Leadership Bios

Governor James Blanchard  
BA, 1964, College of Social Science, Social Science 
Partner, Co-Chair, Govt Affairs Practice Group, DLA Piper, LLP (Retired)    

Janet Blanchard  
Founding Member Board of Trustees, Meridian    

Home city and state: Beverly Hills, MI  

Jim is a politician and former diplomat who has served in the United States House of Representatives, as the 45th Governor of Michigan, and as United States Ambassador to Canada. Janet spent over 20 years in public service in Michigan, Washington, D.C., and Canada. In Michigan, she worked in various management and administrative positions for the Departments of Education, Commerce, Civil Service, Labor, Management and Budget, and the executive office of the Governor.

BA, 1994, Eli Broad College of Business, Marketing
MA, 2000, College of Communication Arts and Sciences, Advertising 
President and Chief Executive Officer, MSU Federal Credit Union

Home city and state: Bath, MI  

April is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Michigan State University Federal Credit Union (MSUFCU). She has served in this role since 2015. April serves on the College of Music’s National Leadership Council, Wharton Center Advisory Board and Broad Art Museum Board of Advisors. In 2021, she received MSU's Distinguished Alumni Award.

Jay Craig
BA, 1982, Eli Broad College of Business, Accounting
President & CEO, Meritor, Inc. (Retired)

Jill Craig
BA, 1983, College of Social Science, Psychology

Home city and state: Grosse Ile, MI  

Jay served as Chief Executive Officer at Meritor, Inc. where he guided the development of a multitude of electrification products. Prior to serving as Meritor’s CEO, Jay held other executive positions with the company, including Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, and President and Chief Operations Officer. Before his career at Meritor, Jay was President and Chief Executive Officer of General Motors Acceptance Corporation (‘GMAC’) Commercial Finance and President and Chief Executive Officer of GMAC’s Business Credit division. Jay serves on the board of directors at Hyliion Holdings Corp and was formerly on the board at Heavy Duty Manufacturers Association. Both Jay and Jill began their careers at Deloitte & Touche. Jill previously served as a Board Member for the Grosse Ile Educational Foundation.

John Duffey  
BA, 1982, Eli Broad College of Business, Accounting 
President and CEO, Six Flags Entertainment (Retired)

Rebecca Duffey  
BS, 1982, College of Human Medicine and Honors College, Medical Technology 
  
Home city and state: Pellston, MI  

John is a Managing Partner at Lionfish Capital, LLC. He previously served as president and CEO of Six Flags Entertainment. Becky previously worked as a medical technologist at Henry Ford Hospital. John and Becky served on the previous campaign board for the Broad College of Business as well as the Athletic Director’s Campaign Leadership Council.

Charles Frasier 
BS, 1970, College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Packaging 
President, Dixie Investments Incorporated    

Jacqueline Frasier  
  
Home city and state: Fort Lauderdale, FL  

Chuck began his career as a packaging engineer at General Electric International in Manhattan, NY before moving into sales. In 1981, he established Dixie Box and Crating in Charleston, SC, a company he owned and operated until 2005. In 2010, he co-founded American Packing and Crating, a full-service export packing, shipping and project consolidation company based in Norfolk, VA. Chuck and Jackie travel extensively throughout the year. In addition to MSU, they have long been involved in community initiatives, including Boys and Girls Club, Salvation Army and local food banks, reflecting their belief in investing in underserved communities.

Chad Munger
BA, 1988, College of Arts and Letters, English 
Founder & President, Mammoth Distilling

Tracy Hickman
BA, 1988, College of Human Ecology, Interior Design
Founder & Co-Owner, Mammoth Distilling

Home city and state: Bellaire, MI

Chad Munger is the Founder and CEO of Mammoth Distilling, LLC, located in Antrim County, MI. Tracy Hickman was the principal of Hickman Design Associates based in Chicago, IL. She has since retired from interior design and is co-owner of Mammoth.
 

Alan Ross  
BS, 1977, College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Building Construction 
President, Gallagher Fire Equipment Co.    

Rebecca Ross  
Executive Vice President, Gallagher Fire Equipment Co.    

Home city and state: Bloomfield Hills, MI  

Alan and Rebecca are serial entrepreneurs, and their largest business is the Livonia-based Gallagher Fire Equipment, which they rejuvenated into what is now a well-known fire protection service company headquartered in Metropolitan Detroit. They also formed MSUCribs, a management company with a portfolio of student housing in East Lansing.

