Pacific University Welcomes New Members to Its Board of Trustees
The Pacific University Board of Trustees recently welcomed three new members to serve on the university's chief governing body.
Alumnus Jim Fitzgerald '68, a retired executive at Dell Computer and resident of Georgetown, Texas, began a four-year term on Pacific's Board of Trustees on July 1.
Also joining the board were Pacific economics professor Jamie Haag, and United States Navy Lt. Adam Preston MEd '10, OD '11, an alumnus and current student. Haag began three-year term, and Preston a two-year term, on July 1 as the university's faculty and graduate student representatives, respectively.
Fitzgerald earned his bachelor's degree in business and economics at Pacific before earning a master's degree in law and taxation from New York University School of Law, and a juris doctorate from Loyola School of Law. He retired from Dell Computer Inc. in 2011 as vice president of global tax and administration. He and his wife, Susan (White) Fitzgerald ’69 are long-time supporters of Pacific. In addition to his recent appointment to the Pacific Board of Trustees, Jim Fitzgerald also serves on the College of Business' Executive Council.
Haag, a member of Pacific's faculty since 2000, is the chair of the College of Arts & Sciences faculty, as well as the university's Economics Department, and is a member of the College of Arts & Sciences Dean's Council. He specializes in applied macroeconomics, regional economics and the economics of higher education, and possesses both a master's degree and PhD in economics from the University of Oregon. Haag succeeds Pacific physics professor James Butler as the undergraduate faculty member on the Board of Trustees.
Preston, already a Pacific alumnus with a doctor of optometry degree (2011) and a master's degree in visual function and learning (2010), is currently pursuing a doctoral degree in vision science and a master's degree in healthcare administration from the university. He is an active 16-year Navy veteran, having served in a variety of capacities, including head of the Optometry Department at the U.S. Naval Health Clinic in Quantico, Va. Dr. Preston is currently licensed in Oregon and Florida, is a Fellow of the American Academy of Optometry, member of the Armed Forces Optometric Society and a two-time recipient of the Navy Commendation Medal. Preston succeeds clinical psychology student Katie Ohene PsyD '18 as the university's graduate student member.
In addition to electing the new trustees at its most recent meeting, the Pacific Board of Trustees also bestowed trustee emeritus status on outgoing members Kim Ledbetter of The Standard (ret.) and Brian Doherty of Miller Nash Graham and & Dunn LLP, as well as longtime former trustee Dan Dutton of Stimson Lumber Company (ret.).
Pacific's Board of Trustees is the ultimate body within the university's governance structure.