Board of Trustees Members

Evans received a bachelor of arts in Political Science from Ohio University in 1993. 

Evans worked in the Ohio Senate and in the administration of Gov. George V. Voinovich. In 1995, he opened and managed Duke Energy’s Central Ohio office and represented Duke’s interests as the electric utility marketplace was deregulated.

He joined Boich Companies, a diversified holding company of energy services and energy marketing businesses, in 2001 and led its public affairs activities at the state and federal levels. He served as an interface between Boich and several of the nation’s largest corporations and interest groups. He became Boich Companies’ president in 2016 and focused on leading the company into a more diversified portfolio across multiple business sectors. Additionally, Evans has been an advocate for alternative energy growth in areas previously dependent on coal jobs and production within the State of Ohio. He is now retired from Boich Companies. 

Evans received the 2016 Outstanding Alumni Award from the Voinovich School of Leadership and Public Affairs at Ohio University. He is a member of the Voinovich School Executive Committee and worked with Senator George Voinovich to fund the Voinovich Award which recognizes faculty doing work which represents the mission of Ohio University’s outreach within southeast Ohio. As a former member of the Ohio University Marching 110, he has stayed actively involved with the Marching 110 Alumni Society and is serving on the advisory committee on the Marching 110’s future practice facility. Besides his extensive voluntary work for Ohio University, Evans is the former Event Chairman of the Columbus Blue Jacket Foundation raising money to fight childhood cancer.

Evans and his wife, Heather, live in Upper Arlington and are proud parents of two Ohio University graduates. 

Cynthia C. Calhoun serves as the deputy director of the Safety and Mission Assurance Directorate at NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio.  In this role, she shares in the responsibility of ensuring a safe and healthy work environment for the Glenn community and contributing to the success of NASA programs and projects by providing technical excellence in mission assurance engineering, operational safety, and occupational health.

Prior to this position, Calhoun was the deputy chief of the Program and Project Assurance Division where she was responsible for assuring NASA aerospace and aeronautics systems were of high quality and operated safely and overseeing the division’s staff of civil servant and contractor employees. She became the Assurance and Risk Management branch chief in 2006, managing a staff that provided system safety, quality, reliability, materials and processes, risk management, software assurance, lessons learned, and mission assurance support for aerospace and aeronautics programs and projects throughout the lifecycle.

Calhoun joined Glenn in 2002 as the software assurance and risk management lead for aeronautics and aerospace programs and projects. This included serving as the NASA certified risk management trainer for a team of risk facilitators and leading the development of the agency Risk Management Implementation Tool. In both lead positions, she served on agency, interagency, and other national committees as an adviser and consultant in software assurance and risk management.

Calhoun began working for NASA in 1996 as an engineering project manager at the NASA Software Independent Verification and Validation (IV&V) Facility in Fairmont, West Virginia, managing agency and interagency IV&V and independent assessment projects, and agency software assurance research projects, and serving as the software assurance lead for the NASA Office of Safety and Mission Assurance compliance verification audit team. 

Calhoun started her federal career in 1988 as an electronics engineer with the U.S. Air Force at the Aerospace Guidance and Metrology Center, Newark Air Force Base in Heath, Ohio where she designed and developed hardware and software for Automatic Test Systems (ATS) that were used to perform diagnostic tests on electronic assemblies and subassemblies from military aircraft and missile subsystems. She also led the Software Engineering Process Group. In 1994, she transferred to the San Antonio Air Logistics Center, Kelly Air Force Base, where she managed ATS cutting-edge advanced diagnostic and technology insertion projects for the Air Force and worked closely with her Army, Navy, and Marine counterparts on ATS technology developments.

Calhoun received her Bachelor of Science degree in electrical and computer engineering from Ohio University (OU), and she is a Duquesne University alumna of the Master of Science in Information Systems Management program. She is also a graduate of the Air Force Institute of Technology Software Engineering Professional Development Program.

Calhoun is a former member of the OU Alumni Association board of directors and currently a member of the OU Foundation board of trustees and OU Russ College of Engineering and Technology board of visitors. She holds professional memberships in the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers and the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics where she serves on the Diversity Working Group. Calhoun has authored and presented numerous technical publications throughout her career, which included receiving the “Best in Track” paper at the Information Assurance: Risk, Safety, and Surety, U.S. Department of Energy Software Quality Forum.  She is a member of the Kids in Flight board of directors, an advisor to the International Women’s Air and Space Museum, and a founding member and head mentor for the Greater Cleveland Indeed We Code computer programming camp for girls.

