TU welcomes new board members

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

October 19, 2017

Contacts: Shauna Stephenson, Trout Unlimited, shauna.stephenson@tu.org ; Mark Taylor, Trout Unlimited, mark.taylor@tu.org

WASHINGTON, D.C. —

Trout Unlimited recently welcomed seven new members to its board of trustees at its annual meeting in Roanoke, Va. The new board members bring a mix of conservation expertise, fishing industry acumen, business management experience and a passion for Trout Unlimited’s mission of protecting and restoring North America’s trout and salmon and their watersheds.

“Our new board members bring a wide range of backgrounds, talents and experience to an already exceptional group,” said Chris Wood, Trout Unlimited’s president and CEO. “A trait they all share is a passion for coldwater fisheries conservation, and we are excited that they will be helping guide Trout Unlimited’s mission moving forward.”

The new board members are:

Thomas L. Jones, Durango, Co. Jones enjoyed a career that ranged from leading a small think tank to leading a thousand person operations team with a $50 million annual budget. He has been active in nonprofit boards throughout his career, having chaired boards for the West Shore Symphony Orchestra, the Fort Wayne Philharmonic and Music in the Mountains, in addition to service on other educational and health-related boards and advisory councils. Jones served as president of his local Trout Unlimited chapter and has held several leadership positions in the Colorado Council, where he currently serves as a regional vice president. He was Colorado’s NLC Representative from 2010-2015, where he chaired the Western Native Trout and New Initiatives workgroups. Jones, who received Trout Unlimited’s Distinguished Service Award in 2015, lives just north of Durango on the west rim of the Animas valley with Shirley, his bride of 37 years and Tippet, the apprentice Wonder Dog. Both his bachelor’s degree and M.B.A. are from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

Alex Maher, Jackson, Wyo. Maher co-founded Live Water Properties, LLC and, as Responsible Broker and Managing Partner, grew the company from a 3-person/1-office entity to a 24-person/9-state ranch brokerage firm with annual sales averaging over $142 million and total sales volume in excess of $1.4 billion since inception. In addition to managing the growing sales and service team of Live Water Properties, Maher is personally credited with producing over $185 million in sales volume during the past five years. He enjoys fly fishing, bird hunting, big game hunting, downhill skiing, writing and western art. His affiliations include the following: Founding Member, Past Chapter Chair & Membership Chair of the Jackson Hole Chapter of Young Presidents' Organization (YPO), Member of Big Sky Chapter of YPO, Life Member and Corporate Sponsor of Trout Unlimited, Life Member of Safari Club International, Life Member of NRA, Flat Creek Project Sponsor for Jackson Hole Trout Unlimited, Member of Ducks Unlimited, Life Member and Corporate Sponsor of Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, Member and Sponsor of Bonefish & Tarpon Trust.

Greg McCrickard, Towson, Md. McCrickard is a vice president of T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. and T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc. He is a portfolio manager in the U.S. Equity Division and a former member of the Equity Steering Committee. McCrickard retired last fall after 24 years as President of the Small-Cap Stock Fund and Chairman of the fund’s Investment Advisory Committee. He also served as former chair of the Mid-Cap Value Fund Advisory Committee and as a vice president of the Small-Cap Value Fund as well. Prior to joining T. Rowe, McCrickard was a trust officer at Wachovia Bank. He currently serves on the boards of the Signal 13 Foundation in Baltimore City and St. Ignatius Loyola Academy in Baltimore City. McCrickard is also a former board member and treasurer of the College Foundation at the University of Virginia and a former board member of the Jefferson Scholars Foundation also at the University of Virginia. He previously served as board vice president for the St. Paul’s School in Brooklandville, Md. McCrickard completed his education with a B.A. at the University of Virginia and an M.B.A. from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth. He is an avid fly fisherman and is married to Elizabeth (Beth) McCrickard. They have three sons and reside in Towson, Md., and Crozet, Va..

