George Bennett, a West Virginia University graduate who founded four successful businesses, was elected to the WVU Foundation Board of Directors at its annual meeting Aug. 10. He will serve a three-year term.
Bennett earned his bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering from WVU in 1967 and masters and doctoral degrees in industrial administration from Carnegie Mellon in 1971.
Early in his career, Bennett co-founded Bain and Company and Braxton Associates, two highly regarded international strategy consulting firms that have dramatically impacted Fortune 500 scale firms around the world. Later, he co-founded Symmetrix, a management consulting firm that specializes in helping large firms translate innovative strategies into cost effective operating practices. The last firm he co-founded, Health Dialog, is an international health care services company. He served as both the CEO and chairman of the firm’s board of directors from 1997 until 2008, when the firm was sold to Bupa. Bennett currently serves as the company’s board chair.
In 2010, Bennett donated $1 million to WVU to support research in energy, nanotechnology, biomedical sciences and biometrics in WVU’s Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources. The donation was eligible for matching funds from the state Research Trust Fund.
In 1982, Bennett was inducted into the WVU Academy of Industrial Engineers, and in 2010, he was inducted into the WVU Academy of Distinguished Alumni.
In other business, Robert Reynolds (’74, ’07 Hon.) of Boston, president of Putnam Investments, was re-elected chairman of the board. He has been a member of the WVU Foundation Board of Directors since 2003. Gary Pell (’73) of Myrtle Beach, S.C., was re-elected vice-chair. Re-elected secretary was Marcia Broughton (’76, ’79) of Clarksburg, an attorney with the law firm of Jackson Kelly PLLC. Joan Corson Stamp (’73) of Wheeling will serve again as assistant secretary. All will serve one-year terms.
Directors re-elected to three-year terms include Gregory Babe (’80, ’12 Hon.) of Pittsburgh, James Chamberlain (’69) of Thousand Oaks, Calif., J. Franklin Long (’77) of Bluefield, Va., William McCartney Jr. (’95) of Houston, Texas, Robert McMillan of Martinsburg, Verl Purdy (’64) of Charlotte, N.C., Mikki Van Wyk of Potomac, Md., and Alan Zuccari (’73) of Fairfax, Va. Stamp was re-elected to a one-year term.
The board recognized outgoing member Robert Ruffolo Jr. (’07 Hon.) of Morgantown for his service and commitment to the Foundation.
