UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Changes to committee and subcommittee leadership positions on the Penn State Board of Trustees were announced today (June 16) by Chairman Keith Masser. The appointments become effective on July 1.
New committee chairs will be Ryan McCombie, chair of the Committee on Outreach, Development and Community Relations; Paul Silvis, chair of the Committee on Compensation; Walt Rackowich, chair of the Committee on Audit and Risk; and Richard Dandrea, chair of the Committee on Legal and Compliance. Trustees Abe Harpster, Mark Dambly and Keith Eckel will continue as chairs of the committees on Academic Affairs and Student Life; Finance, Business and Capital Planning; and Governance and Long-Range Planning, respectively.
Vice chairs for the committees also have been announced. The following trustees will serve as vice chair for the committees listed: Ted Brown (Audit and Risk); Todd Rucci (Academic Affairs and Student Life); Betsy Huber (Governance and Long-Range Planning); Kathy Casey (Legal and Compliance); and Daniel Mead (Outreach, Development and Community Relations). Trustee Donald Cotner will continue in his role as vice chair of the Committee on Finance Business and Capital Planning. It is expected that the trustee elected as vice chair of the Board at the July 17 meeting will also become vice chair of the Committee on Compensation.
New subcommittee chairs will be Bill Oldsey (Subcommittee on Architect/Engineer Selection) and Cliff Benson (Subcommittee on Finance) and Donald Cotner (Subcommittee on Risk). Trustee Paul Silvis will continue as chair of the Subcommittee on Human Resources, and Rick Dandrea will continue as the chair of the Subcommittee on Legal.
“I am very pleased that these trustees have agreed to take on or to continue to serve in these important leadership positions,” said Masser. “The University is thriving, as measured by practically every metric, and I am counting on their diverse backgrounds and talents to continue to make our world-class University even better.”
“Our board is unified on most issues,” continued Masser. “By broader inclusion in leadership positions, it is my hope that the board will be able to work together better on the issues that have divided us.”
Masser also announced his intent to recommend to the Governance and Long-Range Planning Committee that trustees Barbara Doran, Anthony Lubrano and Donald Cotner be nominated for election at the July meeting of the Board of Trustees to fill the at-large seats on the Board’s Executive Committee.
Below are brief biographies of the newly named chairs. For more, go to http://www.psu.edu/trustees/membership.html
Ryan J. McCombie (Outreach, Development and Community Relations)
McCombie is a retired United States Navy Captain (SEAL) with more than 26 years of service. He is an independent business consultant and serves on the boards of advisors/directors of several national firms. He graduated from Penn State in 1970, and the National War College in 1986. He is on the Board of Directors of the Centre County United Way; the Board of Advisers for Outreach Development; and also chairs the military scholarship committee of the World Campus at Penn State. He was elected to the board by alumni in 2012.
Paul Silvis (Committee on Compensation)
Silvis, CEO, coach, inventor and founder of Restek Corporation, where he served 20 year. He is now chairman of the board for Restek. He received a B.S. in chemistry/life science from the University of Pittsburgh in 1977 and graduated from the Penn State executive MBA program. In the past, Silvis has served as chairman of the board for the CBICC, a member of the advisory board for the Schreyer Institute for Innovation and Learning and Schreyer Honors College. After turning over the reins of Restek’s chromatography business to employees, Silvis is focused on growing a new technology company called SilcoTek. He was appointed to the Penn State Board of Trustees by Gov. Ed Rendell in 2010.
Walt Rackowich (Audit and Risk)
Rakowich was elected to the Board of Trustees in July 2014 representing business and industry. He earned a B.S. in accounting in 1979 from the Smeal College of Business and an MBA from Harvard Business School. He is the retired CEO of Prologis, an industrial real estate company. Rakowich serves on the Real Estate Advisory Board of the Institute for Real Estate Studies in the Smeal College of Business and has been honored as an Alumni Fellow by the Penn State Alumni Association.
Richard Dandrea (Legal and Compliance)
Dandrea, an attorney with Eckert Seamans Cherin and Mellott, LLC, was elected to the Board of Trustees in July 2013 representing business and industry. He graduated from Penn State in 1977 with a bachelor of arts degree and earned a J.D. from George Washington University School of Law. Dandrea serves on the External Advisory Board of the Schreyer Honors College, and is a member of the Executive Committee of the Penn State Advisory Council on Philanthropy.