Reynolds Elected Chair of SSU Board of Trustees

            A husband and a wife each serving as chair of the Board of Trustees at a public university.  This has never happened in the state of Ohio until now, and Shawnee State University (SSU) is the first state university in Ohio to experience it.
            Klara “Kay” Boynton Reynolds of Lucasville, member of the SSU Board of Trustees since 1999, has been elected chair of the Board.  She and her husband, the late Tom Reynolds who served as board member from 1991 until his death in 1999, including three years as chair, are the first husband/wife duo to serve as Board of Trustees chairs out of all of the chairs to serve in that capacity at Ohio’s 13 public universities.
            Appointed to the Board for a nine-year term in 1999 by Governor Bob Taft, Mrs. Reynolds—who is owner of Scioto Rental Management and Boynton Farms—said her election as chair is an honor and a great responsibility.
             “I am pleased to receive this honor as well as assuming the responsibility to the youngest and fastest-growing public university in the state.”
            Mrs. Reynolds—who graduated from Portsmouth West High School, received a bachelor’s degree in home economics from The Ohio State University, and a master’s degree in education from Marshall University—said she has watched SSU from the very beginning and views it in terms of a child who is entering its teenage years. 
            “It’s growing; it’s such a dynamic university, and it means so much to our community,” she said.  “Our students and graduates are doing unbelievable things.  Shawnee State University is truly changing the face of our community.”
            Mr. Reynolds, a native of Pennsylvania, graduated from Muskingum College as an accountant.  His accounting firm in Portsmouth was Reynolds and Company.
            “Tom was very active behind the scenes in the community, “Mrs. Reynolds said.  “He truly cared about this area.”
            As Board member and chair, Mr. Reynolds served during a time of major campus expansion at SSU.  He also served as an adjunct professor teaching accounting at the university.
            “He loved teaching,” Mrs. Reynolds said.
            “In my experience here, Tom’s relationship with the president at the time he was chair of the board was as close as any,” said Susan Warsaw, executive director of development at SSU.  “He really had a wonderful rapport with the president and it made for a fabulous relationship.”
            Warsaw said Mr. Reynolds’ formal relationship with Shawnee State began when he served on the institution’s Development Foundation.
            “He was truly a driving force, particularly in planned-giving, here,” she said.  “We were new at that time and as a CPA, he knew something about that.  He was one of those people, during a time when there weren’t too many financial professionals who would be willing to suggest charity as an estate planning tool, who did suggest that people make charity a part of their financial plan, including Shawnee State.”
            Mr. Reynolds was a key individual in raising money for SSU through the “Reach for the Stars” campaign that funded the Vern Riffe Center for the Arts and the Clark Planetarium, in addition to “Crossing the Threshold”—SSU’s first campaign—that funded scholarships, in addition to providing dollars to make the move from community college to university status, Warsaw said.
            “Tom Reynolds was instrumental in the phenomenal growth in fundraising at SSU,” Warsaw said.
            Mrs. Reynolds pointed to “impressive statistics” that illustrate the university is doing “great things.”
            “Over 90 percent of SSU’s pre-med students who have completed the program are accepted into medical school,” she said.  “That statistic alone is just awesome.  Our graduates in the health sciences programs have outstanding passage rates on the state and national boards.  Our professors are obviously doing an excellent job.” 
            Mrs. Reynolds said the university also has very motivated students.
            “The fact that they have chosen to attend SSU not only speaks well for our university but also tells me how much their lives are going to be changed and enriched from their decision.”
            Mrs. Reynolds feels that there is an outstanding “team” in place at SSU, including a “strong” faculty, “excellent” support staff, and “dynamic” administration. 
            “The university excels academically and athletically,” she said.  “And we have a beautiful campus.  These are the result of our faculty, administration, and support staff.  In addition, the university’s leadership is first-rate.  In conversations with individuals from other universities across the state, they mention Rita Rice Morris’ enthusiasm and sincere interest in their universities, their faculty, and what they are doing.  Dr. Morris also shares all of the exciting things that we are doing as well.  She is a great ambassador for SSU.  In addition, our vice presidents are doing an excellent job.  Our leadership is why we are growing, why we are so visible, and why we can offer so much to the region.”
            Mrs. Reynolds’ ties to SSU go back to SSU’s predecessor institution—Ohio University-Portsmouth. 
           “My mother was 16 years old when she graduated from high school,” she said.  “She attended Miami University.  At that time you could teach with only two years of college; thus at 18 she started teaching in Clay Township.” 
            After her mother, Mary Katherine Smith Rapp, was married, she put her teaching career on hiatus but went back to teaching when Mrs. Reynolds started high school.  Her mother needed to complete her degree so she came to OU-Portsmouth to do so.  From time to time throughout her life Mrs. Reynolds has taken various courses at SSU.  Her daughters both attended Shawnee State during the summer terms, and her grandchildren are now attending the summer enrichment programs that the university offers. 
            “It [SSU] has been part of our lives for a very long time,” Mrs. Reynolds said.
            A life-long resident of Scioto County, Mrs. Reynolds was raised on a farm and attended a two-room school at Sugar Grove.
           “I walked through our pasture to school,” she said.  “This was the best and worst examples of an education system.  It was peer teaching with four to seven students per grade.  The system was slated for consolidation; therefore, nothing went into building repairs.  We were without sanitary facilities and had limited heat.  Many successful educators and business professionals were part of this system.  In fact, Earl Thomas Conley was one of my classmates.”
            Mrs. Reynolds attributes her success in life to her family.  Her father, Howard Rapp, Jr., was a leader in the agriculture community, president of the fair board, and served on numerous local and district boards and committees. 
            “Dad was a quiet man who was very intelligent, well read, and self-educated,” she said.  “He, like many teenagers during the depression years, had been forced to quit high school and obtain employment.  As a result of this, he became a champion for higher education.”
            Mrs. Reynolds’ first husband—the late Roger Boynton, a veterinarian—passed away 19 years ago.  She has two married daughters and five grandchildren with whom she enjoys spending time.  She also raises champion paint horses, loves to read, and holds numerous memberships and appointments to boards such as Rotary International and Southern Ohio Medical Center Foundation.  She is serving her fifth term as the Republican state central committee woman for the 14^th State Senatorial District and served on the search committees for three state Supreme Court justice candidates.  She is currently on the Hospice campaign cabinet.
            “Shawnee State University has greatness ahead,” Mrs. Reynolds said.
            Rita Rice Morris, Ph.D., president of SSU, said Reynolds has a long history of support for the university.
            “During her time and her husband’s time on the Board, the Reynolds’ support has resulted in greater community awareness of the university and some exciting fundraising outcomes,” Morris said.  “I look forward to continuing my work with Mrs. Reynolds.”
         Frank Waller, former chair and member of the SSU Board of Trustees, said he was vice chair of the Board when Mr. Reynolds was chair.  He said they had the same goal of promoting Shawnee State University throughout southern Ohio and northern Kentucky.  Waller said Mrs. Reynolds will be an effective Board chair.
            “She’s very energetic and has good ideas,” he said.  “She will do a good job. She’s good at getting things done in Columbus.”
 

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 9, 2005