Stephen Hicks is president and CEO of J. M. Longyear LLC, a natural
resources company with interests in the upper Midwest and Canada. He is
also vice chairman of Minnesota Steel Industries. Hicks brings more than
twenty years of experience in businesses focused on natural resources to
the Board. An alumnus of Michigan Tech, Hicks graduated in 1983 with a
Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, Accounting and is a
graduate of the University of Michigan Business School Executive
Program. He has served on Michigan Tech’s School of Forest Resources and
Environmental Science Advisory Committee and Building Expansion
Committee. He has also served as chair of the Michigan Forest Products
Council.
Julie Fream graduated from Michigan Tech with a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering and earned an MBA from the Harvard Business School in 1987. She began her career at Visteon in 1998 and previously worked for General Motors, Ford Motor Company and TRW. From 2008 to 2011 she was vice president of Visteon’s North American customer group, global strategy, and communications, In 2002, Fream appeared on Crain’s Detroit Business’s “40 under 40” list for her sales leadership at Visteon. In 2005, she earned the Anti-Defamation League’s Woman of Achievement Award for fostering an inclusive and diverse work environment at Visteon. Fream is a member of the University’s Distinguished Academy of Chemical Engineering. She received Michigan Tech’s Outstanding Young Alumni and Outstanding Service Awards and was the featured speaker at Midyear Commencement in 2003.
Lenora Ashford holds a Bachelor of Science from Central State University
in Wilberforce, Ohio, and a Master of Education from Wayne State
University. She is the former principal of Lewis Cass Technical High School in
Detroit. Honored as an Outstanding Educator by the Detroit Public
Schools seven times, she also has been honored with several other
education awards and has taught high school biology, physical science,
and earth science in the Detroit Public Schools. She helped develop the
curriculum for the Detroit Science Center Super Summer Science Camp and
the high school curriculum for the Detroit Area Pre-college Engineering
Program (DAPCEP), an engineering preparatory program with close ties to
Michigan Tech.
Thomas Baldini was the former district director for US Representative Bart Stupak from 2003 to 2010. He also served as education advisor and special
assistant to former Michigan Governor James Blanchard. He has worked as assistant to
the superintendent for personnel and finances of the Marquette Area Public Schools
and has taught high school and university political science classes in Marquette.In 1994,
he was appointed chair of the US section of the International Joint
Commission for Canada and the US, by President Bill Clinton. He also served
as US commissioner for the International Boundary Commission for the US and Canada,
another presidential appointment.Baldini is a founding member and vice president of
the Economic Club of Marquette County, a founding member of the Marquette Community
Foundation and a member of the Marquette Area Public School Foundation. He has won
the Mount Arvon Award for Conservation Leadership, the Distinguished Alumni Award
from Northern Michigan University and a Distinguished Public Service Award from the
American Association of University Professors
Robert Jacquart is chief executive officer of Jacquart Fabric Products in Ironwood, a textile designing and manufacturing company his father began in 1958. Under Jacquart's leadership, the company has grown from a small storefront business to a thriving 80,000- square-foot complex with $15 million in annual sales, including the popular Stormy Kromer line of hats and other clothing. He was chair of Gogebic Community College’s Board of Trustees and a member of the Michigan Garment Industry Council.
Linda Kennedy ’91 is a shareholder in the Detroit office of Butzel Long PC, one of Michigan's oldest law firms. Previously, she served as in-house counsel for Dow Chemical Company and as a technical writer for IBM’s software solutions division. Kennedy holds a bachelor’s degree in scientific and technical communication from Michigan Tech, as well as a bachelor’s degree in chemistry and a law degree from the University of Minnesota.
Terry Woychowski graduated from Michigan Tech with a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering, attended Duke University’s Global Executive Development Program, and received an Honorary Doctorate of Business Management from Indiana Wesleyan University. From 1997-2009 he served as GM's chief engineer for full-size pickups and SUVs, and from 2009-2012 he served as vice president for global quality and vehicle launches. He has received GM’s highest honor, the Chairman’s Award, four times and is president of the Engineering Society of Detroit (ESD), where he has helped develop courses through Michigan Tech to retrain engineers. He is a member of Michigan Tech’s Academy of Mechanical Engineering–Engineering Mechanics, the College of Engineering Industrial Advisory Board, and sponsors two Senior Design teams.