Calhoun has received numerous NASA awards such as the Federal Women’s Program Award; NASA Diversity Leadership Award; NASA Group Achievement Honor Award; NASA Mission Manager’s Flight Commendation; NASA Exceptional Service Medal for Software Engineering; NASA EEO Medal for STEM Outreach; and NASA Administrator’s Gears of Government Initiative Award, the highest award presented in NASA. She also received the National Women of Color STEM Conference Career Achievement Award and the OU Women’s Center Outstanding Alumnae Award.

Platt, who received a bachelor of science in organizational communication from Ohio University in 1993, is the executive and board advisor for the Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana (OKI) Regional Council of Governments, a metropolitan planning organization dedicated to improving transportation infrastructure for its 193 member jurisdictions.

In her role, she is advisor to the CEO in matters related to transportation policy and is the primary contact and administrator to the agency's 118 board of directors, representing a total of 8 counties in southwest Ohio, northern Kentucky, and southeast Indiana. Additionally, she manages fundraising activities, public outreach & education along with internal and external communication.

Prior to joining OKI, she held community outreach roles at the former Horseshoe Casino in Cincinnati and was a founding member of the Reds Community Fund and director of community relations for the Cincinnati Reds baseball club (13 seasons). Earlier in her career she worked for Great American Insurance, an opportunity secured due to campus recruitment in Athens.

In her free time, she enjoys interior design, reading and volunteering for animal causes. 

Term Ends: 2029

Hammond, who earned a bachelor’s degree with honors in history from OHIO before earning a law degree from Ohio State University, served as Fayette County Common Pleas Court Judge in the probate and juvenile divisions from 1991 until 2011.

She has served as a visiting judge in the Fayette County Common Pleas Court general and domestic relations divisions, as chair of the Board of Commissioners on Character and Fitness for the Supreme Court of Ohio, and as civil law director for the city of Washington Court House, Ohio.

Brigadier General Arnold was commissioned on January 28, 1982 through the Reserve Officer Training Corps as a Distinguished Military Graduate. He has more than 37 years of military service and served three combat tours in Afghanistan and Iraq in special operations task forces.

General Arnold graduated from Ohio University with a degree in Industrial and Systems Engineering. He earned his MBA at Cleveland State University and a Master’s in Strategic Studies at the U.S. Army War College.

He began his military career as an enlisted soldier with five years of service in an Airborne Pathfinder Detachment. He was commissioned as an infantry officer and branch transferred to Special Forces (Green Berets) upon graduation from the Special Forces Qualification Course. During the next 12 years, he served as Detachment Executive Officer, A-Team Commander, and Company Commander in the 11th Special Forces Group.

His following key assignments include: Battalion Commander, Commander of Coalition Special Operations Forces Afghanistan, Operations and Liaison officer to special mission units Iraq, Assistant Chief of Staff of U.S. Army Special Forces Command, Brigade Commander, and Commanding General of the 100th Division.

Following his initial active duty assignments in the 1980s, Arnold was recruited by GE and completed its two-year Manufacturing Management Program. He was employed at GE for over ten years, primarily in its Aircraft Engine Business. He held assignments as a process engineer, quality manager, product line program manager for airline support, and sales engineering manager for new commercial engines. He was recruited to Advanced Drainage Systems, the world’s leading plastic pipe manufacturer, where he was employed during the next 14 years as Distribution Operations Manager, Engineering Director, Vice President Government Affairs and Market Development, and Vice President and General Manager of International Operations. Arnold was recruited by Lubrizol, a Fortune 500 company, where he led one of its global business units. While at Lubrizol, he was recruited to be the President and CEO of GSE Lining Technologies, a multinational manufacturing company that grew from $300 million to $500 Million with factories on every continent, and staff in all developed and almost all emerging market countries. After leading GSE to two record years in profits, he led it through an initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange. Two years later, he was promoted to be the Commanding General of the Army’s 100th Division, and he resigned from GSE in order to finish his military career on active duty.

Arnold's military decorations include our nation’s highest award for military service, the Distinguished Service Medal; other awards include: The Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star Medal, the Combat Infantryman Badge, Master Parachutist Badge, Special Forces Tab, and Ranger Tab. He was also inducted into the Ohio University Army ROTC Hall of Fame. He was awarded the Medal of Merit for achievement in business from Ohio University, inaugurated into Ohio University’s College of Engineering’s Academy of Distinguished Graduates, and selected as Ohio University’s Alumnus of the Year in 2019.

