The Board of Curators can often seem like an omnipotent group of Wizard-of-Oz-esque overlords who decide your tuition’s fate behind a grandiose emerald curtain. But who are the new men (and woman) behind this curtain?
This year, three new MU graduates have joined the team, bringing the membership to seven out of the usual nine total curators. With the advice and consent of the state senate, Gov. Eric Greitens appointed Darryl Chatman, Jamie Farmer and Jeff Layman to the board this February. These additions, including Farmer, a woman, and Chatman, an African-American man, will add some diversity to the otherwise all-white-male board.
Chatman holds multiple degrees from MU, including a bachelor’s and master’s degree in animal science, a master’s degree in agricultural economics and a Juris Doctor. In addition to his scholastic life, he also played football at MU from 1992 to 1996. Chatman is the general counsel for the Missouri Department of Agriculture and is representing St. Louis.
Layman represents District 7 of Springfield and was an active member of Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity during his time at Mizzou. Currently, Layman is a senior portfolio management director for Morgan Stanley, a global financial services firm, and he is also known as the founder of the Layman Group at the firm, which is a wealth management team. He also holds the position of treasurer of the Board of Trustees for Ozark Technical Community College.
Farmer is the president of Capital Sand Proppants, LLC, a division of the Farmer Holding Company in Jefferson City. She graduated from the Trulaske College of Business in 2003 and is representing District 3 in Jefferson City.
Be on the lookout for these new faces, as practically everything the curators decide directly impacts students. The board selects the president of the system, hires the chancellors for each campus in the system, sets the tuition rates and plays a large role in a variety of other important UM System issues.