Florida A&M University’s former longtime governmental relations director Tola Thompson is FAMU’s new chief of staff. That’s among senior leadership changes on interim President Timothy Beard’s team.
As Thompson returns to FAMU from his position with Ballard Partners – a Tallahassee-based global lobbying firm – he replaces Linda Barge-Miles, who served in the chief of staff/Board of Trustees liaison role for eight years, mostly under former President Larry Robinson .
Beard confirmed the appointment when asked by the Tallahassee Democrat Thursday following a board of trustees meeting at the Lawson Center.
“We’ve had a new chief of staff in place as of, I want to say, last week,” Beard said.
Thompson, who attended the trustees’ full board meeting as well as the board’s retreat at Bradley’s Pond Wednesday, was unavailable for comment following the meeting Thursday.
The change comes as part of Beard’s restructuring efforts after he recently asked the entire FAMU senior leadership team to resign in mid-August, which led to four team members no longer being with the university: Communications Director Keith Miles, Vice President of Intercollegiate Athletics and Athletics Director Tiffani-Dawn Sykes, Director of Governmental Relations Danielle McBeth and Vice President of Legal Affairs and General Counsel Denise Wallace.