Board of Trustees

In 2007, he became Rio Tinto’s Group Executive for Technology and Innovation. He also sat on the company’s Investment Committee, headed its Ore Reserve and Resource Steering Committee, and was the Rio Tinto executive committee’s champion for sustainable development and climate change. Mr. Chiaro served as the director of several global companies, and as chair of the Coal Industry Advisory Board to the International Energy Agency and the World Coal Association. He has also been a member of the board of Resources for the Future and the Utah Chapter of The Nature Conservancy. Currently he serves as the President of the Death Valley Conservancy.

Prior to the Arts Academy, she worked in the Salt Lake City School District for 25 years as a teacher and administrator.

Amy began her career in education teaching in the Granite and Salt Lake City School Districts. After 11 years in the classroom, she became the Assistant Principal at Clayton Intermediate and later Principal of Wasatch Elementary. Across her career, she has been engaged in Kindergarten through High School education. Her commitment and study of middle school education led to the foundation of the Salt Lake Arts Academy, a charter school serving students in 5th through 8th grade. In 2003, she and a team of like-minded parents and education professionals founded the charter school based on their commitment to arts education, community engagement and the unique developmental needs of middle school aged students. She served as the CAO for 16 years before retiring in June 2019.

Amy graduated from the University of Utah with a BA in English and French education and a Masters degree in Education Administration. She currently serves on the Pioneer Theatre Company board and is a member of the Utah Women’s Forum.

She and her husband, David Richardson, are active members in the downtown arts and historic preservation scene.

She has contributed to several areas at Westminster University. She funded the Kim T. Adamson Chair on International Studies, the Anne Newman Sutton Weeks Reading Room in the Giovale Library (in honor of her grandmother) and the Kim T. Adamson Alumni House.

Entering the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve in 1974, and retired in May 2013 as a Chief Warrant Officer 5. She deployed to Iraq as a Civil Affairs Officer and Anti-Terrorism Force Protection Officer with the 4th Civil Affairs Group in 2004-2005. She deployed for her second Iraq tour in August 2009 as a Platoon Commander with 4th MLG, H&SBn, Personnel Retrieval & Processing Company(-). She has also served as a law enforcement officer, specializing in mountain and swiftwater rescue operations, wilderness medicine and hazardous materials operations.

In addition to a career of service with the U.S. Marine Corps, Kim currently serves as a Utah Senior Justice Court Judge. She divides her time between Salt Lake City UT, Tucson AZ and Coronado CA.

Kim is a Westminster University alumna (’95, bachelor of science) and received her Law Juris Doctor from the University of Utah College of Law in 2001. She now runs and manages her own legal practice and consulting firm. Kim has served as Executive Director for the Governor’s Commission on Criminal and Juvenile Justice, as an Adjunct Professor in Criminal Process, and as a Trial Attorney for Salt Lake County District Attorney’s Office with an emphasis on child sex crimes. She has also performed pro bono work in family law cases across Utah.

She has previously served as president of the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD), an international nonprofit organization and one of the largest professional development associations for educator leaders.

Dr. DeFord began her career as an art teacher and arts administrator, holding bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas and a doctorate from the University of Southern California.  She was a teacher and administrator in Texas, England, France, and Virginia before moving to Utah.  She now works in her family’s property business and serves as a community volunteer.

In addition to serving as a trustee at Westminster University, Nancy is a trustee of Virginia Wesleyan University and the Virginia Aquarium.   She is also a member of the Virginia Beach Public Art Foundation, Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art, and Virginia Beach Visions.

She resides in Virginia Beach, VA.

His son, Jeff Etcheverry, received his bachelor of science from Westminster in 2011. Ray has been recognized in Best Lawyers in America for Bet-the-Company litigation and Chambers USA for commercial litigation and antitrust law. He is admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court, the Courts of Appeal for the 3rd, 5th, 10th, and Federal Circuits as well as the District of Utah and the State Court of Utah, and is an active member of the Litigation, Antitrust and Intellectual Property Sections of the American Bar Association. He is also a member of the Board of Trustees of The Waterford School.

Mr. Fang and his wife, Judy, both received their MBA degrees from Westminster University. Both Mr. and Mrs. Fang were original members of the Westminster MBA Alumni Committee, and Mr. Fang is a past member of the Westminster Alumni Board.

Mr. Fang is a retired President of AMT Labs. AMT Labs manufactures mineral supplements for the nutraceutical, food and beverage industries and provides custom formulation services to manufacturers. Mr. Fang currently serves on the US Bank Board of Advisors; Rowland Hall-St. Mark’s School Board of Trustees; Salt Lake County Government-Arts & Culture, Board of Advisors; Off-Broadway Theatre (board chair and Chief Financial Officer); Natural History Museum of Utah (former board chair and board member); and a former branch manager at Mountain America Credit Union.

Bing and Judy reside in Bountiful, Utah.

