In Memoriam

By Richard D. Legon

Richard T. “Tom” Ingram, AGB’s long-serving leader and third president, passed away in late July following a long health battle. Tom was a strong and effective leader whose passion for higher education and the men and women who serve on the sector’s governing bodies had no bounds. He was a tireless and reflective leader who anticipated the ever-changing dynamic of higher education and recognized the expanding pressures on the voluntary role of governing board members.

Tom, who earned his undergraduate degree from Indiana University of Pennsylvania and went on to do graduate work at the University of Maryland, brought a commitment to applying his research background to the expanding needs and expectations for board governance theory and application. Serving as AGB’s executive vice president under J.L. Zwingle (AGB’s founding president) and Bob Gale (AGB’s second president), whose energy and risk-taking approach to leadership built a solid foundation for the still fledgling association, Tom assumed the presidency in 1992. In addition to his achievements and initiatives highlighted below, his overall contributions were in moving toward a codification of the standards and roles of higher education’s fiduciary bodies. Tom was passionate about linking the theoretical to the practical in governance. Much of the impressive growth of AGB was due to his understanding that the articulation of changes in board practice should be premised on fact. The reputation of AGB as a program- and research-based organization came from Tom’s creative process of adding new services and building a strong relationship with external funders who supported AGB’s expanding research capacity.

Tom realized that the traditional work of an association could be so much more, and thus he built the association’s capacity to meaningfully reach out directly to the institutions and boards that were AGB members. Among the efforts was an expansion of AGB’s consulting services, which offered assistance for members who were looking for a more direct application of governance theory. Much of the significant work and many initiatives, including national commissions, new volumes by trusted experts, and new voices added to the staff and board of directors in shaping a more proactive agenda with a commitment to strategic planning that guided AGB’s direction, resulted from Tom’s willingness to stretch the envelope on association norms.

Perhaps among his greatest contributions was Tom’s commitment to building staff expertise. Tom was committed to recruiting talent from the ranks of governance students and those with hands-on expertise. And he led the process to build an association board of directors that understood its role and demonstrated effective governance while supporting new and creative programs and services. Even when we might have disagreed with him, Tom was a selfless leader. Rather than championing his own role in successful initiatives, he genuinely and regularly credited those who worked with him. We always welcomed his robust laughter and his love for sharing stories and jokes. We also welcomed the spirit he brought to his leadership. That style, which engendered a unique level of loyalty and commitment, was natural—and was the essence of who he was.

Under Tom’s leadership, the association grew, even depositing a very modest reserve fund into more useful investment funds. He enjoyed watching that risk grow the association’s endowment into a reasonable portfolio that was able to support an ongoing number of new initiatives.

Tom also recognized that higher education institutions in the public sector often faced special governance challenges. Establishing a Center for Public Trusteeship came with some inherent risks. Tom’s commitment to raising the issues of public institution governance to a national level ultimately gained support and appreciation among those who realized the added value of the initiative. Upon Tom’s retirement in 2006, the AGB Board of Directors renamed the center in his honor and acknowledged Tom’s enormous contributions to higher education governance by recognizing him as an AGB president emeritus, joining his two predecessors with that important designation.

I owe much to Tom for my own career path. He was instrumental in hiring an unemployed former political appointee to serve as AGB’s chief fundraiser and senior staff member in membership development. I was an exception among the emerging staff and their expertise, having virtually no background in board governance. When Tom was chosen as AGB president, he invited me to assume the position of executive vice president. Ultimately, he was a voice in my corner when I was being considered for the presidency of the association. Tom and I spent many days and hours together traveling in search of new sponsors and new ideas, chatting about our personal and professional goals and just enjoying each other’s company. Those times were exciting and meaningful. I don’t think my path would have turned out as it did without having Tom in my corner.

If Tom were with us today, he’d no doubt be humble about his contributions, and he’d want to be certain that all of us—and most especially his wife Mollie, daughter Kirsten, son David, and their respective families—were doing OK even in his absence. For Tom, family was first among his personal priorities—his love of his family knew no bounds. And no doubt he’d be editing this piece (probably with a fine point Cross pen, notwithstanding tech advances) and reminding us that one can say a lot in a few words. But as a remembrance, more words are appropriate. For those who had the pleasure of knowing Tom, and for those who didn’t know him, trust us that he’d want us all to lift a glass and enjoy a good drink in his honor.

Richard D. Legon served as AGB’s fourth president from 2005 to 2019.