Butler Names New Board Members
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowButler University has announced the election of new trustees. The wife of current Boston Celtics coach Brad Stevens is among the four new board members. May 12, 2014
News Release
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – The Butler University Board of Trustees has welcomed four new members:
-Jim Dickson '95, Managing Director and Market Executive of the Midwest Market for Bank of America Merrill Lynch Wealth Management.
-Kevin Morris '95 MBA '96, corporate partner with the Chicago office of the law firm Kirkland & Ellis.
-Tracy Stevens, an attorney and agent for her husband, Boston Celtics Coach Brad Stevens.
-Kyle Delaney '03, Director of Marketing and Communications at Northwestern University’s McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science.
Dickson, Morris, and Stevens were each elected to serve a three-year, renewable term. As President of the Butler Alumni Association, Delaney will serve a two-year term as that group’s representative. The board now has 28 active members.
“We are exceptionally pleased to have these distinguished individuals join our Board of Trustees,” said Butler President James M. Danko. “Their vast business experience, coupled with their deep interest in Butler University, will be incredibly valuable as we work to advance our Butler 2020 Vision.”
Jim Dickson is responsible for overseeing Merrill Lynch wealth-management operations in seven states in the central United States, as well as over 1,035 financial advisors with $950 million in revenue.
Prior to his current position, he was Regional Managing Director of the former Illinois Wisconsin Region, based in Chicago, and the former Midwest Region, based in Indianapolis. He also has served as Managing Director of the Indiana Complex.
Dickson joined Merrill Lynch in 1997 as a Financial Advisor. In 2001, he was appointed to Resident Director and has continued to excel in his many leadership roles. In 2005, he was promoted to Indiana Complex Director, with responsibility for all Indiana Wealth Management operations.
At Butler, he received a bachelor of arts in accounting, minored in speech communications, and played baseball. He worked as a CPA for Ernst & Young upon graduation.
Dickson is actively involved with Butler University, the Center of Philanthropy at Indiana University, and serves on the board of directors for several youth sports organizations throughout the United States. He and his wife, Allison, reside with their four children, Madison (13), David (11), Andrew (10), and Stella (2), in Zionsville, Indiana.
Kevin Morris concentrates his law practice principally in complex business transactions, including private equity transactions, leveraged and strategic acquisitions and divestitures, in-court and out-of-court restructurings, recapitalizations, and joint ventures. He represents a variety of private equity investors and private and public corporations in connection with, among other things, distressed business situations, the structuring and negotiation of purchase and sale agreements, significant commercial agreements, and investment and joint venture agreements.
Morris serves on Kirkland’s Diversity Committee, the Chicago Secretarial Review Committee, the Chicago Legal Assistant Review Committee, and the Chicago Recruiting Committee. He also is active with the Board of Directors of the Chicago Committee—an organization focused on advancing minority attorneys—and was a member of the Chicago Council on Urban Affairs.
He is a member of the Advisory Panel for the Butler Business Consulting Group (Investment Committee) and is a past member of the Black Alumni Association. In 2007, Morris received the Hilton U. Brown Alumni Achievement Award.
Morris earned his bachelor of science and MBA from Butler’s College of Business. He earned his law degree from the University of Chicago Law School in 2002.
He and his wife, Tonya, have one son, Christian.
Tracy Stevens is a native of Cleveland, Ohio, where she attended Rocky River High School. She attended DePauw University, where she received her bachelor of arts with a double major in conflict studies and political science. She played soccer for four years, serving as a captain her senior year, and played on the first DePauw University women's soccer team to make the Division III NCAA tournament.
She met and began dating Brad Stevens while at DePauw.
In 2001, Stevens returned to Cleveland to attend Case Western Reserve University School of Law. She finished her last year of law school as a visiting student at the Indiana University McKinney School of Law. She received her juris doctorate cum laude from Case Western in May 2004.
Stevens worked for Bingham McHale LLP as an Associate in the Labor and Employment practice group for five years. During that time, Brad was named the men's head basketball coach at Butler University. Following the birth of their second child, she left Bingham McHale in October 2009 to focus on their family and increasing obligations associated with Brad’s career. During this same time period, she became actively involved with the American Cancer Society’s Coaches vs. Cancer program, chairing six events for the benefit of the American Cancer Society of Central Indiana.
She also enjoyed managing the financial and legal components of Brad's summer basketball camp, held on Butler's campus for four weeks in June.
Today, she stays busy raising their two children, Brady (8) and Kinsley (4), and managing all family affairs. She recently joined the Board of Advisors of the Greater Boston Food Bank.
Kyle Delaney is Director of Marketing and Communications at Northwestern University’s McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science. He joined Northwestern in 2005 and was named Director of Marketing in 2011.
He has been an active volunteer for Butler University, serving on the Young Alumni Board and as Co-President of the Chicago Chapter of the Butler Alumni Association from 2007–2013. He joined the Alumni Association Board of Directors in 2011 and became President in 2014.
He holds a bachelor’s in integrated communications from Butler University. He also sits on the Board of Directors for Allowance for Good, a Chicago-area nonprofit that develops the rising generation of philanthropic leaders.
About Butler University
Challenging and enabling students to meet their personal and professional goals has guided Butler University since 1855. Today, Butler is a nationally recognized comprehensive university that blends the liberal arts with first-rate pre-professional programs. It seeks to prepare each graduate not simply to make a living but to make a life of purpose, in which personal flourishing is intertwined with the welfare of others. Butler is known for its vibrant campus, superior academics and dedicated faculty. The University enrolls more than 4,600 undergraduate and graduate students in six academic colleges: Business, Communication, Education, Fine Arts, Liberal Arts and Sciences, and Pharmacy and Health Sciences. Located just six miles from downtown Indianapolis, Butler’s urban setting affords students internship opportunities that provide excellent graduate school and career preparation.