Trustees of Elon University installed new board members and elected officers during their spring meeting, held March 31-April 1 on campus. The new members include Howard F. Arner, a 1963 Elon alumnus from Jacksonville, Fla., and Deborah A. Yow-Bowden, a 1974 Elon alumna from College Park, Md. Shelby Peterson, who will graduate from Elon in May, was elected youth trustee.
The board also granted trustee emeritus status to Sherrill G. Hall, a 1955 Elon alumnus from Greensboro, N.C. Hall has served on the board of trustees since 1971.
Arner retired in 2001 after serving as president and chief operating officer of Fiserv Insurance Solutions Group, where he managed technology for insurance products and services, consulting, education, implementation and outsourcing. He previously served as chief executive officer of Network Data Processing Corp., and as senior vice president of Continuum Co., in Austin, Texas. Arner also held positions with American General from 1984 to 1988 and with Financial Computer Services from 1975 to 1984. Arner and his wife, Beverly, a member of the Class of 1966, have served on Elon’s Board of Visitors since 2002.
Yow-Bowden has served as director of athletics at the University of Maryland, College Park since 1994. During her tenure, Maryland teams have won 11 national championships. Yow-Bowden has served as president of the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics and has served on the NCAA Management Council and the NCAA Division I budget committee. She was honored in 2004 by Street and Smith’s Sports Business Journal as one of the 20 most influential people in intercollegiate athletics. Previously, Yow-Bowden served as athletics director at St. Louis University and held administrative posts at the University of Florida and the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. She received Elon’s Young Alumnus of the Year Award in 1985 and gave the address at Elon’s 2003 commencement.
Peterson will graduate in May with degrees in economics, public administration and political science. An honors student, Peterson served as vice president of her freshman class, president of her sophomore class and vice president of the Student Government Association in her junior year. She has been involved in numerous campus organizations, participated in two international study abroad courses and interned with the International Trade Administration in Washington, D.C.
Elected as chair of the board was James B. Powell, M.D., of Burlington, N.C. William N.P. Herbert, M.D., a 1968 alumnus from Charlottesville, Va., was elected vice chair, and Barbara D. Bass, a 1961 Elon alumna from Richmond, Va., was elected secretary.