Gov. Jay Nixon made three appointments June 8 to the UM System Board of Curators and also appointed the student representative to the board, [according to a news release from Nixon’s office](https://governor.mo.gov/news/archive/gov-nixon-makes-appointments-university-missouri-board-curators).

“It is vitally important that the University of Missouri System has the leadership it needs to continue to be an internationally-recognized model of academic excellence,” Nixon said in the news release.

Mary Nelson of St. Louis, Jon Sundvold of Columbia, and Thomas Voss of Eureka are the new curators, along with junior Patrick Graham, the new student representative.

Between November and February, three curators resigned. This left the nine-member board with three vacancies plus a vacancy for the student representative after UM-St. Louis student Tracy Mulderig finished her two-year term during the spring semester. Now, the board has all nine seats filled for the first time in seven months.

Nelson is currently general counsel and the chief legal officer for the St. Louis Community College District. She also serves on the State Highways and Transportation Commission. She received her bachelor’s degree from Princeton University and her law degree from MU.

Sundvold is the founder and president of Sundvold Financial, an investment advisory firm. He played basketball at MU from 1979 to 1983 and was inducted into the Athletics Hall of Fame. After he graduated, he played in the NBA for nine years. Selected in the first round of the 1983 draft by the Seattle SuperSonics, he also played for the San Antonio Spurs and Miami Heat. Following his basketball career, he worked as a basketball analyst for ESPN and CBS and currently serves as a color analyst for Mizzou basketball games for the SEC Network.

Voss is currently the chairman of Smart Wires, a global grid optimization company and a former CEO of Ameren Corp. A graduate of Missouri University of Science and Technology with a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering, Voss also served in the U.S. Air Force.

Graham is a vocal music education major and is expected to graduate in 2018. He was [previously nominated](https://www.themaneater.com/stories/2016/3/10/patrick-graham-named-new-student-representative-bo/) by Nixon in March, but the Missouri Senate [didn’t take up the nomination](https://www.themaneater.com/stories/2016/4/26/asum-pushes-confirmation-curators-student-represen/) before the end of the legislative session in May, so Nixon withdrew the nomination and reappointed him.

With the new appointments, eight of the nine curators are white; Nelson is the only black member. Seven are lawyers, all except Sundvold and Voss. Two, Nelson and board Chairwoman Pam Henrickson, are women. Before the appointments, the board had [a noticeable lack of racial, gender and occupational diversity](https://www.themaneater.com/stories/2016/2/16/board-curators-enters-presidential-search-diversit/).

The new curators will start serving immediately and play a role in choosing the next UM System president.

“I appreciate this immensely qualified and diverse group of leaders for stepping up at this critical time to serve this institution, its students and our state,” Nixon said in the news release. “With a full complement of members, the Board of Curators is well-positioned to complete the task of selecting the next system president in the next few months.”

_Edited by George Roberson | groberson@themaneater.com_