Baptist Medical Center Jacksonville names new Board of Directors chair and welcomes new board members

The Baptist Medical Center Jacksonville Board of Directors is pleased to announce that Pam Chally, PhD, has been named its new board chair.

Dr. Chally has been a Baptist Jacksonville board member since 2012 and a member of the board of directors for Baptist Health since 2015. She served and is a past chair of Baptist Health’s Clinical Quality Committee.

She was dean of the Brooks College of Health at the University of North Florida for 19 years and will become interim provost and vice president of Academic affairs at UNF on Oct. 1. She has a PhD from Georgia State University; a master of nursing from Emory University, and a bachelor of science in nursing from the University of Illinois. Dr. Chally has worked as an academic administrator and nursing faculty member for more than 35 years.

Additionally, three new board members have been elected.

Ken Babby, a native of Potomac, Md., is founder and chairman of Fast Forward Sports Group, LLC, and owner and CEO of the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp and the Akron RubberDucks minor league baseball teams. He was named one of Sports Business Journal’s 2016 “Forty Under 40,” recognizing excellence and innovation in sports business careers before age 40. He was also formerly chief revenue officer of Washington Post Media and general manager of Washington Post Digital. He has a bachelor’s degree in computer sciences and economics from Wheaton College and an MBA from Johns Hopkins University.

Michael Diaz of Atlantic Beach has served on the Baptist Health Foundation board of directors since February 2011 and was board chair from April 2014 to March 2016. Diaz is a co-founder and CFO of the St Augustine Distillery, which makes local craft spirits, and is chairman of FabTech Supply, a leading supplier of electrical hardware components. Diaz was previously chief operating officer of Black Diamond, where he was responsible for the overall management of Black Diamond’s service and operations teams. In May 2011, Black Diamond was acquired by Advent Software. Prior to joining Black Diamond, Diaz was executive vice president of operations for Acosta Sales and Marketing Company, Inc. He received his bachelor’s degree in accounting along with a master’s in taxation from the University of Florida.

Asghar A. Syed is a litigator and shareholder with Smith Hulsey & Busey. He is experienced in a range of business disputes including fraudulent transfer, environmental and corporate governance litigation. He also represents employers faced with charges of discrimination and counsels management to prevent or minimize employment claims.

Syed was a founding member of TEDxJacksonville, has served on the Development Council for Baptist Medical Center Jacksonville, and was elected to the Board of Governors of the Jacksonville Bar Association in 2017. Syed has a JD/MBA from the University of Florida and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Massachusetts.