Trident University Board of Trustees

Dr. Karen J. Viechnicki - Chair of the Board

Dr. Viechnicki has over 40 years experience in education. She received her bachelor’s degree in English from Arcadia University, a master’s degree in Urban Education from the University of Akron, and her Ph.D. from Kent State University. She has a vast publication record in a variety of peer reviewed journals and has held numerous leadership positions at several institutions of higher education from Associate Dean at Ohio University through Provost at Capella University.

Nolan A. Miura - Vice Chairman

Nolan A. Miura received his M.B.A. from the University of Southern California and B.S. from California State University, Long Beach.  Nolan currently serves on Trident University’s Board of Trustees as Vice Chair and is a former interim CEO for the university. Mr. Miura previously served as President and Chief Executive Officer for Heald College and was a member of the institution’s Board of Trustees. He also served as Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer at Gryphon Colleges Corporation as well as President and Chief Operating Officer for Rhodes Colleges, Inc., a division of Corinthians Colleges, Inc. and Senior Vice President of Strategic Planning and Business Development for Corinthians Colleges, Inc. Mr. Miura has also held senior management positions in marketing, business development and finance with ARCO. 

Peter Y. Chung

Peter Y. Chung, Managing Director, joined Summit Partners in 1994. Prior to Summit, he worked in the Mergers & Acquisitions department of Goldman, Sachs & Co. Based in Summit’s Palo Alto office; Peter is active in the firm’s investment activities in North America, Europe and Asia.

During his 17 years with Summit Partners, Peter has invested in more than 25 companies including 11 currently or formerly publicly-traded companies. Peter holds an AB in economics, magna cum laude, from Harvard University and an MBA from Stanford University. He is currently a trustee of the California Academy of Sciences and a director of the Asian Pacific Fund. In addition, he serves on the Advisory Boards of the Friends of Harvard Football and the Salvation Army’s Golden State Division.

Leonard C. Ferrington

Leonard C. Ferrington, Principal, joined Summit Partners in 2006. Prior to Summit, he worked for Celerity Partners and Baxter Healthcare International. Based in Summit’s Palo Alto office, Len is active in the firm’s investment activities in North America, Europe and Asia, primarily in the education and technology industries. Len received a BS in accounting from the Leventhal School of Accounting at the University of Southern California.

C.J. Fitzgerald

C.J. Fitzgerald, Managing Director, joined Summit Partners in 1990. He then attended business school, and was founder and Chief Executive Officer of North Systems. C.J. rejoined Summit in 2001. Based in Summit’s Palo Alto office, C.J. is active in the firm’s investment activities in North America, Europe and Asia.

During his 15 years with Summit Partners, C.J. has served as a director of many companies including three public companies. C.J. holds a BS in computer science, with Honors, from the Georgia Institute of Technology and an MBA from Harvard Business School, where he was a Baker Scholar. C.J. is an advisor to Jeremiah’s Promise, a nonprofit organization that provides support services to young women who have aged out of the foster care program. 

CSM (Ret.) William J. (Joe) Gainey

CSM Gainey is a TUI graduate and was the first Senior Enlisted Advisor to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (SEAC). The appointment of CSM Gainey gives TUI an incredible resource to help us achieve our vision. Furthermore, he joins TUI’s fellow board members in actively supporting the University’s mission to provide support and educational opportunities to members of the United States military, veterans and their families. CSM Gainey enlisted in the Army in 1974, and went on to hold leadership positions ranging from gunner to Command Sergeant Major. He served in Operation Joint Endeavor (IFOR), Operation Joint Guard (SFOR3) and Operation Joint Forge (SFOR 8) in Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as in Operation Iraqi Freedom II. CSM Gainey retired in April 2008 after 33 years of honorable service.

Kathryn S. Hanson

Dr. Hanson is Founder and CEO of ALearn, an educational non-profit organization. ALearn’s goal is to increase the number of underprivileged students who have access to high level learning programs throughout their K-12 years, and who therefore enroll in and graduate from college. Before ALearn, she was President of The Hanson Group, a strategy and marketing consulting firm for high technology and Internet companies. Her clients included companies large and small: Hewlett Packard, Sun, Silicon Graphics, National Semiconductor and many Internet and software companies. 

