The Penn State Board of Trustees will elect a new Chair and Vice Chair at its next meeting this Friday, after Karen Peetz announced that she will not seek re-election.

Keith Masser, the current Vice Chair, has announced his intention to run for Chair and Stephanie Deviney has announced her intention to run for Vice Chair. Other candidates can still be nominated at the time of election, but historically these elections are usually unopposed.

Masser is the CEO of Sterman Masser Inc., one of North America’s top potato farms. As such, Masser fills one of the agricultural society seats on the Board of Trustees with his term expiring in 2014.

Deviney is a graduate of the Dickinson School of Law and is a practicing attorney in Exton, Pa. Deviney is an interesting pick for a leadership position in my estimation. She is an alumni-elected trustee and her term is up this June. It would be virtually impossible for an incumbent to win an alumni-trustee election over the next couple of years, with hoards of alumni dedicated to voting out the trustees who were on the Board last November. It is very likely that Deviney would only be serving a six-month term, which is why I am surprised at this choice.

The agenda for this Friday’s meeting can be found here.