The Michigan State University Board of Trustees unanimously voted to re-elect Dianne Byrum to serve a second two-year term as chair and Dan Kelly to serve a second two-year term as vice chair, both terms ending Jan. 11, 2023. Byrum and Kelly have served as chair and vice chair since Jan. 9, 2019.
Responsibilities of the board chair include representing the board in statements and at events, overseeing committee assignments, establishing meeting agendas and assisting with the facilitation of meetings.
Trustees also welcomed two new members of the board.
O’Keefe was elected for an eight-year term that began Jan. 1, 2021.O’Keefe is the founding partner of the strategic and financial advisory firm O’Keefe & Associates Consulting, now known as O’Keefe, with offices in Bloomfield Hills, Grand Rapids and Phoenix. He graduated cum laude from MSU with a degree in accounting and has an MBA from Wayne State University with a concentration in finance.
Vassar was elected for an eight-year term that began Jan. 1, 2021.Vassar earned her doctorate from UCLA in 2009 and currently serves as an associate professor in the College of Education at Eastern Michigan University. She is also the Morris Endowed Chair leading The Leadership Talent Development Project in the Detroit Public Schools Community District.
“I want to congratulate and give a warm Spartan welcome to our newest trustees, Rema Vassar and Pat O’Keefe.I look forward to working with them and furthering MSU’s important work in creating a more respectful and welcoming campus, enhancing student success and furthering our land-grant mission,” said MSU President Samuel L. Stanley Jr., M.D. “I also congratulate Trustee Byrum on her reelection as board chair and appreciate her continuing leadership and unwavering commitment to our great institution.”
The next board meeting is scheduled for Feb. 12 at 8 a.m.