January 11, 2017
SVSU Foundation board elects officers, adds members
The Saginaw Valley State University Foundation board of directors elected officers for 2017 at its regular December meeting.
Andrew D. Richards of Saginaw will serve as chair; he is an attorney with the law firm Smith Bovill. Donald Bachand, SVSU president, will serve as first vice chair. Kim Norris of Saginaw will serve as second vice chair; she is vice president of administration for Glastender and an SVSU alumna.
The secretary will be Dave Abbs of Saginaw, an SVSU alumnus; he is a certified financial planner and owner of Abbs Retirement Planning Advisors. Jim Muladore, SVSU executive vice president for administration and business affairs, will serve as treasurer; he also is an SVSU graduate.
Vicki Rupp of Saginaw, a member of SVSU’s Board of Control, will serve on the executive committee; she is an SVSU alumna and recently retired from Dow. Attorney John D.L. Humphreys of Saginaw also remains on the executive committee as immediate past chair.
The SVSU Foundation also welcomed two new members to the board: Sean Hammond of Lansing, deputy policy director for the Michigan Environmental Council; and Michael Tribble of Saginaw, a CPA with the accounting firm Yeo & Yeo. Both are SVSU alumni.
“We are fortunate to have so many individuals from our community, and more recently from throughout Michigan, who are deeply committed to advancing SVSU and our goals for the progress of our students, our region and our state,” said Andy Bethune, executive director of the SVSU Foundation. “Their volunteer efforts are vital as we work with donors to increase scholarship opportunities for students, and move forward with strategic priorities, such as raising private funds to support construction of a new facility for the College of Business and Management.”
Humphreys and Norris were re-elected to four-year terms on the board, as were Rick Goedert of Saginaw, president and CEO of 1st State Bank; John E. Kessler of Midland, senior trust officer and executive vice president of Chemical Bank Wealth Management.
Departing the board are Terry Moore of Midland and Dr. Debasish Mridha of Saginaw, who each completed eight years of service on the board and were each named honorary directors of the SVSU Foundation.
“I would like to thank John Humphreys for his leadership over the past two years and I welcome the opportunity to work with Andrew Richards as our new chair,” Bethune said. “On behalf of the board, I also express appreciation to Terry Moore and Dr. Mridha for their dedicated support of SVSU students, particularly those planning careers in health care.”
In September 2015, the SVSU Foundation announced the completion of the “Talent. Opportunity. Promise” campaign, which raised more than $28 million, the largest fundraising effort in university history. SVSU benefactors created more than 200 new scholarships for SVSU students to help defray the cost of their education; the campaign also resulted more than $8 million for STEM-related initiatives to enhance opportunities in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.