Board of Trustees Election

Four new members elected, board chair re-elected
Lisa Lacher

Jeanne Myerson, Sheryl Walters, Odile Disch-Bhadkamkar, Julie Gosselink, Patricia Jipp-Finkelman, Peter CalvertThe College Board of Trustees recently elected four new members: Jeanne Myerson ’75, Sheryl Walter ’78, Odile Disch-Bhadkamkar, and Julie Gosselink

Myerson is a real estate industry leader with three decades of experience in commercial real estate investment. Most recently she served as CEO of the Americas region of the Urban Land Institute, an interdisciplinary research and education institute dedicated to leadership in land use and creating thriving communities worldwide. She founded The Belgrave Group, an independent consulting firm, in 2015. 

Walter has worked in all three branches of the federal government for more than 25 years. She is general counsel of the administrative office of the U.S. Courts, the first woman to hold this position. During her time on Capitol Hill, she worked for then-Sen. Joe Biden Jr. and the late Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan.  

Disch-Bhadkamkar recently retired from Stanford University after 23 years in finance administration. Before joining Stanford she was a vice president at JP Morgan Chase & Co. in the corporate finance division. She and Neal Bhadkamkar are parents of Ishan Bhadkamkar ’13.

Gosselink is president, CEO, and chair of the Claude W. and Dolly Ahrens Foundation, which was established by her grandfather. She has worked for the Ahrens Foundation since 2001 and has served as a director for several other Grinnell organizations, including the Galaxy Youth Center, Grinnell Chamber of Commerce, Grinnell Regional Medical Center Foundation, Iowa Council of Foundations, and Mayflower Community Foundation. 

Peter Calvert ’79, who was elected Alumni Council president for 2017–18, will serve as an ex-officio trustee. He works as executive director of Ethical Metalsmiths, an organization that leads jewelers and consumers in becoming informed activists for responsible mining, sustainable economic development, and verified, ethical sources of materials used in making jewelry. 

The board re-elected Patricia Jipp Finkelman ’80 to a second term as board chair. She has been a member of the board since 1998 and a life trustee since 2014. The board also re-elected Barrett Thomas ’97 and Matthew Welch ’96 to new terms.

Trustees Anne Campbell Spence ’66 and Clinton Korver ’89 recently retired from the board. They both joined in 2001 and completed four terms each. Korver also served as board chair from 2011–15.

See trustees’ full biographical profiles

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