At its October 2016 meeting, the Randolph-Macon Academy Board of Trustees recognized two dedicated outgoing trustees and welcomed a new chairman.
Outgoing were Chairman Joseph F. Silek, Jr. ’77 and former Chair George D. Mathias ’54, whose combined years of service to R-MA equated to 66 years. These two gentlemen were instrumental in changing the board governance, and in 2009, term limits for all board members were introduced. The current members were grandfathered for one term, which drew to a close for both Mathias and Silek this past October.
Mathias served on the board continuously since 1974, including the longest tenure in school history as Chairman. Silek joined the Academy’s board in 1992, following his father, Joseph F. Silek Sr., a long-time Front Royal resident, business owner, and R-MA trustee. Both Sileks have been acknowledged as ardent supporters of the Academy.
The younger Silek was offered the title of Chairman Emeritus during the meeting, which he said he was honored to accept. And as a 1977 graduate of the school and the father of a current senior, he plans to continue to support his alma mater in whatever way he can.
Also during the meeting of October 14th, the R-MA Board of Trustees elected John “Boomer” Stufflebeem as the new Chairman of the Board. Stufflebeem is a 1970 graduate of the Academy and has been a trustee since 2011.
Away from the school, Stufflebeem is an independent consultant and sole proprietor of the NJS Group LLC, a strategic and crisis communications consulting firm in Alexandria, VA, established after he retired from the U.S. Navy in 2008 as an admiral. He is also a life member of the National Football League Players Association, having played football for the Detroit Lions in the late 1970s.
As Chairman, Stufflebeem said he plans to focus on “securing the financial underpinning for our school's future and helping create the brand of our school that assures sustained optimal enrollment.”
“As an expectation, our school must prepare for an uncertain future–for our children's children,” he observed. “Within this, a goal I urge the school to pursue is to develop the mind, body and spirit of our students from new levels of knowledge, leadership and character. It is my hope our school becomes a beacon of leadership for our country.”
The Board of Trustees voluntarily serves the Academy by providing requisite governance in the core responsibilities of mission, strategy, policy and planning of one of the Nation’s top private, independent military college-prep schools. According to their Bylaws, Trustees serve out their limited terms then must step down for at least a year before being considered to rejoin the Board.