Five new members and one emeritus member have been elected to the Westminster College Board of Trustees.
The new members are Barbara Absher of St. Louis; Jim Bennett, 1992 graduate, of St. Louis; Betsy Humphreys, 1983, of Des Peres; Ken Murer, 1987, of St. Louis; and Scott Wilson, 1974, of St. Louis. Linda Gill Taylor, of Edgerton, returns to the board as a trustee emeritus.
Absher is the director of industry solutions marketing at Emerson Automation Solutions. She received her bachelor of science in chemical engineering from the University of Illinois and her MBA from the University of Chicago. Before her position at Emerson, she worked as an engineer with Amoco and with Exxon.
Bennett is a partner at Dowd Bennett Law Firm. He is lead trial and appellate counsel in high-profile cases not expected to settle out of court. Bennett is a former law clerk to the Hon. Anthony M. Kennedy, Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court, and to the Hon. J. L. Edmondson, United States Circuit Judge for the 11th Circuit. Bennett received the Young Alumni Achievement Award in 2013 and is a member of the Westminster Athletics Hall of Fame. Jim and wife Melanie's son Andy is a current student at Westminster, Class of 2020.
Humphreys is the principal program manager for technology development at AT&T. The first woman granted admission into Westminster College in 1979, Humphreys was a founding member of the Kappa Alpha Theta sorority chapter at Westminster. She lives in Des Peres with her husband, Steve Humphreys, a 1983 grad. Both of the couple's daughters, Katherine and Sarah, graduated from Westminster, as did her father, Dr. John Schultz who was also a professor there. She was awarded the Jack Marshall Alumni Loyalty Award in 2012 and the Audrey Remley Award in 2009.
Murer is the founder and CEO of Automotive Product Consultants Integrated Services Group which he founded in the early 2000s. He is the owner and developer of more than 14 U.S. patents and is founder/president of internet startup MiRealm.com. Murer is a past Cub Scout leader, current assistant scoutmaster, current Level 200 USSA ski coach for Hidden Valley Ski Team. Murer's father, Fred E. Murer, is a 1963 graduate of Westminster, and his mother, aunt and sister attended William Woods College. His son Erik Murer will attend Westminster in the fall and his daughter Abigail Murer is an Olympic hopeful alpine ski racer and competes on the U.S. Ski Team.
Wilson is the third generation to head S.M. Wilson & Co. He was named the president of the firm at the age of 38. He is a board member of the Boy Scouts of America and the Central Institute for the Deaf, sits on the Plan Commission/Architectural Review Board for the City of Clayton, is a member of the St. Louis Regional Business Council and is a committee member for the AGC of America, Contractor Loan Fund, Forest Park Forever and the St. Louis Council of Construction Consumers.
Taylor received her bachelor of arts and master of arts from the University of Kansas and a J.D. from the University of MissouriKansas City, then began her career as a lawyer, becoming a litigation partner at Gage & Tucker, now Lathrop & Gage. She later co-founded and was CEO of Of Counsel, Inc., a staffing firm providing lawyers and legal assistants on a contract basis to law firms and corporate law departments. She currently serves as a vice chairman of the board of the Kansas City Symphony. Taylor and her husband, Steve, live on a farm near Edgerton where they have horses and chickens and raise organic vegetables and fruit. They are avid travelers. Taylor also competes in the equestrian sport of dressage.
The Westminster Board of Trustees consists of approximately 40 members and meets three times a year in the fall, winter, and spring.