Board of Trustees

Preston Chiaro joined the Westminster College Board of Trustees in 2011. Mr. Chiaro has a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in environmental engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York. Upon graduation he worked for several environmental engineering consulting firms in the eastern and northwestern parts of the US. Mr. Chiaro began working at Kennecott Utah Copper in 1991 to address legacy environmental issues. In 1995, he was appointed general manager of Rio Tinto Borax's Boron operations in California's Mojave Desert. Two years later he became Borax's senior vice president for operations and technology, and in 1999 took over as president and CEO of Borax at Valencia, California. In September 2003 he moved to London to head up Rio Tinto's Energy group, which included coal and uranium mines in Australia, Namibia, and the US. In November 2007, he assumed additional responsibility for Rio Tinto’s Industrials Minerals group. In 2009 he was appointed to his current role as Group Executive for Technology and Innovation at Rio Tinto. He also sits on the company’s Investment Committee, heads its Ore Reserve and Resource Steering Committee, and is the Rio Tinto executive committee’s champion for sustainable development and climate change.

Mr. Chiaro has served as director of Rössing Uranium Limited (2004 to 2009), Energy Resources of Australia Limited (2003 to 2006), and Coal & Allied Industries Limited (2003 to 2006). He has also served as chairman of the Coal Industry Advisory Board to the International Energy Agency (2004 to 2006) the World Coal Association (2003 to 2009, serving as its chairman from 2006 to 2008). He currently sits on the board of Resources for the Future (2006 to present) and is the President of the Death Valley Conservancy (2008 to present).

Reverend Catherine Putnam-Netto has served on The Woman’s Board at Westminster College since January 2010. Catherine received a M.Div. from Princeton. She was the associate pastor at Wasatch Presbyterian Church for nine years. She was then an associate chaplain at Primary Children’s Hospital, following which she returned to Wasatch Presbyterian where she serves as a half-time Pastoral Associate.

She and her husband John served as volunteer committee chairs for social justice for Mayor Becker in 2011. The Nettos are regular volunteers for the Fourth Street Clinic, which provides free medical care to homeless individuals and families. They also support the DePaul Soup Kitchen, Equality Utah, and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).

Catherine and John currently reside in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Kim Adamson received her bachelor's degree from Westminster College in 1979, and served on the alumni board from 2001 to 2004. She has contributed to several areas at Westminster College. She funded the Kim T. Adamson Chair on International Studies, the Anne Newman Sutton Weeks Reading Room in the Giovale Library (in honor of her grandmother) and the Kim T. Adamson Alumni House.

Entering the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve in 1974, and retired in May 2013 as a Chief Warrant Officer 5. She deployed to Iraq as a Civil Affairs Officer and Anti-Terrorism Force Protection Officer with the 4th Civil Affairs Group in 2004-2005. She deployed for her second Iraq tour in August 2009 as a Platoon Commander with 4th MLG, H&SBn, Personnel Retrieval & Processing Company(-). She has also served as a law enforcement officer, specializing in mountain and swiftwater rescue operations, wilderness medicine and hazardous materials operations.

In addition to a career of service with the U.S. Marine Corps, Kim currently serves as a Utah Senior Justice Court Judge. She divides her time between Salt Lake City UT, Tucson AZ and Coronado CA.

Michael Bills is the CEO of GBGH Holdings, the parent company of H&K Truck Equipment and Tesco Williamsen. Mike earned an MBA from Westminster College in 2003 from the Gore School of Business. He has taught as an adjunct professor at Westminster College in managerial finance, mergers and acquisitions, international finance, and business valuation. In 2003, Mike was featured in the Utah Business top "40 under 40" list. He is a competitive triathlete and Iron Man finisher. Prior to his appointment to the Board of Trustees in 2007, Mike served on the Westminster College Alumni Board. Mike and his wife, Amy, reside in Salt Lake City with their two young children.

Kim is a Westminster College alumna (’95, bachelor of science) and received her Law Juris Doctor from the University of Utah College of Law in 2001. She now runs and manages her own legal practice and consulting firm. Kim has served as Executive Director for the Governor’s Commission on Criminal and Juvenile Justice, as an Adjunct Professor in Criminal Process, and as a Trial Attorney for Salt Lake County District Attorney’s Office with an emphasis on child sex crimes. She has also performed pro bono work in family law cases across Utah.

Nancy DeFord, vice-president of DeFord Ltd., is the retired superintendent of the Park City School District in Utah and has been a teacher, administrator, and consultant in Texas, Virginia, England, France, and Utah. She has previously served as president of the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD), an international nonprofit organization and one of the largest professional development associations for educator leaders.

