Board of Trustees

Even most alumni cannot claim as long a connection with R-MA as Mrs. Lucy (Williams) Hooper’s – her parents were Colonel Arvin S. Williams, USAF, Retired (he served in various teaching and coaching positions from 1948-1968, and as President of the Academy from 1969-1978) and Mrs. Emma Williams (R-MA’s registrar when they married in 1950, as well as secretary to then-R-MA President, Col. John C. Boggs). It is not an exaggeration to say that Hooper grew up on campus!

An economics major and Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Randolph-Macon Woman’s College (now Randolph College), she went on to the world of finance, beginning her career at First & Merchants National Bank (now Bank of America) in Richmond in 1973 and moving to Davenport & Company in 1981 as an institutional bond salesman (the firm’s first female broker). She remains at Davenport & Company today as Executive Vice President and Director of Fixed Income, a role she has held since 2000. She is also a former board member and chair of the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB). Hooper served on the Randolph College Board of Trustees from 2000-2012, including five years as Chair, as well as the Randolph College Alumni Association in multiple leadership roles. She has also served as a director of the Virginia United Methodist Foundation and as a trustee for the Children’s Museum of Richmond. She has served on the R-MA Board of Trustees since 2013.

John brings forty-one years of experience of soldiering, coaching, mentoring soldiers and students, and directing large and complex programs. His professional experience includes being the Director of Athletics at The Lawrenceville School and Charlotte Country Day School. 

Education:

• M.S., Counseling-Long Island University
• B.S., Engineering-S. Military Academy at West Point
• Class of 1968-Randolph-Macon Academy

Alonzo is a multi-faceted professional with over 13 years of global strategy, operations, and business experience. He brings cross-functional expertise in building and leading flexible teams in dynamic and demanding environments. 

Education:

• M.P.A., Economic Policy-Columbia University
• M.A., International Relations-Tufts University, Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy
• B.S., Ocean Engineering-US Naval Academy
• Class of 2001-Randolph-Macon Academy

As someone who has focused her career on developing business leaders,  I am thrilled to be a part of building the next generation of leaders who will improve humanity at Randolph-Macon Academy. My experience includes twelve years at GE in seven different locations around the US, and fifteen years in my own executive coaching practice, as well as my current role as Chief Learning Officer at Miller Electric Company in Jacksonville, Florida. I joined the board of trustees because of how impressed I was by the character and leadership qualities of the R-MA alumni I’ve been fortunate to meet, as well as witnessing those qualities being developed in our remarkable students. As a mother of three young adults, I believe that we have no greater calling than to assist and guide as our next generation grows mentally, emotionally, physically, and spiritually. More than any other school I know, the wonderful faculty and staff at R-MA do just that.

Randolph-Macon Academy and the Austin family have enjoyed a longstanding relationship. My two uncles, Jim and Jack, graduated from R-MA during the peak of World War II. My brother Douglas (’79) and I each attended as boarding students for four years. Our father, Harry Jr., served as a board trustee for several years in the mid-1980s. 

In late 2020, I retired as the President of James Austin Company, our fourth-generation family business based in Pittsburgh, which was founded in 1889. Following my graduation from Bucknell University with a degree in business, I was commissioned into the US Army Reserves, serving our nation for 14 years.

Additionally, I served as a bank director for Mars National Bank for 24 years. My board memberships have included an ESOP company, a retirement and nursing home, an advertising agency, and active participation in Rotary International. Early in my career, I earned a private pilot license.

Notably, I proudly served Randolph-Macon Academy as a board trustee for two terms, comprising 11 and 16 years, respectively. After a respite, I am now honored to return for another term of service. 

I hold Randolph-Macon Academy in high regard for the foundation it provided me, fostering commitment and purpose in my work, family, friendships, and community engagements. During my tenure at R-MA, I developed a stronger confidence (my Rise) that equipped me to face the challenges encountered over the years.

