MOUNT VERNON – Naomi Sea Young Wittstruck and Kevin LaGree, both of Des Moines, have been elected as the newest members of the Cornell College Board of Trustees.
Wittstruck and LaGree were elected at the February 2008 board meeting to serve as the board representatives of the Methodist Church, with which Cornell is affiliated.
“Kevin and Naomi will make excellent additions to the Cornell Board of Trustees,” said Chairman Richard Brubaker, “They understand and believe in our mission and support our strong ties to the Methodist Church.”
LaGree is Lead Pastor at First United Methodist Church in Des Moines and was President of Simpson College from 1999 till 2005, and was formerly the Dean of Candler School of Theology at Emory University. He holds a Master of Divinity degree from Saint Paul School of Theology, a J.D. from Harvard, and a Bachelor of History degree from the University of Kansas. He has served on the NCAA Executive Committee, United Way of Central Iowa, and the American Academy of Religion. LaGree was the Vice Chairman of the President’s Council for Division III and is currently a member of the Commission on Accreditation of the Association of Theological Schools. He lives with his wife Patricia in Des Moines and has two grown children.
“I’ve long admired Cornell from a distance, and it is a delight to be invited to be to be a part of the board of trustees and to help develop and further strengthen this institution,” said LaGree.
Wittsruck is a 2003 graduate of Cornell College and one of the youngest members in the board’s history. She earned her B.S.S. in social justice, with minors in religion and philosophy from Cornell, and then her Master of Divinity from Candler School of Theology in 2006. She has two certificates in public policy and theology from Emory and Wesley Theological seminaries. She is currently the Leadership Development Minister for Social Justice and Mission for the United Methodist Church’s Iowa Annual Conference in Des Moines, and has previously served in campus ministry and in a Nonviolent Youth Collective.
“It’s an honor to be asked to be a part of the board as a recent graduate,” said Wittsruck. “I hope to work productively with the rest of the board and the Cornell community to advance the college and its students.”