Living in Flagstaff, AZ, Danny has always been an avid adventurer. He founded Kahtoola in 1999, an outdoor gear company he still owns and runs. He has developed conscientious business practices that emphasize product excellence, long term environmental sustainability and significant philanthropic engagement that focuses on social and environmental solutions to some of the global challenges we face.  

Danny is engaged in many community organizations, events and activities and is a member of GeoFamily Foundation, working alongside other family members supporting a variety of nonprofit organizations.

Danny follows in the footsteps of his grandparents, Bill and Vieve Gore, and parents, Ginger and John Giovale, by believing in the unique value of a Westminster education and fostering this legacy by supporting projects close to his heart.

In this position, he was responsible for overseeing and coordinating all lines of KeyBank’s businesses within Utah, including Commercial Banking, Private Banking, Retail & Consumer Banking, as well as Business Banking.

Prior to KeyBank, Mr. Grant was a Regional Team Lead for the Commercial Banking Group at Wells Fargo; founded and was the Chief Credit & Lending Officer of Proficio Bank; the Utah Commercial Division Manager at JP Morgan Chase/Bank One; and a Senior Relationship Manager at US Bank in Utah.

He spent 20 years outside of Utah in senior commercial banking roles with Royal Bank of Canada (Los Angeles, Toronto & New York) and Credit Lyonnais New York. He has extensive experience in commercial banking as well as international banking and trade.

Mr. Grant was recently appointed by the Governor of Utah to sit on the Utah International Relations & Trade Commission. He is currently active as a Board of Trustee member for Westminster University, and sits on the boards of: World Trade Center Utah; Salt Lake Chamber of Commerce; Utah Valley Chamber of Commerce Executive Roundtable (Chair); Junior Achievement Utah; World Trade Association of Utah; Living Planet Aquarium; Camp Kostopulos; and Hale Centre Theatre in West Valley. In 2014 he was honored with the Outstanding Eagle Award from the Boy Scouts of America. He earned his MBA from Thunderbird School of Global Management and resides with his wife in Alpine, Utah.

His practice areas include real estate transactions, lending and commercial law, and business entity formation and structuring.

Mr. Kroesche serves as general business and real estate counsel to businesses, individuals, and companies located throughout the United States, has taught courses in business and international law on the graduate level, and serves on the advisory boards of several businesses, educational institutions, and private foundations. 

Mr. Kroesche graduated from the University of Utah with bachelor of arts degree, magna cum laude, and he also holds a master of business administration (MBA) from the University of Utah Graduate School of Business, a law degree (JD) from the University of Utah College of Law, and a masters of tax law (LLM) from the University of Denver School of Law.

She also wrote the best-selling Confessions of a Slacker Mom and Confessions of a Slacker Wife. She’s written for several magazines and anthologies and has been featured on Oprah, The Today Show, and Talk of the Nation, and in publications such as The Atlantic and The New York Times.

She is the CEO and founder of Nush Foods. She is a director of the M Lazy M Foundation. Outside of the office, she is a member of the Governor's Mansion Foundation Board, a member of the University of Utah's National Advisory Council, and has served on numerous other community boards, including the Natural History Museum of Utah, Red Butte Garden, Artspace, Utah Heritage Foundation, and Girls on the Run.

She and her husband Scott Kauf reside in Salt Lake City, Utah, and Alta, Wyoming.

He also maintained a consulting relationship with Saint Mary’s College through June 2017.

At Saint Mary’s, Mr. Michell served as the College’s chief financial officer and treasurer. He also managed and directed the activities of the Coordinator of Administrative Services, Associate Vice President for Finance/Controller, Associate Vice President of Human Resources, Director of Facilities Services, Director of Project Management, Central Services Manager, and up through June 2012, the Chief Technology Officer. Other responsibilities included endowment management, oversight of contracts for bookstore services and food services, as well as oversight of a lease with the United States Postal Service for a campus post office.

Peter Michell came to Saint Mary’s College in February 2003 from Notre Dame de Namur University in Belmont, CA where he had been Vice President for Administration and Treasurer since August 2001. Mr. Michell was the Vice President for Finance and Administration and Treasurer at Mills College in Oakland, CA from March 1997 to May 2001. He was also the Vice President for Finance at Ripon College in Ripon, WI from August 1990 to February 1997, Dean of Administration at SUNY Sullivan County Community College (SCCC) in Loch Sheldrake, NY from December 1984 to July 1990, and Secretary Treasurer of the Board of Directors of the SCCC Foundation from December 1984 to July 1990. Prior to December 1984, Mr. Michell was Deputy County Administrator and Budget Officer for the County of Sussex, NJ.

Academic classes instructed by Peter Michell have included Business Mathematics, Accounting I, and Accounting II. He has also proctored videotaped CPA review courses and served as a review panelist for senior seminars given by business management majors.

Mr. Michell's community service activities have included leadership positions in various nonprofit community organizations. He currently serves on the Board of Trustees of Kaiser Permanente School of Allied Health Sciences in Richmond, CA and on the Board of Trustees of Westminster University in Salt Lake City, UT. He has also served on the board of directors of a community foundation, a regional arts alliance, a county-wide youth services board, a county-wide human services council, a community fund, a medical center, a medical center foundation, several service clubs, and several churches.

