Updated: May 13, 2016 at 4:45 p.m.
Seven Board of Trustees members are leaving the University’s highest governing body.
Mark Shenkman, Richard Blackburn, Allan From, George Coelho, Heather Foley, Titilola Harley and Randy Levine have completed their terms and will be stepping down, officials announced at the board’s meeting Friday. Former trustees Mark Hughes, Lydia Thomas and Linda Rabbitt were given the title trustee emeritus.
Two new members were also elected at the Board’s meeting Friday.
Gabbi Baker, a digital marketing supervisor and Judith Rodgers, an education and leadership expert, will join the Board on July 1.
Rodgers, who attended Mount Vernon College, a former women’s college at the site of the Mount Vernon Campus, currently serves on the Mount Vernon National Advisory Council, a committee that promotes of the legacy of the school. She also co-chairs the mentoring program for the Elizabeth Somers Women’s Leadership Program on the Mount Vernon Campus, according to a release.
Baker, a 2013 business school alumna, will be one of the youngest members on the Board. She is an account supervisor at OgilvyOne Worldwide, a digital marketing agency that focuses on combing data and creativity to help business grow and better understand their behaviors, according to a release.
The departing trustees include some of the longest-serving and most influential members of the board in recent history. They were recognized for their service at Friday’s meeting.
“Here’s opportunity for us to take a minute to acknowledge their great service and give them a thank you,” Blackburn, a departing trustee and chair of the Board’s Committee on Nominations and Governance, said.
Shenkman, an alumnus and founder of Shenkman Capital , donated $5 million to University-wide and business school career services. The University renamed Ivory Tower residence hall to Shenkman Hall in 2014.
From served as chair of the Board’s student life committee, and was a former member of the Alumni Association’s Board of Directors. He received an outstanding service award from the alumni association last year.
“Most of you know the day after Allan was born he became chairman of the student affairs committee and has distinguished himself in that role ever since,” Blackburn said.
A 2013 gift from Blackburn, funded the business school’s annual lecture on civility and integrity in business, which serves as a capstone event for the school’s the required first year development course.
“Dick is truly the best counsel you could ever have,” Board Chairmen Nelson Carbonell said.
Levine, president of the New York Yankees, was recognized for his role in GW’s recent athletic successes. He chaired the committee that selected Patrick Nero as athletic director in 2011.
Harley was honored for her work with the graduate school of education, Coelho for his efforts in sustainability and Foley for her 25 years providing advise and counsel to the Board.
