UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Four incumbents and nine new members were named to serve on Penn State's Board of Trustees, either by election or appointment today (May 8). Their terms will begin July 1.
University alumni re-elected incumbents Anthony P. Lubrano and Ryan J. McCombie, and elected Robert J. Tribeck.
Delegates of the agricultural societies re-elected Donald G. Cotner and elected Chris R. Hoffman. In addition, the board elected two new trustees representing business and industry: Robert E. Fenza and Mary Lee Schneider.
Governance reforms approved by the board in November 2014 also bring six new seats to the board; a student trustee, an academic trustee, the immediate past president of the Alumni Association and three at-large trustees.
Luke Metaxas was elected to the board for a two-year term as the student trustee, and Dr. David Han was elected to the board for a three-year term as the academic trustee. Kathleen L. Casey, who tendered her resignation as a gubernatorial appointee effective June 30, 2015, Matthew W. Schuyler and Julie Anna Potts were appointed as at-large trustees.
Kay Salvino, by virtue of her position as of July 1, 2015, as immediate past president of the Alumni Association, also will assume a seat on the board.
Robert E. Fenza retired on March 31, 2015, as executive vice president and chief operating officer of Liberty Property Trust. He holds a doctoral degree in landscape architecture and real estate from Penn State and is a member of the Society of Distinguished Alumni. He has served on the board of directors of the Crozer Keystone Health System and the Chester County Food Bank, the board of trustees of the Charter High School for Architecture and Design in Philadelphia, advisory boards of the FM Global Mutual Insurance Company and the Chester County Agricultural Advisory Board and the presidents council of the Natural Lands Trust. In 2004 he was named a Penn State Alumni Fellow and also has been honored as Penn State Fundraising Volunteer of the Year and recipient of the Alumni Achievement Award, the UNICO Philadelphia Community Leader of the Year Award and the Chester County Council Boy Scouts of America Distinguished Citizen Award.
Dr. David Han is vice chair of the Department of Surgery and program director of the residency in general surgery at the Penn State Hershey Medical Center and College of Medicine, where he was granted tenure as associate professor of surgery and radiology in 2008. He received undergraduate and master’s degrees from Penn State and his medical degree from Harvard Medical School. An active researcher focused on patient outcomes, he also has led collaborative efforts between the Department of Surgery and Penn State University Park, including a recently funded NIH grant to study dynamic haptic robotic training for central venous catheter insertion. He is an active member of the Penn State Faculty Senate and served on the Special Committee for University Governance from 2012 to 2013 and the University Search and Screen Committee and Trustee Presidential Selection Council from 2013 to 2014. He also served as president of the Penn State Alumni Association from 2007 through 2009 and was recognized as a Penn State Alumni Fellow in 2011.
Chris R. Hoffman owns and operates Lazy Hog Farms, a 1,400 sow farrow to wean 4,800 head nursery barn and 4,400 head finishing barn in Juniata County, Pennsylvania, as well as Lazy Chick Farms, which raises 250,000 chickens annually. He was selected to serve on the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau’s state board of directors in 2006, its executive committee in 2008 and as its vice president in 2014. In 2013 Hoffman was selected to lead the Farm Bureau’s new Agriculture Promotion Committee, which encourages local programs that engage consumers with agriculture and also raises money for the Pennsylvania Friends of Agriculture Foundation. The foundation, for which he also serves on its board of directors, is a charitable organization supported by the Farm Bureau. He also chairs Pennsylvania’s Nutrient Management Advisory Board and is a member of the state’s Pork Producers Council, among other volunteer service experience. In 2014 he was appointed to chair the American Farm Bureau Federation’s Promotion and Education Committee.
Luke Metaxas is completing his fourth semester at Penn State as a dual major in information sciences and technology and supply chain management and information systems. A Schreyer Scholar and member of the Presidential Leadership Academy, he is an on-campus resident assistant active with organizations such as the entrepreneurship group Innoblue, co-directing its Accelerator Program; the Penn State Investment Association; the IST Consulting group; and the Alpha Kappa Psi business fraternity, which he serves as vice president and as a member of the executive board.
Julie Anna Potts is executive vice president and treasurer of the American Farm Bureau Federation. A graduate of both Bryn Mawr College, with an undergraduate degree in English, and The George Washington University Law School, she previously was chief counsel and secretary for the American Farm Bureau Federation from 2004 to 2009 and chief counsel to the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry from 2009 through 2011. In that role she supported the committee during the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act and the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act. Potts has served the University as a speaker for the Penn State Rural-Urban Leadership Program. Her volunteer service also includes roles as chairman and board member of Miriam’s Kitchen, where she led the implementation of a strategic plan and launch of an $8 million capital campaign, and her current role, since 2013, as chair of the American Enterprise Agriculture Sector Committee for the Smithsonian American History Museum.
Mary Lee Schneider is former president and CEO of the Follett Corporation, for which she also served as a board member since 2001. She received an undergraduate degree in journalism from Penn State; an MBA from the Kellogg Graduate School of Business and a master of science degree in medical informatics, both from Northwestern University; and a master’s degree in printing technology/imaging systems from the Rochester Institute of Technology. Schneider volunteers on the board of the Chicago Public Library Foundation and the leader council of the Mercy Home for Boys and Girls. She previously served on the board of advisors of Shure Inc., the board of directors of Instermatic Corporation and on board committees of VSP Global. She has been named a fellow of Leadership Greater Chicago and in 2006 was named a Penn State Alumni Fellow.
Matthew W. Schuyler is chief human resources officer of Hilton Worldwide. He received his undergraduate degree in accounting from Penn State and an MBA in organizational behavior and human resources management from the University of Michigan. His Penn State volunteer service includes membership on the board of visitors of the Smeal College of Business, College of Information Sciences an Technology and School of Hospitality Management, as well as membership in the President’s Club and Laurel Circle. He has been honored as a member of the National Academy of Human Resources and as a 2013 Penn State Alumni Fellow.
Robert J. Tribeck is chief legal officer at Post Acute Medical LLC, a central Pennsylvania-based health care provider. He also is a partner at Rhoads & Sinon LLP, a Harrisburg-based law firm, where he is a member of its executive committee. He practices in the firm’s Employment and Labor, Intellectual Property, and Internal Investigation and Corporate Compliance practice groups. He received a bachelor of science degree in economics from Penn State in 1991 and a juris doctor degree from Ohio Northern University Pettit College of Law in 1994. Upon graduation, he was appointed to a federal judicial clerkship with the Hon. William W. Caldwell of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania. Tribeck is a member of the Penn State Alumni Association, Nittany Lion Club, President’s Club and Penn Staters for Responsible Stewardship (PS4RS). While at Penn State, he was a member of Pi Lambda Phi fraternity and actively participated in multiple student and philanthropic activities.
Penn State's Board of Trustees is composed of six members appointed by the governor, nine members elected by alumni, six members elected by agricultural societies and six members elected by the board representing business and industry endeavors, one student trustee, one academic trustee, three at-large trustees, and the immediate past President of the Penn State Alumni Association. In addition, five members are ex-officio by right of their office, including Governor Thomas W. Wolf (non-voting); Penn State President Eric J. Barron (non-voting); acting Secretary of Agriculture Russell C. Redding; acting Secretary of Education Pedro A. Rivera, and acting Secretary of Conservation and Natural Resources Cynthia A. Dunn.
For more information on Penn State's board members, go to http://www.psu.edu/trustees/membership.html.