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McCardell and Wall Elected to W&L Board of Trustees

Washington and Lee University recently announced the election of John M. McCardell Jr., professor and former president of Middlebury College, and Thomas R. Wall IV, managing director of Kelso & Co., to its Board of Trustees. Both McCardell and Wall will join the board at its February 2008 meeting.

“John McCardell and Tom Wall are very talented and enthusiastic alumni,” said W&L President Ken Ruscio. “They are knowledgeable about both the world of education and Washington and Lee. They are devoted to the mission and the core values of the University and I know they will be very valuable members of the Board of Trustees. I look forward to working with them.”

A 1971 graduate of Washington and Lee, McCardell was a member of Lambda Chi Alpha, Omicron Delta Kappa, the Debate Team, and was editor of the 1971 Calyx. He also served as a dorm counselor and was the recipient of the Sullivan Medallion at Commencement. He was a recipient of the 250th Chapter Honoree Award in 1999, and currently serves on W&L’s Parents Council.

“I am deeply honored to have been asked to join the Board of Trustees,” McCardell said. “Washington and Lee did so much to shape me as a student, indeed as a human being. Serving in this way allows me, however insufficiently given the benefits I have received, to give something back, with deep gratitude and sincere commitment, to our beloved alma mater.”

McCardell joined the faculty of Middlebury in 1976, and served as dean for academic development and planning, dean of the faculty, provost and vice president for academic affairs and acting president before being named the Vermont college’s15th president in 1992.

He retired from the presidency in June 2004, and following a year’s sabbatical returned to the classroom in the fall of 2005. While president he served as chairman of the Division III Presidents’ Council of the NCAA in 2003-04 and led a successful, comprehensive, division-wide reform effort.

Outside the classroom, McCardell serves as a director of The National Bank of Middlebury and its parent company, The Middlebury National Corporation; the Community Financial Services Group LLC of Barre, Vt.; and as a board member of Vermont Public Radio and the American Civil War Center at Historic Tredegar in Richmond, Va. The Burlington Free Press named him the 2001 “Vermonter of the Year”.

Most recently, McCardell became a founder and director of the non-profit group Choose Responsibility, which aims to promote general public awareness of the dangers of excessive and reckless alcohol consumption by young adults and to engage young people, their parents and public officials in serious deliberation on the role of alcohol in American culture.

McCardell and his wife, Bonnie Greenwald McCardell, have two sons, John M. McCardell III, and James B. “Jamie” McCardell, W&L ’09.

A 1980 graduate of W&L, Wall was a member of the golf team, Sigma Chi fraternity, Contact, and was involved with the University’s quadrennial Mock Convention. He served as a member of his 25th Reunion Committee and as a member of the New York Area Capital Campaign Committee from 1992-95.

“I am thrilled at the opportunity to serve Washington and Lee as a trustee,” Wall said. “I am deeply grateful to the board for the confidence placed in me and I look forward to working with the W&L community to advance the mission of the University.”

Wall joined the private investment banking firm of Kelso & Co. in 1983, and was named managing director in 1990. Prior to joining Kelso & Co., Wall spent three years as a lending officer in the corporate division of Chemical Bank, where his responsibilities included the analysis and evaluation of lending proposals for numerous leveraged buyouts.

He is a director of BWAY Corporation, Ellis Communications Group, LLC, Endurance Business Media, Inc., Renfro Corporation and U.S. Electrical Services, LLC. He is also a Trustee of Choate Rosemary Hall and The Sacred Heart School in New York City.

Wall is married to Nancy Rees Wall, a graduate of St. Lawrence University and the Foxcroft School. They have three children, Kelsey, T.R., and Natalie, and live in New York City.

“Tom Wall and John McCardell are two outstanding individuals who will make enduring contributions to Washington and Lee during their tenure on the Board of Trustees,” said Phil Norwood, rector of the Board. “While their professional accomplishments have been achieved in very different fields, they share a common devotion to their alma mater and a commitment to serving as stewards of the University. I am delighted they have accepted the invitation we extended for them to become trustees.”