NKU Board of Regents Elects New Chair, Vice Chair; Lucy Burns Serves as New Student Regent

July 26, 2024 - The Northern Kentucky University Board of Regents is proud to announce the election of Nathan Smith as chair, Kara Williams as vice chair and Ashley Himes as secretary. The board also welcomes Lucy Burns as the new student regent for the upcoming school year, and Cori Henderson and Sandra Spataro who were re-elected as staff regent and faculty regent respectively.   

The Board of Regents, the governing body responsible for overseeing the strategic direction and policies of NKU, recently conducted its annual election to appoint officers for the upcoming term.

• Regent Nathan Smith (’94), co-founder and Chief Investment Officer of Flagship Communities REIT and former vice chair of NKU’s Board of Regents, will serve as chair.
• Regent Kara Williams (’01), founder of The Marketing Collective and former NKU Board of Regents secretary, will serve as vice chair.
• Regent Ashley Himes (’03, ’07, ’09), student services coordinator for the Northern Kentucky Cooperative for Educational Services (NKCES), will serve as secretary.

“I am honored to beelected chair of the Board of Regents at my alma mater, a place that truly shaped who I am today,” says Smith. “I am grateful to Rich Boehne for his service on the board and for helping to lay the foundation for our success. I look forward to working with our dedicated board members to advance NKU’s mission and serve the best interests of our students, faculty and community.”

Regent Smith succeeds Rich Boehne as chair of the board. Boehne is the former Chairman and CEO of the E.W. Scripps Company, and served two six-year terms on the NKU Board of Regents. Also joining the board as student regent is NKU senior Lucy Burns. Regent Burns is President of the Student Government Association, a member of Phi Sigma Sigma and an environmental sciences major.