Arnold is the Executive Director of a charitable organization that supports Ukraine and Director of a similar fund managed by the Columbus Foundation. Arnold is a Trustee of Ohio University’s Foundation Board, Board member and past Board Chairman of Ohio University’s College of Engineering, former Board member and Secretary of the Army’s Retiree Council, and President of the Special Forces Association’s Ohio Chapter. Arnold graduated from the Ohio Fire Academy’s EMT and Firefighter courses, served in a professional department, and he is a medic and medic instructor.

Thomas Parfitt was born in McArthur, Ohio, and later moved to Dublin, Ohio, where he finished his high school education and graduated from Dublin High School. He then continued his academic career at Ohio University graduating in 1975, earning a BBA in Accounting. His first job kept him in Athens when he joined a local CPA practice. Tom passed the CPA exam in 1978. and became a partner in the firm of Brown, Jackson, and Parfitt, CPAs.

Parfitt then proceeded to expand the firm and opened another office in Waverly, Ohio, after just one year. This then led to him opening his own firm, Thomas W. Parfitt, CPA, on May 1, 1982. Those two offices coincided until January 1, 2021, when they were combined into the practice of Parfitt, Cooley and Associates LLC, where Parfitt continues to work. He diversified his business ventures when he purchased a motorcycle dealership with two additional partners. This Athens-based dealership initially only sold two brands pf motorcycles, ATVs, and water products, and then eventually grew into three separate dealerships selling ten diverse brands. This experience led to more expansion in the form of multiple tractor dealerships selling Kubota, Cub Cadet, Stihl, Honda, and assorted mower brands.

Parfitt retired from these businesses after 38 years in 2019 and 2022, respectively. He remains engaged in his Ford Dealership in Waverly, Ohio, as well as his commercial real estate development partnership in southern Ohio.

Outside of his business ventures, Parfitt is a member of the Ohio Society of CPAs and the American Institute of CPAs. He. also serves on the board of the First National Bank of McConnelsville, Ohio, and as Chairman of the Board for The First National Bank of Waverly, Ohio. In his free time, he enjoys racing motorcycles, hunting, and of course Ohio University Homecoming with his two daughters who are also alumnae.

Mr. Dickerson has been in energy related businesses for 41 years. In 1994 he founded Utility Technologies International Corporation. He is their Chairman of the Board and CEO. Mr. Dickerson has many other business interests. He is the President and principal partner of an energy infrastructure construction company, Engineered Utility Services. He is the Chief Operating Officer of Ross Energy, a energy transmission company. Additionally he is a partner at Structured Utility Resources, a property management company. Recently Mr. Dickerson has ventured into more sustainable forms of energy and is currently developing solar energy projects in reclaimed strip mine areas of southeast Ohio. Mr. Dickerson is a registered professional engineer in the state of Ohio.

He has been married to his wife Joan for 33 years and they have two children. Abby, 29, an Architectural graduate of Miami University and The Ohio State University and Connor, 26, an Energy Engineering graduate of Ohio University.

Richard is an avid adventurer. He has summited 9 of the 10 most difficult high point mountains in the United States. He has stood on the summit of the highest points in North America and Africa and in 2001 was part of an international team of climbers on Mount Everest searching for answers to whatever became of British climbers, George Mallory and Andrew Irvine, who disappeared in 1924 on the mountains highest slopes. A book titled “Lost on Everest” documents the expedition findings. Richard is a runner and has completed 78 marathons.

In 2018, Lashutka founded the Lashutka Group, which has been successful in representing start-up companies, worldwide family-owned businesses, utilities, education, and transportation companies to legislative general assemblies and the executive branch.

She began her career in politics as Assistant to the Chief of Staff of the Ohio House of Representatives, where she saw first-hand and close-up how the state legislative process works, and she formed friendships with colleagues who are now in the highest levels of Ohio and federal government. 

Upon leaving the Ohio General Assembly, Lashutka moved into a role requiring serious policy and issue knowledge. For six years, she was Regulatory Analyst for the Ohio Petroleum Council representing the major oil companies. In that position, she worked on legislation and regulations impacting prices at the gas pump and environmental issues in the Buckeye state. She used this experience to transfer into an internal position with Time Warner Cable (TWC), a Fortune 200 company, where she rose to become Director of Government Relations for the Midwest Region. For six years at TWC, she worked with top leaders and lawmakers in Ohio and Kentucky.

As one of the top government relations executives in the national cable industry, Lashutka worked on several complex issues, including telecom deregulation, sales tax on services campaign, and detailed issues that arise in regulatory settings. Her work in the arcane area of the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio was of particular value to the company.

In 2010, she began an active relationship with the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), where she attended national conferences and built alliances with state legislative leaders and key decision-makers from across America. That work culminated when she was honored with the ALEC National Award.  She is currently the Ohio private sector Chair of ALEC.