Education:

• B.S., Business Administration-Bucknell University
• Class of 1975-Randolph Macon Academy

Bill Bersing is an accomplished Senior Executive with more than 25 years of success across the energy, engineering, construction, security, IT, and government sectors. Leveraging extensive experience developing Construction Management Information Systems and leading program management on billion dollar U.S. government programs and projects around the world, he is a valuable asset for companies working on pursuing government contracts, construction program management, scheduling issues, strategy around risk of moving into a new market, or on reorganization of processes and procedures. His broad areas of expertise include business development, government contracting, organizational leadership, global operations, construction management services, quality control, crisis management, personnel management, qualitative research studies, big data, engineering design, and strategic planning. Throughout his career, Dr. Bersing has held leadership positions at companies including the Institute for Program Solutions PC (IPS), Louis Berger, O’Brien Krietzberg (URS) and Jacobs Engineering. As President of IPS since 2011 (and previously from 2003 to 2006), he oversees Construction Management and Engineering Services throughout Europe, Africa and the Middle East (EAME) to the U.S. DoD, Department of State and a number of large corporations. Projects have included writing and assisting negotiations for a $750M UAE real estate build lease contract between the U.S. government and Dubai Port World. He also spent more than two years as Senior Program Manager with global professional services and civil engineering firm Louis Berger from 2014 to 2017. These roles follow nearly six years as Senior Program Manager with Jacobs Engineering, where he provided construction management services at air bases and facilities with program value of more than $1B. He previously spent three years as Regional Manager with URS Corporation and five years as a Project Engineer with the Naples Improvement Initiative. He honed his project management expertise during eight years as a Project Engineer with NAVFAC. He has been responsible for providing senior level design and construction management services on more than $3B in construction programs, is a Scheduling Subject Matter Expert (SME) and dispute resolution/claims expert for the State Department’s Overseas Building Operation (OBO) and Quatar Railways Major Stations, and has a track record for establishing partnerships and joint ventures between multinational companies on large business pursuits. Bill holds a BS in Civil Engineering from the Virginia Military Institute, an MiS in Management Information Systems from Bowie State University, and a DM in Organizational Leadership from the University of Phoenix. He has been a Board Member with the American Society of Civil Engineers Region 10 and is an Advisory Board Member with the International Resilience Center.

Education:

• D.M., Organizational Leadership-University of Phoenix
• Mi.S., Management Information Systems-Bowie State University
• B.S., Civil Engineering-Virginia Military Institute

Bryan V. Moore is a 1984 graduate of Randolph-Macon Academy. During his two years on The Hill he was on the student council, the swim team, managed the football team, and was deputy Corps Commander his senior year. After graduation, Bryan attended Radford University and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Communications.

Bryan started his professional career in broadcasting, working at radio and television stations in Georgia, North Carolina and Virginia. After anchoring and reporting in television news for more than 15 years, and in public affairs for ElectriCities of North Carolina, an electric utility trade association, he joined Newport News Shipbuilding (NNS) in 2006 as special events and marking manager. During that time he led all ship christening ceremonies and coordinated presidential visits of President Bush, President Obama. President Trump and President Biden. He also served on the shipyard’s crisis and emergency response team, and most recently supported COVID-19 communications and the set-up and opening of the shipyard’s vaccination center.

Today Bryan is the corporate director, Enterprise Communications, at Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII), the parent company of NNS. In this position, Bryan is responsible for aligning communications efforts to help achieve the company’s strategic goals and tactical objectives and initiatives. He oversees the integration and execution of enterprise-wide communications, including corporate executive communications support, the HII News Bureau, all corporate internet, intranet and social media activities as well as communications involving the planning and execution of mergers and acquisitions.

He serves as president of the Alumni Association Board of Directors at Randolph-Macon Academy and is a former Board member of the Hampton Roads chapter of the Public Relations Society of America. He lives in Norfolk Virginia, close to the Virginia Beach home of his mother and father, Betty and Dave Moore, a 1953 graduate of RMA and former Board of Trustee.

Education:

• B.A., Communications-Radford University

Mr. Chris Gabelle is the parent of both a current R-MA student (Francis ‘27) and an R-MA graduate (JJ Banek-Gabelle ‘21, now at the US Coast Guard Academy). He currently serves as a Senior Social Protection Specialist for the World Bank in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where he is based in Kinshasa. His extensive experience in international development and fragile/conflict-affected countries includes senior management and technical roles with the United Kingdom Department for International Development in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sierra Leone, Uganda, and Liberia; as well as additional roles at the World Bank, United Nations, and European Union in West Africa, including Deputy Head of Office for the United Kingdom’s response to the West African Ebola Outbreak (Sierra Leone, 2014-2016). He holds a Bachelor of Science in Agricultural Economics and Management, as well as a Master of Science in Tropical Agricultural Development, both from the University of Reading in Reading, United Kingdom.

