*Note: This story has been updated to include the total distribution of the votes cast.
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Seven incumbents and one new member were named to serve on Penn State's Board of Trustees, either by election or appointment today (May 6). Their terms will begin July 1 and will last three years.
University alumni re-elected incumbents Edward "Ted" Brown III, Barbara L. Doran and William F. Oldsey. Delegates of the agricultural societies re-elected M. Abraham Harpster and elected Valerie L. Detwiler.
Additionally, the board re-elected two trustees representing business and industry: Ira Lubert and Richard K. Dandrea. Kathleen L. Casey was appointed as an at-large trustee.
Edward "Ted" Brown III. Brown is president, CEO and owner of disaster recovery planning firm KETCH Consulting, in State College, Pa. He has 48 years in technology and 28 years of experience in crisis management and communications, business continuity planning (BCP), disaster recovery, security, 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.
Richard K. Dandrea. Dandrea was elected to the Board of Trustees effective July 2013 representing business and industry. He is an attorney with Eckert Seamans Cherin & Mellott, LLC working in product liability defense, with an emphasis on pharmaceutical claims. He serves on the External Advisory Board of the Schreyer Honors College and was a volunteer with Penn State’s Grand Destiny campaign. Dandrea 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.
Valerie L. Detwiler. Detwiler, a strong advocate for Pennsylvania agriculture, currently serves as vice president and agricultural banking officer for Clearfield Bank & Trust. She has been involved with agricultural lending since 2004, when she began working for the USDA Farm Service Agency, Farm Loan Program. Detwiler served as a farm loan officer until March 2010, when she began her employment with Clearfield Bank & Trust. Additionally, Detwiler and her husband own and operate Forsheys Ag & Industrial, a New Holland machinery dealership, located in Martinsburg, Pa., as well as a beef and crop operation located in New Enterprise, Pa. Detwiler currently serves on the Blair County Chamber of Commerce Farm City Committee, the Agriculture Committee of the Altoona Blair County Development Corporation, the Loan Committee of the Southern Alleghenies Planning & Development Commission, and the Pennsylvania Banking Association’s Agriculture and Rural Issues Advisory Committee. She graduated from Penn State with a bachelor's degree in accounting.
Barbara L. Doran. A senior portfolio manager/wealth advisor and member of the Investment Committee at Lebenthal Asset Management, Doran oversees the firm's large cap growth portfolios and provides wealth advisory services for private clients. As the former research investment officer of Neuberger Berman, a $200 billion asset management firm, she co-managed the equity research department and a start-up 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 has served on the Board of Trustees executive, governance and finance committees.
M. Abraham Harpster. Harpster is a partner in Evergreen Farms, Pennsylvania's largest dairy operation, located in Spruce Creek, Pa. With nearly 80 employees, Harpster and his brother farm 6,500 acres, milk 2,900 cows, operate a feed mill, property management company, logistics company and a hospitality business focused on outdoor recreation. A longtime leader in environmental stewardship, Evergreen Farms supports many charitable and youth programs. Harpster hosts many tours and student classes at Evergreen Farms, hires Penn State graduates and offers summer internships for students looking for hands-on agricultural experience. He is a member of the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau, Pennsylvania State Grange, Holstein Association, and has served on boards of the Beef Council, FFA Foundation, Beef Quality Assurance Commission, Pennsylvania 21st Century Environmental Commission, Northeast Agricultural Education Foundation, and the Pennsylvania Workforce Investment Board. Harpster graduated from Penn State with a bachelor's degree in agricultural business.
Ira Lubert. Lubert was appointed to the Board of Trustees in January 2015 to fill the unexpired term of Trustee Karen Peetz, and has been re-elected to the board for an additional three-year term. He had previously served on the Board from 1997-2000 and 2007-2014. A 1973 Penn State graduate in food service and housing administration, he is chairman and co-founder of Independence Capital Partners and Lubert Adler Partners, LP. He previously has served on the Penn State Abington Advisory Board and on the steering committee for the seven-year Grand Destiny fundraising campaign.
William F. Oldsey. Oldsey's career spans 30 years in publishing as a senior executive with one of the largest education companies in the industry — Pearson and McGraw-Hill. Oldsey has years of valuable market experience in higher education, K-12 and adult learning. He successfully managed large businesses with thousands of employees and partnered with colleges, universities, school districts and departments of education across the U.S. and globally — always with a focus on improving teaching and learning outcomes for faculty and students. He has served on the corporate boards of the Association of American Publishers, Unigo Education and the McGraw-Hill Diversity and Inclusion Council. He has served on the Board of Trustees legal, finance and academic affairs and student life committees. Oldsey graduated from Penn State with a bachelor's degree in English, and was named an Alumni Fellow in 2009.
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.
The total distribution of the votes cast in the alumni election are listed below by the position of the candidates on the ballot.
Ballot position: Candidate – Vote total
1. Barbara L. Doran, '75, New York, NY — 16,720
2. Edward "Ted” B. Brown III, '68, State College, PA — 16,163
3. Daniel N. Cocco, '08, Hoboken, NJ — 10,521
4. CANDIDATE WITHDREW
5. William F. Oldsey, '76, Basking Ridge, NJ — 14,608
Write-In Votes — 1,723
Total Eligible Voters — 634,430
Total Ballots Cast — 23,147