New directors, officers appointed to Auburn University Foundation Board

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The Auburn University Foundation has appointed three new directors to its board: Shirley Frazier Boulware '91 of Tyrone, Georgia; Joseph L. Cowan '70 of Braselton, Georgia; and Patrick T. Henry ’85 of Birmingham, Alabama. The board also named Cheryl Casey ’83 of Denver, Colorado, as its new chair and Paul Jacobson ’94 of Marietta, Georgia, as vice chair. John Morris, Auburn University’s new senior vice president for advancement, will serve as the president of the foundation. 

“Through their work to create and enhance relationships with our alumni and friends, our directors help advance the mission of Auburn through philanthropy,” said Morris. “Their strategic leadership supports our professional fundraising staff and enables us to create first-class donor experiences for the Auburn Family.” 

Boulware is the human resources director for operations support at Southwire, headquartered in Carrollton, Georgia. She began her career as a process engineer with Union Camp Corporation and later as the chemical operations manager for Buckeye Technologies Inc. When Georgia-Pacific acquired Buckeye Technologies, she worked as a manufacturing recruiting manager. Boulware has served on the Auburn Alumni Association Board of Directors and is currently a member of the Foy Society, the Auburn Engineering Alumni Council and the Executive Committee of Engineering’s 100+ Women Strong Council.

Cowan served as CEO and member of the board of directors of Epicor Software Corporation before retiring in 2017. Currently, he serves on the board of directors for Nice Ltd., ChannelAdvisors Corp., SAI Global Corp. and Drishti Corp. He previously served in executive roles at Online Resource Corp., Manugistics Inc., EXE Technologies Inc., Invensys Automation & Information Systems, Vector Capital, DataDirect Networks Inc., Autonomy Interwoven Inc., Baan and Avantis GOB NV and Wonderware Corp. He is a member of the Auburn Engineering Alumni Council and the Auburn Engineering Strategic Leadership Team, as well as the university’s 1856 and Foy Societies, Athletics’ Talon Society and Engineering’s Keystone and Ginn societies.

As a senior partner and president of Daniel Corporation, Henry oversees the firm’s business operations, development and investment activities. Prior to joining Daniel in 2010, Henry served as president of Crescent Resources, LLC Commercial Properties division. He previously served as the senior regional development officer at Trammell Crow Company’s Atlanta-based midsouth development division. Henry serves on the Harbert College of Business Master of Real Estate Development Advisory Board and is a member of Auburn’s 1856, Petrie and Foy Societies, as well as the Shug Jordan Society.   

Casey spent her 30-year career in financial services, is a retired senior vice president of Dreyfus Investments, a wholly owned subsidiary of BNYMellon, and maintains her credentials as a certified financial planner. She previously held vice presidential positions with Nuveen Investments and Putnam Investments. She succeeds Benny M. LaRussa Jr. of Birmingham as chair. LaRussa is founder and chief executive officer for Sterling Capital Management.

Jacobson currently serves as executive vice president and chief financial officer for General Motors. With more than 20 years of experience at Delta Air Lines, Jacobson served in several executive roles, including CFO, executive vice president, financial analyst, senior vice president and treasurer. 

The Auburn University Foundation receives all charitable contributions made in support of Auburn University and Auburn University Montgomery. Formed in 1960, its volunteer board of directors is responsible for managing the affairs, property and business of the foundation. Directors are elected for a four-year term and may serve two terms. In addition, the president of Auburn University, the chancellor of Auburn University Montgomery and the president of the Auburn Alumni Association serve as non-voting, ex-officio members of the board.

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Auburn University is a nationally ranked land grant institution recognized for its commitment to world-class scholarship, interdisciplinary research with an elite, top-tier Carnegie R1 classification, life-changing outreach with Carnegie’s Community Engagement designation and an undergraduate education experience second to none. Auburn is home to more than 30,000 students, and its faculty and research partners collaborate to develop and deliver meaningful scholarship, science and technology-based advancements that meet pressing regional, national and global needs. Auburn’s commitment to active student engagement, professional success and public/private partnership drives a growing reputation for outreach and extension that delivers broad economic, health and societal impact.