JEFFERSON CITY - The University of Missouri's Board of Curators will have three new members when the board meets in St. Louis on Friday.
The Missouri Senate Wednesday confirmed the nomination of three new members and one re-nomination to the curators, the body which governs the four-campus university system.
Paul Steele, John Mathes and Hugh Edward Stephenson, Jr. are the new members while Malaika Horne was confirmed for another term to the board.
With no debate an almost no discussion Wednesday morning, the Senate Gubernatorial Appointments Committee and later the full Senate confirmed all four nominations of Gov. Mel Carnahan.
The reason of this fast decision was simple: the Curators' Friday meeting.
That was the explanation offered by Senate President Pro Tem Bill McKenna when he asked the Senate for accelerated confirmation along with the curators' search for a new University president.
The four members were confirmed for six-year terms to the nine-member board.
The four come from different fields and backgrounds:
Steel received his B.S. in Business and Public Administration from the University. He is co-owner of KMZU and WHB radio stations.
Mathes is an engineer with undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of Missouri-Rolla. He founded the engineering firm John Mathews & Associates, Inc., with offices in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Illinois.
Stephenson is a retired emeritus professor and former interim dean at the University's medical school. He received his M.D. from Washington University after undergraduate studies at M.U. Currently, he is chairman of Judicial Council for Missouri State Medical Association and president of the American Medical Association Surgical Caucus.
Horne received her Ph.D. from St. Louis University after receiving her B.A. degree at the St. Louis campus of the University of Missouri. She is managing director of Narcotics Service Council, Inc. in St. Louis and chair of the African American Task Force on Mental Health for Missouri.
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