Diana Petrovich-Tao named as William Woods University trustees

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Diana Petrovich-Tao

FULTON, MO (11/02/2011)(readMedia)-- The William Woods University Board of Trustees has added six new members, all WWU alumni of the 60s, 70s and 80s. New members include officers of Hewlett-Packard and UPS.

"When I became president in 1990, there were four or five alumni on the board of trustees," Dr. Jahnae H. Barnett, WWU president, said. "While our board has always consisted of intelligent, strong leaders, it seemed that we were slighting our alumni by not asking more of them to be a part of the decision-making."

She added, "With the addition of six new board members this year, our alumni total on the board is now 16. We continue to value the expertise and knowledge of the 12 non-alumni, and we welcome the inclusion of our loyal alumni."

New trustees are:

Judith Horton Chapman '60, Houston, Texas, retired owner of Esther Wolf Women's Luxury Apparel. Active in her community, she is president of the Boniuk Center for the study and advancement of religious tolerance at Rice University, a member of the American Institute of Archaeology and president of English Union Brand.

Neal Clapper '80, Auburn, Calif., Enterprise Server and Storage vice president for Hewlett-Packard Company, where she has worked since she graduated from William Woods in 1980. Previously she was Enterprise Server and Storage vice president for Asia Pacific and Japan and before that for Europe, Middle East and Africa.

Diana Petrovich-Tao '81, Park City, Utah, former chief operating officer of Arby's Restaurant Group, a 3,700-unit sandwich chain. She previously was Burger King Corp.'s vice president for global training and development and earlier held leadership positions with Mrs. Fields Brands and Kinko's Inc.

Janet Loveland Rohman '72, Los Angeles, Calif., sales associate with Loveland-Carr Properties, part of Coldwell Banker. She owned an interior design business in Little Rock, Ark., before moving to Los Angeles. Her real estate career began in 1983, and she specializes in luxury homes.

Judy Kuergeleis Schmuck '72, Wildwood, Mo., former educator and current chapter advisor for the Delta Chi chapter of Alpha Chi Omega at WWU. She has held numerous leadership positions at the local, regional and national level of her sorority. She has just completed a two-year term as president of the WWU National Alumni Board.

Romaine Seguin '82, Miami, Fla., president of UPS Americas Region, responsible for all UPS package and cargo operations in Canada and more than 50 countries and territories across Latin America and the Caribbean. She started with UPS in St. Louis in 1983 and has worked in many management positions with UPS, both in the U.S. and Europe.

"It is especially rewarding for me to note that several of these successful women were students of mine when I taught business classes," Barnett said. "It makes me proud that they have achieved so much."