USU Names new Foundation Board Members

Utah State University welcomed four new members of its Foundation Board as of May 1. New members are Gail Fisher Bedke, Randy Stockham, Jason Keller and Marshall Crawford.

 

“All four new members are great additions to our board,” said Patty Halaufia, executive director of Alumni Relations and the USU Foundation. “They bring a wide variety of experience in a number of important areas. We are honored that they are willing to add their expertise to our current board, and we look forward to working with each of them.”

 

Board members serve three-year terms and can be reappointed. The USU Foundation board is dedicated to maximizing support from the private sector for the university. The board assists with fundraising campaigns and programs, investing the endowment to increase the value of existing gifts and serving as an advocate for the university in communities. The foundation partners with and serves all colleges and branch campuses of USU.

 

 

As vice president of Strategic Solutions for the O.C. Tanner Recognition Company, Gail Bedke travels throughout the world to partner with organizations in an effort to maximize their recognition investment. Her expertise lies in analyzing and improving an organization’s culture — using strategic recognition as a tool to engage and retain valued employees. With a background in communication and public relations consulting, Bedke joined O.C. Tanner 15 years ago to manage the recognition strategies of several Fortune 100 clients. She then led a client relations team overseeing the northeast region of the United States, and, from O.C. Tanner’s San Diego office, designed and implemented many recognition strategies throughout southern California. Today, Bedke also manages a team of 18 strategists who help some of the world’s largest and most successful companies develop their recognition cultures, while sharing best practices to enhance organization’s employee recognition strategies. Bedke earned her bachelor’s degree in journalism from USU and was recently selected by Utah Business Magazine as one of Utah’s “30 Women to Watch.” She lives in Park City, Utah, with her husband, Mitch, and two boys, Meier and Christian.

 

 

Dr. Randall J. Stockham is an anesthesiologist at Millcreek Anesthesia Inc., and is affiliated with St. Mark’s Hospital in Salt Lake City, Utah. Dr. Stockham graduated with honors from USU and went on to graduate from the University of Utah School of Medicine in 1980. While attending the University of Utah, he received the Outstanding Resident Award in 1983 and was president of the medical class from 1978-1979.

 

While attending USU he played football from 1973 to 1975 and was a football letterman in both 1974 and 1975. He was also a National Football Foundation National Scholar-Athlete Award Winner in 1975. Stockham and his wife, Julie, have supported athletics through the naming of the Academic Hall of Fame in the Laub Athletic-Academic Complex.

 

 

Jason Keller serves as a senior vice president of Real Estate at Oaktree Capital Management. Prior to joining Oaktree in 2007, Keller worked for seven years at DLJ Real Estate Capital Partners, in the Real Estate Private Equity division of Credit Suisse, where he most recently served as a vice president. During his time at DLJ he was responsible for sourcing, evaluating and executing opportunistic real estate investment opportunities. Prior to joining DLJ, Keller worked in real estate finance in the New York offices of Salomon Brothers and CIBC Oppenheimer, advising numerous public and private companies, REITs and financial institutions with respect to the acquisition, disposition and recapitalization of their real estate portfolios. He also worked as a real estate manager and developer for D-Street Investments, a boutique private equity firm. Mr. Keller holds a bachelor’s degree in finance cum laude from USU and an M.B.A. in finance and real estate from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

 

 

Marshall Crawford is vice president of JPMorgan Securities. He manages JPMorgan’s Denver Public Finance Office and is responsible for the firm’s public sector investment banking activities in the western United States. He also oversees JPMorgan’s national financing activities for government sponsored surface transportation projects, including such projects as roads, bridges, highway systems and rail. His 20-year investment-banking career includes extensive finance work with more than 30 colleges and universities.

 

Crawford served two terms as commissioner of the Colorado Commission on Higher Education, Colorado’s policy-making and general-budgeting board for all the state’s public institutions of higher education. He also served two terms as a member of the board of the Colorado Advanced Technology Institute and as a board member of the CACI Education Foundation. Crawford has a bachelor of arts from USU and an MBA from Harvard Business School.