SPARTANBURG, SOUTH CAROLINA—The South Carolina Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church recently elected three new trustees for Wofford College’s Board of Trustees.
The conference held its annual meetings virtually June 6 and 7 and elected Dr. Katherine A. “Katy” Close ’83 of Stamford, Connecticut, and Pawleys Island, South Carolina; the Hon. Timothy E. “Tim” Madden ’85 of Greenville, South Carolina; and the Rev. Lisa N. Yebuah ’99 of Raleigh, North Carolina.
“Wofford College is thrilled to welcome three familiar faces and leaders with a deep commitment to the college to the board of trustees,” says President Nayef Samhat. “We are also appreciative of the service of those who are rotating off the board. They showed tremendous leadership during a time of uncertainty, and their leadership helped the college set new records in enrollment and selectivity.”
The new trustees are filling vacancies caused by the expiration of terms of D. Christian Goodall ’79 and Chairman Corry W. Oakes ’89. A third seat is being filled after the October 2020 death of the Rev. John W. Hipp ’75.
Four current trustees were re-elected to new four-year terms: Steven W. Mungo ’81, the Hon. Costa M. Pleicones ’65, Joshua S. Whitley ’05 and Joyce Payne Yette ’80.
During the trustees’ May meeting, officers were elected for the 2021-22 academic year:
Chair: Christopher A. P. Carpenter ’90
Vice Chair: Stanley E. Porter ’89
Secretary: Hon. Costa M. Pleicones ’65
About the new trustees
Dr. Katherine A. “Katy” Close ’83
A native of Fort Mill, South Carolina, Close is a board-certified internist volunteering at Americares Free Clinics in Stamford, Connecticut, and the Smith Medical Clinic in Pawleys Island, South Carolina. She’s president of Close Medical LLC.
She has spent most of her medical career providing services to those with the greatest needs, including serving numerous AIDS patients as a hospitalist at the Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte, North Carolina; being assistant medical director of Hospice in Charlotte and interim director of Hospice of Georgetown County, South Carolina; and as medical director of Smith Medical Center, a free facility she helped to start in Georgetown County. She was recruited by Americares in 2014 to start an Ebola treatment unit in Liberia. She previously served as a member of the Wofford Board of Trustees from 1996-2004.
The Hon. Timothy E. “Tim” Madden ’85
A native of Laurens, South Carolina, Madden was a prominent attorney in Greenville for many years, first with Wilkins and Madden, then with Nelson, Mullins, Riley and Scarborough, serving both firms in management and leadership roles. He was elected a family court judge in 2020.
Madden has a broad resume of civic and church leadership, having served as a member and chair of the South Carolina Education Lottery Commission; as a member of the boards of the South Carolina Student Loan Corp. and the South Carolina Transportation Infrastructure Bank. He also chaired the Greenville County Transportation Committee. Madden was selected as a Liberty Fellow and has served on several banking and nonprofit organization boards as well, including the Wofford Alumni Association.
The Rev. Lisa N. Yebuah ’99
Yebuah is a native of the Charleston, South Carolina area. She currently leads a worshipping site of Edenton Street United Methodist Church in Raleigh, North Carolina, that’s known as Southeast Raleigh Table. She was a Bonner Scholar and a member of Blue Key while attending Wofford. She also remained at the college after graduation and served as an admission counselor before enrolling at Duke Divinity School.
She’s deeply invested in the Raleigh community and works alongside organizations engaged in advocacy for affordable housing, a living wage and equity in public education. She currently serves on the Board of Advisors for the Southeast Raleigh YMCA and is a brand ambassador for Lululemon. As an elder in full connection, Yebuah has held many roles within the North Carolina Annual Conference and the broader United Methodist Church. In 2020, she began serving as the spiritual director and advisor for inclusion and equity on the North Carolina Annual Conference’s Cabinet.
Wofford College has 31 trustees and follows the wishes of the college’s founder Benjamin Wofford, whose will requires board members to be elected by the South Carolina Conference of the United Methodist Church.