Three new trustees were elected at Elon University, and a current trustee was elected as trustee emeritus during the board of trustee's spring meeting March 11-12. Details...
Jeanne Swanner Robertson, Burlington, and Mittie C. Landi, Mebane will begin four-year terms on the board June 1, 2003.
As a nationally known professional speaker and humorist, Robertson averages about 100 presentations to corporations and associations around the world each year. She stresses how a sense of humor can be an integral part of one’s strategy for success. Robertson has been recognized by her peers with every top honor and designation in her profession including the Certified Speaking Professional designation in 1980 and induction into the Speaker Hall of Fame in 1981. The North Carolina Press Association named Robertson its 2001 North Carolinian of the Year for “her popularity on the speaking circuit, her award-winning ways, and her representation of North Carolina.” A former Miss North Carolina and Miss Congeniality in the Miss America pageant, she served as president of the National Speakers Association in 1985. A 1967 graduate of Auburn University and native of Graham, N.C., Robertson has written three books on humor. Robertson and her husband Jerry are long-time supporters of Elon’s athletics programs and the Elon Athletics Foundation and recently made a major gift to fund construction of Dr. Alan and Norma White Field at the new Belk Track complex. The Robertsons’ son, Bailey “Beaver” Bowline, is a 1989 Elon graduate.
Landi, a 1996 Elon graduate, was first elected to the board last November to fill the remainder of an unexpired term. She previously served two terms on the Elon University Board of Visitors beginning in 1988. Landi is an active community and church volunteer and has served in many capacities at the Church of the Holy Comforter in Burlington. She served as president of the Episcopal Church Women for the Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina and was also president of the Alamance County Service League. She was president of the alumni association of St. Mary’s School in Raleigh and is also a board member of the Alamance County Historical Museum. She and her husband John created the Mittie C. Landi Endowed Scholarship for outstanding English majors in 1997. They also helped fund construction of Rhodes Stadium.
Elected to the board of trustees as a youth trustee was Katie M. Gosselin, an international studies and Spanish major from Cheshire, Conn. Gosselin has held several leadership positions in Elon student government, the North Carolina World Trade Association and Alpha Omicron Pi sorority. She has presented research at the National Conference on Undergraduate Research and studied abroad in Ecuador, Costa Rica and Uruguay. She is a member of Omicron Delta Kappa, the national leadership fraternity; Sigma Iota Rho, the national international studies fraternity; Pi Sigma Alpha, the national political science fraternity; and Order of Omega, a national Greek organization. Gosselin will graduate in May and begin her two-year term on the board June 1.
Trustee Edmund R. Gant, Burlington, N.C., was elected trustee emeritus. Gant, who retired as chairman of Glen Raven, Inc. in 1995, has been an Elon trustee since 1993. He served as chairman of the major gifts committee for the Campaign for the Elon Vision and has been a generous donor and active supporter of the University for many years.