Lashutka was also the Regional Senior Director (Midwest) for the newly expanded Charter Communications. In that high-profile role, she managed fundraising for the corporate PAC representing thousands of employees and helped defeat legislation that could have crippled the industry, raised taxes on Ohioans, and killed countless jobs. Megan helped oversee work in West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Ohio in this role.

Lashutka earned her degrees in organizational and political communications from Ohio University. She is married to her husband, Nick, and together they have four boys.

Term Ends: 2026

• 1964 B.S. Ohio University
• 1969 J.D. The University of Toledo College of Law, summa cum laude

Cary Cooper is a civil trial and appellate lawyer with a concentration in commercial and healthcare matters. He is also an arbitrator and serves on the commercial and healthcare panel of neutrals of the American Arbitration Association, the American Health Lawyers Association, and the International Institute for Conflict Prevention and Resolution.

Trustee Cooper has been actively involved in numerous professional, charitable, and community activities throughout his career, and has served as an adjunct professor at The University of Toledo College of Law. He currently Chairs the Development Advisory Council for Advocates for Basic Legal Equality and for Legal Aid of Western Ohio, organizations that provide legal services to poor and disadvantaged persons in 32 Ohio counties. He also presently serves on the Board of Trustees for the Toledo Rowing Club, which promotes youth rowing in Northwest Ohio.

Bill "Clark" Kent is CEO of BTL Technologies, Inc. (BTL).  BTL provides Cybersecurity and Human Capital Solutions to government and commercial customers.  For over 18 years BTL has successfully executed its vision “to transform our community to achieve economic empowerment through a legacy of prosperity.” BTL is dedicated to the guiding principles of People First, Excellence, Accountability, Resilience, Integrity and Flexibility … these core-values are the foundation of BTL’s success in the competitive marketplace.  This success resulted in Clark’s selection as the Minority Enterprise Development (MED) Week 2011 Minority Entrepreneur of the Year and BTL being honored as the Alamo City Black Chamber of Commerce 2011 Small Business of the Year. 

Clark is a native of Cleveland, Ohio and is an avid supporter of all Cleveland sports … Browns, Cavaliers and Guardians—an eternally optimistic Cleveland Fan!  He completed his undergraduate studies at Ohio University (1980) and earned his Masters’ Degree from Central Michigan University (1993). He retired from the United States Air Force (USAF) in the grade of Lieutenant Colonel in 2003 following a 22-year career of progressively responsible, diverse and challenging leadership positions as a Contracting Officer, Educator, Speechwriter and Media Personality.  

After more than two decades of service to country, this Air Force trained leader never retired his commitment to serve.  In addition to focusing his attention on helping veterans and disadvantaged business owners advance in the area of federal contracting, community involvement has now become part of his tradition of service.  He serves on the United Way of San Antonio and Bexar County Board of Directors and he holds memberships in the National Speakers Association, Tuskegee Airmen Inc., and The Alamo City Black Chamber of Commerce.  Clark is one of the founders of The Ohio University Kent-Rudolph Blue-Crescent Scholarship Endowment.  He is also a member of Phi Beta Sigma and Sigma Pi Phi Fraternities. 

His passions are faith, family, golf, and business.  He is a member of Resurrection Baptist Church in Schertz, TX.  He is married to the former Sibyl Y. Hargrove of Montgomery, Alabama who also retired in the grade of Lieutenant Colonel in the Air Force Reserves.  They have two adult children, Will Jr., (Account Manager, Vinik Sports Group) and Jasmine Yvette (Designer I – Target Corp) and two grandchildren, Amina and Braylon.  The entire family has a footprint in the success of BTL and continues to make Clark’s dreams a reality. 

Robert “Bob” Wolfinger Jr., a two-time graduate of Ohio University, earned an Associate of Arts degree in 1973 and a Bachelor of General Studies degree in 1980. He brings to the Board more than four decades of leadership and financial expertise. Wolfinger spent over 36 years with National City Bank (now PNC Bank), including 11 years as President of the Lancaster/Fairfield County market. He retired in 2007 as a senior vice president in the Corporate Banking division in Columbus, Ohio.

Following his banking career, Wolfinger was elected treasurer of the City of Lancaster in November 2007, a role he held until his retirement in September 2022. He also served five years on the board of directors for Citizens Bank of Logan and was treasurer of the Lancaster Port Authority for 14 years.

