Meet the New TCC Board Members
Seven elected officials comprise the Tarrant County College Board of Trustees, each representing their residential districts. Board members volunteer their time and attend numerous events including monthly work sessions and board meetings, as well as campus-based events that engage the community.
Newly elected Board President Teresa Ayala represents District 1; her term ends in May 2027. Ayala first was elected in 2015 and recently re-elected to serve another term. She also serves on the TCC Foundation Board of Directors and is a proud TCC alumna. Former Fort Worth Mayor Kenneth Barr serves as vice president on the Board of Trustees representing District 7; his term ends in May 2025. Barr also serves on the TCC Foundation Board of Directors and has been on the TCC Board of Trustees since 2019. Gwendolyn Morrison represents District 6 and has been a member of the TCC Board of Trustees since 1976, celebrating 45 years of service on the board; her term ends in May 2025. Morrison is a community advocate and educator. William Greenhill represents District 4; he has served on the Board since 2010. Greenhill is an attorney in Fort Worth.
Three new Board of Trustees members were elected last May to represent Districts 2, 3 and 5, respectively. Meet the newly elected trustees:
Jeannie Deakyne’s dedication to serving TCC and the citizens of Tarrant County led her to run for the District 3 seat on the Board, formerly held by Diane Patrick; her term ends in May 2027. Deakyne’s immediate goal on the Board of Trustees is to collaborate with members of the Board and TCC staff to effectively manage the $825 million bond passed by Tarrant County voters in 2019. Her other goals include improving the economy in the shadows of the COVID-19 pandemic to “put Texans back to work through TCC’s ability to provide training and certifications for skilled trades,”she says. As a board member, she also looks forward to growing partnerships between TCC and North Texas public schools by easing the admissions process.
She serves as vice president of operations for the National Medal of Honor Museum in Arlington, where she was instrumental in laying the groundwork for the construction of the museum. On July 4, Deakyne celebrated her 20th wedding anniversary to Will Deakyne, whom she met while both were serving as army officers. Together, they have three daughters and spend most of their free time supporting youth sports. When time permits, her family is on a mission to visit all 254 county courthouses in Texas; to date, they have visited 130 of them. Her family—including two golden retrievers—also enjoys spending time at Lake Tawakoni.
Leonard Hornsby was nominated by Michael Evans to take his place on the TCC Board of Trustees for District 5 after Evans won the mayoral election for the City of Mansfield and resigned from the board. Hornsby is an alumnus of TCC and later returned to serve as a counselor. He realized his affinity for TCC was strong and decided to run for the District 5 seat on the Board of Trustees; his term ends in May 2023. His goal as a member of the Board of Trustees is to provide governance and oversight that leads to success for TCC students. “Trustees ensure that the policies are in place to support the goals of being One College, being Student Ready and Serving the Community,”he said.
Hornsby served in the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Air Force Reserves for 23 years and retired as a master sergeant. He is currently the executive pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church in Mansfield, Texas, where he has served for the past 23 years. After earning an Associate of Arts degree from TCJC, he went on to The University of Arlington, earning a Bachelor of Business in Management, then a Master of Arts in Marriage/Family Counseling and a Master of Arts in Religious Education. Currently, he is a Ph.D. candidate at Dallas Baptist University. In his spare time, he enjoys golf and traveling to foreign countries.
Shannon Wood represents District 2, formerly held by Conrad Heede; her term ends in May 2027. As a member of the TCC Board of Trustees, Wood’s goals are to represent the students of TCC and community taxpayers. She is a former educator who worked for the Fort Worth ISD and the Juvenile Detention Center of Dallas. A graduate of the University of North Texas, Wood currently tutors students in her home along with holding a full-time job as an executive sales representative for a Fortune 500 company.
Wood enjoys spending time with her daughter, traveling and working on home improvement projects. “I also spend much of my time outside of work with my faithful dog companion, Milo,” she said.