ASU Alumni Association elects Board of Directors, National Alumni Council members

The Arizona State University Alumni Association recently elected its 2016-2017 board of directors and National Alumni Council. Terms for all members of both entities began on July 1.

Board/Council Officers

The following persons have been elected to serve as officers of the board of directors and the National Alumni Council.

Chair: Brian LaCorte ’85 B.S.

Brian LaCorte is an equity partner and trial lawyer at Ballard Spahr LLC, a national law firm, where he oversees the intellectual property team for the firm's Phoenix office. LaCorte has served on Arizona's "Smart Beginnings" task force and the Arizona Coalition to End Homelessness. He has completed a long tenure as an executive board member of Crisis Nursery and is a past president of Southwest Human Development.  

He has been active in the St. Thomas More Society, Valley Leadership (Class XI), and the Valley Citizens League. LaCorte has supported the ASU Leadership Scholarship Program and Devils’ Advocates alumni chapters over the past several years.

Chair-Elect: Ryan Abbott '01 B.S., '08 M.B.A.


Ryan Abbott is senior vice president at Sundt Construction, Inc. He began his career at Sundt more than 14 years ago as a field engineer, working his way through every level of project management.
He has played a key role on many notable ASU projects, including Lattie F. Coor Hall, the Interdisciplinary Science & Technology Building 4 (ISTB4), the Biodesign Institute, the Downtown Phoenix Sun Devil Fitness Center and Sun Devil Stadium. Prior to serving on the ASU Alumni Association board, Abbott was a member of the organization’s Arizona State Young Alumni (ASYA) Council. 

Treasurer: Anthony Valencia ‘91 B.S., ‘13 M.B.A.

Anthony Valencia is vice president of real estate operations for Chicanos Por La Causa Inc. (CPLC). Prior to his current position, he served as vice president of finance for CPLC, as well as its program finance manager. He began his career in an entrepreneurial environment, serving as chief financial officer for several for-profit ventures.

Valencia holds a bachelor's degree in finance and an M.B.A. degree from the W. P. Carey School of Business. An alumnus of Valley Leadership, he also has served on the board of directors for the Roosevelt Education Foundation, and is currently president of the board of directors for the W. P. Carey School of Business alumni chapter.

Past Chair: Kathleen Duffy Ybarra ’81 B.A.

Kathleen Duffy Ybarra is founder and CEO of Duffy Group Inc., a global research and recruitment firm headquartered in Phoenix. In 2012, Duffy Group was named a Blue Ribbon Small Business Award winner by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Prior to starting her own business, she worked as the director of research for Tirocchi-Wright, Inc., a nationally retained executive search consulting firm.

She is a regular keynote speaker on recruiting and research, and is a founding member of the Arizona Human Resource Executive Forum. She is a member of the ASU President’s Club, a member of the HR advisory board for the Southwest Autism Research and Resource Center, and on the board of directors for the International Management Search Association. Her community service involvement includes a commitment to the local Moon Valley chapter and national organization of the National Charity League, a mother-daughter membership organization.

ASU Alumni Association Board of Directors

The following alumni were elected to their first three-year term on the Alumni Association’s board of directors, effective July 1:

New Board Members:

Gregg Brewster ‘83 B.A.

Gregg Brewster is vice president of enterprise contracting for Cardinal Health, a Fortune 50 health care manufacturing, supply-chain and service company. Since joining Cardinal Health as an entry level sales representative, Brewster has held numerous leadership positions; prior to his current role, he was the group vice president for Cardinal Health’s strategic sales organization. He is a member of the American College of Healthcare Executives and a legacy member of Cardinal Health’s Diversity Business Supplier committee.

Brewster enjoys serving on charity, church, school and country club boards and committees, spending time with his family, traveling, golfing, playing tennis, boating and fishing.  

Rick Dircks ‘82 B.S.

Rick Dircks is executive vice president of Dircks Moving & Logistics. He has been in the moving industry for nearly 30 years, working in various sales and management positions throughout the western United States. He is responsible for all sales and marketing activities for Dircks and personally manages key accounts.

Dircks was honored in February 2013 with the Excellence in Sales Award from Mayflower Van Lines. He also was honored as a finalist for ASU’s 2010 Spirit of Enterprise Award, and was also named Small Business Person of the Year by the Greater Phoenix Chamber of Commerce in 1998. He is the board chair for the Better Business Bureau in Central, Northern and Western Arizona, and a member of the executive committee of the board of directors of WESTMARC, the Arizona State University President’s Club and the Fiesta Bowl.

He is a graduate of ASU’s W. P. Carey School of Business and lives in Chandler with his wife, Robin, and his children, Madison and Morgan.

Kristine Kassel ‘91 B.S.

Kristine Kassel joins the board of directors after serving a term on the ASU Alumni Association’s National Alumni Council. She is the owner of Benefits by Design, Inc., a Tempe-based health insurance brokerage company.

Her community service engagement has included the Tempe Chamber of Commerce, where she is the immediate past chair of the board; the Arizona Small Business Association, where she is a past president; the Phoenix chapter of the National Association of Women Business Owners, where she is a past president; the National Association of Health Underwriters, where she served as a past local and state president; and Gabriel’s Angels, where she currently serves as board chair. She is a member of Tempe Leadership Class XXVI and has received the “Tempe Business Woman of the Year Award” from the Tempe Chamber of Commerce.

Kassel is a Tempe native, and currently lives there with her husband and stepdaughter. Her hobbies include golf, cycling, and relaxing with friends and family.

Tim Kelly ‘98 B.S., ‘01 M.S.