Joan Secchia
BA, 1964, College of Education, Elementary Education
SIBSCO, LLC

Home city and state: Grand Rapids, MI  

Joan Secchia taught in Rockford and East Grand Rapids Public Schools. She has been active in a variety of civic and community organizations, including the Junior League, Kent County Red Cross, Opera Grand Rapids, the Children's Assessment Center, the Student Advancement Foundation, the Women's Resource Center, Aquinas College and Grand Valley State University. During her late husband Peter's ambassadorship to Rome, Joan was a board member of the USO and the Fulbright Commission. She was Kent County co-chair for former Governor Milliken as well as a precinct delegate.

Michael Serling  
BA, 1966, College of Arts and Letters, History
JD, 1970, MSU College of Law 
Founder, Serling & Abramson, P.C.    

Elaine Serling  
Owner, Fun Fitness with Elaine   

Home city and state: Orchard Lake, MI  

Michael B. Serling is the founder of the law firm Serling & Abramson, P.C., and has been practicing law since 1970. Elaine is a published musician and author and former nurse.

Ron Gantner
BA, 1988, Eli Broad College of Business, General Business Administration
Partner, Plante & Moran CRESA

Katie Gantner

Home city and state: Birmingham, MI

Ron is a certified public accountant (CPA) and holds a real estate broker’s license in the state of Michigan. Ron serves on the board of directors for the Downtown Detroit Partnership, Detroit Parade Company, Brother Rice High School and the Metro Detroit YMCA. He is an active member of the Urban Land Institute, Detroit Regional Chamber of Commerce and CoreNet. He also serves on MSU’s Green and White Council.

Curt Hilliker
BA, 1988, Eli Broad College of Business, Hotel and Restaurant Management
President, Commercial Solar Arizona

Home city and state: Paradise Valley, AZ

Curt leads the Commercial & Solar Team at Commercial Solar Arizona where he helps companies transition to renewable forms of energy.

Mary Rotchford
Associate Director, United States Navy

John Katosh
BA, 1969, College of Social Science, Political Science
President, JPK Research, Inc. (Retired)

Home city and state: Arlington, VA

Mary is a former marine and works in human resources for the Department of the Navy. John founded JPK Research, Inc., which focused on market and opinion research, customer relationship management, program evaluation, outreach, quality management and one-on-one interviews with executives and senior professionals, in addition to holding several positions in the federal government and serving as an active-duty fixed-wing pilot. 

Paula Lupina
Project Manager, Pharmaceutical Industry (Retired)

Home city and state: Henderson, NV

Paula retired after a very successful career in the pharmaceutical industry. She was one of the first women in Michigan to become a licensed ultralight pilot. She has spoken at MSU’s Women & Philanthropy Symposium and is an active volunteer in her community and member of the Las Vegas Spartans alumni club.

Ray Owen
BS, 1979, College of Engineering and Honors College, Electrical Engineering 
Partner, Farallon Research, LLC

Charissa Willard
Partner, Farallon Research, LLC

Home city and state: Los Gatos, CA

Ray and Charissa are partners at Farallon Research, LLC, which is dedicated to building a founder-friendly platform for accelerating early-stage startups and their information technologies into effective, enterprise-scale capabilities and deployments. In addition, Ray is currently an advisor to BMNT, for both strategic investment funds and for early-stage accelerators. Charissa is a cybersecurity architect and software engineer, who has decades of experience across multiple complex, high-tech startups. Ray mentors a Burgess Institute student venture team and the two of them are original members of the Spartan Founders Club.

Bob Nuber
BS, 1978, College of Engineering and Honors College, Computer Science
Senior Director – Platform Engineering, Footlocker (Retired)

Betty Shanahan
BS, 1978, College of Engineering, Electrical Engineering 
AVP, Administration & Operations, DePaul University (Retired)

Home city and state: Chicago, IL

Betty Shanahan is the former Associate Vice President for Administration and Operations at DePaul University. Before joining DePaul University, Betty was a consultant to MSU's executive vice president for Administrative Services. She served as executive director and CEO of the 20,000-member Society of Women Engineers and was the first female engineer employed at the Data General Corporation. She was awarded the 2010 Claud R. Erickson Distinguished Alumni Award from the MSU College of Engineering and in 2013, received an Honorary Doctor of Science degree from the University of Connecticut. Bob served as the Senior Director, Platform Engineering for Footlocker. Betty and Bob both served on Engineering and Chicago Regional Campaign Committee during MSU’s previous campaign, the Empower Extraordinary comprehensive campaign.

Michael Pruente, Jr. 
BA, 2007, Eli Broad College of Business, Supply Chain Management 
CEO of Business Transformation Services, WG Consulting

Home city and state: West Bloomfield, MI

Michael serves as the Chief Executive Officer of Business Transformation Solutions at WG Consulting, a management consulting firm based in Houston. He is the former president of the Houston Alumni club and a former board member of the Broad College Advisory Board. He was recognized by the MSU Alumni Office with the 2019 Young Alumni Award.