A dedicated community leader, Wolfinger has held numerous volunteer leadership roles. He is a past president of the Lancaster Area Community Improvement Corporation, the Lancaster Festival, and the Decorative Arts Center of Ohio. He has served as campaign chairman for the United Way of Fairfield County and chaired both the Fairfield Medical Center and the Fairfield Medical Center Foundation Board of Directors. He is an active member of the Lancaster Rotary Club and holds a seat on Lancaster’s City Council.

Wolfinger's service to Ohio University includes roles on the Ohio University Foundation Board of Trustees, the Ohio Bobcat Club Advisory Board and the Ohio University Lancaster Campus Coordinating Council. He also served six years on the Ohio University Alumni Association Board of Directors.

Gregory T. Moore is President and CEO of the Promise of Democracy Foundation, continuing a lifelong dedication to expanding democracy, voting rights, and civic education. A two-time graduate of Ohio University, he earned a Bachelor of Arts in Organizational Communications in 1983 and a Master of Public Administration from the George Voinovich School of Leadership and Public Service in 2021.

For over 30 years, Moore has held key roles in Washington, DC, and Ohio, including Legislative Director and Chief of Staff to U.S. Representative John Conyers, Jr.; Executive Director of both the NAACP National Voter Fund and the Citizenship Education Fund; and senior consultant to the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. He played an instrumental role in the passage of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 and has long championed expanded voter access and increased civic participation among underserved communities. He is the author of Beyond the Voting Rights Act: The Untold Story of the Struggle to Reform America’s Voter Registration Laws, (DeGruyter Brill, 2022).

Since 2015 Moore has served as a member and Chair of the U.S. Election Assistance Commission’s National Board of Advisors, and was a presidential appointee to the Martin Luther King, Jr. Federal Holiday Commission, where he worked alongside Mrs. Coretta Scott King and a national bi-partisan commission to establish the United States’ first official observances of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Federal Holiday. Moore’s career reflects a steadfast commitment to higher education, civic education, voter engagement, and leadership development.

In the 1980s, Moore was pivotal in re-establishing an elected student government at Ohio University, leading a campus-wide effort to adopt a new Senate Constitution and being elected Student Senate President in 1981. He continued his student advocacy at the state and national levels and, in 1983, was elected nationwide as president of the United States Student Association, then the nation’s oldest and largest student organization.

A proud and engaged Ohio University alumnus, Moore remains deeply involved with Ohio University through numerous leadership roles and appointments to university advisory and search committees. Moore has served on the OU Alumni Association (OUAA) Board of Directors for 9 years including his service as Vice Chair and the board’s liaison to the Ohio University Foundation Board of Trustees. Moore co-founded the Ohio University Student Senate Alumni Society and served as its first president from 2013 to 2016. He is an active member of the Ebony Bobcat Alumni Network (EBN-DMV) and is a member of the George Voinovich School of Leadership and Public Affairs Dean’s Board of Advisors.

As of July 1, 2025 Moore assumed the role as Chair of the OUAA and serves as a liaison and non-voting member of the Ohio University Board of Trustees.

Pankaj Karna is an engineering and physics researcher and current Ph.D. student at the Ohio University Astrophysical Institute. His work with OHIO Professor Dr. Douglas Clowe is focused on probing galaxy clusters through gravitational lensing. He has previously conducted extensive research on suborbital space launch systems at the University of Washington, Seattle.

As a NASA JPL Solar System Ambassador, Karna designs and conducts trainings on NASA explorations and programs. His notable accolades include an award letter from French Physics Nobel Laureate Claude Cohen-Tannoudji and 'Engineering Physics Project of the Year' title. Karna is also a U.S. Army Distinguished Honor Graduate from Fort Lee, Va., and a recipient of ‘Army Achievement’ and ‘National Defense Service’ Medals.

Wood is a dedicated student leader at Ohio University and a passionate advocate for student engagement, sustainability, and social equity. She is pursuing a degree in Environmental Studies through the Honors Tutorial College, with a focus on land preservation and environmental justice. She is also minoring in Political Science and earning a certificate in Law, Justice, and Culture. Wood aspires to pursue a career in environmental law, where she can combine her passion for policy, justice, and environmental stewardship.

Her commitment to community service and environmental advocacy has led her to contribute to research through the Voinovich School of Leadership and Public Service and to plan and support the philanthropic and service-based initiatives of her sorority, Sigma Kappa. She also serves as a dedicated member of the Panhellenic Executive Board, working to strengthen and enhance the Sorority and Fraternity Life experience at Ohio University. Wood has volunteered to support sustainable development efforts across the country and plans to continue ensuring a long-term impact in all she does.

She spends her free time reading, writing, and hiking, as well as with her family and her sorority sisters—young women who have become some of her closest friends and greatest sources of support.