David Link is a 1985 graduate of Randolph-Macon Academy, a 1989 graduate of the College of William & Mary with a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, and an experienced CEO, Chairman, Director, and Founder with global experience working across multiple industries and countries.  

Mr. Link served as a Managing Director of Accenture with senior leadership roles in France, the Netherlands, Australia, South Korea, and the Asia Pacific region over a 26-year career.   Mr. Link also subsequently founded, led and exited a successful global payments fintech (based in Australia, Singapore & Silicon Valley), and has served on a number of boards, board committees, and advisory boards, including the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, Ripple Labs, the Australian Centre for Financial Studies, and the St. Kilda AFL Football Club.  

Mr. Link is also an Honourary Fellow at the University of Melbourne in the Faculty of Business and Economics, and currently lives in Melbourne with his wife and two children.

Mr Morris is the third member of his family to serve on the R-MA Board of Trustees, following his father, A. Newth Morris, III ’69 and his great-grandfather Arthur Newth Morris.  His grandfather Arthur Newth Morris, Jr.  graduated class of ’45.  Mr. Morris graduated the Brooks Institute of Photography and worked for many years in the field of commercial photography and advertising.  In 2010 he published Mayors Across America: A 3,600 mile bicycle journey documenting the American Mayor.  Mr. Morris left the field to pursue further education at SBS Swiss Business School in Zurich.  He currently works part time as a consultant to small businesses.  He is married to Jessica Werner Morris ’01 and is a full-time dad to Mackenzie (5), George (4), and John Michael (17mos.)

Erin Sauvager, President of the Randolph-Macon Academy Parents’ Association, has been an active member of the R-MA community since her two children enrolled in 2021. Her son, a Class of 2025 graduate, now attends the United States Air Force Academy, and her daughter is a current Sophomore at R-MA. Erin and her husband have been residents to Warren County, VA, for nearly nineteen years. With a degree from VA Tech in Family and Child Development: Early Education Option, Erin brings over fourteen years of teaching experience in public and private education, training as an Educational Therapist, and prior school leadership to her role, where she is dedicated to supporting students, faculty, and the R-MA community through events, fundraising, and parent engagement.

Mr. John Demers serves as the corporate secretary for The Boeing Company, as well as vice president and assistant general counsel for Finance & Strategy and Environmental & Enterprise Operations, where he oversees legal matters relating to corporate governance and securities filings, mergers and acquisitions, sustainability and environment, health and safety, and cybersecurity. In 2021, he returned to Boeing after serving as assistant attorney general for National Security at the US Department of Justice under both Presidents Trump and Biden. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in political science from the College of the Holy Cross and a Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School, and has served as an adjunct professor of national security law at the Georgetown University Law Center.

Dr. Mark A. Brown was appointed the tenth president and CEO of Tuskegee University. His tenure began on July 1, 2024. Dr Brown’s selection was the first time in Tuskegee’s nearly 143-year history that an alum was selected to lead the university. This retired Air Force Major General agreed to take the helm after the retirement of Dr. Charlotte P. Morris, the university’s ninth president.

His extensive executive experience includes the Harvard University Kennedy School of Government, the University of Virginia Darden School of Business,  and the Eli and Edythe Broad Academy for Urban School Superintendents, now hosted at the Yale School of Management.

Dr. Brown, who received his bachelor’s from Tuskegee in accounting in 1986, earned a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from Troy University, a Master’s of Strategic Studies from the Air Command and Staff College, a Master’s in National Security Strategy from the National War College, and his doctorate in Education from Baylor University. His experience in education is varied and distinguished.

While a Major General in the Air Force, Dr. Brown served as Deputy Commander of Air Education and Training Command, Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph, Texas. AETC recruits, trains, and educates Air Force personnel. His command included the Air Force Recruiting Service, two numbered Air Forces, and two fully accredited graduate and doctoral degree-granting universities: Air University and the Air Force Institute of Technology. AETC operates more than 1,400 trainer, fighter, and mobility aircraft, 23 wings, 10 bases, and five geographically separated groups. The command trains more than 293,000 Airmen annually, with approximately 60,000 active-duty, Reserve, Guard, civilian, and contractor personnel.

