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One of Nashville’s most prominent civic leaders is the new chairman of the Board of Trustees at Martin Methodist College.

Byron R. Trauger, a partner in the Nashville law firm of Trauger and Tuke and a trustee at Martin Methodist since 1997, was elected to a three-year term during a board meeting, held in Pulaski on Thursday, July 21. He succeeds Nashville business executive Kenneth Pinkston, an alumnus of Martin Methodist College and trustee for the past 19 years, who had served as chairman since 2007.

Trauger, whose law practice is concentrated in health care, complex civil litigation, general business matters and government relations, came to the Martin Methodist College Board of Trustees through his connection to the United Methodist Church, serving as an active lay leader of West End United Methodist Church and the Tennessee Annual Conference.

"Martin Methodist College has been blessed with unusually strong governance, especially in recent years," said Dr. Ted Brown, president of Martin Methodist. "Our out-going board chair, Ken Pinkston, is the perfect example of the kind of skillful and dedicated leaders that have made this one of finest small college boards in our region. Now Byron Trauger, with his impressive expertise and energy, promises to continue the pattern of bold strategic thinking that has led to this institution’s astonishing progress."

The new Martin Methodist College board chair is active in numerous civic and charitable organizations, including the Governor’s Books From Birth Foundation, the Land Trust for Tennessee, Nashville Public Library Foundation, Nashville Alliance for Public Education, PENCIL Foundation, and You Have the Power. He has also served on the boards of Historic Nashville, Nashville Children’s Theater, Nashville Public Television, the Tennessee State Museum, and the Tennessee Environmental Council. He has also chaired two successful Nashville mayoral campaigns and Tennessee gubernatorial campaigns, was the board chairman of a $500-million publicly-traded health care company, and has served on the boards of directors of privately held health care and technology companies.

Assuming the chairmanship of the Martin Methodist trustee board, however, provides new and exciting leadership opportunities, Trauger said.

"Martin Methodist College is one of Tennessee’s best-kept educational secrets," he said. "Martin Methodist’s nurturing emphasis upon achievement in academics, the arts, athletics and character produces great graduates. The proof is in the pudding; when I joined this board, we had only 450 students; this fall the enrollment will exceed 1,100.

"It’s an exciting time in the 141-year history of this college, and I’m honored to have the opportunity to lead an extremely talented and effective group of trustees," he said.

A Rhodes Scholar, Trauger received his bachelor of arts degree magna cum laude from Duke University and his law degree from Yale Law School, where he was associate editor of the Yale Review of Law and Social Action. He also studied in Lima, Peru, as a Rotary Foundation Undergraduate Scholar.

He is married to the Hon. Aleta A. Trauger, U.S. District Judge for the Middle District of Tennessee, and has one daughter.