Ann Pullen has lived in Rome since 1994. She and her late husband, George (a long-time City Commissioner and faculty member at Georgia Highlands College) worked to develop living spaces in a building on the Cotton Block and were some of the earliest “loft residents” downtown. She is retired from Kennesaw State University, where she was a Professor of History and Department Chair; she received her undergraduate degree and MA from UGA and her Ph.D. from Georgia State University.
Her volunteer activities in Rome have centered around downtown development/preservation and the arts. She has one son, two stepchildren and nine grandchildren.
• Rome Area Council for the Arts, past Co-President, Board member since 2003
• Rome Area Heritage Foundation, past Co-President, Board member since 2004
• City of Rome activities: Historic Preservation Commission 2005-2011; Downtown Development Authority, 2012-2017; DDA Design Committee (past chair), 2012-present; City of Rome Landmarking Committee, 2020-present; DDA Volunteer of the Year, 2010
• Fairview-ES Brown Heritage Foundation Board, 2022-present
• Rome International Film Festival, original board member through 2018
• Rome/Floyd International Association, lead coordinator; since 1996 this group has organized student exchanges with Kumamoto City, Japan, Rome’s sister city; it also sponsored the Rome International Festival, held in various years 2004-2017
• St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, Breakfast Team Captain, 2014-present