Administration

Penn State Board of Trustees election results announced

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Penn State alumni, delegates of agriculture societies and the board (representative of business and industry endeavors) elected two incumbents and five new members to serve on the University’s Board of Trustees. Election results were announced at the board meeting today (May 3).

University alumni elected Edward "Ted" B. Brown III, Barbara L. Doran and William F. Oldsey, from a field of 39 candidates, vying for three positions. Each candidate had a biography and position statement posted to the Board of Trustees website.

Delegates of the agricultural societies elected incumbent Keith W. Eckel and newcomer M. Abraham Harpster.

The board also elected two trustees representing business and industry: incumbent Karen Peetz and newcomer Richard K. Dandrea.

The term of each trustee elected is three years, beginning July 1 and expiring on June 30, 2016.

Board members elected by the alumni are:

Edward "Ted" B. Brown III

Brown is president, CEO and owner of disaster recovery planning firm KETCH Consulting, in State College, Pa. He has 45 years in technology and 25 years of experience in crisis management and communications, business continuity planning (BCP), disaster recovery, security and workplace violence. He has led the development of hundreds of BCP plans and actual recoveries. As a certified business continuity professional, Brown has shared his experience and expertise through published articles and lectures to thousands of business continuity and disaster recovery professionals.

During a 30-year career at IBM, Brown served as a business continuity executive, before retiring in 1998 to become a vice president at Strohl Systems, a leading provider of business continuity software. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in science from Penn State.

Barbara L. Doran

A private wealth portfolio manager at Morgan Stanley in New York, N.Y., Doran is the former research investment officer of Neuberger Berman, a $200-billion asset management firm, where she co-managed the equity research department and technology fund. Previously, she founded a hedge fund and a firm specializing in asset raising and business consulting for hedge funds and private equity firms. She also worked as a senior institutional equity salesperson at two major Wall Street firms.

A Harvard Business School graduate, Doran majored in creative writing at Penn State. She is a published writer on sports and investments. She became the first Penn State alumna to make the U.S. Lacrosse and Field Hockey Teams, and has served on the boards and committees of Outward Bound, MCC Theater, U.S. Field Hockey, U.S. Lacrosse, and the Foundation for Child Development. She also is a member of the Penn State Alumni Advisory Committee to the Chair of the Board of Trustees.

William F. Oldsey

Oldsey is an educational publishing consultant and partner in Atlas Advisors, in Basking Ridge, N.J., and has been a senior executive for more than 20 years with the nation’s largest educational publishing companies, including Macmillan, Pearson and McGraw-Hill, where he served as executive vice president. He has a 30-year career in the business of education and education policy and has held management positions in higher education, K-12 education and adult learning. His career has been largely focused on the development of K-12 and college products and platforms that facilitate productive teaching and learning outcomes.

He has served on the corporate boards of the Association of American Publishers, Unigo Education, and the McGraw-Hill Diversity and Inclusion Council. He also is chairman of the board of visitors for Penn State's Department of English and the Center for American Literary Studies. Oldsey graduated from Penn State with a bachelor's degree in English, and was named an Alumni Fellow in 2009.

Board members elected by the agricultural societies are:

Keith W. Eckel

Keith W. Eckel is a board member of Nationwide, one of the largest diversified insurance and financial services companies in the world, and has served as board chairman of Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co., the parent company of the Nationwide organization, since 2008. Eckel also is sole proprietor and president of Fred W. Eckel Sons Farms Inc. in Clarks Summit, Pa. The farm produces tomatoes, sweet corn and pumpkins for fresh market, corn for grain, and wheat, and also was a registered dairy farm until 1986. Eckel has been active in agriculture at the local, state and national levels.

He is a former board member of the Pennsylvania Vegetable Growers Association, the Pennsylvania Agricultural Land Preservation Board and the Board for International Food and Agricultural Development. He also is a former president of the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau, a position he held for 15 years. He attended Keystone Junior College, Dickinson College and Penn State. He was elected to the Board of Trustees in 2001.

M. Abraham Harpster

Harpster is co-owner of Evergreen Farms Inc., in Spruce Creek, Pa. Evergreen Farms is the largest dairy farm operation of its type in the Northeast, producing enough milk weekly for 90,000 families. Harpster partners with his two brothers, managing 5,500 acres and more than 2,800 dairy cows. Harpster received a bachelor's degree in agricultural business management from Penn State.

He has held membership offices in many agricultural associations on the local, state and national levels. He is a member of the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau, the Baileyville Grange, the Professional Dairy Managers of Pennsylvania, the Holstein Association, and has served on the Boards of the Beef Council, the FFA Foundation, the Agway Foundation, the Beef Quality Assurance Commission and the Pennsylvania 21st Century Environmental Commission. He also is a member of several agricultural charitable boards and foundations including the Northeast Agricultural Education Foundation and serves on the Governor’s Dairy Advisory Board.

Board members representing business and industry are:

Richard K. Dandrea

Dandrea has practiced civil litigation at the law firm of Eckert Seamans Cherin & Mellott for more than 30 years and serves on the executive committee of the company's board of directors. He is part of a group of attorneys responsible for the development of law firm policies and the ongoing management of the firm, which includes nearly 400 attorneys in 11 offices.

