Summary of the Board of Trustees’ Annual Meeting 2018

The Board of Trustees met last Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, April 26-28, on campus. The following is a brief summary of the meeting.

1. Board members dined with faculty members in the Humanities Division on Thursday evening;
2. Board members attended a session organized by the Student Government Association, on Thursday evening in the Spencer Grill;
3. Several Trustees participated in a tour of the Grant O. Gale Observatory following the student session on Thursday evening;
4. The Board heard and discussed a presentation of the FY19 operating budget by Assistant Treasurer Nancy Combs and approved the proposed budget;   
5. Trustees heard a report from Dean Michael Latham and College Librarian Mark Christel on the libraries of the future;
6.  The Trustees approved the list of candidates for the Bachelor of Arts degrees in May 2018, contingent on the successful completion of degree requirements;
7. The Board approved the honorary degree recipients selected for Commencement 2018: Celina Biniaz ’52, James R. Holbrook ’66, Chase Strangio ’04, and Tracey Menten;
8. The Board approved the award of tenure and promotion to: Michael Guenther, History, Peter Hanson, Political Science; Cora Ann Jakubiak, Education; Eliza Kempton, Physics; Carolyn Herbst Lewis, History; Danielle Lussier, Political Science; Tony Perman, Music; Hai-Dang Phan, English; and Joshua Sandquist, Biology;
9. Board members thanked those for whom this meeting marked the end of service in their current roles: Andrea Conner for her service as associate vice president of Student Affairs; Daniel Reynolds, German, and Elaine Marzluff, chemistry, for their service as faculty appointees to the Board’s Finance and ad hoc Academic Affairs Committees, respectively; Henry Rietz for his service as Faculty Chair; and Peter Calvert ’79, for his service as Alumni Council President and Board member ex officio this year;
10. The Board members were introduced to the three SGA officers-elect: President-elect Myles Becker ’19, Vice President-elect for Student Affairs Khadijah Toumbou ’19, and Vice-President-elect for Academic Affairs Riley Murphy ’19. The current officers, President Summer White ’18, Misha Gelnarova,’18, Vice President for Academic Affairs, and Vice President for Student Affairs Kahlil Epps ’18, reported on their plans following graduation and the Board thanked them for their service this year;  
11. The Board elected five new members, G. Barry Huff ’73, Minneapolis, MN; Kimberly Kuncl ’87, Atlanta, GA; Saumil Parikh ’99, Newport Beach, CA; Stephen Moyer ’79 Los Angeles, CA; and Angela Onwuachi-Willig’94, Grinnell, IA and Berkeley, CA. 
12. The Board reelected six eligible trustees to another term: Trish Fitzgibbons Anderson ’80; David Braman ’75; Sylvia Kwan; Tobi Klein Marcus ’87; George E. Moose ’66; and Connie Wimer; and recognized and thanked trustees Laura Ferguson ’90 and Steve Holtze ’68, who retired from the Board;
13. The Board attended a reception and dinner at Hotel Grinnell on Friday evening to celebrate the service and contributions of Life Trustees, Robert F. Austin, Jr. ’54, Elizabeth Ballantine, J. Robert “Bob” Barr ’57, Richard W. Booth ’54; Nordahl Brue ’67, Carolyn “Kay” Bucksbaum ’51, John F. Egan ’57, Patricia Jipp Finkelman ’80, Ronald T. Gault ’62, Kihwan Kim ’57; Todd C. Linden, Caroline H. Little ’81, James Lowry ’61, Randall C. Morgan, Jr. ’65, Robert C. Musser ’62, Gregg R. Narber ’68, Patricia Papper ’50, John Roy Price, Jr. ’60, Penny Bender Sebring ’64, Donald M. Stewart ’59, David White ’90, and Henry T. Wingate ’69;
14. The Board discussed and approved the recommendations from the Fossil Fuels and Climate Impact Task Force, which are found on the task force website; and
15. The Board discussed and approved the recommendations from the Investment Governance Task Force.

Patricia Finkelman ’80, Chair, Board of Trustees

Raynard S. Kington, President