Cotton Board Chairman Nancy Marino has announced that Drayton Campbell Mayers has been named president and chief executive officer of the Memphis-based Cotton Board.

“Our Search Committee has done an outstanding job over the last several months, working with the nationally-recognized executive search firm Korn/Ferry and interviewing candidates from in and outside of this industry,” commented Marino. “We are very pleased and excited that Drayton will be leading our staff in Memphis and governing the administrative activities of the Cotton Research & Promotion Program so it continues to lead to increased demand and consumption of cotton.”

For the last 14 years of his career, Mayers has held positions that have been responsible for many of the implemented programs, alliances and marketing/public relations campaigns that contributed to the ongoing success of Cotton Council International — the export promotion arm of the National Cotton Council.

He has extensive international market promotion experience and has pioneered several innovative strategic partnerships with international businesses that have cooperatively led to increased sales of both U.S. raw cotton and cotton apparel.

He began his career as marketing director with Chicago-based Mid-America International Agra-Trade Council (MIATCO), eventually being named executive director in 1984. He has won numerous creative awards both domestically and internationally for his resourceful advertising and marketing programs and campaigns including the Tennessee Advertising Federation’s ADDY for “Best of Show” and the IABC Gold Quill Award in 2003.

He resides in Germantown, Tenn., a small community on the east side of Memphis, Tenn. He is married to wife Martha and they have two children, son MacLean and daughter Sara.

Mayers will begin work with the Cotton Board in early December.