University of Delaware Board of Trustees 2009
Trustee Emeriti Biographies
Werner C. Brown is a past chairman of the board of directors and chief executive officer of Hercules, Inc. After receiving his degree in chemistry from Duke University, he began his career as a chemist with Hercules in 1942. Mr. Brown has served on the boards of directors of Diamond State Telephone Company, Delmarva Power & Light Company (vice chairman), Delaware Trust Company, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia (deputy chairman), and was a member of the board of advisors of the Wilmington Trust Company of Florida. He served on the board of trustees of Duke University (vice chairman). In 1977, he won the International Palladium Medal for his distinguished contributions to the chemical industry. He also served as chairman of the Chemical Manufacturers Association and as chairman of the Plastics Committee. He is a past member of the President's Export Council (Washington, DC) and of the executive council of the Harvard Business School. He was the 1970 chairman of the State of Delaware United Way Campaign. Elected to the Board in 1970, Mr. Brown was named Trustee Emeritus in 1993.
Sally H. Higgins was elected to the Board of Trustees in 1971. She is a retired educator and guidance counselor and received both her undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of Delaware. In 1973, she was named Counselor of the Year by the Delaware Personnel and Guidance Association. She is the former director of guidance at Seaford High School. Mrs. Higgins has served as president of the Delaware School Board Association and the Seaford School Board. In 1988, Mrs. Higgins received the Athena Award for community service from the Greater Seaford Chamber of Commerce and, in 1990, she received the Bernard P. Ireland Award from the College Board in recognition of contributions to the field of counseling. She was a member of the Committee for the Education of Women at the University. Mrs. Higgins was elected Trustee Emerita in 2001.
Having been elected to the University of Delaware Board of Trustees in 1982, Andrew B. Kirkpatrick Jr. was named Board Chairman in 1988 and served in that capacity until 1999. Mr. Kirkpatrick is Of Counsel to the Wilmington law firm of Morris, Nichols, Arsht & Tunnell of which he was a member engaged in the practice of law for many years. Mr. Kirkpatrick served as a 1st Lieutenant with the 31st Infantry Regiment in Korea in 1951-1952. A member of Phi Beta Kappa, he received his law degree in 1954 from Harvard University, magna cum laude, and served there as a member of the Harvard Law Review. Mr. Kirkpatrick chaired the Governor’s Commission on Organized Crime from 1972-1973, was chairman of the Censor Committee of the Supreme Court of Delaware from 1970-1978, was president of the Delaware State Bar Association in 1978-1979, and is a fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers. He is also a trustee of the Unidel Foundation. Mr. Kirkpatrick was elected Honorary Counselor in December 2003. He is also the recipient of a University of Delaware Honorary Degree, the highest honor the University can bestow.
Robert F. Rider was elected to the Board of Trustees in 1985, replacing Elbert N. Carvel, former Governor of Delaware. Mr. Rider is chairman and chief executive officer of O.A. Newton & Son Co. of Bridgeville, Delaware. He served as president for the company from 1969 to 1984 and has been a director since 1956. He also served as president of Newton Leasing & Finance Company from 1977 to 2006, and has been secretary-treasurer and a trustee of the Newton Foundation since 1958. In 1984, Mr. Rider was named a trustee of the Wilmington Medical Center and a member of the Board on Professional Responsibility of the Supreme Court of Delaware. He was president of the Delaware State Fair from 1976 to 1989, a Bell Atlantic-Delaware director from 1979-1995, a PNC Bank director from 1984-1998, a Burris Foods director from 1983-2000, and a director of the Chesapeake Utilities Corporation, the Eastern Shore Natural Gas Company from 1976-2006. He presently serves as a director of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Delaware and the Delaware State Fair. A graduate of Skidmore college, he served as a Governor of the United States Postal Service from 1995-2005 and served as chairman of the Board from 2001-2003. He was formerly a member of the Agricultural Committee of the Delaware Bankers Association, the Delaware Council of Farm Organizations, and a member of the Delaware Roundtable. Mr. Rider was appointed Chairman of the Trustee Committee on Buildings and Grounds in 1989, and was elected Trustee Emeritus in December 2003. He continues to serve on the Board’s Architecture Visiting Committee.
