Franklin’s Board of Trustees

Stacey Armstrong is an alumnus of Franklin University, having earned her MBA in 2009, and currently serves as the president of the WVU Innovation Corporation. Stacey previously served as chief operating officer of Riverside Methodist Hospital. During her time at OhioHealth, she also served as chief operating officer and president of Grant Medical Center in Columbus and as vice president of specialty services for OhioHealth Physicians Group. Stacey received her bachelor’s degree in medical technology from Indiana University. Stacey currently serves on the Partnerships Committee and Chairs the Human Resource & Advancement Committee.

Bill Balderaz is President & Founder of Futurety, a data analytics and marketing consulting firm. The firm focuses on helping organizations use data to power marketing and communications, serving regulated industries, including healthcare, pharma, finance, government, and medical devices. Previously, Bill was the founder and president of Webbed Marketing which went from a one-man consultancy to one of the fastest-growing interactive marketing agencies in the Midwest. He has spoken at more than 150 conferences from New York to California on innovation.

Ms. Crane is a community advocate currently serving on the boards of Goodwill Columbus, Upper Arlington Community Foundation, and the Columbus Foundation Reese-Shackelford Supporting Organization. She has also served on numerous other boards, including Planned Parenthood of Central Ohio/Greater Ohio, Columbus School for Girls, and I Know I Can. She is highly active with the Crane Group, which was founded by her grandfather. Prior to leaving the corporate world, Ms. Crane worked in Chicago (IL) for Kraft General Foods/Kraft USA where she led the brand management for several multi-million-dollar product lines, and developed the strategic plan and coordinated the major planning projects for a multi-billion division. Ms. Crane holds an MBA in Marketing from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management, at Northwestern University (IL), and a BS in Marketing and Management from Indiana University. Ms. Crane and husband Tim Miller reside in Columbus, and are the proud parents of Taylor and Hailey. Jamie serves on the Academic & Student Affiars Committee and the Human Resource & Advancement Committee.

Ms. Duchi joined the board in 2009.  Mary is past Chair of the Franklin University Board of Trustees and currently serves on the Finance Committee and the Committee on Trusteeship Governance.  Mary has extensive background in both the private and public sectors. She joined Battelle in 1977 and retired from the organization 34 years later as the Vice President of Operations and Systems Services. Ms. Duchi has volunteered her time toward both professional and personal interests by serving as Board member for the Battelle National Biodefense Institute; as a Franklin Park Conservatory Trustee; as a board member for both the Central Ohio Regional Science and Engineering Fair and Edison Welding Institute boards; and on a number of committees and boards for the city of Upper Arlington. Ms. Duchi earned her MBA in Finance and Quantitative Methods from The Ohio State University and her BBA in Finance from the University of Michigan.

Phil Fankhauser is co-founder and principal of Epcon Communities and Epcon Communities Franchising.  Since 1986, Epcon has been a developer of communities designed for the age 55+ market.  With a home office in Columbus, Ohio and Regional offices in Raleigh and Charlotte, North Carolina, Epcon is recognized nationally as a top builder of age-targeted properties.  The franchise business includes franchised builders in over 20 states. Fankhauser has over 45 years’ experience in real estate development and construction and serves as a member of the Urban Land Institute’s “Lifestyle Residential Development” Council.  He is an alumnus of Franklin University and currently serves on the Marketing & Enrollment Management Committee as well as the Infrastructure Committee.

Mr. Flynn joined the board in 2002. Gary serves as the Chair of the Partnership Committee. In addition, he serves on the Marketing & Enrollment Management Committee, the Committee on Trusteeship Governance, and the Audit. Controls & Compliance Committee. He earned his bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Franklin University in 1971. Flynn also is a 1983 graduate of The Ohio State University’s Executive Development Program.  Mr. Flynn was employed 33 years at Abbott Laboratories, a leading global broad-based healthcare company, where he retired as Senior Vice President of Abbott Nutrition.  Gary served as Chairman of the Board in 2013 & 2014.

Ted Ford is a seasoned executive with over 25 years of experience in government, marketing, higher education, and public-private partnerships. Ted currently serves as a CEO for Advanced Energy Economy Ohio, a statewide trade group involved in the development and financing of advanced energy projects. Previously, Ted served as TechColumbus’ first CEO and as President and CEO of Edison Welding Institute, a nationally recognized independent engineering research and development organization. As Senior Vice President for University Advancement at Northern Arizona University in the late 1990’s, he led the development launch of the institution’s first capital campaign which raised $100 million. He has served as a business development professional, legislative advocate, legislative staffer, and executive assistant to the Governor of Ohio. He is also a regional affiliate director for BioOhio. He received his undergrad and his Master’s at The Ohio State University. Ted serves as the Chair of the Academic/Student Committee.

