UIAA Board welcomes seven new members

With backgrounds ranging from collegiate athletics to space science and global business strategy, these individuals bring new expertise and perspectives

New UIAA Board Members include: (top) Randy L. Buhr, Suzanne Dawson, Yonsook Enloe, (bottom) Arielle Gross Samuels, Willa Lang, Amy Marcoot, and Carrie Zalewski.
With backgrounds ranging from collegiate athletics to space science and global business strategy, these individuals bring new expertise and perspectives

Randy L. Buhr, ’90 BUS, JD ’95, is director of championships and alliances for the NCAA, where he has day-to-day oversight for the Division I Baseball Championship and the Men’s College World Series. He has managed 13 other championships during his NCAA tenure. He also serves on the FBI Indianapolis Citizens Academy Alumni Association board of directors and the National Center for Sports Spectator Safety and Security intercollegiate advisory committee. Buhr is the former senior associate director of athletics at Washington State University, and has held positions in athletics compliance and development at the University of Oregon. He earned his master’s degree in sport management from Ohio State University. A Champaign native, Buhr resides in Fishers, Ind., with his wife, Susan. (Image courtesy of Randy L. Buhr)

Suzanne Dawson, ’84 BUS, is a senior retail executive with more than 30 years of merchandising and management experience. She has worked for three Fortune 200 companies: Macy’s, the May Department Store Co. and Kohl’s. Dawson held multiple leadership positions across these organizations in omni-channel merchandising, financial planning and store operations. Her career has allowed her to live and work in Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles, Milwaukee and St. Louis. In her most recent position as senior vice president of merchandising and vice president, category merchandise manager for Kohl’s, Dawson was responsible for managing merchandising relationships with major industry brands such as Nike, Adidas, Hanes, Jockey, Under Armour and Columbia Sportswear. She resides in Hartland, Wis. (Image by Tina Erdmann)

Yonsook Enloe, ’78 ENG, is a retired systems engineer with almost 30 years of experience working with NASA’s Earth Observing System Data and Information System at the Goddard Space Flight Center. During her tenure, she led numerous international space agency teams that collaborated to align access to Earth-observing data at various space agencies around the globe. Enloe resides in Edwardsville, Ill. (Image courtesy of Yonsook Enloe)

Arielle Gross Samuels, ’11 ENG, is head of global business strategy and engagement at Facebook. She founded and leads a global team that builds initiatives and strategic partnerships focused on social good and business equality in the service of more than 200 million businesses and 10 million active advertisers around the world. Key initiatives include: running Facebook’s grants program to provide $40 million to 10,000 Black-owned U.S. businesses to boost liquidity for those hit hardest by COVID-19; overseeing Facebook’s commitment to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 8 for “decent work and economic growth”; and leading Facebook’s business sustainability presence. Samuels was named to Forbes “30 Under 30” list in marketing and advertising, and has received numerous accolades including recognition as a Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Goalkeeper and an Adweek Executive Mentor. She is a board member of the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, and serves on the board of the Girl Up United Nations Foundation, a global leadership development initiative that reaches more than 88,000 girls in 125 countries. Samuels also has served on the United Nations Women Global Innovation Coalition for Change, and currently serves as a partner for Women in Need, the largest provider of shelter and supportive housing for homeless women and their families in New York City, where she resides. (Image courtesy of Arielle Gross Samuels)

Willa Lang, ’81 LAS, is executive director of the Chicago Parks Foundation, where she created and launched a public/private partnership with the Chicago Park District. The Chicago Parks Foundation serves as the fiscal partner for the Chicago parks and leads legacy projects such as the AIDS Garden Chicago and summer youth employment programs for the Chicago mayor’s office. Her previous professional roles include serving as vice chancellor of workforce and economic development for the City Colleges of Chicago; commodore of the Lincoln Park Boat Club; and CEO of the National Kidney Foundation of Illinois. Lang holds a master’s degree in social work from Loyola University and lives in Chicago. (Image courtesy of Willa Lang)

Amy Marcoot, ’05 AHS,  owns and operates the award-winning Marcoot Jersey Farm and Creamery in Greenville, Ill., a seventh-generation, family-owned dairy farm that specializes in artisanal and farmstead cheeses and other products, including ice cream, grass-fed beef and clover honey. She serves on the board of trustees for Greenville University’s Briners School of Business and is a deacon at her church. Marcoot holds a master’s degree in mental health/school counseling from Eastern Illinois University and lives in Greenville. (Image courtesy of Amy Marcoot)

Carrie Zalewski, ’01 ENG, is a utility regulator, attorney and trained engineer who chairs the Illinois Commerce Commission. She has more than 15 years of experience in environmental and energy regulation, with an extensive background in public utility regulation, environmental compliance, wholesale power issues and corporate governance. Zalewski previously served on the Illinois Pollution Control Board and has been an attorney for the Illinois Dept. of Transportation and in private practice. A member of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners, she serves on its electricity and industry diversity committees and chairs its Commission Chair Council. Zalewski also serves as a board member of the Organization of MISO States and on the Illinois Sustainable Technology Center’s advisory board. She earned her JD degree at the Chicago-Kent College of Law and resides in Riverside, Ill. (Image by Jennifer Morris)