Posted December 21, 1999

IOWA CITY -- Five men and women from four states have been elected to serve on the University of Iowa Foundation Board of Directors. At its October meeting, the Foundation's Board of Directors elected Ross D. Christensen of Waterloo, Iowa; Dan C. Roberts of Chatham, N.J.; Mary Joy Stead of Scottsdale, Ariz.; Henry B. Tippie of Austin, Texas; and Catherine Zaharis of Urbandale, Iowa; as new directors serving three-year terms. The board also re-elected six directors and elected officers and executive committee members.

Christensen received a D.D.S. degree (1964) and M.S. degree (1966) from the UI College of Dentistry. Currently in private orthodontic practice with his son, Greg (also a UI graduate), in Waterloo, Christensen is co-developer and owner of Heartland Inns and Heartland Midwest management. In 1996 he was chosen UI Dental Alumnus of the Year. He recently served as co-chair of the College of Dentistry Facilities Campaign.

Roberts received his B.B.A. degree in finance (1976) and his Ph.D. in business administration (1983) from the UI. Between degrees, he served as a financial economist to the Securities and Exchange Commission and the President's Council of Economic Advisors at The White House. At age 28 he was the youngest person to be appointed executive director (chief of staff) of the Joint Economic Committee of the U.S. Congress. Roberts is managing director and head of fixed income at Forstmann-Leff International in New York City. He has served on the Henry B. Tippie College of Business Finance Advisory Council and the UI Foundation Investment Committee.

Stead, a native of Maquoketa, Iowa, attended the University of Iowa in the early 1960s and went on to earn an assistant of science degree from the Medical Institute of Minnesota. Her husband, Jerre L. Stead, who is a 1965 UI business graduate and chairman and CEO of Ingram Micro Inc., just completed a term on the UI Foundation Board of Directors.

Tippie, a 1949 UI accounting graduate, is currently chairman of the executive committee and vice chairman of the board for Rollins Truck Leasing Corporation; chairman, president and CEO of Tippie Services, Inc.; chairman of Fisher & Wieser Specialty Foods, Inc.; vice chairman of Dover Downs Entertainment, Inc. and a director of Matlack Systems, Inc.; RPC, Inc.; Safety-Kleen Corporation and Rollins, Inc. He also owns a working cattle ranch in Texas. In 1999 Tippie made a commitment of $30 million to support the UI business school, which was renamed the Henry B. Tippie College of Business in his honor.

Zaharis earned a B.B.A. degree in finance from the UI in 1982 and an M.B.A. from Drake University. Now a vice president at Invista Capital Management, Inc., Zaharis heads the Value Research Team and is lead portfolio manager of funds, with assets of more than $2 billion. She has served on the foundation's Investment Committee since 1998.

The UI Foundation Board of Directors now has 25 elected members, as well as ex officio member UI President Mary Sue Coleman. David Fisher, UI College of Law graduate and CEO and chair of Onthank Co. of Des Moines, will continue to serve as chair of the board.

Carroll J. Reasoner, a Cedar Rapids attorney and Iowa Law School alumna, will continue to serve as co-vice chair with Robert W. Verhille, UI business graduate and owner/president of Verhille and Associates Insurance in Cedar Rapids. Other UI Foundation officers reelected for 1999-2000 were: Michael J. New, president; Alan L. Swanson, senior vice president for development services and board secretary; and Stephen Sanders, vice president for development. New, Swanson and Sanders live in Iowa City.

The board of directors also reelected five incumbent members to serve additional three-year terms: Charles M. Kierscht, Hinsdale, Ill., Jill N. McLaughlin, Moline, Ill. ; Lloyd J. Palmer, Burr Ridge, Ill., Gary F. Seamans, St. Charles, Ill., and Clifford V. Smith, Jr., Corvallis, Ore.

Incorporated in 1956, the UI Foundation is the preferred channel of private support to all areas of the University of Iowa and assists a range of UI programs through its fund-raising activities.

Contact Information

Alan Swanson
Senior Vice President for Development Services
(319) 335-3305 or (800) 648-6973