Foundation board elects new chair and directors

Posted December 11, 2003

IOWA CITY -- At its October 2003 meeting, the University of Iowa Foundation Board of Directors elected Charles M. Kierscht (1962 B.A., 1962 J.D.) of Hinsdale, Ill., to a three-year term as chair, succeeding Carroll J. Reasoner (1973 B.A., 1976 J.D.) of Cedar Rapids, who had served as chair since 2000.

The board also elected two new directors, re-elected five directors and elected officers and executive committee members.

Following his graduation from the UI College of Law, Kierscht worked in private practice and served for three years in the U.S. Navy. He joined Chicago-based Kemper Financial Services as an attorney in 1966 and retired from the company in 1995 as chairman, president and CEO.

Kierscht has been a member of the UI Foundation Board of Directors since 1987 and also serves on the Iowa Law School Foundation board. He chaired the recently completed Iowa Law School Endowment Campaign for the 21st Century, which exceeded its $25 million goal by nearly $8 million. Kierscht is a member of the UI Presidents Club and the UI's National Campaign Steering Committee.

The new directors elected to three-year terms on the UI Foundation board are Curtis K. Lane of Omaha, Neb., and Elisabeth Foxley Leach of Iowa City.

Lane earned a B.B.A. degree in insurance and finance in 1973 from the UI's Henry B. Tippie College of Business. He is co-founder and portfolio manager for Concordant Partners, LLC, an investment services firm in Omaha.

Lane is a member of the UI Presidents Club, the Department of Finance Advisory Council, and a Golden Hawk member of the I-Club. He and his wife, Carol Brindley Lane, recently established the Curt and Carol Lane Faculty Fellowship Fund in the Tippie College of Business.

Leach earned an M.A. degree in art from the UI in 1972. An active volunteer for the UI and for arts organizations in eastern Iowa and Washington, D.C., she has served on the Advisory Committee of the UI Museum of Art and the campaign committee for the Iowa Women's Archives at the UI Libraries, as well as on the boards of Riverside Theatre in Iowa City, the Cedar Rapids Museum of Art and the Cedar Rapids Symphony.

She and her husband, the Honorable Jim Leach, are members of the UI Presidents Club.

The board of directors also re-elected five incumbent members to serve additional three-year terms:

• Sue Cannon (1969 B.B.A.) of Marana, Ariz.;
• Ralph H. Congdon (1961 B.A., 1965 M.D.) of Davenport;
• Leonard A. Hadley (1958 B.S.C.) of Cedar Rapids;
• Mary Louise Petersen (1951 B.A.) of Harlan, Iowa; and
• Carroll J. Reasoner.

During the foundation board meeting the following were recognized for exceptional service to the organization:

• Outgoing board chair Carroll Reasoner;
• Richard S. Levitt (1952 B.A., 1954 J.D.) of Minneapolis, who has served on the foundation board since 1976 and was named a lifetime honorary director;
• William V. Phelan of Iowa City, who has served as the foundation's legal counsel for more than 40 years; and
• UI Foundation Senior Vice President Alan Swanson (1966 B.A., 1969 M.A.), who is stepping down to pursue outside vocational and avocational interests following 30 years on the foundation staff.

Serving on the foundation's Executive Committee for 2003-2004 are:

• James C. Hanson (1958 B.S.C.) of Moline;
• Charles M. Kierscht;
• Gary F. Seamans (1971 B.S.E.E.) of Galena, Ill.;
• Marvin A. Pomerantz (1952 B.S.C.) of Des Moines;
• Carroll J. Reasoner;
• Robert W. Verhille (1955 B.S.C.) of Solon, Iowa; and
• Catherine Zaharis (1982 B.B.A.) of Des Moines.

The UI Foundation is acknowledged by the UI as a preferred channel for private contributions that benefit all areas of the university. For more information about the Good. Better. Best. Iowa campaign, visit its web site at www.uiowafoundation.org.

Contact Information

Susan Shullaw
Vice President, Communications & Campaign Support
(319) 335-3305 or (800) 648-6973

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