Peter Michell currently serves as a member of peer review teams for the Western Association of Schools and Colleges Senior College and University Commission and has done so since 1999. He also currently serves as a member of peer review teams for the Accreditation Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine and has done so since 2010. In addition, Mr. Michell continues to provide consulting services focused on CFO mentoring, institutional accreditation, and institutional sustainability in higher education.

Joining the University of Utah faculty, he served for 16 years as Dean of Liberal Education where he built a nationally celebrated arts and sciences core curriculum required of all undergraduates. He took leave to serve as president of Deep Springs College from 1995 to 2004. There he orchestrated a successful capital campaign to rebuild the entire campus and recharge the endowment. During his tenure, Deep Springs graduated seven Truman Scholars and a Rhodes Scholar.

Jack has been recognized with the Hatch Prize for Excellence in Teaching, designation as Presidential Teaching Scholar, appointment to the special rank of University Professor, and as the State of Utah’s first Professor of the Year.

His books include The Electric Edge of Academe: The Saga of Lucien L. Nunn and Deep Springs College (2015); Hope, Heart, and the Humanities (2016), Matters of Conscience: Conversations with Sterling M. McMurrin on Philosophy, Education and Religion (1996); and Maverick Colleges: Fourteen Notable Experiments in American Undergraduate Education (1996).

Newell has journeyed and photographed in Antarctica (2000), the Galapagos Islands (1990), the Arctic (1997), and China before modernization (1979). He and his late wife, Linda King Newell, have four children, all educators.

He serves as a community integrator working as the Vice President of the Salt Lake Branch of the NAACP, a former commissioner on the Governor’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Human Rights Commission, and is co-chair of the Utah Black Round Table. Mr. Newell formerly served on the board of the Utah Non-Profit Association, the Utah Manufacturer’s Association Board, as Chair of the workforce and Economic Development Advisory Board at Salt Lake Community College, where he also served as the Alumni Council President and a Trustee for the College, and is former member of the Utah State Board of Education.

Shawn is a graduate of the University of Utah, Salt Lake Community College, and has a master’s degree in management from the University of Phoenix.

He retired from his position as President and CEO of Kennecott Minerals Co. in 2002 and President and CEO of Revett Minerals, Inc. in 2008. He is presently a principal in Bedrock Resources, LLC, a financial services and strategic advising company to the mining industry, and also serves as a consultant and board member to several companies in that sector. He is on the Board of Directors of the ACLU of Utah.

Mr. Orchow received his Bachelor of Science degree in Business from the College of Emporia.

Bill and his wife, Janet Martineau, a Westminster University alumna, reside in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Catherine and her husband John have been recognized for their philanthropic and humanitarian work on justice and homelessness issues by the ACLU, Catholic Community Services, and the Human Rights Campaign. Catherine’s previous career with Oregon and California governmental entities entailed public works project management, grant writing, legislative analysis and program development - principally addressing community development and environmental issues.

Rev. Putnam-Netto holds a Bachelor’s degree in Public Administration and Economics from the University of Oregon, and a Masters of Divinity from Princeton Theological Seminary. 

He graduated from the University of Utah with a degree in business administration and is actively involved in numerous community programs focused on minority owned businesses, housing, and child services. Mr. Rendon and his wife, Wendy, have two grown sons, Jonathan and Robert.

Dr. Shorter was recently named the Director of the Utah Minority Business Development Agency.

Sidni is the CEO of ExecuteNow!, a client-focused finance and accounting firm with a mission to ensure non-profits and small to mid-sized organizations to have affordable access to capital, prudent financial management, and forward-thinking leadership.

Sidni holds a doctorate in Biblical psychology, a master's degree in theology, and two bachelor's degrees in general studies (concentration in behavioral science) and theology. She is also a licensed Christian therapist. Sidni believes great leaders are serial learners and exceptional listeners.

He is committed to the importance and value of giving back to his community and volunteering his legal services on a pro bono basis. Tejeda served as a public affairs non-commissioned officer in the U.S. Army Reserve from 1999–2007, including two active-duty deployments to Iraq and Kosovo, during which he helped develop and implement a media and public affairs program. He received the Army’s commendation and achievement medals, the NATO medal, the National Defense Service Medal and a Global War on Terrorism Service Medal. Tejeda graduated from Westminster University cum laude in 2003 with a B.A. in economics then attended the University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law, where he graduated with his JD in 2006. By appointment of the Utah Supreme Court, he serves as a volunteer judge pro tempore for the Salt Lake City Justice Court Small Claims Division. He is actively involved with the Utah Minority Bar Association, Utah Center for Legal Inclusion, Utah Bar Association, the National LGBT Bar Association and the Hispanic National Bar Association. Tejeda is from the Dominican Republic and currently resides in Salt Lake City.