Mary Clare Eros, Esq.
Chair, Board of Governors
Mary Clare Eros, of Shepherdstown, retired as a member of the law firm of Jackson Kelly PLLC in January of 2007. With the firm since 1981, she served as the managing member of the Martinsburg office where her practice areas included banking, corporate, bankruptcy, government contracts, bonds and financing, leases, business and commercial, legislative services, contracts, real estate and property law, and intellectual property and trademarks. Eros previously served as a summer intern for the U.S. Department of Justice in Elkins, a faculty research assistant at West Virginia University Law Center and Georgetown University Law Center, and co-director of the International Language Institute at Davis & Elkins College. She holds a B.A. in English literature from St. Louis University, attended West Virginia University law school and earned a J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center. She previously served on the Shepherd College Board of Advisors. She served on the Higher Education Policy Commission from 2001 to 2007. Since her retirement, she has been appointed as a visiting instructor during the spring semester at Vytautas Magnus University School of Law in Kaunas, Republic of Lithuania.

Gat Caperton
Vice Chair, Board of Governors
Gat Caperton is the president and CEO of Caperton Furnitureworks, a West Virginia manufacturer of hand-made, solid-wood home furniture that he acquired from its founder in 1996. Originally named Tom Seely Furniture, the 40+ year-old business now employs over 100 skilled people in Berkeley Springs and sells its furniture throughout the U.S. Prior to acquiring the company, Caperton worked six years in Chicago for a large, diversified manufacturing company. While working full-time, he earned an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business and membership on its Dean's List. In 1990, Caperton received a B.A. in Economics from Davidson College, where he also played on the school's football team. He currently serves on the boards of the Eastern West Virginia Community Foundation, the Natural Capital Investment Fund, and the West Virginia Nature Conservancy. Caperton and his wife Susan live in Berkeley Springs and have three daughters: Eliza, Katie, and Evie.

Doris M. Griffin
Secretary, Board of Governors
Doris Griffin, of Martinsburg, previously held positions in hospital administration at the Martinsburg Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical Center and was a management analyst at the VA Medical Center in East Orange, NJ. Prior to her positions at VA, Griffin completed a hospital administration residency at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia. She received a B.S. degree from Cornell University and an M.B.A. from Cornell's Johnson School of Management. She is a graduate of the first Berkeley Leadership Class in 1991 and the VA Leadership Class of 1994. For the past five years, Griffin has been involved in both volunteer and paid positions mentoring middle and high school students in preparing for college. She is a mentor for Berkeley County high school students taking Advanced Placement courses. Griffin recently completed eight years as a member of the West Virginia Board of Medicine, where she served on the Board's Executive Committee and Licensure Sub-committee, and chaired the Corporate Practice of Medicine Sub-committee. In 2004, Griffin was appointed by Gov. Wise to the Shepherd University Board of Governors. She also serves as a member of the WVU Hospitals-East City Hospital Foundation Board in Martinsburg and as secretary of the Berkeley Branch of the NAACP. She previously served on the boards of the Eastern WV Rural Health Education Consortium, RESA VIII Head Start, the Martinsburg Rotary Club and Berkeley-Morgan United Way. She is a native of New Brunswick, N.J. and was educated in the New Brunswick public school system.

Daniel Bascom
Student Representative, Board of Governors

Jason Best
Faculty Representative, Board of Governors
Dr. Jason Best is professor of astronomy and astrophysics at Shepherd University and director of the Shepherd University Observatory. He received his bachelor of science degree in astronomy and astrophysics from Indiana University, and his doctor of philosophy degree in astronomy and astrophysics from Penn State University. He has published research articles in the Astrophysical Journal, Mercury magazine, and the Journal for Computing in Small Colleges, and has received research grants from the National Science Foundation, Sun Microsystems, WV EPSCoR, and the NASA WV Space Grant Consortium. His current research focuses on the large-scale structure of the universe. In addition, he serves as the academic coordinator for the Washington Gateway Junior High Academy held on the Shepherd campus each summer, and currently serves as president of the Shepherd University Faculty Senate.

Robert A. McMillan
Member, Board of Governors
Robert A. McMillan, of Martinsburg, is president and CEO of Jefferson Distributing Company, Inc. Previously he had been president and CEO of McDonough-Caperton-Shepherd Association Group; vice president of McDonough-Caperton-Shepherd; product/sales manager for Mobil Oil Corporation-Chemical Division; assistant vice president of Continental Mortgage Investors; and director of marketing for Phipps Harrington Corporation. He earned an A.B. degree in economics in 1965 from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and an M.B.A. in marketing and finance from Emory University in 1971. McMillan served in the United States Navy from 1966 to 1969. McMillan has served on the board of directors of the United Way of Berkeley and Morgan Counties, the Shenandoah Community Health Center, National Beer Wholesaler Association, and One Valley Bank East.

Andrew D. Michael
Member, Board of Governors
Andrew Michael is a partner in The Woods Resort, located in Hedgesville. He served as a board member of the Contemporary American Theater Festival for nine years, as president of the board for five years and is currently a member of their honorary board. He is a former member of the Theater Communications Group's (TCG) National Council for the Arts. He currently serves on the boards of the Matinsburg-Berkeley County Chamber of Commerce, Court Appointed Special Advocates of the Eastern Panhandle, the Gateway New Economy Council, and the Shepherd University Foundation. He is a past president of Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Eastern Panhandle and has served as a grant review panelist for the National Endowment for the Arts and for the TCG/NEA Playwright's Residency program. A Shepherd alumnus, he earned a bachelor's degree in 1975.

Lacy Rice III
Member, Board of Governors
Prior to founding FCP in 1999, Lacy Rice was a principal at The Carlyle Group, where he helped raise and invest Carlyle's $475 million real estate fund. There, he also served on the Fund's Investment Committee. Prior to joining Carlyle, Rice was a member of the Investment Banking Group at Alex Brown, where he was involved in $2.5 billion of REIT M&A and underwriting transactions. Rice began his real estate career as a principal at Haas & Haynie Corporation, a leading Northern California development company. Before entering the real estate field, he served as a corporate account officer at Chemical Bank, where he structured private placements, interest rate swaps and loans exceeding $1 billion for Fortune 100 companies. Rice serves on the boards of Shepherd University, the Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Washington and BB&T Bank. He received a masters in business administration from Harvard Business School and a bachelor of arts degree from Princeton University.

W. Mark Rudolph
Member, Board of Governors
W. Mark Rudolph, of Winchester, Virginia, is a 1984 graduate of Shepherd and the president and CEO of Yount, Hyde & Barbour CPAs, Winchester. He joined the firm in 1984, became a principal in 1994, and has served as president and CEO since 2005. The firm has offices in Winchester, Culpeper, Middleburg, Leesburg, and Richmond. The firm has a strong record of hiring graduates of Shepherd's accounting degree program. Rudolph's personal areas of emphasis in his accounting practice have included accounting and auditing services for financial institutions as well as consulting services in the health care industry. He has been an active member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the Virginia Society of Certified Public Accountants. He has served on the board of trustees of Winchester's Handley High School, is a past president of the Lions Club, and is an elder of the Presbyterian Church.

Diane Shewbridge
Classified Employees Representative, Board of Governors
Diane Shewbridge, of Martinsburg, is an administrative associate in the School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics. Shewbridge earned a bachelor of arts degree from Shepherd in 1973.

Veronique Walker
Member, Board of Governors

John Younis
Member, Board of Governors