State Announces New UMass Trustees, UMBA Appointments

BOSTON — Gov. Charlie Baker named Mary Burns, Imari Paris Jeffries, Michael O’Brien, Elizabeth Scheibel, and Charles Wu to the board of trustees for the University of Massachusetts, and reappointed Robert Manning to the board. Manning, who previously chaired the board from 2008 to 2010, will also assume the chairmanship of the board that oversees the UMass system.

Baker also announced several other appointments, including longtime UMass trustee Victor Woolridge as well as O’Brien to seats on the UMass Building Authority (UMBA), serving as representatives of the UMass board. Baker supports Woolridge, a commercial real-estate professional, for chairman of the Building Authority, which oversees the planning, financing, and construction of university facilities. The governor also supports Philip Johnston for vice chair. In a separate announcement, the UMass Foundation announced that Johnston will join its board of directors at the end of the year, where he is also expected to be named vice chair.

“I congratulate the new members of the boards on their appointments and thank them for stepping forward to serve the Commonwealth and the University of Massachusetts,” Baker said. “UMass continues to be a global leader in education, and these leaders will help the university continue to think creatively and boldly about the future of public education in order to grow our economy, strengthen our communities, and create opportunity for future generations of students.”