Dr. DeFord began her career as an art teacher in San Antonio, Texas. She holds a bachelor's degree in art and history and a master's degree (M.Ed.) in curriculum and supervision from Trinity University in Texas. Her doctorate in comparative education (Ed.D) is from the University of Southern California and was conferred in Heidelberg, Germany. Her teaching background includes art, social studies, and gifted education in all grades, as well as education courses through the doctoral level for several universities.

Nancy is an active member in the Cultural Alliance of Hampton Roads, the Virginia Beach Education Foundation, the Virginia Beach Historical Homes Foundation, and the Public Art Advisory Committee.

She and her husband, Robert Halstead DeFord, Jr., reside in Virginia Beach, VA.

Ray is the President/Director of the Florence J. Gillmor Foundation and past chair of the board of directors and CEO of Parsons Behle & Latimer. His son, Jeff Etcheverry, received his bachelor of science from Westminster College in 2011. Ray has been recognized in Best Lawyers in America for Bet-the-Company litigation and Chambers USA for commercial litigation and antitrust law. He is admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court, the Courts of Appeal for the 3rd, 5th, 10th, and Federal Circuits as well as the District of Utah and the State Court of Utah, and is an active member of the Litigation, Antitrust and Intellectual Property Sections of the American Bar Association. He is also a member of the Board of Trustees of The Waterford School.

Mr. Fang joined the Westminster College Board of Trustees in January, 2006. Mr. Fang and his wife, Judy, both received their MBA degrees from Westminster College. Both Mr. and Mrs. Fang were original members of the Westminster College MBA Alumni Committee, and Mr. Fang is a past member of the Westminster College Alumni Board.

Mr. Fang is the former President of AMT Labs. AMT Labs manufactures mineral supplements for the food and beverage industry and provides custom formulation services to manufacturers.

Bing and his wife, Judy, reside in Bountiful, Utah.

Thomas Fey has served on the Westminster College Board of Trustees since 2004. Mr. Fey received a bachelor's degree in business administration from Pennsylvania State University, after spending four years in the United States Air Force as a contract negotiator/cost analyst Aide de Camp to a major general. Mr. Fey also attended Northwestern University, receiving an MBA in marketing and finance.

Mr. Fey is President and CEO of Blinkers USA, Inc., a specialty marketer of imported designer reading glasses.

Tom and his wife, Lynn, reside in Park City, Utah.

Danny Giovale is founder and president of Kahtoola, Inc. Giovale started Kahtoola in 1999 to design and manufacture outdoor equipment and develop a socially responsible company. Kahtoola currently ships its industry-leading winter traction devices, hiking and running gaiters and growing line of innovative products worldwide, while also contributing to social causes near and far. Based in Flagstaff, AZ, Giovale is an outdoor enthusiast passionate about protecting public lands, supporting community initiatives and promoting environmental conservation—to which he supports numerous local and national nonprofit conservation organizations. He has a Bachelor of Science in Physics from Westminster College and is a member of the GeoFamily Foundation.

With over 30 years of banking experience, Terry Grant is the former President for KeyBank Utah. In this position, he was responsible for overseeing and coordinating all lines of KeyBank’s businesses within Utah, including Commercial Banking, Private Banking, Retail & Consumer Banking, as well as Business Banking.

Prior to KeyBank, Mr. Grant was a Regional Team Lead for the Commercial Banking Group at Wells Fargo; founded and was the Chief Credit & Lending Officer of Proficio Bank; the Utah Commercial Division Manager at JP Morgan Chase/Bank One; and a Senior Relationship Manager at US Bank in Utah.

He spent 20 years outside of Utah in senior commercial banking roles with Royal Bank of Canada (Los Angeles, Toronto & New York) and Credit Lyonnais New York. He has extensive experience in commercial banking as well as international banking and trade.

Mr. Grant was recently appointed by the Governor of Utah to sit on the Utah International Relations & Trade Commission. He is currently active as a Board of Trustee member for Westminster College, and sits on the boards of: World Trade Center Utah; Salt Lake Chamber of Commerce; Utah Valley Chamber of Commerce Executive Roundtable (Chair); Junior Achievement Utah; World Trade Association of Utah; Living Planet Aquarium; Camp Kostopulos; and Hale Centre Theatre in West Valley. In 2014 he was honored with the Outstanding Eagle Award from the Boy Scouts of America. He earned his MBA from Thunderbird School of Global Management and resides with his wife in Alpine, Utah.