After retiring from the Air Force with 32 years of service, Dr. Brown expanded his educational service as the chief operating officer of the U.S. Department of Education Office of Federal Student Aid, which had a lending portfolio of $1.7 trillion equivalent to that of the nation’s five largest consumer lending banks. As COO, he was responsible for all of the nation’s Title IV funding.

Most recently, he has served as president and chief executive officer of the Student Freedom Initiative based in Washington, D.C. The Student Freedom Initiative is the vision of billionaire philanthropist Robert F. Smith after his historic gift to eliminate the student loan debt of the Morehouse College class of 2019.

As the first President and Chief Executive Officer, he and his staff provide four components to 63 HBCUs, which also includes two Tribal Colleges and Universities and Minority Serving Institutions. The capabilities include agreements to fund any educational attendance requirements beyond what is paid for through Federal programs, such as Pell Grants, Work-Study, and Federal Student Loans. SFI is also focused on elevating the communities around its school by providing critical resources such as access to highspeed broadband, cybersecurity upgrades, affordable living spaces and solar energy.

Dr. Brown was commissioned through the Tuskegee University Air Force ROTC program in 1986. He served in comptroller, command, and staff positions at all U.S. Department of Defense levels, including two assignments as congressional liaison to the United States House of Representatives.

His global experience includes serving in the Philippines, Spain, England, Turkey and Iraq. In addition, he has commanded four times at ascending levels, deploying in support of operation Provide Comfort, and served as the Assistant Executive Officer for the 17th Air Force Chief of Staff. He was also the Financial Management Senior Military Assistant in the Office of the Secretary of Defense and Chief Financial Officer for Air Force Materiel Command, responsible for a portfolio greater than $60 billion, 38 percent of the Air Force budget.

Dr. Brown is married to Gwendolyn Jackson Brown, his wife of 33 years. They have two adult children, Mark II and Michael.

Dr. Margaret Konkel is an Associate Professor, MFA Design Thinking and Program Coordinator for the Interior Design Program at Radford University. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Modern Language and Literature from the College of William and Mary, an MFA in Interior Design from the Academy of Art University, and an Individual Interdisciplinary PhD from Montana State University. Her scholarly research focuses on the pedagogy of design thinking in higher education, especially as related to interdisciplinary wicked problem-solving. She is LEED AP and NCIDQ certified with over twelve years of commercial interior design practice. Dr. Konkel is the daughter of former R-MA trustee, Mr. William G. Thomas ‘57, who passed away in 2020, and his wife Mrs. Suzanne Thomas, a longtime friend of the Academy.

Tess Hegedus began her career in Physical Therapy 30 years ago after graduating from the University of Pittsburgh School of Health Related Professions. Overtime, she discovered a passion for teaching and learning. Combined with her love of science these interests led to a rewarding pathway forward in the field of education. In pursuit of these interests, Tess obtained a Master’s Degree in Gifted Education from Elon University and a PhD in Teacher Education/Higher Education from the University of North Carolina, Greensboro. Her over 20-year career in education has been filled with a variety of experiences to include teaching, research, and administration in  K-12 learning environments and higher education. Tess served as Dean of Instructional Leadership and Innovation at Randolph-Macon Academy from 2018-2020 collaborating to build technology initiatives, J-Term, Pre-Professional Pathways, and simulation labs to enhance the educational experience for students at the school. She is honored to be able to return to R-MA to serve as a Trustee and support future initiatives that benefit students and the Academy as a whole

The Honorable W. Revell Lewis recently retired after serving 12 years as a Circuit Court Judge in Virginia’s Second Circuit. A 1969 graduate of R-MA, he holds a Bachelor of Science from Washington & Lee University and a Juris Doctor from the T.C. Williams School of Law, University of Richmond. Prior to his appointment to the bench in 2011, he served as a partner at Custis, Lewis & Dix LLP in Accomac. He has served in leadership roles on several boards of directors, including Shore Health Services Inc., the Eastern Shore Community Foundation, Farmers and Merchants Bank, Broadwater Academy, and Virginia United Methodist Homes, Inc. Judge Lewis is also a lifelong member of Grace United Methodist Church, where he is Chairman of the Board of Trustees. He and his wife Lisa have two children and six grandchildren.