Directors of the Roberts Foundation

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Clifford Roberts  was born in Boston, Massachusetts , in 1958, while his father was doing his medical residency. In 1981, Cliff graduated from Vanderbilt University with a B.A. in Southern History. Two years later he received an M.B.A. from Emory University.  Cliff spent the next 15 years working  in transportation management, working for Roadway Express and Transport South, Inc.,  before becoming president & co-founder of  Georgia Tank Lines. 

In 2001, Cliff changed vocations , becoming a middle school teacher at River Trail Middle School in Johns Creek, Georgia. He spent 15 years as a social studies teacher working mostly with talented and gifted students. In 2011-2012 he was selected as Teacher of the Year by his teaching colleagues.

Cliff is an active member of several historical and preservation associations. He is currently the president of the General Barton & Stovall History/Heritage Association and  vice president of the Friends of the Charleston National Parks, and serves on the board of the Fort Sumter Civil War Round Table and the American Heritage Association. Cliff is the author of  The Cansler Family in America (Gateway Press, 2001) and the co-author of Atlanta's Fighting 42nd: Joseph Johnston's "Old Guard" (Mercer University Press, 2020). His new book, with fellow author Matthew Locke,  Holding Charleston by the Bridle: The History of Castle Pinckney,  was published in 2024 by Savis Beatie LLC.  

Since 1987, Cliff has been married to Vicki Lee Martin Roberts, who is currently a Senior Account Executive with Pricefx. They are the parents of two adult children. Cliff & Vicki live in Charleston, South Carolina.

Charles Roberts  was born in Washington, D.C., in 1960, and educated at Vanderbilt (B.A., 1982) and Emory (M.D., 1986) universities. He completed his surgical residency at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, which was followed by a fellowship in cardiothoracic surgery at The University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. He then spent one year (1996-7) at the Royal Brompton Hospital in London.

In 1997 he was appointed Assistant Professor of Surgery at The University of North Carolina, where his practice consisted of pediatric and adult cardiac surgery. In 2001 he joined Winchester Surgical Clinic at Winchester, Virginia. He was Chair of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery at Winchester Medical Center from 2004 to 2010. 

In 2014, he took a position at Trident Medical Center (HCA) in Charleston, South Carolina, where he was also appointed Clinical Professor of Surgery at the Medical University of South Carolina in 2017. His practice in Virginia and South Carolina was both cardiac and vascular surgery, with minimal general thoracic surgery.  

In 2018 he was appointed Chief of Cardiovascular Services and Chair of the Department of Cardiac Surgery at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas, Texas, where his focus has been coronary artery disease and aortic conditions.  

 Charles is the author of 4 books and some 80 medical publications, most of which concern cardiovascular disease.  He is a member of the American College of Surgeons, The Society of Thoracic Surgeons, and the American Osler Society at which annual meetings he has presented medical history papers. He is also a member of the Cosmos Club in Washington, DC.  

Dr. Roberts has 4 children, 2 daughters and 2 sons, who live in Dallas, Nashville, and Charleston. He has a love of books with an interest in Southern and British history and literature. 

Amelia Roberts Knox was born in Washington, DC, in 1989, the first child and grandchild in her family. She was raised in Nashville, Tennessee, and graduated from the University of Alabama in 2014 with a major in psychology and a minor in family and divorce therapy. She then moved to Dallas, Texas, the home of her grandfather, William C. Roberts, MD, and shortly thereafter, met Chandler Hays Knox, a graduate of Austin College. They were married in 2015 and now have two sons and a newborn daughter. Chandler works in the oil drilling industry and Amelia manages their children, as well as her home and the home of her father. She is also active in the American Heart Association, headquartered in Dallas, Texas.