Gov. John Kasich has appointed two new trustees to the Kent State University Board of Trustees. Kasich named Stephen A. Perry of Canton, Ohio, to a nine-year term as a trustee and Perry “PJ” Kimmel of Canfield, Ohio, to a two-year term as an undergraduate student trustee. Perry’s appointment ends May 16, 2023, while Kimmel’s appointment concludes May 16, 2016.
Perry is well known to the area as the recently retired president and executive director of the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, where he successfully led a $27 million capital campaign to remake the iconic museum. Perry came to the hall after serving the Timken Company for 37 years and serving the public as director of the Department of Administration Services under then-Governor of Ohio George Voinovich from 1991-1993 and as the administrator of the General Services Agency under President George W. Bush from 2001-2005.
He is a graduate of Canton’s Timken High School. Perry attended classes at Kent State University at Stark before earning a bachelor’s degree in accounting from the University of Akron. He also has a master’s in management from Stanford University. His long list of awards includes Kent State’s President’s Social Responsibility Award and Kent State’s Distinguished Alumni Award.
Perry replaces Jane Murphy Timken, whose term as a Kent State trustee recently expired.
Kimmel, a junior finance major and an honors student, has served as a Kent State Student Ambassador at events across the Kent Campus and has been honored for his academic success with a selection for the President’s List and to the Alpha Lambda Delta National Honors Society. Kimmel is currently completing an internship with Eaton Corporation via its multicultural summer program in Marshall, Michigan.
Kimmel’s service to others includes twice using his spring break time to volunteer with Habitat for Humanity in Western New York. He also has served as vice president of the Financial Management Association (FMA) and as vice president of Kent State’s Collegiate Distribution Education Clubs of America (DECA).
Kimmel replaces Alex Evans, whose term as a student trustee recently expired.
The Board of Trustees is the governing body of Kent State. By Ohio law, the Board is responsible for selecting and appointing the president; setting the operating budget; approving personnel appointments; granting all degrees awarded by the university, including honorary degrees; establishing tuition and fee rates; approving contracts; and approving all rules, regulations, curriculum changes, new programs and degrees of the university.
Kent State’s Board of Trustees consists of 12 members, nine of whom are voting members appointed by the governor of the state of Ohio, with the advice and consent of the state senate, to nine-year terms of office. Two student trustees, one undergraduate and one graduate, are appointed by the governor to two-year terms of office. Since 2011, the Board has appointed a national trustee, who serves a three-year term, as an additional non-voting member.
For more information about Kent State’s Board of Trustees, visit www.kent.edu/bot.
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Media Contacts:
Eric Mansfield, emansfie@kent.edu, 330-672-2797
Emily Vincent, evincen2@kent.edu, 330-672-8595