Gary W. Dunwoody of Little Rock, Ark., is currently serving his third three-year term on the Shriners Hospitals for Children® Board of Trustees. He was re-elected during the Shriners’ 2011 annual Imperial Session – held in Denver July 3-7. Dunwoody served his first three-year term on the Shriners Hospitals for Children Board of Trustees from 1991 to 1994. He served as Imperial Potentate (president and CEO of Shriners of North America) in 2005-2006.
Born in Rome, Ga., Dunwoody moved to Dunnellon, Fla., where he grew up working at his parents’ seafood restaurant. He was on the football team and played the trumpet in high school. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from LaGrange College in LaGrange, Ga., and he is a member of the Kappa Sigma fraternity. After selling his company, Capitol Chemical & Supply, located in Little Rock, Dunwoody became a consultant for FabriClean Supply Co., which has its home office in Dallas, Texas.
Dunwoody is a 33rd degree Scottish Rite Mason, a member of the York Rite and a recipient of the Honorary Legion of Honor from DeMolay International. He was raised a Master Mason at Big Rock Lodge #633 in 1972 and has been active in the Shriners fraternity since he became a member in 1976. Dunwoody is an associate member of Yaarab Shriners in Atlanta and Morocco Shriners in Jacksonville, Fla. He served as Potentate of Scimitar Shriners in 1989 and president of the Central States Shrine Association in 1994.
Active in community affairs, Dunwoody is a past member of the board of directors of Little Rock Rotary Club 99, where his club named him a Paul Harris Fellow. He is also currently a member of Riverside Rotary and of the Little Rock Regional Chamber of Commerce, and previously served on its Governmental Affairs Committee. In addition, Dunwoody is a member of the board of directors of the City of Little Rock Citizen’s Police Academy and the Camp Mitchell and Retreat Center, which is a ministry of The Episcopal Diocese of Arkansas.
Dunwoody and his wife, Wanda, attend St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in North Little Rock, where he served four years as a Senior Warden and is also a Lay Eucharistic Minister. The Dunwoodys have four daughters and six grandchildren.