Keri is a Westminster College alumna (’16, bachelor of arts) and recently completed an MBA at Western Governors University. She currently serves as Director of Charitable Giving (COO) at The Dell Loy Hansen Family Foundation and recently served as the Chair of USU’s Caine College of the Arts Advancement Council. She is a current board member of Hale Centre Theatre Board of Trustees, Sundance Utah Leadership Board, MarketStar Foundation Board, and Logan Encircle Advisory Board.

Muffy Mead-Ferro is the author of the western memoir Its Head Came Off by Accident, which according to Publisher's Weekly, "beautifully chronicles the colorful history of her family and the land." She also wrote the best-selling Confessions of a Slacker Mom and Confessions of a Slacker Wife. She’s written for several magazines and anthologies and has been featured on Oprah, The Today Show, and Talk of the Nation, and in publications such as The Atlantic and The New York Times.

She is the CEO and founder of Nush Foods. She is a director of the M Lazy M Foundation. Outside of the office, she is a member of the Governor's Mansion Foundation Board, a member of the University of Utah's National Advisory Council, and has served on numerous other community boards, including the Natural History Museum of Utah, Red Butte Garden, Artspace, Utah Heritage Foundation, and Girls on the Run.

She and her husband Scott Kauf reside in Salt Lake City, Utah, and Alta, Wyoming.

Jerilyn McIntyre is president emerita of Central Washington University and also holds emerita status as interim president, vice president for academic affairs, and professor of communication at the University of Utah. She spent 23 years at the University of Utah, serving as interim president twice: for two months in 1991 and for all of 1997. For seven years she was vice president for academic affairs. She is the first woman to have served in any of these administrative positions at Utah and Central.

Her bachelor’s degree in history and master’s degree in journalism are from Stanford University, and her PhD in communication and history is from the University of Washington. Before joining the University of Utah faculty in the Department of Communication in 1977, Dr. McIntyre taught at the University of Iowa School of Journalism from 1973 to 1977 and at Chico State College in California from 1968 to 1970. A former correspondent in the World News Bureau of McGraw-Hill Publishing Company in Los Angeles, she is also the author of numerous academic monographs, articles, and papers on communication history, journalism ethics, and higher education issues.

Now retired from university life, she is an independent writer and publisher at Bristlecone Peak press.

Peter A. Michell retired as Vice President for Finance at Saint Mary’s College of California in August 2016 after serving for over 13 years. He also maintained a consulting relationship with Saint Mary’s College through June 2017.

At Saint Mary’s, Mr. Michell served as the College’s chief financial officer and treasurer. He also managed and directed the activities of the Coordinator of Administrative Services, Associate Vice President for Finance/Controller, Associate Vice President of Human Resources, Director of Facilities Services, Director of Project Management, Central Services Manager, and up through June 2012, the Chief Technology Officer. Other responsibilities included endowment management, oversight of contracts for bookstore services and food services, as well as oversight of a lease with the United States Postal Service for a campus post office.

Peter Michell came to Saint Mary’s College in February 2003 from Notre Dame de Namur University in Belmont, CA where he had been Vice President for Administration and Treasurer since August 2001. Mr. Michell was the Vice President for Finance and Administration and Treasurer at Mills College in Oakland, CA from March 1997 to May 2001. He was also the Vice President for Finance at Ripon College in Ripon, WI from August 1990 to February 1997, Dean of Administration at SUNY Sullivan County Community College (SCCC) in Loch Sheldrake, NY from December 1984 to July 1990, and Secretary Treasurer of the Board of Directors of the SCCC Foundation from December 1984 to July 1990. Prior to December 1984, Mr. Michell was Deputy County Administrator and Budget Officer for the County of Sussex, NJ.

Academic classes instructed by Peter Michell have included Business Mathematics, Accounting I, and Accounting II. He has also proctored videotaped CPA review courses and served as a review panelist for senior seminars given by business management majors.

Mr. Michell's community service activities have included leadership positions in various nonprofit community organizations. He currently serves on the Board of Trustees of Kaiser Permanente School of Allied Health Sciences in Richmond, CA and on the Board of Trustees of Westminster College in Salt Lake City, UT. He has also served on the board of directors of a community foundation, a regional arts alliance, a county-wide youth services board, a county-wide human services council, a community fund, a medical center, a medical center foundation, several service clubs, and several churches.

Peter Michell currently serves as a member of peer review teams for the Western Association of Schools and Colleges Senior College and University Commission and has done so since 1999. He also currently serves as a member of peer review teams for the Accreditation Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine and has done so since 2010. In addition, Mr. Michell continues to provide consulting services focused on CFO mentoring, institutional accreditation, and institutional sustainability in higher education.

Moyle received his MBA from Westminster College in 2006. He is currently a trustee of the R. Harold Burton Foundation, and serves as a trustee for the Edward L. Burton Foundation.

