Franklin’s Board of Trustees

Stacey Armstrong is an alumnus of Franklin University, having earned her MBA in 2009, and currently serves as the chief operating officer (COO) at OhioHealth Riverside Methodist Hospital. Stacey originally joined OhioHealth in 1991, as a medical technologist at Riverside. She then transitioned into management positions that progressed into leadership roles at both Grant and Riverside. From 2010 to 2015, she gained experience in various vice-presidential roles including vice president of ambulatory care services and vice president of operations at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Stacey returned to OhioHealth in 2015 to assume the role as vice president, specialty practice operations, OhioHealth Physician Group. Prior to her current role as COO at Riverside, she served as chief operating officer, and then president, at Grant.  In addition to her current role, Stacey is also the co-accountable executive for CareConnect (Epic), OhioHealth’s electronic medical record. She also serves as the operational liaison to the Administrative Fellowship Program, and is the accountable executive for an OhioHealth Joint Venture Endoscopy Board. Stacey received her bachelor’s degree in medical technology from Indiana University.

Mr. Cartner is a past Chairman of the Board. He currently serves as chair of the Infrastructure Committee and is an active member on the Committee on Trusteeship Governance. He is President of MoTrim, Inc., which manufacturers boom-type hydraulic mowing machinery, headquartered in Cambridge, Ohio with an additional plant in Florida. Mr. Cartner is a Franklin University alumnus and resides in Cambridge with his wife.

Ms. Crane is a community advocate currently serving on the boards of Goodwill Columbus, Upper Arlington Community Foundation, and the Columbus Foundation Reese-Shackelford Supporting Organization. She has also served on numerous other boards, including Planned Parenthood of Central Ohio/Greater Ohio, Columbus School for Girls, and I Know I Can. She is highly active with the Crane Group, which was founded by her grandfather. Prior to leaving the corporate world, Ms. Crane worked in Chicago (IL) for Kraft General Foods/Kraft USA where she led the brand management for several multi-million dollar product lines, and developed the strategic plan and coordinated the major planning projects for a multi-billion division. Ms. Crane holds an MBA in Marketing from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management, at Northwestern University (IL), and a BS in Marketing and Management from Indiana University. Ms. Crane and husband Tim Miller reside in Columbus, and are the proud parents of Taylor and Hailey. Jamie is the Chair of the Communications and Advancement Committee.

Ms. Duchi joined the board in 2009. Mary is past Chair of the Franklin University Board of Trustees and currently serves on the Finance Committee and the Committee on Trusteeship Governance. Mary has extensive background in both the private and public sectors. She joined Battelle in 1977 and retired from the organization 34 years later as the Vice President of Operations and Systems Services. Ms. Duchi has volunteered her time toward both professional and personal interests by serving as Board member for the Battelle National Biodefense Institute; as a Franklin Park Conservatory Trustee; as a board member for both the Central Ohio Regional Science and Engineering Fair and Edison Welding Institute boards; and on a number of committees and boards for the city of Upper Arlington. Ms. Duchi earned her MBA in Finance and Quantitative Methods from The Ohio State University and her BBA in Finance from the University of Michigan.

Phil Fankhauser is co-founder and principal of Epcon Communities and Epcon Communities Franchising. Since 1986 Epcon has been a developer of communities designed for the age 55+ market. With a home office in Columbus, Ohio and Regional offices in Raleigh and Charlotte, North Carolina, Epcon is recognized nationally as a top builder of age targeted properties. The franchise business includes franchised builders in over 20 states. Fankhauser has over 45 years’ experience in real estate development and construction and serves as a member of the Urban Land Institute’s “Lifestyle Residential Development” Council. He is an alumnus of Franklin University and currently serves on the Communications and Advancement Committee as well as the Infrastructure Committee.

Mr. Flynn joined the board in 2002. Gary serves as the Chair of the Partnership Committee. In addition, he serves on the Communications & Advancement Committee, the Committee on Trusteeship Governance, and the Audit. Controls & Compliance Committee. He earned his bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Franklin University in 1971. Flynn also is a 1983 graduate of The Ohio State University’s Executive Development Program. Mr. Flynn was employed 33 years at Abbott Laboratories, a leading global broad based healthcare company, where he retired as Senior Vice President of Abbott Nutrition.

