Augustana’s Board of Trustees names six new members

Augustana College announces the election of six members of the college’s Board of Trustees. The new trustees were elected Oct. 6 during the college’s fall trustee meeting and will serve a term of four years.

President Andrea Talentino said she is grateful to these leaders for stepping up to serve the mission and values of Augustana College. 

“Trustees ensure Augustana continues to educate students who are ready to make meaningful change in the world,” she said. “Engaged trustees help shape the experience of Augustana students and boldly lead us into the future.”

Elected trustees include: 

• Leslee S. Hager ’93 is vice president and comptroller at John Deere. She holds leadership roles with the National Association of Black Accountants for the Deere organization, the Augustana College Accounting Advisory Board, Upward Bound and Deere & Company partnership, and the iJAG Program for Rock Island High School.
• Darrell Owens ’90 is senior vice president and CEO of the Lifestyle Platform at Synchrony, one of the nation’s premier consumer financial services companies. In 2002, with his wife Deidre, Owens launched a diversity scholarship to help close the education gap by providing greater opportunities for students of color at Augustana College.
• Brigit E. Ray ’07, M.D., M.M.E. is a clinical associate professor of family medicine at The University of Iowa Roy J.  and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine and University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. She serves on the The University of Iowa Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine’s Medical Education Council, the Graduate Medical Education Council, and chairs the Clinical Teaching Collaborative.
• Daryl Roser ’91 is a managing director at Accenture, currently serving as the chief financial officer for the U.S. Midwest Market Unit. He is a member of Accenture’s Global and North America Leadership councils.
• Matthew Stoodley ’97 is a data security and privacy global black belt for Microsoft, where he works with Microsoft’s Federal enterprises to learn about, adopt and deploy Microsoft’s Purview Compliance offerings. 
• The Rev. Lamont Anthony Wells is the executive director of the Network of Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Colleges and Universities, a network of 27 colleges and universities of the ELCA. Wells also serves as strategic advisor for diversity, equity and inclusion for Wartburg Theological Seminary, and is currently the national president of the African Descent Lutheran Association.  

Trustees Owens, Dr. Ray, Roser and Stoodley previously served on Augustana’s President’s Advisory Council. The council provides President Talentino with thoughts and advice from alumni in leadership positions on topics ranging from engaging stakeholders, planning for the future of the college, and ensuring Augustana’s sustainability while effectively fulfilling the college’s mission.