H. Inman Allen, chairman of the Ivan Allen Company, has been named chairman of the Carter Center's Board of Councilors for 2012.

Allen, 70,  succeeds Ann Cramer, director of IBM Corporate Citizenship  & Corporate Affairs for the Americas. His brother, the late Ivan Allen III, co-founded the board and at one time was its chairman.

The board's 234 members  serve as a leadership advisory group  of The Carter Center and its global initiatives.

Allen  has served on several boards including  the Fulton-DeKalb Hospital Authority, Grady Hospital Foundation, Woodruff Arts Center,  Leadership Georgia and Central Atlanta Progress.