UK Alumni Association Announces New Officers for 2016-2017

LEXINGTON, Ky. (June 29, 2016) — The University of Kentucky Alumni Association announced a new slate of officers at its annual Board of Directors Summer Workshop in Lexington. At the helm for 2016-2017 are: Peggy S. Meszaros, president; Susan Van Buren Mustian, president-elect; J. Fritz Skeen, treasurer; and Stan R. Key, secretary.

Meszaros, of Hopkinsville, Kentucky, earned a master’s degree in education in 1972 and a doctoral degree from the University of Maryland. She is a Life Member of the UK Alumni Association and a UK Fellow. Meszaros has served four three-year terms on the UK Alumni Association Board of Directors. She has held several committee leadership positions with the association, including chairwoman of the Distinguished Service Awards, Communications, Nominating for Board, Scholarships/Great Teacher Awards and Budget, Finance and Investments Committees.

In the 2015-2016 year she served as chairwoman of the strategic planning process. Meszaros retired this year as the William E. Lavery Professor of Human Development and director of the Research Center for Information Technology Impacts on Children, Youth, and Families at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State College. She was then conferred the title of William E. Lavery Professor Emerita of Human Development and Provost Emerita by the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors. She served from 1993-1994 as dean of the College of Human Resources at Virginia Tech and from 1994-2000 served as senior vice president and provost, the highest-ranking female in the history of the school.

From 1985-1993 Meszaros served as dean of the UK College of Human Environmental Sciences. She was inducted into the UK Human Environmental Sciences Hall of Fame in 2002. She served on the UK Athletics Association Board from 1986-1992. She is a founding member of the Erikson Society at UK. Meszaros was inducted into the UK Alumni Association Hall of Distinguished Alumni in 1995 and was a 2011 recipient of the prestigious UK Alumni Association Distinguished Service Award. She is a member of the Blacksburg Rotary Club and has served on its board of directors and as co-chairwoman of Membership and Attendance Committees. She was married to Alex Meszaros and they had three children. Their son, Louis, graduated from UK.

Mustian, of Hebron, Kentucky, earned a bachelor’s degree in marketing in 1984 from the UK Gatton College of Business and Economics. She is a UKAN Advocate and a Life Member of the UK Alumni Association. Mustian is serving her third three-year term on the UK Alumni Association Board of Directors. She has held several committee leadership positions with the association including chairwoman of Membership, Club Development and Budget, Finance and Investments, and vice-chairwoman of Diversity and Group Development Committees. Mustian was also chairwoman of the Strategic Plan Governance Focus Group.

A former president of the Student Activities Board, Mustian also led the Student Alumni Association as an undergraduate. She continued her involvement with the association serving as president-elect of the Northern KY/Greater Cincinnati UK Alumni Club and also as vice president and secretary. She helped develop alumni clubs in South Bend, Indiana, and Hong Kong, where she was appointed to the Strategic Plan Accreditation Leadership Team with the Hong Kong International School. She is currently president of the Southwest Ohio Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation Board of Directors and served as the Cincinnatian of the Year Gala co-chairwoman in 2015 and 2016. In 2014 she received the Greater Cincinnati Planned Giving Council Voices of Giving Award and in 2015 she received Lead’s Cincinnati Women of Influence Award. She is a 2012 recipient of the prestigious UK Alumni Association Distinguished Service Award. She is married to Scott J. Mustian ’85 BE, a UK Fellow and also a Life Member of the UK Alumni Association. They are the parents of Sam, Nathan and Sarah.

Skeen, of Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration in 1972 and an MBA in 1973 from the UK Gatton College of Business and Economics. He is a Life Member of the UK Alumni Association, a Wildcat Society member, a UK Fellow, a member of the K Fund and returns to campus to play tuba in the UK Alumni Band. He is serving his second three-year term on the UK Alumni Association Board of Directors. Skeen has held committee leadership positions with the association including chairman of the Scholarship/Great Teacher Awards, vice-chairman of Distinguished Service Awards and vice-chairman of the Budget, Finance and Investments Committees. He has also served on the Membership Committee.

Skeen and two fellow UK alumni restarted the Jacksonville UK Alumni Club, where he continues to serve as treasurer. During his 30-year career with the IBM Corp., he held a variety of sales, marketing and executive positions, relocating to Raleigh, North Carolina; Chicago; Los Angeles; White Plains, New York; and again to Chicago. As general manager of the Chicago area for all divisions of IBM, he hosted two receptions for the then deans of the Gatton College of Business and Economics. He serves on the board of governors of the Sawgrass Country Club and is the treasurer. Skeen is president of the Northgate Homeowners Association and a past member of the board of directors of the Sawgrass Association. He is married to Helen Morse Skeen.

Key, of Lexington, earned a bachelor’s degree in education from UK in 1972 and a master’s degree in education from Murray State University in 1977. He is a Life Member of the UK Alumni Association and a UK Fellow. He has served as executive director of the UK Alumni Association and as secretary to the association’s board of directors since 1998. Key was in the position of associate director of the UK Alumni Association from 1990 to 1998. He is married to Mary Jane Key, a UK graduate. Their two sons, Ryan and Neil, also have degrees from UK.

The UK Alumni Association is a membership supported organization committed to fostering lifelong engagement among alumni, friends, the association and the university. For more information about the UK Alumni Association or to become a member, visit www.ukalumni.net or call 1-800-269-2586.

UK is the University for Kentucky. At UK, we are educating more students, treating more patients with complex illnesses and conducting more research and service than at any time in our 150-year history. To read more about the UK story and how you can support continued investment in your university and the Commonwealth, visit uky.edu/uk4ky. #uk4ky #seeblue

MEDIA CONTACT: Whitney Harder, 859-323-2396, whitney.harder@uky.edu