Ted Ford is a seasoned executive with over 25 years of experience in government, marketing, higher education, and public-private partnerships. Ted currently serves as a CEO for Advanced Energy Economy Ohio, a state-wide trade group involved in the development and financing of advanced energy projects. Previously, Ted served as TechColumbus’ first CEO and as President and CEO of Edison Welding Institute, a nationally recognized independent engineering research and development organization. As Senior Vice President for University Advancement at Northern Arizona University in the late 1990’s, he led the development launch of the institution’s first capital campaign which raised $100 million. He has served as a business development professional, legislative advocate, legislative staffer, and executive assistant to the Governor of Ohio. He is also a regional affiliate director for BioOhio. He received his undergrad and his Master’s at The Ohio State University. Ted serves as the Chair of the Academic/Student committee.

Mr. Gonsalves is currently working as a Marketing Consultant. He has an extensive marketing background, which is highlighted in his previous position as the Chief Marketing Officer for Allied Insurance, Titan Insurance, Nationwide Commercial, Nationwide Specialty, and Nationwide Agribusiness in Des Moines Iowa. Mr. Gonsalves has also worked as the Vice President for Marketing Strategy & Planning for Nationwide in Columbus, Ohio. At Franklin, Mr. Gonsalves currently serves the Academic/Student Committee as well as the Communications and Advancement Committee.

Mr. Hagen joined the Franklin board in 2010 and currently serves as the Immediate Past Chair. Bruce is the regional executive and president of the OhioHealth North Market. He is responsible for coordinating OhioHealth’s growth in the northern areas served by the hospital system. He has more than 30 years’ experience in the healthcare industry. He is a fellow in the American College of Health Care Executives, and has been affiliated with many community service programs including the Board of Directors of the Grand Rapids Community College Foundation, the Board of Directors of the Gerald R. Ford Council of Boy Scouts and the Board of Directors of the American Heart Association, Great Rivers Affiliate. Bruce serves on the Finance Committee and currently chairs the Committee on Trusteeship Governance.

Mr. James is an alumnus of Franklin University, a past Board of Trustees Chairman, and currently serves on the Finance, Partnerships, and Governance Committees. He is founder and President of Dynalab, Inc., an electronic manufacturing services company; Dynalab Test Systems, Inc., a designer and manufacturer of electronic test equipment; President of JAAS Systems, LLC, a publisher of manufacturing software; and a board member of MD Systems, LLC, a medical device manufacturer. Mr. James has served as President of a Kiwanis club, Treasurer of National Church Residences, and in numerous other community organizations.

Mr. Jones is a past Chairman of the Board and currently serves on the Human Resource Committee, Infrastructure Committee and the Committee on Trusteeship Governance. He is retired Vice President of Production for The Dispatch Printing Company, as well as Chairman and President of Dispatch Consumer Services and Chairman and President of Consumers News Services. Mr. Jones, a Franklin alumnus, is a veteran of the United States Air Force. Mr. Jones serves on the Board of the American Red Cross and United Way of Franklin County.

Valerie Pitteroff is Senior Vice-President of Human Resources at Cardinal Health where she has responsibility for the company’s international Medical Segment.  She joined Cardinal Health in October 2002 and has held both HR Business Partner and Talent Management Center of Excellence roles supporting all facets of the Cardinal Health business. Before joining Cardinal Health, Valerie was a United States Peace Corps member, serving in Paraguay, South America.  Her volunteer service focused on working with educators and farmers to establish a rural community cooperative and developing educational programs for women and students.  

She is originally from Southern California and is a graduate of the University of California at Riverside.  She now resides in Hilliard, Ohio, with her husband Jason, children Ethan and Sofia, and rescue dog Cooper.  

Mr. Roche retired from his position as Senior Vice President, Finance at Chemical Abstracts Services in 2008. Prior to joining Chemical Abstracts, Mr. Roche served as Vice President, Accounting & Finance for Honda of America Manufacturing and Senior Manager Tax Consultant with Peat Marwick; a tax consultant for the CPA firms of Frank, Seringer & Chaney and Hammersmith, Roche & Jenkins. Mr. Roche also serves on the board of Catholic Social Services as the chair of the Finance Committee and member of the Executive Committee; and serves as the treasurer for St Gabriel Radio, Inc. Mr. Roche serves Franklin as the Chair of the Finance Committee and serves on the Partnerships Committee.

