The Knox College Board of Trustees elected new members, effective July 1.

Tony Etz '83, Dan Spaulding '99, and Adam Vitale were selected as general trustees. Nyerere Billups Sr. '99 and Heather Kopec '10 were both selected to serve as alumni trustees.

Nyerere Billups Sr. 

Nyerere Billups has spent the past 16 plus years of his life in research and development of pharmaceutical drugs in academia and the pharma/biotech industry. He is currently based in California as an Associate Director, Early Development and Project Management Office for Janssen: A Pharmaceutical Company of Johnson & Johnson. After receiving his bachelor's degree in biology from Knox in 1999, he received multiple certifications in Leadership & Strategic Management from Cornell University-Johnson Graduate School of Management. While an undergraduate, he served as the vice president of Student Senate, President of ABLE (Allied Blacks for Liberty and Equality), and on the Senior Challenge committee.

He currently volunteers in the Alumni Mentoring Program and is involved in the Knox College Black Alumni Association (BAN). In October 2014, Nyerere and a fellow c/o 199 graduate, Dunston Simpson, presented a check to President Amott during an ABLE reunion at Homecoming, making a public statement to current students of color about the importance of giving back to their alma mater. It is his overarching goal "to be a positive contributor to the present state and future aspirations of Knox College."

Tony Etz

Etz is an agent working at Creative Artists Agency (CAA) in Los Angeles since 1995. CAA is one of the world's largest entertainment and sports agencies. He represents individual clients and groups of clients and he develops packages for projects and negotiates back end deals such as syndication and merchandise. Etz teaches media classes as an adjunct professor at the University of Southern California.

Etz graduated from Knox College in 1983 with a degree in English and attended University of Iowa, Iowa City, to obtain his MFA in 1985. He is a fourth generation Knox graduate. His grandfather was Robert Murphy '31, former chair of the Board of Trustees, who has an endowed scholarship and an endowed professorship named for him at the College. His uncle, James A. Murphy '82, also attended Knox. 

Dan Spaulding 

Spaulding currently leads all HR functional areas for Zillow Group, headquartered in Seattle. This role covers over 2,500+ employees across 8 locations in the United States and Canada. He has worked in human resources at a variety of companies including Starbucks, Dell Computer, Invitrogen, and Life Technologies. He has extensive background in international HR, including an expatriate assignment in China, and has a unique understanding of the modern global business environment.

Spaulding received his degree from Knox in political science and history and continued on to earn his MS in human resources and industrial relations from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. While at Knox he was a member of Phi Delta Theta, student senate, intramural sports, a DJ for WVKC, and was a letter winner in swimming. Dan has served Knox after graduation as a class agent, admissions volunteer, annual fund steering committee, and a member of the campaign advisory committee.

Adam Vitale

Vitale is the president and general manager of G&M Distributors in Galesburg, Illinois. He appreciates the critical role the College plays in Galesburg and wants to be a part of shaping Galesburg's future with like-minded folks. He received his BS in hotel administration with minors in both business administration and history from the University of Delaware. He then attended Pepperdine University- The George L. Graziadio School of Business and Management, where he received his MBA in marketing.

Vitale is very active in a variety of organizations and is currently the chairman of the board for the OSF St. Mary Medical Center/Holy Family Medical Center. He is the vice chairman for Knox County Partnership for Economic Development and was a director and board member and is currently the treasurer of the National Beer Wholesalers Association. Vitale is also the vice president/treasurer of the G.L. Vitale Family Foundation. The foundation focuses on supporting community projects, education, and the arts in Knox County. He is a member of the President's Circle. The Vitale Foundation has supported Alumni Hall, Gale Scholars, KnoxCorps, and the Knox Rootabaga Jazz Festival, and Vitale and his parents and grandparents have long supported an endowed scholarship at Knox.

Heather Kopec

Kopec is the annual telefund and special campaigns manager at the University of Wisconsin Foundation in Madison, Wisconsin. Heather started her fundraising career as a student caller raising money for Knox. From 2010- 2013 she worked with Ruffalo Noel Levitz as a calling center manager for a variety of educational institutions. Currently, Heather oversees three cross-functional teams: Badger Call (a phone outreach program conducted by a team of student callers as part of a broader multi-tactic integrated marketing campaign), student campaign, and parent campaign, which raises money for the university's priority annual funds. She works with key campus partners to strategize and implement marketing tactics to increase awareness and participation in annual giving campaigns.