Moyle also serves as treasurer for the Utah Museum of Natural History Board of Trustees. He has been on that board since 1998. He also is a new committee member of the President’s Club at the University of Utah since the fall of 2008.

Moyle, his wife, Marianne, and their son currently reside in Park City.

An Ohio native, L. Jackson "Jack" Newell attended Deep Springs College in California, earned an M.A. degree in history at Duke University, and a Ph.D. in the history and philosophy of universities at Ohio State University.

Joining the University of Utah faculty, he served for 16 years as Dean of Liberal Education where he built a nationally celebrated arts and sciences core curriculum required of all undergraduates. He took leave to serve as president of Deep Springs College from 1995 to 2004. There he orchestrated a successful capital campaign to rebuild the entire campus and recharge the endowment. During his tenure, Deep Springs graduated seven Truman Scholars and a Rhodes Scholar.

Jack has been recognized with the Hatch Prize for Excellence in Teaching, designation as Presidential Teaching Scholar, appointment to the special rank of University Professor, and as the State of Utah’s first Professor of the Year.

His books include The Electric Edge of Academe: The Saga of Lucien L. Nunn and Deep Springs College (2015); Hope, Heart, and the Humanities (2016), Matters of Conscience: Conversations with Sterling M. McMurrin on Philosophy, Education and Religion (1996); and Maverick Colleges: Fourteen Notable Experiments in American Undergraduate Education (1996).

Newell has journeyed and photographed in Antarctica (2000), the Galapagos Islands (1990), the Arctic (1997), and China before modernization (1979). He and Linda King Newell have four children, all educators.

Mr. Orchow has served on the Westminster College Board of Trustees since 1997. He retired from his position as President and CEO of Kennecott Minerals Co. in 2002 and President and CEO of Revett Minerals, Inc. in 2008. He is presently a principal in Bedrock Resources, LCC, a financial services and strategic advising company to the mining industry, and also serves as a consultant and board member to several companies in that sector. He is on the Board of Directors of the ACLU of Utah.

Mr. Orchow received his Bachelor of Science degree in Business from the College of Emporia.

Bill and his wife, Janet Martineau, a Westminster College alumna, reside in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Robert Rendon is the Senior-Vice President and Community Development Director for Zions Bank. He graduated from the University of Utah with a degree in business administration and is actively involved in numerous community programs focused on minority owned businesses, housing, and child services. Mr. Rendon and his wife, Wendy, have two grown sons, Jonathan and Robert.

Engels Tejeda is a trial attorney at Holland & Hart in Salt Lake City. He is committed to the importance and value of giving back to his community and volunteering his legal services on a pro bono basis. Tejeda served as a public affairs non-commissioned officer in the U.S. Army Reserve from 1999–2007, including two active-duty deployments to Iraq and Kosovo, during which he helped develop and implement a media and public affairs program. He received the Army’s commendation and achievement medals, the NATO medal, the National Defense Service Medal and a Global War on Terrorism Service Medal. Tejeda graduated from Westminster College cum laude in 2003 with a B.A. in economics then attended the University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law, where he graduated with his J.D. in 2006. By appointment of the Utah Supreme Court, he serves as a volunteer judge pro tempore for the Salt Lake City Justice Court Small Claims Division. He is actively involved with the Utah Minority Bar Association, Utah Center for Legal Inclusion, Utah Bar Association, the National LGBT Bar Association and the Hispanic National Bar Association. Tejeda is from the Dominican Republic and currently resides in Salt Lake City.

Amy Wadsworth is the retired Chief Administrative Officer and founder of the Salt Lake Arts Academy, one of the first 12 public charter schools in Utah. Prior to the Arts Academy, she worked in the Salt Lake City School District for 25 years as a teacher and administrator.

Amy began her career in education teaching in the Granite and Salt Lake City School Districts. After 11 years in the classroom, she became the Assistant Principal at Clayton Intermediate and later Principal of Wasatch Elementary. Across her career, she has been engaged in Kindergarten through High School education. Her commitment and study of middle school education led to the foundation of the Salt Lake Arts Academy, a charter school serving students in 5th through 8th grade. In 2003, she and a team of like-minded parents and education professionals founded the charter school based on their commitment to arts education, community engagement and the unique developmental needs of middle school aged students. She served as the CAO for 16 years before retiring in June 2019.

Amy graduated from the University of Utah with a BA in English and French education and a Masters degree in Education Administration. She currently serves on the Pioneer Theatre Company board and is president of the Utah Women’s Forum.

She and her husband, David Richardson, are active members in the downtown arts and historic preservation scene.