He has served on the advisory board of the Schreyer Honors College since 2005. He also serves as chair of the Eckert Seamans Mass Tort and Pharmaceutical Practice Groups and the Advisory Board's Recruitment Committee. He is a former member of the board of directors of the Southwestern Pennsylvania Chapter of the American Red Cross and chair of the board's nominating committee. He graduated from Penn State magna cum laude with a bachelor of arts degree and received his J.D. from George Washington University School of Law.

Karen B. Peetz

Peetz is president of BNY Mellon, overseeing the company’s global client management, regional management, human resources functions and treasury services business. She also leads the company’s strategic growth and global innovation efforts. Previously, she led BNY Mellon's Financial Markets and Treasury Services group, comprised of alternative investment services, broker-dealer and advisor services, corporate trust, depositary receipts, and treasury services businesses. She is a member of BNY Mellon’s Executive Committee, the organization’s most senior management body that oversees day-to-day operations. She also is chairperson for the company’s Women’s Initiatives Network, a resource for the professional development and advancement of women who work at BNY Mellon through its 50 chapters globally.

Peetz served as chairman of the Penn State Board of Trustees in 2012. She was elected to the board in 2010 and is chair of the Blue and White Vision Council and the Trustee Presidential Selection Council. She received a bachelor of science degree in individual and family studies from Penn State and her master of science degree from Johns Hopkins University.

Penn State's Board of Trustees is composed of six members appointed by the governor, nine members elected by alumni and six members each elected by agricultural societies and by the board representing business and industry endeavors. In addition, five members are ex-officio by right of their office, including Gov. Thomas W. Corbett Jr.; Penn State President Rodney Erickson; Secretary of Agriculture George D. Greig; Secretary of Education Ronald J. Tomalis and Secretary of Conservation and Natural Resources Richard J. Allan.

For more information on Penn State's board members, visit http://www.psu.edu/trustees/membership.html online.

The total distribution of the votes cast in the alumni elections are listed below by the position of the candidates on the ballot. All ballot requests received as of 5 p.m. Wednesday, May 1, were processed.

 

Candidate – Vote Total1.  Kathleen A. Pavelko, '75, '79g, New Cumberland, PA – 2,7322.  Pratima Gatehouse, '96, '10g, Short Hills, NJ – 1,8693.  Eugene J. Bella, '63, Murrysville, PA --  1,3624.  Paul V. Suhey, '79, Boalsburg, PA – 4,5215.  Thomas A. Conley, '01, Washington, DC – 1,7886.  John W. Diercks, '63, '67g, '75g, State College, PA – 2,1337.  Edward "Ted" B. Brown, III, '68, State College, PA – 11,4038.  Rudolph K. Glocker, '91, '93g, Henderson, NV -- 7719.  Christopher J. Bartnik, '91, '96g, Chantilly, VA -- 99510.  Vincent J. Tedesco, Jr., '64, State College, PA – 2,25011.  William J. Cluck, '82, Harrisburg, PA – 1,69512.  Stephanie Nolan Deviney, '97 JD, Exton, PA – 2,02613.  John M. Mason, Jr., '70, '72, Auburn, AL -- 75314.  Robert J. Bowsher, '86, San Diego, CA -- 49515.  Doreen Ulichney Schivley, '78, State College, PA – 1,18416.  J. Andrew Weidman, '78, Reading, PA – 1,11817.  Ben J. Novak, '65, '99g, Ave Maria, FL – 1,86318.  O. Richard Bundy, III, '93, '96g, South Burlington, VT – 1,97619.  Matthew A. Bird, '80, Gettysburg, PA -- 88720.  Frederik O. Riefkohl, '87, Annapolis, MD -- 41421.  Mark S. Connolly, '84g, West Chester, PA – 1,37522.  Barbara L. Doran, '75, New York, NY – 15,08523.  Darlene R. Baker, '80, Warminster, PA – 1,32124.  Robert J. Hooper, '79, Burlington, VT -- 75225.  Amy L. Williams, '80, Wayne, PA – 1,98726.  Robert N. Grimes, '80, Potomac, MD -- 46027.  Jeffrey N. Goldsmith, '82, Harrisburg, PA -- 67528.  David K. Mullaly, '69, '72g, Annapolis, MD – 2,99629.  Robert P. McKinnon, '90, Hastings on Hudson, NY -- 50930.  Ted J. Sebastianelli, '69, State College, PA – 3,18831.  Christopher R. Owens, '06, Mechanicsburg, PA – 1,00332.  Gregory A. Slachta, '66, Ridgeland, SC -- 44433.  Charles R. Mazzitti, '80, Elizabethtown, PA -- 84934.  Gregory "Sandy" S. Sanderson, '00, Pittsburgh, PA – 1,01235.  Robert C. Jubelirer, '59, '62 JD, Boalsburg, PA – 3,03036.  William F. Oldsey, '76, Basking Ridge, NJ – 13,94037.  Patrick J. Howley, '12, Baltimore, MD -- 98038.  Ryan M. Bagwell, '02, Middleton, WI – 1,36039.  Scott T. Kimler, '83, Ladysmith, BC Canada – 1,084

 

Last Updated October 13, 2013

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