Clemson Alumni Board Adds Six New Directors

Six new board members selected for Clemson Alumni Association

Six new board members have been selected to serve three-year terms on the Clemson Alumni Association (CAA) board of directors beginning July 1.

The new members are:

Deborah Conklin of Denver, North Carolina, is a 1992 graduate of Clemson University. She earned a Bachelor of Science in industrial engineering and a Master of Business Administration in 1998 from Queens University in Charlotte, North Carolina. She currently serves as the Chief Executive Officer of Reddy Ice, the largest manufacturer & distributor of packaged ice products in the United States.

Katie Spearman Cornwell of Charlotte, North Carolina, earned her Bachelor of Science in civil engineering from Clemson in 2007. She is currently the Director of Strategic Projects at Compass Group USA, the leading food and support services company in North America.

Richard Doane of Houston, Texas, earned his degree in industrial engineering from Clemson University in 2010 before earning his Master’s Degree in Healthcare Administration from the Medical University of South Carolina in 2012. Doane currently serves as the Director of Strategy, Innovation and Population Health at Premier, Inc, a healthcare improvement company uniting an alliance of approximately 4,000 U.S. hospitals and health systems and more than 175,000 other providers and organizations.

Sarah Gustafson of Johnson City, Tennessee, graduated from Clemson with a Bachelor of Science in biological sciences in 2005 before earning a Doctor of Medicine in 2009 from East Tennessee State University James H. Quillen College of Medicine. She is currently an Emergency Medicine Physician at Johnson City Medical Center.

Greg Smith of Alpharetta, Georgia, graduated from Clemson University with a Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering in 1984 and in 1988 received his master’s in international business from the University of South Carolina. He is currently the President of Blue Vista Ventures, LLC, a company specializing in the investments of early-stage and start-up technology companies.

Jeff Duckworth of Boston, Massachusetts, graduated from Clemson University with a Bachelor of Science in finance in 1988. He is the President of Retail Distribution at John Hancock Investment Management, an investment advising company. In addition to being elected to the Clemson Alumni Association Board of Directors, Duckworth was selected as the organization’s President-Elect, taking the position of President in 2022.

The alumni board has 22 members and is the governing body for the Clemson Alumni Association. Primary responsibilities of the board include general oversight of the programs and initiatives of the association, financial audit and review, the establishment of governing policies and strategic planning.

The Clemson Alumni Association is an open-membership, nonprofit organization. Since its inception in 1896, the program has connected members of the Clemson family, inspiring pride, celebrating achievement, providing service and strengthening relationships. Learn more at www.clemson.edu/alumni.