Rosemead, CA—On October 10th and 11th the University of the West installed six new members to its Board of Trustees, bringing its total size to 15. “We are very pleased to welcome such an extraordinarily talented and dedicated group of people to the Board of Trustees,” said President Sam Wu. The Trustees are appointed for two year terms, ending in August 2013. The newly expanded board will support strategic efforts to guide UWest, its students and its faculty into the future.

“These Trustees are expected to bring additional professional and academic expertise as well as geographic diversity to benefit the UWest,” stated Chairman of the Board Venerable Hsing Ting. Among the new Trustees are Roger Frank, Dr. Lewis Lancaster, Darlene Lanham, Matthew Stitzer, Jonathan Strum, and the Honorable Cecil Willis, Jr.

“We are excited by the fruitfulness of our meetings with the Deans and faculty, non-academic administration, and representatives from the Student Association,” commented Darlene Lanham, a public affairs professional from Austin, TX. “We’ve discovered there’s a great foundation on which to build the future,” added Jonathan Strum, a specialist in international finance and law and news analyst.

Mathew Stitzer, a corporate attorney from New York said he “[was] impressed by the depth of the commitment everyone demonstrated to the school, and by the idea that worldly study can be infused with a deeper sense of mission and ethics.”

Trustees reviewed UWest’s academics and operations and will meet again December to continue the planning and review process. “The energy displayed over the past few days is a good portent of things to come for UWest,” stated Roger Frank, a leading expert on micro-finance and sustainable development. “We’re looking toward a bright and abundant future for this University.”

Dr. Lewis Lancaster, Professor Emeritus at the University of California Berkeley and a former UWest President was delighted that the “new board is notably not monastic but brings a wide array of expertise in finance, law, business, public policy, and government.”

Cecil Willis, Jr. of Stafford, Texas, is a 27-year veteran of the Stafford City Council and has enjoyed a long term relationship with the founders of UWest. Councilman Willis said, “What UWest is doing by building bridges between East and West and infusing its students with a sense of mission and ethics is laudable— and I for one am eager to support it.”

University of the West is a secular university founded by Master Hsing Yun to provide a "whole person" education in a context informed by Buddhist wisdom and values; and to facilitate cultural understanding and appreciation between East and West.