Wilson elected chairman of Lyon College board

Perry Wilson, a Little Rock attorney, has been elected chairman of the Lyon College Board of Trustees. The board elected him Friday at its spring meeting on the Lyon campus. He succeeds Raymond LaCroix Jr. of Batesville, who is leaving the board June 30 after 17 years of service, six of them as chairman.

“It has been a distinct pleasure to be able to work closely with Chairman LaCroix over the past three years,” President Donald Weatherman said. “I have always found his insights into the role Lyon plays in higher education in Arkansas and the region to be one of his greatest assets to the College. His sound judgment on the many anddiverse issues confronting the College has always been a blessing as well. At the same time, I am pleased that Trustee Perry Wilson will be assuming those responsibilities. The Wilson family has served the College for many years and I appreciate Perry Wilson’s willingness to take on this responsibility.”

Wilson joined the board in 2009 and is a member of the executive committee and is chair of the Institutional Advancement Committee. He is a member of the Barber, McCaskill, Jones & Hale law firm in Little Rock. He is the son of the late Mike Wilson, a longtime member of the Lyon board. The chairman position serves a five-year term.

Other officers elected by the board Friday are Stephen Williams, ’82, of Little Rock, vice chair; Ricky Davis, ’80, of Heber Springs, secretary; and Charles Whiteside III of Little Rock, treasurer.

The board also elected two new trustees and re-elected three current Synod trustees.

Elected as a new Synod trustee is Carolyn Pieserich, ’95, of Little Rock. Mrs. Pieserich is a Batesville High School graduate and received her B.S. degree in biology from Lyon. She is a civic and community leader and is currently PTA president at the Fair Park Earl Childhood Center. She is an elder at Trinity Presbyterian Church in Little Rock, chair of the church’s Worship Committee and a member of the Honduras Medical Mission Committee. She is a fifth generation Lyon graduate and her mother, grandmother and grandfather all served as trustees. She and her husband, John Pieserich, ’95, have three children. She will serve a four-year term beginning July 1.

Elected to a three-year term as a new alumni trustee from Independence County is Chris Beller, ’98, of Batesville. He is a dentist at the Beller Dental Clinic, where he practices with his father, Bill Beller, ’63. A recipient of the 2008 Patterson Decade Award, Beller is chairman of the Vital Link Board of Directors and the Batesville Parks and Recreation Committee. He is also a director of the Batesville Area Chamber of Commerce Board and theBatesville Public Facilities Board. He and his wife, Jo, have two children. He is a member of Central Avenue Methodist Church.

Re-elected to four-year terms as Synod trustees are Vicky Crittenden, ’78, of Lexington, Mass.; W. Len Rayburn, ’91, of Maumelle; and Stephen Williams, ’82, of Little Rock.

Also introduced at the board meeting Friday was Jon-Michael Poff, ’13, of Batesville who was recently elected president of the Student Government Association for 2012-13. As the SGA president, Poff will serve as a student representative on the board.