Tim Kelly serves as senior vice president and general manager for Shamrock Farms, the dairy division of Shamrock Foods Company, ranked as one of the top 500 largest privately held business in the country. He runs the dairy business for the organization and is instrumental in developing the strategic plan and infrastructure for further growth of the dairy.

Kelly earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in agribusiness from Arizona State University. He currently serves on the board of the Innovation Center of US Dairy. In the recent past, Kelly also has served on the board of the Grand Canyon State Games, United Cerebral Palsy of Central Arizona, and Blueprint Education. He’s also been a member of the Tempe Diablos.

Kelly and his wife, Robyn, have three boys that keep the family busy between educational and sports endeavors.  

Mark Kerrigan ‘74 B.S.

Mark Kerrigan is a senior executive in the energy and environmental field and is currently the manager of Amstar Energy Group. Kerrigan helped found the Grid Wise Alliance, an industry consortium established to promote the next generation electric power grid. He has held senior management roles in the federal government, including senior staff for the White House Office of Management and Budget and Deputy Undersecretary for Policy at the Department of Energy under President George H.W. Bush. As part of that role, he was a member of the American delegation to the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

He has served on various boards, including as chairman of the Research and Development Solutions LLC,  a member of the board of directors for Phoenix Energy Technology, and chairman of the GlobalResolve advisory board at ASU. He was a member of the Board of Visitors at Indiana University, where he received the Alumni of the Year Award at the School of Public and Environmental Affairs in 2005. He, along with other co-founders of GlobalResolve, also received the James W. Creasman Award for Excellence from the Arizona State University Alumni Association in 2009. Kerrigan lives in Falls Church, Va., with his wife, Susan, and daughters Meredith and Paige.

The new board members join Michelle Bolton ’93 B.A. and Bob Boscamp ’69 B.A.E., who were elected to their second terms on the board, as well as continuing board members Jason Alberts ‘97 B.S., ‘03 J.D.; Michelle Bolton ‘90 B.A.; Teresa Clement ’02 B.S.E., ’07 Ph.D.; Malissia Clinton ‘90 B.A.; Glenn Crawford ‘78 B.S.; Bret Giles ‘87 B.S.; Trish Gulbranson ‘88 B.S.; Chris Hill ‘86 B.S.; Fred Reish ‘67 B.S.; and Darren Skarecky ’94 B.S.

ASUAA National Alumni Council

The following persons were elected to their first three-year term on the Alumni Association’s National Alumni Council:

Timothy Gertz ‘01 B.S., ‘02 M.A.I.S.

Timothy Gertz is a certified public accountant and partner of ProVision Wealth, a firm specializing in developing wealth and tax strategies for entrepreneurs, professionals, and investors. While at ProVision Wealth, Gertz helped develop an environment of giving through firm outings to Helen’s Hope Chest in Mesa, and the adoption of various families for Christmas.  

Gertz spent most of his childhood in Marin County, Calif., before his family moved to Arizona. He received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in accountancy from ASU, where he studied accounting, tax, and business information systems. While attending ASU, he worked full time to provide for his education. His strong work ethic helped him grow professionally and allowed him to achieve his goals in education.  
Since returning to the Valley in 2008, he has frequently attended ASU sporting events. He has been a season ticket holder for Sun Devil football for eight years. His passion for cycling also has led him to donate to organizations focusing on cycling and the community.

Tim Polson ‘98 B.S., ‘03 M.B.A.

Tim Polson is Senior Vice President Private Banking Group Manager at Comerica Bank. In this role, Polson serves as a trusted advisor to high-net-worth individuals, families and investors. He has more than 20 years of experience in the Arizona financial services industry, with expertise in wealth management, commercial lending, and real estate investment management. He participated in the Leadership Development Program offered by Comerica Bank in 2015.

Outside of the office, Polson serves as a volunteer for the St. Mary’s Food Bank Alliance and participates in the following organizations: Greater Phoenix Economic Council, National Association of Industrial and Office Properties, and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. He also is the treasurer for the St. Mary’s High School Scholarship and Benefit Board.

Polson has lived in Arizona for more than three decades, and enjoys golfing, writing, and travelling, as well as spending time with his wife, Leigh, his daughter Janelle, and son Evan.

Sandra Vincent ‘93 B.S., ‘01 M.B.A.

Sandra Vincent is director of human resources for Dignity Health. She is a human resources leader with more than 20 years of multi-industry experience, including positions with Healthways, Jobing.com, and Care 1st Healthplan AZ.  

Her community involvement includes serving as chair for the AZ SHRM Council, as president for the East Valley HR Association, and serving as a Latino Advisory Council Member for the Maricopa Community College District.

These new members join Yesenia Barraza ’08 B.S., Caleb Navarro ‘05 B.S., ’08 M.S., and Travis Snell ’00 M.P.A., who were elected to a second term on the council, as well as continuing council members Jeff Daniel ‘06 B.S.; Eddie DeVall ’93 B.A.; John Gibson ’05 B.S., ’10 M.B.A.; Michael Grosso ’97 B.S.; Andy Hanshaw ’87 B.S.; Luis Heredia ‘98 B.S.; Danelle Kelling ’00 B.A., ’04 J.D.; Tere LeBarron ’82 B.S., ’92 M.H.S.A.; Jeff Mirasola ‘90 B.S.; Alberto Pino ’06 B.A.; Guy Roll ’90 B.S.; Graham Rossini ’02 B.S., ’11 M.B.A.; and Michael Tully ‘87 B.S., ‘91 M.B.A.