University Appoints Three New Trustees

Three Emory University alumni — an editor, a clergywoman and a powerful businessman — have been appointed members of Emory’s Board of Trustees, which oversees University policy and exercises fiduciary responsibility.

Crystal Edmonson (95C), Atlanta Business Chronicle broadcast editor; Sue Haupert-Johnson (95T), bishop to the North Georgia Episcopal Area of the United Methodist Church; and Stuart A. Rose (75B), REX American Resources Corp. founder and Stuart Rose Family Foundation president, will each serve on the Board for a six-year term.

The Emory Alumni Board selected Edmonson as one of 11 alumni trustees who serve nonrenewable six-year terms on the Board and are recommended by the Emory Alumni Association. The Governance, Trusteeship and Nominations Committee chose Haupert-Johnson and Rose to serve as term trustees, each of whose six-year term may be renewed for another four years by a Board vote. Once an alumni trustee’s term is over, he or she can be elected as a term trustee by the Board.

Although alumni and term trustees are elected through different processes, they have the same authority, voting and governance responsibilities, Vice President and Secretary of the University Allison Dykes said. Following the Board’s election of the three new trustees in its November meeting, the Southeastern Jurisdictional Conference of the United Methodist Church approved their appointments, Dykes said.

The Board, chaired by real estate mogul John F. Morgan, is currently composed of 40 members.

Edmonson, who has more than 20 years of experience in journalism, will serve on the Board of Trustees’ Development and Communications Committee, which deliberates policies related to “philanthropic giving, fundraising initiatives, alumni affairs, communications and public relations of the University,” according to the Board of Trustees’ website.

After obtaining a B.A. in international studies from Emory in 1995, Edmonson earned a M.S. in journalism from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism in 1996. She edits broadcasts for the Atlanta Business Chronicle, hosts the weekly television program “Atlanta Business Chronicle’s BIZ” and has contributed stories to National Public Radio affiliate WABE-FM.

Edmonson said her communications background will help build bridges between students, alumni and the greater Atlanta community.

“I hope that in some way I’m able to help Emory tell its story or maybe help the constituencies to understand what’s going on,” she said.

The Emory Alumni Board, of which she was president in 2008, considers factors including leadership, diversity and the ability to attract financial resources and implement the University’s mission when recommending alumni trustees, according to its website.

Haupert-Johnson, who currently serves as bishop to the North Georgia Episcopal Area of the United Methodist Church, will not be assigned to any specific committee. She fills one of five spots on the Board reserved for bishops of the United Methodist Church.

Haupert-Johnson considers the relationship between the Church and the Board of Trustees as beneficial to Emory because she sees spirituality as a necessary facet of one’s education.

“We are not just robots who learn stuff … there is a spiritual aspect, a mental aspect, a moral aspect and a call to be in mission to the world,” she said.

She earned a B.S. and J.D. from the University of Florida, and later received an MDiv degree from Emory’s Candler School of Theology. She currently chairs Candler School of Theology’s Alumni Board and is also on the Board of Trustees for Bethune-Cookman University (Fla.).

Rose, a businessman and rare books collector, will serve on the Board’s Academic Affairs Committee, which reviews recommendations for “appointment of academic deans, continuous appointments for faculty, proposed additions or deletions of degree offerings and nominations of candidates for honorary degrees,” according to the Board’s website.

Rose’s work as former executive officer and founder of REX American Resources Corp. has situated him at the forefront of the energy investment industry. He currently serves as the Oil Shale Exploration Company vice president and Stuart Rose Family Foundation president.

In 2015, Emory renamed its rare books collection the Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives and Rare Book Library (MARBL) Library after Rose in recognition of his 2011 donation to Emory of 22 rare books valued at more than $1 million in total.

As a trustee, Rose plans to utilize his knowledge and skills to continue giving back to Emory and improving the institution.

“When my time as trustee is over, [I want] to look back and say that it’s a better university today than the day I became a trustee,” Rose said.

Anwesha Guha and Michelle Lou contributed reporting.

---