Lewis May, president of May Construction Co. and a stalwart supporter of UALR’s construction management program, was installed last week as the new chair of the University’s Foundation Fund Board.

Tjuana Byrd of Sherwood, a 1996 graduate of UALR’s William H. Bowen School of Law and a lawyer in the North Little Rock City Attorney’s office, was elected vice chair of the board. Both terms will extend to December 2010.

UALR’s Foundation Fund Board also welcomed 11 new members of the 36-member board charged with raising diversified funding and enthusiasm to propel UALR in its mission to become a powerhouse of higher education.

New members were nominated and screened by the board’s membership committee chaired by Dennis Jungmeyer, executive director of the Arkansas Automobile Dealers Association.

Members joining the board this year are:

• Steve Holcomb of Mangan Holcomb Partners, the advertising firm that has helped create UALR’s “Difference of Degree” advertising campaign.
• Bryan E. Hosto of Hosto, Buchan, Prater, and Lawrence PLLC. Hosto earned two degrees at UALR in 1985 and 1988, and is a former president of the UALR Alumni Association.
• Edmond G. Hurst, a magna cum laude graduate of UALR, is senior managing director of Crews and Associates Inc. Capital Markets Professionals.
• Cristina S. Monterrey, a 2006 graduate of the Bowen Law School, is a lawyer for Mitchell Williams Selig Gates and Woodyard PLLC. She and her husband Leo, also a UALR graduate, are co-chairs of this year’s Taste of Latin America event benefiting the Alumni Association scholarship funds.
• Sean Michael O’Connell is the new vice president and general manager of Comcast.
• Bill Roehrenbeck, a 1992 graduate, is president of Arvest Mortgage Co.
• Joel Ruminer, a former UALR student and dance instructor considered one of the best by tap legends Eleanor Powell, Gene Kelly, and Gregory Hines, shares his name with UALR’s new Theatre and Dance Scholarship endowed by his students after 50 years of teaching.
• Martha Ann Sawrie Stephenson, a UALR graduate in 1972 and 1978, is a community volunteer.
• Jay T. Taylor, a 1994 graduate, is a partner with Friday, Eldredge, and Clark.
• Sam Walls Jr., a 1969 graduate, is an executive with Arkansas Capital Corp.
• Brenda Fulkerson, a 1973 graduate, is president of Fulkerson and Co.

The UALR Foundation Fund Board of Directors meets four times a year to oversee the activities of the foundation fund. Members are expected to communicate the foundation’s mission and serve as ambassadors of goodwill for UALR in the community, state, and region. They are expected to make a minimum cumulative contribution of $1,000 annually to support and mission and goals of the University, participate in the foundation annual fundraising campaign, cultivate candidates for consideration as members of the Foundation Fund Board, and to be involved on matters related to public higher education and UALR’s need for private and public support.