During a special called meeting of the Smyrna City Council on Nov. 14, the Council agreed 6-0 to appoint Lewis A. Wheaton to complete the term of Ron Fennel for Ward 7 to end Dec. 31.
With almost 57 percent of the vote, Wheaton was elected to this post on Nov. 5 during the General Municipal Election. The Ward 7 seat was vacated by Ron Fennel on Oct. 7.
Mayor Max Bacon recommended that Wheaton be sworn in soon after the election was certified. Wheaton was sworn in by Cobb County Superior Court Judge Kimberly Childs. His wife Teri held the Bible while he recited the oath as provided by the judge. Wheaton’s family, friends and Cub Scout troop also were present for the event.
Wheaton will be sworn in on Jan. 6, 2020 when his elected term will begin.
He is a professor in the School of Biological Sciences at Georgia Tech, according to the city website. Also, he has an adjunct appointment in the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine at Emory University School of Medicine.
Since his arrival at Georgia Tech in 2008, he has been the director of the Cognitive Motor Control Laboratory, which has a goal of improving rehabilitation outcomes in people with brain injury. Wheaton also has been actively involved in rehabilitation policy within Georgia as a Governor-appointed member of the State Rehabilitation Council, a congressionally mandated council that oversees the Georgia Vocational Rehabilitation Agency.
Born in Mt. Lebanon, Pennsylvania and reared in Petersburg, Virginia, he received his Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from Radford University in 1999 and his Ph.D. from the University of Maryland in College Park in Neuroscience and Cognitive Sciences in 2005. Wheaton was a fellow at the Baltimore (Maryland) Veterans Affairs Medical Center from 2005 to 2008 before moving to Smyrna.
He and his wife Teri have sons Lewis Jr. and Joshua, and they are active members of Powers Ferry Road Church of Christ.
Information: lwheaton@SmyrnaGa.gov, SmyrnaGa.gov/your-government/mayor-and-council/council
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