The University of Vermont Board of Trustees has added four new members with expertise in biomedical research, law, teaching, business and politics.

Former Vermont Speaker of the House Shap Smith, an attorney at Dinse, Knapp & McAndrew; Rep. Johannah Leddy Donovan (D-Burlington), a retired teacher; and Rep. John Bartholomew (D-Windsor), a retired biomedical researcher and laboratory animal veterinarian; will serve six-year terms. They succeed outgoing legislative trustees Bill Botzow, Joan Lenes and Kesha Ram. First-year student Caitlin McHugh, who replaces David Brandt, will serve a two-year term until March of 2019.

Additionally, Frank Cioffi, president of the Greater Burlington Industrial Corporation, was re-appointed by Gov. Phil Scott for another six-year term, making him the longest serving member at 16 years. David Daigle was re-elected Board Chair; Ron Lumbra was re-elected Vice Chair; and Donna Sweaney was elected to succeed Joan Lenes as Secretary. 

Smith, who received his BA from UVM in 1987, served as Speaker of the Vermont House of Representatives from 2003-2016. He earned his law degree from Indiana University and worked at a New York City law firm before returning to Vermont and joining his current firm, where he is shareholder and director. Smith served on the Fish, Wildlife and Water Resources, Ways and Means, and Joint Fiscal Committees. He currently serves on the board of trustees at Spectrum Youth & Family Services and on his fraternity Phi Delta Theta. Smith is married to Melissa Volansky – a 1989 UVM graduate and 1996 graduate of the Robert Larner, M.D. College of Medicine and they have two children.

Donovan, a Burlington native who graduated with a BA from Trinity College in 1967, has been a member of the Vermont House of Representatives since 2001 serving on the Ways and Means and Joint Fiscal Committees. A former teacher at Vermont Adult Learning, she also serves on the New England Board of Higher Education. She served on the UVM Board of Trustees from 2005-2011. Donovan is the widow of Thomas Donovan with whom she had six children, including three UVM graduates.

Bartholomew, a member of the Vermont House since 2011, served as Chief of the Research Animal Management Branch of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development at the National Institutes of Health from 1990 to 2005. He was head of Laboratory Animal Medicine from 1986 to 1990 for an operations and technical support contract at the Frederick Cancer Research and Development Center (part of the National Cancer Institute). He also served in the U.S. Air Force as Base Veterinarian at Incirlik Air Base, Turkey, and in the U.S. Army at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, where he received his specialty training in laboratory animal medicine. The ranking member of the House Agriculture and Forestry Committee, Bartholomew attended the University of Oklahoma and Oklahoma State University, where he received his BS in 1980 and DVM in 1981. He serves on a number of local boards. Bartholomew is married to Julianne Harden and they have one daughter.

McHugh, appointed to the Board by the Associate Directors for the Appointment of Student Trustees, Inc., was born in Nassau, NY, and attended Columbia High School of East Greenbush. She is enrolled in the College of Arts and Sciences and serves as a Senator of the UVM Undergraduate Student Government Association on the Academic Affairs Committee. She is also an Inter-Residence Association General Body Member, and Member and Executive Assistant of Kappa Alpha Theta Sorority, Lambda Chapter.

The new trustees officially started their terms on March 1 and will attend their first regular full board meeting on May 19-20.