Hanson was a founder of eMentoring, an elearning company which merged into Pensare; and a co-founder of Satmetrix, a Customer Satisfaction Internet Software company. She has served on many Boards, both public and private. She has a BA in English with Distinction from Stanford University, a MA and a Ph.D. in English from University of Chicago, and a MBA with Distinction from Harvard Business School. 

General (Ret.) William R. Looney

General Looney recently retired from the United States Air Force, as Commander, Air Education and Training Command (AETC), Randolph Air Force Base, Texas. As the AETC Commander, he was responsible for all Air Force recruiting, education and training. His command included the Air Force Recruiting Service, Air University and two numbered air forces consisting of 13 bases, 1,750 aircraft and more than 92,000 active duty, reserve, guard, civilians and contractors. Today he serves as a consultant to a broad range of international organizations. General Looney is an Air Force Academy graduate with over 4,000 flying hours.

Lieutenant General (Ret.) Thomas F. Metz

LTG Metz has almost 40 years of commissioned service in the U.S. Army and is a mentor, advisor and consultant for a broad range of international activities. LTG Metz’s last active duty assignment was as the Director, Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization. Prior to that assignment served as the Deputy Commander of the Army’s Training and Doctrine Command and was the Commanding General of III Corps and Fort Hood, Texas. While the III Corps Commander, LTG Metz commanded the Multi-National Corps – Iraq which included 120,000 coalition troops. He also served as the Central Command’s Chief of Staff prior to Operation Iraqi Freedom and in two key billets for prioritizing and allocating resources for the Armed Forces as a Deputy and Vice Director in the Joint Staff Force Structure, Resources, and Assessment Directorate, J-8. He is a graduate of West Point and holds a master’s degree in mechanical engineering from North Carolina State University.”

Hagi Schwartz

Hagi Schwartz has been a member of the Board since August 2004. Since February 2003, Mr. Schwartz has been Chief Financial Officer of HyperRoll, Inc., a provider of high-performance database aggregation and summarization software. From September 2000 to July 2002, Mr. Schwartz was Chief Financial Officer of ATRICA, Inc., a telecommunications company. From October 1999 to May 2000, Mr. Schwartz was Chief Financial Officer at Noosh, Inc., a print management software company. From January 1996 to September 1999, Mr. Schwartz served as Vice President of Finance and Chief Financial Officer of Check Point Software, Inc., a software company. Mr. Schwartz has a B.A. in Economics and Accounting from Bar Ilan University. Mr. Schwartz is a partner in Magnolia Capital Partners LTD, which provides corporate advisory services to its clients in Israel and the United States.

Stan D. Phillips

Stan Phillips most recently was an integral part of the senior executive team at Heald College where his responsibilities included over site of all Marketing and Admissions for the College. Specifically he was charged with development of the recruitment effort at Heald College that was both compliant and effective while putting the student’s needs first. He participated on a steering committee that developed the Corinthian Colleges admissions compensation plan under the current Department of Education regulations, effective July of 2011. 

Stan played a key role in strategic planning corporate and department strategic plans, branching, growth strategy and operations reviews, budgeting and program development for the college. He was also responsible for initiating and monitoring the program review process and annual plan for Marketing and Admissions at Heald College. His involvement as an executive team member included attending Heald board meetings and making numerous presentations to the board. His senior management leadership experience provided clear and focused input to the President and CEO of Heald College and to the board. He was honored while at Heald College and received the 2008 Heald College Employee of the Year Award. 

Stan held the position of Vice President of Enrollment Management at Delta/Gryphon Colleges prior to joining Heald College. Stan has held various management positions at Corinthian Colleges, as well as senior management positions at Northwest Airlines prior to his career in the education industry. He earned a BA from the University of Washington in Seattle.

Gary Woods

Gary Woods received his Honorary Doctorate from Park University in Higher Education Administration and his Masters in Education & Curriculum Development from Chapman University. Gary also received a Certificate in Institute for Management and Leadership in Education from Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education. He is currently on the Board of Trustees for Trident University.

As former Director of the DoD Voluntary Education Program, he is acknowledged as the Leading Expert and primary go-to consultant in the defense and academic communities with the experience, vision and contacts needed to bring the right mix to the table to build, update, improve, fine-tune, streamline and offer academic and career development programs to military personnel and their families - so they are able to contribute most effectively to their military communities while in the Service and to their civilian communities once they leave the Service.