Submitted by Kate Quinones
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (October 12, 2026) – Bethune-Cookman University has appointed attorney and philanthropist Joyce Hanks Moorehead, Esq., and retired Disney executive Alice Williams to its Board of Trustees. The appointments pair one of the university's most experienced governance leaders with a seasoned corporate executive rooted in Central Florida.
President Albert Mosley and current Board of Trustees Chair Joyours “Pete” Gamble described the additions as deliberate. Moorehead, a B-CU alumna and former board member, returns with deep institutional knowledge and a proven record of philanthropy. Williams, an Orlando native, brings decades of leadership inside one of the region's largest employers.
Together, the appointments strengthen the board in four areas central to B-CU's next chapter: governance continuity, fundraising and alumni engagement, corporate and workforce partnerships across the Interstate 4 corridor, and the university's relationship with The United Methodist Church.
Joyce Hanks Moorehead: A Return to Leadership
Moorehead's ties to Bethune-Cookman run across generations. She is a graduate of the university and an attorney, and her parents were educators who were friends with founder Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune.
She brings significant board experience. Moorehead previously served on the B-CU Board of Trustees from 2011-2018, and chaired it in fall 2013.
Her philanthropy is visible on campus. The Thomas and Joyce Hanks Moorehead Residential Life Center, which opened in 2016, bears her and her husband's names. In 2020, the Mooreheads gave $250,000 to B-CU's Advancing the Legacy campaign. Joyce’s husband, Thomas, is a nationally recognized luxury automobile dealer. The couple’s generosity extends across HBCUs: the Mooreheads recently made a $5 million gift to Grambling State University, Thomas Moorehead’s alma mater.
Her service has also inspired others to give. Baseball legend Hank Aaron and his wife, Billye, created a $1M scholarship endowment in Moorehead's honor during her earlier board tenure. That endowment has since funded thousands of student scholarships.
The Mooreheads are already helping shape B-CU’s next chapter. At the invitation of President Mosley, Thomas and Joyce Moorehead recently chaired the university’s Comprehensive Campaign Feasibility Study Committee, laying the groundwork for B-CU’s next major fundraising effort.
“As a proud graduate of B-CU, I owe much of my personal and professional success to the training and nurturing I received as a student at Bethune-Cookman,” Moorehead noted.
Alice Williams: Corporate Leadership with Central Florida Roots
Williams is an Orlando native who spent more than 25 years as a human resources executive with The Walt Disney Company. After retiring from Disney, she founded Williams Consulting of Florida, LLC, a human resources and leadership development firm that helps faith-based and not-for-profit organizations achieve their calling, mission and vision.
Her appointment connects B-CU more directly to Central Florida's business and hospitality community, roughly an hour from the Daytona Beach campus. University leaders expect her experience to support corporate partnerships, internships and career pathways for students, as well as executive-level perspective on talent, culture and leadership development.
Williams is also a prominent lay leader in The United Methodist Church, with which B-CU is affiliated. She is a former co-lay leader of the Florida Annual Conference. She serves on the board of the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry, the agency that supports the church's colleges and universities, including B-CU. She also chairs the denomination's Investment Committee.
That combination is a strategic asset for the university. Williams brings firsthand knowledge of the church's higher education priorities, standing relationships across the denomination, and oversight experience with large investment portfolios, expertise directly relevant to B-CU's endowment and financial stewardship. Williams also previously served on B-CU’s Board of Trustees as an ex-officio representative from the Florida Conference of the United Methodist Church, but she returns now as a full voting member.
A Strategic Investment in B-CU's Future
President Albert D. Mosley said the appointments reflect a focused approach to building the board: “These appointments were intentional. Joyce Hanks Moorehead knows this institution and its governance from the inside, and her generosity has already changed lives on our campus. Alice Williams brings the perspective of a leader who helped run one of the most admired organizations in the world, and she brings it home to Central Florida. As a United Methodist institution, we are especially grateful for her deep leadership in the church, from the Florida Annual Conference to the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry. Her experience chairing the church's Investment Committee will be invaluable as we strengthen our endowment and financial stewardship. Together, they strengthen our board's ability to steward Dr. Bethune's legacy, grow our resources and open new doors for our students.”
The new trustees' terms began October 1, 2026.
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About Bethune-Cookman University
Founded in 1904 by Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune, Bethune-Cookman University is a private, historically Black university in Daytona Beach, Florida, affiliated with The United Methodist Church.
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