Governance
The University is governed by an independent Board of Governors. The Board of Governors operates under the by-laws and charter of the University and has complete oversight of all programmatic components of Grantham University. The board is comprised of the following Governors:
- Commander Everett Alvarez, Jr. (Ret.) U.S. Navy
- Mr. John Ashford
- Mr. Harry Hagerty
- RADM Karen Harmeyer (Ret.) U.S. Navy
- Dr. Herbert I. London
- Mr. Joseph C. McGrath (ex-Officio)
- LTG Thomas G. Rhame (Ret.) U.S. Army
- Mr. Larry Rebman
Commander Everett Alvarez, Jr. (Ret.) U.S. Navy
Commander Everett Alvarez, Jr. (Ret.), a distinguished Naval officer and government executive, is best known to the public as the first American aviator shot down over North Vietnam. He was taken prisoner on August 5, 1964 and held in North Vietnam as a POW for eight and a half years, until the general release of the American prisoners on February 12, 1973.
Upon retirement from the U.S. Navy in 1980, Commander Alvarez has held numerous notable positions. Included are Deputy Director of the U.S. Peace Corps; Deputy Administrator of what was then the Veterans Administration; and Chairman of the CARES Commission, a 16-member, independent panel chartered by the Secretary to recommend critical change within the Veteran Affairs Department. He is past Chairman of the Board of Regents, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USUHS); a past member of the Board of Directors of the National Graduate University; a member of the Board of Fellows of Santa Clara University; and has served on the White House Fellows Selection Committee and on the Board of Directors of the Armed Services YMCA of the USA.
Commander Alvarez holds numerous military decorations, some of which are: the Silver Star, two Legions of Merit (with Combat “V”), two Bronze Stars (with Combat “V”), the Distinguished Flying Cross and two Purple Heart Medals.
Mr. John Ashford
Mr. Ashford is an advisor to Fortune 100 companies as chairman and CEO of The Hawthorn Group, L.C., an Alexandria, Virginia, international public affairs firm that he co-founded 15 years ago. Mr. Ashford received his Bachelor of Arts, magna cum laude, from Missouri Valley College, where he served on the board for nearly 20 years and from which he received an honorary Doctor of Letters degree. He now co-chairs Missouri Valley’s Presidential Task Force on strategic planning. Mr. Ashford earned his Masters in Public Administration at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. Mr. Ashford brings extensive university board experience to Grantham. He provides great insight to the Board on higher education as he has been actively involved in issues of higher education, representing numerous educational clients before Congress.
Mr. Harry Hagerty
Mr. Hagerty is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Math Mastery, an e-Learning company that provides tutorial products for AOL, Discovery and 71,000 schools nationwide. Mr. Hagerty served as Chairman and CEO of Globalink, Inc., a translation software development and publishing company until its acquisition in 1998 by Lernout & Hauspie. Mr. Hagerty graduated from West Point in 1962. Mr. Hagerty brings significant educational technology expertise to the Board. Mr. Hagerty participated in the initial funding of the Discovery Channel and was founder of Digital Switch Corporation (now “DSC Communications, Inc.”).
RADM Karen Harmeyer (Ret.) U.S. Navy
Rear Admiral Karen Harmeyer, USNR Retired graduated from Creighton Memorial St. Joseph Hospital School of Nursing in Omaha, Nebraska and earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Nursing from the University of Iowa. She attained a Master of Arts Degree in Management from Webster University. Rear Admiral Harmeyer brings extensive knowledge to the Board in the education of military students and medical personnel. She also brings additional insight relating to diversity and gender issues.
Dr. Herbert I. London
Dr. London, chair of the Board of Governors, is president of the Hudson Institute, a world-renowned think-tank in Washington, DC. He is the former John M. Olin Professor of Humanities at New York University, and he was responsible for creating the Gallatin School of Individualized Study in 1972 and served as its dean until 1992. Dr. London is a graduate of Columbia University, 1960, and the recipient of a Ph.D. from New York University, 1966. He is also professor emeritus at New York University. He is the former chairman of the National Association of Scholars and the erstwhile editor of Academic Questions. Dr. London was the first recipient of the Peter Shaw Award for his exemplary writing on higher education and American intellectual culture. His perspective on faculty and student issues as well as curriculum is especially valuable to the Board. Dr. London has been a valuable sounding board in the development of the University’s curriculum.
Mr. Joseph McGrath (ex-Officio)
Mr. McGrath (ex-officio member) has been involved with Grantham since 2001. He currently serves as Executive Vice President of Grantham Education Corporation. He served in Switzerland as the Chief Financial and Administrative Officer of a group of private schools located throughout Europe. For 25 years, Mr. McGrath worked as a commercial and corporate banker. Mr. McGrath holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Government from Harvard College and a Master’s Degree in Education from the University of Southern California. His financial background and educational leadership skills have brought much value to Board in the areas of financial management and academic issues of students.
LTG Thomas G. Rhame (Ret.) U.S. Army
Lieutenant General Thomas Rhame, who currently serves as the Vice President of Finance and Administration for the Association of the United States Army, retired from the Army on September 30, 1997. His last assignment was as the director of the Defense Security Assistance Agency. Prior to that, General Rhame was the chief of the U.S. Military Training Mission to Saudi Arabia. During Operation Desert Storm, General Rhame was the Commanding General, 1st Infantry Division (”The Big Red One”), Fort Riley, Kansas. Under his command, “The Big Red One” successfully conducted the initial attack to penetrate Iraqi defensive positions, conducted the rapid passage of lines for the 1st British Armored Division, and conducted a night attack against elements of the Iraqi Republican Guard.
General Rhame also served two tours of combat in Vietnam, his first in 1967, commanding B Company, 1st Battalion, 12th Cavalry, and his second in 1971, serving as a District Senior Advisor with USAMACV.
General Rhame received the Defense Distinguished Service Medal (with oak leaf cluster), the Distinguished Service Medal (with two oak leaf clusters), the Silver Star (with oak leaf cluster), the Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star with “V” Device (with two oak leaf clusters), the Meritorious Service Medal (with two oak leaf clusters), the Air Medal, and the Army Commendation Medal with “V” Device.
General Rhame graduated from Louisiana State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting and was commissioned a Second Lieutenant, Infantry, through the Reserve Officer Training Corps in 1963. He also holds a Master of Business Administration degree with a Comptrollership specialty from Syracuse University.
Mr. Larry Rebman
Mr. Larry Rebman was appointed as the Director of the Missouri Department of Labor and Industrial Relations in January 2009. Prior to that, he became an Assistant Attorney General for the state of Missouri in 1995, serving as counsel to the Department of Public Safety, the Police Officer Safety and Training Commission, the State Fire Marshal’s Office and various other boards and agencies. After his tenure in the Attorney General’s Office, Mr. Rebman managed his own firm, Rebman & Associates, representing individuals and organizations in cases involving employment, workers’ compensation, breach of contract, disability, discrimination and other matters. Mr. Rebman earned his Juris Doctorate from the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law and a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of Missouri-Columbia.
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