Patrick J. Mannelly, right, recently retired from the board of directors of GRACE Scholars, the student scholarship organization that raises money for Catholic schools in the Atlanta Archdiocese and the Diocese of Savannah. He stands with Atlanta Archbishop Wilton D. Gregory. Mannelly will be succeeded by Bob Fitzgerald. Photo by Michael Alexander

ATLANTA—A longtime leader with GRACE Scholars has stepped down.

Patrick J. Mannelly recently retired from the board. Robert Fitzgerald has been elected to fill the vacancy.

Mannelly joined GRACE in 2009 soon after its inception. He served in many leadership positions, including as vice president of the board. He helped establish a relationship between the parishioners at Church of St. Ann, Marietta, and Our Lady of Mercy High School in Fayetteville, which has raised more than $300,000 for the high school from that parish. Mannelly is a retired chief financial officer of Coca-Cola Enterprises.

Fitzgerald is well known for his leadership positions in the archdiocese. He is chairman of the board of Cristo Rey Atlanta Jesuit High School. Fitzgerald retired from a 26-year career with BellSouth (now AT&T) in 1996 where he held a number of legal and operational positions. In addition to Cristo Rey, he currently serves as a retreat and spiritual director at Ignatius House, the Jesuit retreat center in Sandy Springs, as an adjunct lecturer in the Spring Hill College graduate theology program in Atlanta, and as a member of the Emory Saint Joseph Hospital board.