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Trustees committee approves leadership slate and multiple trustee nominations
Summary
The Governance, Nominating and Trusteeship Committee approved minutes, reendorsed board leadership for 1-year terms beginning July 1, 2026, adopted updated criteria for electing term trustees, and recommended multiple term and emeritus trustee candidates and two UPMC board directors; the resolutions will go to the full Board on May 7.
Pete Varischetti, chair of the Governance, Nominating and Trusteeship Committee of the University of Pittsburgh Board of Trustees, opened a public meeting and led the committee in approving a package of governance actions, including leadership re-elections and several trustee nominations.
The committee approved the minutes of its July 7, 2025 meeting. It then presented and approved a resolution recommending the re-election of John J. Verbanic as chair and Lisa A. Golden as vice chair for one-year terms beginning July 1, 2026; the motion passed with two abstentions recorded in the transcript but the abstaining individuals were not named.
The committee adopted updated criteria for electing term trustees, explaining the prior criteria were rendered null by the board's revised bylaws approved June 21, 2024. Varischetti said the updated criteria align trustee selection with the board's current governance practices.
Under a previously approved three-year transition plan, the committee recommended re-election of current term trustee Salisa L. Barrett and recommended the election of David C. Frederick as a term trustee. The committee also recommended five new individuals for term trustee positions beginning July 1, 2026: Thomas Brooks, Jay Cleveland, Tony Frado, Mary Beth Richards, and William Pierce. The transcript lists another re-election candidate whose name appears as "Edward J. Greffenste Ed"; the transcript formatting for that name is unclear and is noted in clarifying details below.
The committee recommended four individuals for honorary emeritus trustee status — Gary T. Brownlee, James P. Covert, Don S. Hitchens, and Valarie T. Naish — citing their long service and contributions to the university. It also recommended to the full Board that James P. Covert be re-elected and Roberta A. Luxbacher be elected as university directors on the UPMC Board of Directors.
Four resolutions approved by the committee will be presented to the full Board of Trustees for consideration at the annual Board meeting on Thursday, May 7. The public meeting was streamed and recorded; the recording will be posted on the Board of Trustees website. The committee adjourned with no additional business.
"I hereby call today's public meeting to order," Varischetti said at the opening; after each resolution he announced, "The resolution is approved," as voice votes were recorded.
Next steps: the committee's recommendations will be considered by the full Board at its upcoming annual meeting on May 7.