Robert A. Oden, Jr., Hanover, N.H. When Oden was eleven years old and sitting beside the Big Hole river, his uncle, who had begun to teach Oden to fly fish several years prior, said to him, “Now you’ve fished every major drainage in Montana and the Northwest.” That statement risks exaggeration, but for six decades Oden has loved trout, trout fishing, and the cold, clear water trout and Atlantic Salmon so desperately need. Oden is President Emeritus of Carleton College, served previously as the President of Kenyon College and the Headmaster of the Hotchkiss School. He is the immediate past Chair of the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center Board of Trustees and serves on several museum and learned society boards. He earned a B.A. degree from Harvard College in 1969, a second B.A. degree and an M.A. from Cambridge University, and a Master of Theology degree and a doctorate in Near Eastern Languages and Literatures from Harvard University. From 1975 to 1989, he was a Professor of Religion at Dartmouth College, where he received Dartmouth's first Distinguished Teaching Award. Oden is the author of five books and scores of scholarly articles on Ancient Near Eastern languages and religions, and a number of articles on fly-fishing. Oden and his wife, Teresa, live in Hanover. They have two children and three grandchildren. In addition to his passion for fly fishing, Oden is a devoted long-distance runner and non-stop reader.

Al Perkinson, Bozeman, Mont. Perkinson serves as Chairman of Indifly, and is also Executive Vice President of Marketing for Simms. An avid angler, Perkinson has been recognized for his extensive conservation contributions, including being named one of the 25 most influential people in conservation by Outdoor Life Magazine. He received the Lefty Kreh Sportsman of the Year Award from Bonefish & Tarpon Trust in 2014 and was named Angler of the Year by Fly Rod & Reel Magazine in 2015. He is also a member of the prestigious Explorer’s Club in New York City.

Kerri Russell, Fayetteville, Ark. Russell is a practicing physical therapist with a doctorate in education from the University of Arkansas, focusing on special education and those with disabilities. She is an active fly fisher who can often be found plying the waters from Alaska to Belize. Russell has been a stalwart volunteer in her local Trout Unlimited chapter and on the Arkansas Council, serving two years as program chair, six years as banquet chair, two years as president, then two years as council chair. While serving as the Arkansas NLC representative, she chaired Trout Unlimited’s Women’s Initiative and Land Conservancy workgroups. Russell also serves as Program Coordinator for the Oklahoma-Arkansas Casting for Recovery program, an organization that teaches fly fishing and survivorship skills to breast cancer survivors.

Jeff Witten, Columbia, Mo./Elkins, W.Va. Witten is a former registered professional engineer and marketing executive with an M.B.A. from the University of Cincinnati. He followed a 30-year career in those fields with a second career as certified financial planner professional. Witten is currently Missouri Council Chair, where he was instrumental in adding Trout Unlimited chapters in Kansas City and St. Louis. Previously, he was the NLC Representative for Missouri and chaired the Climate Change workgroup, where he played a key role in crafting a Trout Unlimited policy statement on climate change. Witten was raised, and still has a home, in West Virginia, where he is also active in Trout Unlimited.

Additionally, in June, Larry Finch, of Wilson, Wyo., agreed to complete the term of outgoing trustee Tom Stoddard. Finch is a general partner of Sigma Partners, a leading technology venture capital fund with offices in Menlo Park, Ca., and Boston, Mass. He has been engaged in the electronic and computer business as a corporate executive, entrepreneur and venture capitalist for more than 40 years. Earlier in his career, Finch founded several high-technology electronic and computer companies that contributed to the development of the personal computer industry. A member of the St. Francis Yacht Club since 1984, Finch was chairman of the St. Francis Six-Meter Syndicate that won the World and European Championships in Sweden and Sardinia.

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Trout Unlimited is the nation’s oldest and largest coldwater fisheries conservation organization. Follow TU on Facebookand Twitter, and visit us online at tu.org and savebristolbay.org.