New officers, members for CSB Board of Trustees

Barbara Schmid Brandes, CEO of Lumber One Avon Inc., in Avon, Minn., was appointed as the new chair of the College of Saint Benedict Board of Trustees, effective July 1. Brandes has served on the CSB board since 2014, most recently as vice chair and as chair of the Building and Grounds Committee.

Dan Scott, a partner at Stinson LLP in Minneapolis, became the CSB Board’s vice chair. Scott has served on the board since 2013, most recently as board secretary and chair of the Trusteeship Committee.

Jona Turner Van Deun, CSB class of 1992, vice president for small business engagement at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, is the new CSB Board secretary. She has been a member of the board since 2016.

Three new trustees and an ex-officio member were also appointed:

Lynn Marie Skaja Myhran, CSB class of 1989, is a retired senior vice president of human capital for Optum, one of the fastest-growing divisions of UnitedHealth Group. She currently serves Saint Ben’s as a reunion ambassador and is a past class reunion volunteer.

Joseph M. Nemmers, Jr. is an executive with more than 35 years of experience in the medical device and pharmaceutical industries. Since June 2017, he has served as an advisor to Pirouette Medical, LLC.

LeAnne Marie Mathews Stewart, CSB class of 1987, is chief financial officer at Axia Women’s Health. Stewart is a current member of Saint Ben’s Illuminating Lives Campaign Steering Committee and previously served as a CSB trustee from 2005 to 2014.

Maria Stanek Burnham, CSB class of 2001, joins the board in an ex-officio capacity as the president-elect of the CSB Alumnae Association. She is a language arts teacher at Sauk Rapids-Rice High School.

The CSB board consists of 30 members, plus three voting ex-officio members. With the exception of the ex-officio members, CSB Trustees serve three-year terms and are eligible to serve three consecutive terms for a total of nine years of successive service.

The CSB Board of Trustees is the governing body for the college, and determines the college’s mission and purposes, appoints the president and assesses her performance, approves the annual budget and establishes policy guidelines affecting institutional assets, and approves earned and honorary degrees.