Barbara Bass '61, James Maynard elected Elon life trustees

The board awards life trustee status to selected members who have provided many years of extraordinary leadership and service, impacting the development of the university in significant ways. Life trustees continue to serve on the board in an advisory capacity, attending meetings and providing their wise counsel. Bass and Maynard are only the fifth and sixth members elected as life trustees. Previous life trustees include Wallace Chandler ’49, Dr. James Powell, Warren “Dusty” Rhodes and the late Robert LaRose ’66.

Bass, of South Boston, Va., is a 1961 Elon graduate who has served as a board member since 1985. She has served as secretary of the board, was vice chair of the Campaign for the Elon Vision and served on the Phi Beta Kappa committee. She and her husband Walter, a 1962 Elon alumnus, have been generous supporters of the university for many years. They established the Walter H. and Barbara D. Bass Scholarship Fund for students with financial need and high academic achievement. They have also provided support for School of Law scholarships, the Elon Academy and Phoenix athletics. Barbara and Walter Bass are members of Elon’s President’s Circle and the Order of the Oak.

Barbara Bass taught math and computer science for 40 years in Richmond, Va., and was honored with a National Presidential Award for Excellence in Science and Math Teaching. She received Elon’s Distinguished Alumnus of the Year award in 1986.

Maynard, a Burlington, N.C., business leader, joined the board of trustees in 1985. He and his wife Joie have been generous supporters of Elon, establishing scholarship endowments for the North Carolina Teaching Fellows program and the Business Fellows program. They also supported other campus projects, including the construction of Rhodes Stadium and the Ernest A. Koury Sr. Business Center. Upon the death of Jim’s parents, Reid and Grace Maynard, he and his siblings donated their family home, Maynard House, to the university to serve as the residence of Elon’s president. Jim Maynard was awarded Elon’s Frank S. Holt Business Leadership Award in recognition of his long career as president of Tower Mills, Inc., the family hosiery manufacturing business. Jim Maynard has served as president of the Alamance Chamber of Commerce, United Way of Alamance County and the Alamance Country Club.

Mac Mahon, of Basking Ridge, N.J., joined the board of trustees in 2006. He established the Mac Mahon Family Scholarship Fund to provide need-based scholarships for local students, and also made a generous gift to support construction of the Inman Admissions Welcome Center. Mac Mahon served many years as chief executive officer of Laboratory Corporation of America (LabCorp) and also served as executive-in-residence for Elon’s Martha and Spencer Love School of Business.

At their spring meeting held on campus Feb. 28-March 1, Elon trustees also elected board officers for the 2014-15 term, beginning June 1. Chair of the board will be Dr. William N. P. Herbert ’68, with Kerrii B. Anderson ’79 serving as vice chair and Wesley R. Elingburg serving as past chair. Eight trustees were reappointed to four-year terms on the board. They are Noel Allen ’69, Shelly Hazel ’78, Burney Jennings ’87, Jack Lindley ’56, Frank Lyon ’71, Dave Porter, Richard Thompson ’64 and Debbie Yow Bowden ’74.