Current Officers

jackie-taylor_tnJackie Taylor, Founder and Executive Director, has over 30 years of experience in the automotive industry. Starting as a line technician, he rose to service manager for German auto lines and then into automotive equipment sales. Ultimately, he owned and managed several automotive service and repair businesses. Jackie is also founder and director of a non-profit business that reduces poverty in both developing countries and urban America by providing education for youth who live in these impoverished areas.

barbara-taylor_tnBarbara Taylor, Chairman, has over 18 years of experience working with physically, behaviorally and emotionally handicapped individuals. In the automotive industry, she became owner/operator of the Dilworth Foreign Car Service in 1994 and later worked as office manager and service coordinator at South End Automotive Services. She is currently the receptionist at BOLTgroup.

David FlanaganDavid Flanagan, Secretary, is a retired educator who taught sociology, anthropology and regional geography at CPCC for 30 years. He served in the US Army and has both a BA and an MA in Sociology from the University of Florida.

 

Murray Whisnant was born in Charlotte and graduated from Charlotte Central High in 1950.  An architect, designer, inventor, furniture maker and artist, Whisnant studied at the NCSU School of Design.  After graduation in 1956 he worked with three firms in Charlotte: Paul L. Snyder; Sloan and Wheatley; and Sloan Mackintosh Wheatley and Benton.  In January 1960 he became partner with Charles Wheatley.  Whisnant left to set up his own firm in 1978.  In addition to architecture, Whisnant is a designer of modern furniture with many exhibitions.  In the early 1990’s, he was awarded the FAIA designation and the Kamphoefner Prize.  He was voted one of the top 50 architects in America by Town and Country Magazine. In the Triangle, his best-known building is the 1968 Van Hecke-Wettach Building (the UNC-Chapel Hill Law School).

Additional CARS Board Members

Robert Corbin is an associate professor at UNC Charlotte, adjunct professor at Wingate University, and Vice President of Learning Experiences at the Discovery Place Science Center. Dr. Corbin has a BS in Environmental Science from Michigan State University, an IMA in Natural Science Education from the University of South Carolina, and a PhD in curriculum and instruction from UNC Charlotte.

Betsy Kusenberg has a BA in Economics from UNC-Chapel Hill and a Masters degree in Product Design from NCSU. She has over 20 years of experience as a technical writer in the banking, transportation, and public service industries. She currently works as a technical writer in Information Technology at the City of Charlotte.

Terry Lindley former owner and manager of a custom car and motorcycle shop, has been teaching automotive science since 1992 and is a high school football and basketball coach. He has an AA degree in Applied Science and a BS in Educational Management, and is an ASE Master Certified Technician.

Jamal Nahavandi, PhD, is an associate professor of economics at Pfeiffer School of Graduate Studies. In addition to specializing in business economics, international business, and the economics of health care at Pfeiffer for the past 10 year, he has 15 years of experience with Bell Labs.

Raymond Sheedy is an award-winning architect and owner of RLS+Design. He has practiced architecture for over 20 years  and worked with governmental agencies designing civic projects at state and local levels. Ray has a Master of Architecture degree from Clemson University and teaches part-time at the Art Institute of Charlotte.