WCU Stories      August 21, 2024

By Bill Studenc

The Western Carolina University Foundation Board of Directors recently welcomed four new members and made appointments to its executive committee for the 2024-2025 fiscal year.

New WCU Foundation Board of Directors members, with initial three-year appointments effective July 1, are:

• Ben Comm, senior managing director and lead of asset services for commercial real estate firm Cushman and Wakefield in Washington, D.C. A resident of Broadlands, Virginia, Comm earned his bachelor's degree from WCU in therapeutic recreation in 1983. He is a member and former president of the Apartment and Office Building Association of Metropolitan Washington. He also serves as a member of the Virginia Tech Pamplin College of Business Real Estate Advisory Board and formerly was a member of the WCU Catamount Club Board of Directors.
• Jeff Goss, a partner in the Sylva law firm Ridenour and Goss. A 2005 graduate of WCU with a degree in business administration and law, Goss went on to earn his law degree at the Charlotte School of Law. His practice focuses on residential and commercial real estate closings, right-of-way disputes, condemnation and eminent domain actions, suits for breach of contract and partition proceedings. He is chairman of the board of the Tuckaseigee Water and Sewer Authority and is a member of the Catamount Club.
• David Moore, who worked in banking for nearly 40 years before retiring from the Wells Fargo Corporate and Investment Bank's treasury services division as a senior vice president and senior sales officer serving clients in the tri-state New York City area and eastern Canada. Before joining Wells Fargo, Moore spent 16 years at SunTrust Banks in the Atlanta area and was a certified treasury professional for more than 20 years. He serves as a WCU Brinson Honors College Advisory Board member and is a member of WCU’s Madison Legacy Society. Active in his community, he is vice president of the Macon County Community Foundation, a member of the Highlands-Cashiers Health Care Foundation board, chair of the Community Care Clinic of Highlands-Cashiers, treasurer of the Highlands-Cashiers Chamber Music Festival and a volunteer at the Highlands Food Pantry. He was co-mentor of a four-year “Education for Ministry” class developed by the divinity school at the University of the South (Sewanee) in Highlands recently. Moore graduated from the University of South Alabama and completed graduate work at Eberhard-Karls-Universitaet in Tuebingen, Germany, and at Emory University in Atlanta.
• Paxton Myers, an enrolled member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians and chief of staff to the principal chief. A 2000 graduate of WCU with a bachelor’s degree in communication, Myers was also EBCI chief of staff from 2003 to 2009 and 2017 to 2020. He previously served as chief of staff for the National Indian Gaming Commission, vice chairman of the EBCI Tribal Gaming Commission, senior policy adviser to U.S. Rep. Dale Kildee and director of the U.S. House of Representatives Native American caucus. A member of the Catamount Club Board of Directors, he previously served on the WCU Board of Visitors. Myers has also served as president of the Jackson County Community Foundation and member of the Cherokee Indian Hospital Foundation Board of Directors and Cherokee Historical Association Board of Directors.
• In addition to the approval of the quartet of new members, the board also reappointed three members to second three-year terms: Ed Broadwell, a retired banking executive from Asheville who previously served as chair of the WCU Board of Trustees and is a former member of the University of North Carolina Board of Governors; Huntersville resident Ed Holland, a 1975 graduate of WCU with a bachelor's degree in finance who is a retired banking executive and former church administrator; and Lexington resident Ron Sink, a 1979 graduate of WCU with a bachelor's degree in recreational leadership who is general manager of a water utility company.

The board also set membership on its executive committee, with Mike Crawford, a 1987 WCU graduate with a bachelor’s degree in accounting and finance, appointed to serve as chair. An Asheville resident, Crawford retired earlier this year as chief performance officer for a national accounting firm.

Hoyt Almond, a 1969 graduate of WCU with a bachelor’s degree in business administration, was appointed vice chair and chair of the board’s finance and audit committee. A resident of Asheville, Almond is a former banking executive and is owner of a brand consulting company.

Serving as second vice chair is Steve Hodge, a 1976 graduate of WCU with a bachelor's degree in finance. Hodge is an Asheville resident and a banking executive. He also was appointed to chair the board’s advancement committee.

Holland, the retired banking executive and church administrator who was among the members reappointed to a second term on the board, was also selected to serve as chair of the board development committee.

The board reappointed Durham attorney Brandon Robinson to chair the support organization oversight committee. Robinson earned his bachelor’s degree in 2005 and his master’s degree in 2010, both in history from WCU.

In other action during the board’s spring meeting,  six outgoing term-limited members were announced as recipients of WCU Foundation Board medallions, presented by Chancellor Kelli R. Brown, in recognition of their contributions to the Foundation and the university. Recipients are:

• John Davis, a 1987 graduate of WCU with a bachelor's degree in English. A resident of Alpharetta, Georgia, Davis is a medical technology sales executive specializing in products related to cardiovascular health.
• Dennis Fox, a 1971 graduate of WCU with a bachelor’s degree in sales and marketing who is the outgoing Foundation Board chair. A resident of Raleigh, Fox is a project consultant for a national automotive and industrial paint, coatings and supplies company.
• John Martin, a 1990 WCU graduate with a bachelor's degree in business law. Martin is principal adviser with a Raleigh-based financial advisory firm and formerly served as chair of the Foundation Board’s finance and audit committee.
• Bruce Moore, a 1982 graduate of WCU with a degree in marketing. A resident of Waxhaw, Moore is owner of a food inspection, processing and material handling company located in Charlotte.
• Debbie Sims, a longtime supporter of WCU and graduate of the University of Tennessee. A resident of Franklin, Tennessee, Sims retired in 2019 as account executive for a major health insurance company.
• Charlie Worley, who served as mayor of Asheville from 2001 to 2005 after three terms on the Asheville City Council. A former member of the WCU Board of Trustees, Worley is an attorney specializing in estate planning and real estate transactions.

The role of the WCU Foundation is to promote higher education and support the enhancement of the university. The Foundation’s goal is to aid and assist WCU in its mission of serving as a leading educational institution through the wise investment and stewardship of philanthropy.

The Foundation is becoming an increasingly important body as higher education seeks greater support through private giving and as WCU moves forward with its current comprehensive fundraising campaign titled “Fill the Westen Sky.” The campaign, which kicks off its public phase this fall, has a goal of raising a minimum of $75 million in philanthropic support for WCU’s academic, student engagement and athletics programs.