Pamela Springer is a seasoned entrepreneur with more than 25 years of experience growing tech-based companies including raising $55M in funding and leading re-starts and IPOs. She most recently served as president and CEO of ORIS Intelligence. There, she drove strategic growth for the company including being named one of the fastest growing companies in Ohio, supporting over 750 world-class brands and growing its team by 100 percent over the past three years, leading to its acquisition in 2019 by PriceSpider.  Prior to ORIS, she built Manta Media into one of the largest, most trafficked websites in the U.S. 

Pamela has been recognized as one of the “13 Powerful Women Running Today’s Biggest Startups” by Business Insider and was awarded the 2011 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award in Technology for the Central Region. She sits on the boards of multiple emerging growth companies including RevLocal and InvestX Capital. Springer earned a business degree from Franklin University, graduating summa cum laude. She played on the Oakland University basketball team the year they made it to the NCAA Division II Final Four. When she’s not working, Pamela is an avid sports fan, outdoor enthusiast, and flute player, and recently summited Mt. Kilimanjaro.

David Stone is the Executive Managing Director of Specialty Banking at Huntington National Bank, where he manages specialized commercial banking units. Stone has more than 30 years of experience in lending and was most recently at PNC, formerly National City, where he was an executive vice president and head of corporate banking, based in Columbus. Stone began his banking career at National City in 1988 in Cleveland as a member of the corporate banking development program. Over the years he held a variety of other executive positions at the bank including regional manager and credit department manager. Prior to his career in banking, he was an instructor of economics at the University of Findlay. Stone earned his bachelors and master’s degree from Bowling Green State University. He currently serves on the Academic/Student Committee, the Finance Committee, and Chairs the Audit, Controls and Compliance Committee.

Matthew is a senior executive and consultant for the non-profit scientific information firm, CAS, a division of the American Chemical Society.  Matthew has over twenty years as the CAS operations leader and as chief scientist over the world’s largest and most comprehensive chemical science data and information collection.  He has been employed by CAS in numerous positions since 1980.  Matthew served in the US Army Reserve from 1982-2002.  Matthew holds a PhD, Interdisciplinary (food protein chemistry, nutrition, pathophysiology) (1992), a Master of Science degree in Food Chemistry and Nutritional Biochemistry (1979), and a Bachelor of Science degree (1976) all from The Ohio State University.  Matthew is also a Registered Patent Agent with the US Patent and Trademark Office.

Carole Watkins is a Franklin alum, having received her Bachelors of Science in Business. She retired as the Chief Human Resources Officer of Cardinal Health in 2016, where she worked for 20 years. Prior to joining Cardinal Health, Carole had over 20 years of human resources experience with other Central Ohio based companies including The Limited, O. M. Scott & Sons, Lazarus and Huntington Bank. Ms. Watkins currently serves on the board of Delta Dental of Ohio, Delta Dental of Kentucky and Renaissance Health Services. In addition, she serves on the Board of Flying Horse Farms (past Chair), and the global Serious Fun Children’s Network, both serving children with serious illnesses and their families. Previously she served on the Action for Children Board (Past President), the Childhood League Center board, the Executive Leadership team for the Go Red Luncheon, and the American Heart Association’s Great Rivers Affiliate Leadership Development Committee. She currently serves as Chair of the Human Resources Committee and serves as a member on the Academic/Student Committee.

David White has held the position of vice president and chief information officer at Battelle since February 2012. He and his team are responsible for aligning and advancing corporate application development, infrastructure platforms and development initiatives across the enterprise. A key component of this position entails leveraging new and emerging trends and concepts to provide more cost effective business solutions. David has held various executive-level positions with the state of Ohio including executive program manager of the Ohio Administrative Knowledge System, director of state accounting within the Office of Budget and Management, and director of revenue management within the State of Ohio Treasury. He is a member of the CIO Advisory Board for Box.com, the advisory board of the Columbus African American Leadership Academy and a member of the COSI Community Board. David attended The Ohio State University, where he studied electrical engineering. He eared a degree in business administration from Columbus State Community College and a degree in computer management from Franklin University.