(WARRENSBURG, Mo.) – Fourteen new directors were appointed to the University of Central Missouri Foundation as part of the organization’s expansion.
“By expanding the size, we were able to complement the current board by adding industry experts with specific capabilities,” Jason Drummond, vice president for alumni relations and development and foundation executive director, said in a news release.
The new board members, who begin their term July 1, are:

• Gary Abram, of Blue Springs, Mo., a 1975 UCM alumnus and founding partner of HCap International.
• Peter Carmack, of Lee’s Summit, Mo., a 1993 UCM alumnus and first vice president of investments at Wells Fargo Advisers.
• James Claiborne, of Olathe, Kan., a 1990 UCM alumnus and principal of Financial Partners Group.
• Jonathan Cleveland, of West Roxbury, Mass., a 1985 UCM alumnus and founder and owner of Cleveland Design.
• Diane Dudley, of Higginsville, Mo., a 1981 UCM alumna and partner-in-charge of KPMG Federal Audit Practice.
• John Fay, of Naples, Fla., a 1970 UCM alumnus and retired advancement professional.
• John Ferguson, of Colorado Springs, Colo., a 1982 UCM alumnus and president and CEO of Strategic Financial Partners.
• Kelly (Stoll) Harbert, of Bloomington, Ill., a 1986 UCM alumna and president of Spectrum Partners.
• James Hatfield, of Paradise Valley, Ariz., a 1980 UCM alumnus and executive vice president and CFO of Pinnacle West Capital Corporation.
• Tim McClellan, of Kingsville, Mo., with degrees from UCM in 1988 and 1990, an attorney at GE Transportation in Grain Valley.
• Richard Phillips, of Lake Tapawingo, Mo., with degrees from UCM in 1965, 1967 and 1972, a former member and president of the UCM Board of Governors and now retired educator, school administrator and independent consultant.
• Mark Schupp of Creve Couer, Mo., a 1978 UCM alumnus and the president and owner of Schupp Company.
• Ron Umphenour, of Bridgewater, N.J., a 1976 UCM alumnus and retired executive director of Strategic Business Development and Acquisition of Ortho Biotech, a unit of Johnson and Johnson.
• Mitch Wheeler, of Overland Park, Kan., a 1979 UCM alumnus and chief partnership officer of Premier Sports.

The board is managing more than $40 million in assets, the highest since its founding in 1979, according to a news release. Recently, the UCM Foundation’s five-year annualized rate of return placed it in the top 7 percent nationally among the largest public and private higher education organizations in the nation, according to the 2012 NACUBO-Commonfund Study of Endowments.
Drummond said the foundation has implemented two new initiatives in recent months. First, the board set aside $500,000 to establish a student-managed investment fund so that upper level undergraduate and graduate level business students can gain real investment management experience. Second, the board established the Foundation Opportunity Grant program to provide grants to support staff or faculty on projects that directly enhance the learning environment.
“Both of these initiatives, along with an increased scholarship payout rate from the endowment, shows our commitment to supporting the students and the overall mission of the university in every way we can,” Drummond said.