Bringing strong operational and strategic leadership experience to the Board, Oyauma Garrison serves as the President & Chief Executive Officer at Maryhaven, Inc., a nonprofit organization that helps individuals and families lead healthy lives free from addiction and mental health challenges by providing education, treatment, and support. A Franklin MBA alumnus, Oyauma previously served as the National President & CEO of A Kid Again, a nonprofit focused on providing Hope, Happiness, and Healing for families raising children battling a life-threatening condition. He is a former insurance company executive of over 20 years. Active in the community, Oyauma has received numerous awards for leadership and community service, including being named a Top 50 Smart Business Leaders, CEO of the Year finalist (2020 & 2021) – Columbus CEO, a Columbus Business First Most Admired C-Suite leader (2019 & 2021) and NBMBAA Lifetime Achievement Award, and National MBA of Year. He has also been recognized with the United States of America Presidential 2014 Gold Standard Award for Service.

Mr. Gonsalves is currently working as a Marketing Consultant. He has an extensive marketing background, which is highlighted in his previous position as the Chief Marketing Officer for Allied Insurance, Titan Insurance, Nationwide Commercial, Nationwide Specialty, and Nationwide Agribusiness in Des Moines Iowa. Mr. Gonsalves has also worked as the Vice President for Marketing Strategy & Planning for Nationwide in Columbus, Ohio. At Franklin, Mr. Gonsalves currently serves the Academic/Student Committee as well as the Marketing & Enrollment Management Committee.

Melissa Gutierrez currently serves as the Immediate Past Chair of the Board.  Melissa is the SVP and General Manager with Synchrony, where she leads the rapidly growing Pets Best Insurance business unit within the Care Credit portfolio and serves as a key partner to leaders across the Care Credit platform within Synchrony. Prior to joining Synchrony, Melissa held a number of positions at Nationwide Insurance, including positions in sales, strategy, marketing and finance across several business units including Nationwide Insurance, Nationwide Financial and Nationwide Better Health. Melissa holds the chartered life underwriter (CLU) designation, and in addition to her bachelor’s degree in Marketing from Franklin University, also holds an MBA from the University of Dayton.  Melissa is currently the Chair of the Committee on Trusteeship Governance and serves on the Finance Committee.

Mr. Hagen joined the Franklin board in 2010 and served as Board of Trustees Chairman 2017-2018.  Bruce is the regional executive and president of the OhioHealth North Market.  He is responsible for coordinating OhioHealth’s growth in the northern areas served by the hospital system.  He has more than 30 years’ experience in the healthcare industry.  He is a fellow in the American College of Health Care Executives, and has been affiliated with many community service programs including the Board of Directors of the Grand Rapids Community College Foundation, the Board of Directors of the Gerald R. Ford Council of Boy Scouts and the Board of Directors of the American Heart Association, Great Rivers Affiliate.  Bruce serves on the Finance Committee and the Committee on Trusteeship Governance.

Providing industry expertise across multiple areas of growth at Franklin, including its expanding list of healthcare offerings, Carrie Harris-Muller is a highly accomplished and nationally recognized healthcare leader who will bring her more than 30 years of senior executive experience in insurance companies, health plans, and hospital and health systems to the Franklin Board. She currently serves as Senior Vice President and Chief Population Health Officer for Ohio Health, where she leads overall strategic direction for population health initiatives, including developing prevention and wellness programs to lower risks for patients and improve overall health outcomes. Carrie oversees the system’s care management efforts, its post-acute care programs and division, and OhioHealth’s Clinically Integrated Network and Accountable Care Organization. She is also responsible for the relationships with local and national payers and leads managed care for the health care system.  Prior to joining OhioHealth, Carrie held executive leadership positions with local and national payers and hospital and healthcare systems. Carrie is passionate about community service and serves on several national and local nonprofits boards.

Mr. James is an alumnus of Franklin University, a past Board of Trustees Chairman, and currently serves on the Finance, Partnerships, and Governance Committees. He is founder and President of Dynalab, Inc., an electronic manufacturing services company; Dynalab Test Systems, Inc., a designer and manufacturer of electronic test equipment; President of JAAS Systems, LLC, a publisher of manufacturing software; and a board member of MD Systems, LLC, a medical device manufacturer. Mr. James has served as President of a Kiwanis club, Treasurer of National Church Residences, and in numerous other community organizations.

