Four Elected to the WSSU Foundation Board of Directors

By staff
The Winston-Salem State University Foundation has elected four new board members. They are Tamisha Clark, general manager at Cook Medical; Wendy Knight, vice president at Novant Health, Inc.; Crystal Thompkins, vice president for BNY Mellon; and John Thorne, senior director of benefits at Reynolds American.

The Foundation’s returning officers are Peggy Carter, retired vice president of the Forsyth Medical Foundation, chair of the board; Cheryl Locke, vice president and chief human resources officer at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, vice chair; Cynthia Williams, executive vice president and chief corporate communications officer at BB&T Corporation, treasurer; and Randy Loftis, managing partner at Constangy, Brooks & Smith, secretary. Additionally, Dr. Patti Sanders-Smith, president of the WSSU National Alumni Association, and Olivia Sedwick, WSSU Student Government Association president, will serve as new ex officio directors.

Clark is general manager of Cook Medical’s Endoscopy Division and has been with the company since 1998. During that time, she served as a product development engineer, production manager, process engineering manager, director of manufacturing and vice president of operations prior to being named a general manager of the company. She earned a B.S. degree in mechanical engineering from N. C. State University.
Prior to joining Novant Health as vice president of corporate insurance operations, Knight had served as vice president of risk management and insurance services with Southern States Cooperative, Inc. and she spent nine years in Winston-Salem with AON Risk Services, Inc. She holds a B.A. degree in English from Duke University and a M.H.A. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Thompkins, a 1999 graduate of WSSU, serves as vice president and director of relationship management for BNY Mellon’s Planned Giving Group. She works with non-profit organizations across the country in the management of their planned giving programs. She had previously worked at AON Consulting, Invesco and U.S. Trust Company. A Chartered Advisor in Philanthropy, Thompkins serves on the Board of the North Carolina Planned Giving Council.

Thorne joined Brown and Williamson Tobacco as a territory sales manager in 1991 following his graduation with a B.B.A. in finance from the University of North Florida. After several sales management positions, he moved into human resources, serving as director of integration implementation during the merger of Brown and Williams and R. J. Reynolds. He held several other HR positions prior to being named senior director for benefits.