David Fowler – PRESIDENT
David Fowler, president of FACT, grew up in Chattanooga. He graduated from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga with a B.S. in accounting, serving as president of the Student Government Association his senior year. He attended the University of Cincinnati College of Law on the Chapin-Thomas Scholarship, receiving his J.D. degree in 1983. In law school, Mr.Fowler directed the Moot Court program and participated on the National Moot Court and Craven Constitutional Law teams. He also clerked for the late Harry J. Klusmeier in the Ohio Court of Appeals.
Following law school, Mr. Fowler practiced law in Cincinnati and Chattanooga and in 1994, he successfully ran for the Tennessee state Senate where he served for 12 years. For four years he also directed the Center for Law and Government at Bryan College, teaching classes in political philosophy and jurisprudence. After leaving office in 2006, Mr. Fowler worked with leaders from across the state to form the Family Action Council of Tennessee to protect the interests of families with respect to state policy and to educate the public about the importance of a family-friendly culture.
Mr. Fowler has served as a choir director in churches in Chattanooga and Cincinnati, Ohio. He is married with one adult child and now lives in the Nashville area.
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Doug Barth – Chief Operating Officer and General Counsel
Doug Barth is FACT’s Chief Operating Officer and General Counsel. Mr. Barth graduated from DePauw University in Indiana with a B.S. in history and attended Case Western Reserve University School of Law in Cleveland, Ohio, where he obtained his J.D. degree in 1977. While in law school he was on the Board of Editors of the CWRU Law Review. After obtaining his legal degree, he practiced law for 28 years in the litigation field. He was a partner in two law firms and an Assistant General Counsel for the former Westinghouse Electric Corporation. During his legal career, Mr. Barth tried numerous cases and managed litigation nationwide for major corporations.
In 2005, Mr. Barth left the active practice of law to pursue his passion to inform, educate, and assist government officials, churches, and the public on family-related policy issues from a biblically-based perspective. Prior to joining FACT, he was the Executive Director of a nonprofit organization in Idaho that promoted and defended traditional family values in its state legislature, the media, and other venues. Mr. Barth is a graduate of the Alliance Defense Fund’s National Litigation Academy and has been trained as a Truth Project leader at Focus on the Family. He formerly was on the board of directors of the Pittsburgh (PA) Pregnancy Care Centers and Keystone Christian Academy, as well as an advisory board member of North Way Counseling Services, a Christian counseling center.
Mr. Barth and his wife, Linda, have two adult daughters, and reside in Brentwood.
Paul Houghland, Jr. – Shelby County/West Tennessee Community Relations Director
Paul Houghland, Jr. is FACT’s Shelby County/West Tennessee Director of Community Relations. He most recently served as the Executive Manager of the National Hardwood Lumber Association, a position he held for ten years. Previously he served as Executive Director of the Opticians Association of America and of the American Dental Assistants Association. He is a Certified Association Executive and has extensive experience in growing grass-roots organizations, lobbying, and government relations.
Mr. Houghland is a veteran of the United States Army and taught for 10 years in the public schools. He holds a B.S.E. in Education from Oakland City College in Indiana and an M.S. in Education from Indiana University. He has volunteered with numerous non-for-profit organizations, including serving as the Vice President of the U.S. Jaycees.
Pual attends Bellevue Baptist Church and is active in the missions ministry of the church, serving on projects in Venezuela and Africa. He is also involved in other ministries including Life Groups and the Homebound Ministry. Paul lives in Memphis with his wife Jane.
David L. Shelley – Truth Project Trainer
Dr. David Shelley serves as Truth Project trainer for FACT. Dr. Shelley organizes training sessions across the state for those who want to know how to use The Truth Project. He has been a pastor and marriage and family counselor for over 20 years and currently is attending the Nashville School of Law. He has also served as an adjunct professor at a Christian college, as a board member of a worldwide Christian counseling ministry through the YMCA, as the founding President of a chapter of the Georgia Right to Life, as a coordinator of the Georgia Council on Child Abuse, and as the president of a pastor’s conference in Georgia. Dr. Shelley is the author of a new book, Church and State: Being Salt and Light in the Public Square, available through LifeWay Christian Stores or online at Amazon or Barnes and Noble.
Dr. Shelley holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Georgia, a Master’s degree in Marriage and Family Counseling and a Master’s degree in Religious Education from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (Texas), and a Ph.D. in Theology from Trinity Theological Seminary (Indiana).
Tyler Owens – Director of Communications
Tyler Owens serves as Director of Communications for The Family Action Council of Tennessee. His primary task is to make sure our communications are timely and informative and innovative. He will also assist in promotions, graphics, and video productions.
Mr. Owens is a native Tennessean, but has joined FACT after a stint in Florida where he worked on communications for the Florida Christian Coalition and Ocala/Marion County Chamber of Commerce. Prior to that he worked for a State Representative in Florida and before leaving for Florida, served as the Southeast District Representative for former U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, M.D. Mr. Owens has his undergraduate degree from Covenant College. He is married and is father to seven active children, whom he and his wife home educate.