As the President of Cristo Rey High School since 2020, Joseph Patrick will lend his decades of finance, accounting, and auditing expertise to the Board and its oversight of the University’s financial activities. His expertise is supported by 30 years of experience as a CPA at Schneider Downs, and at Coopers & Lybrand.  Lending insight to the University’s expanding list of K-12 academic offerings, Joseph’s knowledge and experience in secondary school issues and the teacher education regulatory environment support Franklin’s rapid expansion in education-related programs.  Joseph’s business and charitable community activities include involvement with the Catholic Foundation, the Women’s Care Center, Recreation Unlimited, Hands on Central Ohio, and Medigold.

Peter joined the Board in 2009, and currently serves Franklin as the Chair of the Finance Committee and as member of the Partnership Committee.  Roche retired from his position as Senior Vice President, Finance at Chemical Abstracts Services in 2008.  Prior to joining Chemical Abstracts, he served as Vice President, Accounting & Finance for Honda of America Manufacturing; Senior Manager, Tax with Peat Marwick; Partner with Hammersmith, Roche & Jenkins, CPAs; and as a tax consultant for Frank, Seringer & Chaney, CPAs.  Mr. Roche earned his B.S. degree in Accounting for The Ohio State University; his CPA certificate shortly thereafter. 

Thomas Shoupe recently retired from Honda of America Mfg., Inc. (HAM), where he served in numerous leadership and management roles over his 33-year career. In his final role at Honda, he served as Executive Vice President and COO of HAM, was a senior member of the Honda North America Regional Operating Board, and served as function leader for the company’s human resources planning and staff deployment for regional manufacturing operations.  Before joining Honda, Tom served as a legislative assistant to U.S. Representatives Thomas N. Kindness and Michael G. Oxley. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.  Tom represented Honda externally in many capacities, including serving as a board member for the Columbus Partnership and Columbus 2020, an economic development organization for the 11-county Columbus, Ohio region.  He previously served on the board from April 2008 through January 2012, and currently serves on the Academic/Student Committee and the Partnerships Committee.

Pamela Springer is a seasoned entrepreneur with more than 25 years of experience growing tech-based companies including raising $55M in funding and leading re-starts and IPOs. She most recently served as president and CEO of ORIS Intelligence. There, she drove strategic growth for the company including being named one of the fastest growing companies in Ohio, supporting over 750 world-class brands and growing its team by 100 percent over the past three years, leading to its acquisition in 2019 by PriceSpider.  Prior to ORIS, she built Manta Media into one of the largest, most trafficked websites in the U.S.  Pam has been recognized as one of the “13 Powerful Women Running Today’s Biggest Startups” by Business Insider and was awarded the 2011 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award in Technology for the Central Region. She sits on the boards of multiple emerging growth companies including RevLocal and InvestX Capital.  Springer earned a business degree from Franklin University, graduating summa cum laude.  She played on the Oakland University basketball team the year they made it to the NCAA Division II Final Four. When she’s not working, Pam is an avid sports fan, outdoor enthusiast, and flute player, and recently summited Mt. Kilimanjaro.  Pam serves as the Chair of the Marketing & Enrollment Management Committee. 

Jennifer Thomas recently retired from Nationwide Insurance, where she served in several leadership roles within the legal department.  She is an attorney with over 25 years of experience advising corporate executives on various legal issues, including complex contract issues, employee benefits, employment policy issues, and business operations compliance issues.  As an executive at Nationwide, she worked closely with her internal clients and colleagues to attain business objectives and generate practical and creative solutions to various business and legal challenges. Jennifer recently served on the board for Easter Seals Central and Southeast Ohio for the full six-year term, where she was a member of the executive committee and the Fiscal and Governance committees.  She currently serves on the Groveport Community School Board. She received her Juris Doctor degree from Capital University College of Law and her Bachelor of Arts degree in Biology from Miami University, Oxford, Ohio.  Jennifer currently serves on the Franklin University Board of Trustees Human Resources Committee.

Matthew is a senior executive for the non-profit scientific information firm, CAS.  Matthew has over ten years as an operations leader of the world’s largest and most comprehensive chemical science data and information collection.  He has been employed by CAS in numerous positions since 1987.   Matthew served in the US Army Reserve from 1982-2002.  Matthew holds a PhD, Interdisciplinary (food protein chemistry, nutrition, pathophysiology) (1992), a Master of Science degree in Food Chemistry and Nutritional Biochemistry (1979) a Bachelor of Science degree (1976) from The Ohio State University.  Matthew currently serves on the Academic/Student Committee and Partnerships Committee. 

A leader in the constantly evolving technology industry, Denise Zabawski, CIO of Nationwide Children’s Hospital and a Franklin MBA alumna, brings expertise honed over more than two decades of experience in healthcare and banking. During her service at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, Denise has led the implementation of multiple EMR systems, ERP systems, and two new data center construction projects and supported the construction of many new facilities. Denise is also a member of numerous professional organizations and associations, including HIMSS, CHIME, and the Children’s Hospital Association.