Jr., history and geography instructor and social science division chair; Calhoun Community College President Marilyn Beck; Glen A. Deibert, executive vice chancellor, Department of Postsecondary Education; the Rev. Randy Gunter of Gadsden; Etowah County Board of Education member Scarlett Farley; Kendall Lowe Hamilton of Gadsden, executive manager of Devan Lowe Inc. and president of The Chamber of Gadsden and Etowah County; and Kevin Rolle, a vice president at Alabama A&M University.

Hunter has said she wants to recommend a president at the Board of Education’s April 28 meeting.

The annual salary range for the new president will be $119,062 to $153,634.