Six new members joined the board of trustees at Washington University in St. Louis, according to Washington University Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton. Gregory H. Boyce, John F. Dains, Steven F. Leer, George Paz and Harry Seigle began their terms July 1. George P. Bauer began his term in December.
Bauer is chairman and chief executive officer of GPB Group Ltd., an investment-banking firm based in New Canaan, Conn. Previously, Bauer spent 31 years with IBM Corp., holding executive positions in marketing, finance and business systems, including chief financial officer positions of several IBM divisions. He also held leadership positions in IBM’s European operations. After his retirement in 1987, he became executive professor of management information systems at Georgia State University. Bauer earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in engineering from Washington University in 1953 and ’58, respectively.
Boyce is chairman and chief executive officer of St. Louis-based Peabody Energy, the world’s largest private-sector coal company. Previously, Boyce was chief executive officer-energy for Rio Tinto mining company in London. Prior to that, he was president and chief executive officer of Kennecott Energy Co., which grew to the nation’s second-largest coal company during his tenure. He also has served as president of Kennecott Minerals Co. and as executive assistant to the vice chairman of Standard Oil of Ohio. He earned a bachelor’s degree in mining engineering from the University of Arizona and an advanced management program degree from Harvard University’s Graduate School of Business.
Dains is chief executive officer of Helm Financial Corp., a leading railcar and locomotive operating leasing company based in San Francisco. Dains joined Helm Financial Corp. in 1987 as chief financial officer and was named president and chief operating officer in 2000. In 2005, he was named CEO. Before joining Helm Financial Corp., Dains worked at IC Industries in Chicago as vice president of finance for the Railroad Products Group of the Abex Corp. subsidiary. He earned a bachelor’s degree from the Olin Business School at Washington University in 1968.
Leer is chairman and chief executive officer of Arch Coal Inc. He was president and chief executive officer from the time the company was formed in 1997 to 2006. Prior to the launch of Arch Coal, he was president and chief executive officer of Arch Mineral Corp., one of Arch Coal’s predecessor companies. He also has held executive positions with the Valvoline Co., Ashland Inc. and Ashland Coal Inc. Leer earned a master’s of business administration degree from the Olin Business School in 1977. He earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of the Pacific, which also awarded him an honorary doctorate.
Paz is chairman, president and chief executive officer of St. Louis-based Express Scripts Inc., one of the largest pharmacy benefits management companies in North America with more than 50 million members. Paz joined Express Scripts in 1998 as senior vice president and chief financial officer. Previously, he was a partner at Coopers and Lybrand, managing the firm’s Midwest insurance practice, and was executive vice president and chief financial officer for Life Partners Group. He earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Missouri-St. Louis.
Seigle is principal of The Elgin Co. in Elgin, Ill., a company involved in real estate acquisition and management, private investing and philanthropy. Previously, he was chairman and president of Seigle’s Inc., an Elgin, Ill.-based, family-owned building supply company that was sold to Stock Building Supply in 2005. After earning a bachelor’s degree from WUSTL in 1968 and a law degree from Northwestern University in 1971, he worked for Chapman and Cutler LLP in Chicago before joining his family’s business, then known as Elgin Lumber Co., founded in 1881.