Tusculum College Board Elects New Members

Dr. Ken Bowman	Dr. Edward Kormondy

Two new trustees were elected and ten trustees were re-elected to the Tusculum College Board of Trustees at the recent fall meeting of the board. With the elections, the board numbers 40 members. The two new trustees are both alumni: Kenneth A. Bowman, class of 1971 and Edward J. Kormondy, class of 1950, who was awarded an honorary doctorate by the college in 1997.

Dr. Bowman is a technical specialist with Alcoa in Alcoa Center, Pennsylvania. After graduating from Tusculum College with a BS in Chemistry in 1970, Bowman received his PhD in Chemistry at the University of Tennessee in 1977. He has been with Alcoa Laboratories for 22 years. His work at Alcoa has yielded Bowman 13 US patents, including patents for coatings that allow aluminum cans to be recycled.

Bowman has strong family ties to Tusculum College. His father, the late Ray Bowman, class of 1942, was active in the alumni association. His brother, Glenn, Tusculum class of '72 and sister Bonita, class of '75, also attended the College.

Bowman is an Elder in the Apollo United Presbyterian Church. He has been active in a number of civic causes, including drug and alcohol rehabilitation, the school district Board of Directors and the Lions Club. Bowman is a past president of the Pittsburgh Section of the Electrochemical Society and Sigma XI Scientific Research Society. His wife, Jo Ellen, is a social worker and holds degrees from Indiana University of Pennsylvania and the University of Pittsburgh.

Dr. Kormondy is a retired college administrator who had a distinguished career in higher education. Kormondy, who lives in Los Angeles, served previously as a trustee of Tusculum College from 1970-1972. He holds the master’s and PhD degrees from the University of Michigan.

Kormondy has served at the University of Michigan, Oberlin College, the University of Pittsburgh, Evergreen State College, the University of Southern Maine and California State University-Los Angeles. He was chancellor and professor of biology at the University of Hawaii-Hilo and the University of Hawaii-West Oahu. After retirement, he served as interim president of the University of West Los Angeles School of Law. He has written a number of textbooks in his field of biology.

"Ken and Ed are already key friends of the college," noted James F. Durham, Tusculum College class of 1979 and chair of the board's Trusteeship Committee. “Ken is a highly respected scientist and business leader in and area where the college has historic ties, and Ed is the college's key contact person on the west coast. Both have been generous with their time and influence as well as their resources," noted Durham.

“These new board members are distinguished men who have widespread respect both in their professions and in their personal lives,” added Stan Welty, Jr., chairman of the board. “We are privileged to welcome them to an already strong board.”

Ten trustees were re-elected for a three-year term, including Elizabeth T. Austin of Nashville, Tennessee; D. Larry Brotherton ’70, Chairman, President and CEO of Ortec, Inc. in Easley, South Carolina; Terry Emory Buntrock of Williamsburg, Virginia; Wayne Eichele ’73 of Asbury, New Jersey; James Emory, President of JAE Foods of Greeneville; Sharon L. Folk, Chairwoman and President of National Business Forms of Greeneville; Daniel N. Sansbury, Senior Pastor of Rivermont Presbyterian Church in Chattanooga, Tennessee; Joseph S. Schwartz ’59, Retired President of Guaranteed Brake Parts, Inc. of Cherry Hill, New Jersey; Angus R. Shaw III, Pastor Emeritus of First Presbyterian Church of Johnson City, Tennessee; and Joseph J. Vogt ’53, President, Vogt & Associates of Lenoir City, Tennessee.

Officers re-elected for the 1999 year were Chairman Stanley R. Welty, Jr., class of 1951 and retired president of the Wooster Brush Company of Wooster Ohio; Vice Chairman Harrison Lamons, retires president of LMR Plastics Corporation of Greeneville; Secretary Joseph J. Vogt, class of 1953; and Treasurer James A. Emory.

Other action items for the fall meeting of the board included approving the 1998-99 budget and plans for a revision of the campus master architectural plan.

The 1998-99 budget approved by the board represented a 10 percent increase in expenditures, from $14.6 million to $16.1 million. The increase reflected progress in the Tusculum College 2000 Campaign as well as increased enrollment in the Residential College. Tusculum enrolled more new residential students in the 1998-99 academic year than in the past twenty-one years. Professional Studies enrollment also remains high, adding to the total enrollment at the college of 1,543, an all-time high.

Scott M. Niswonger, class of 1987 and general chairman of the Tusculum College 2000 Campaign, reported that commitments to the $20 million capital campaign now exceed $17 million.

Board members also reviewed a contract with the service company Lawler Wood of Knoxville to provide maintenance and custodial services for the college. Mark Stokes, vice president for college relations at the college, who will supervise the Lawler Wood contract, told the board, “This company will bring us equipment and expertise that will help our maintenance staff do a better job of taking care of this historic campus. The company has agreed to hire our existing staff with benefits equal to or better than their current level of benefits.”