TKE Welcomes Special Guest Fraters

 

Frater James was initiated in April 1965 into the Gamma-Omega Chapter at Eastern Illinois University.  He received the Triangle Award in 1981 and the Teke Alumnus of the Year Award in 1993. He was on the TEF Board of Directors from 1984-89.

 

Professionally, he is the current Chief Executive Officer of the Corporation for Travel Promotion. He is an acknowledged industry leader in global hospitality with 30 years of experience in domestic and international sales and marketing, management and operations. The former CEO of Jenny Craig and Best Western International, Frater Evans is widely recognized for his ability to build and lead dynamic teams, develop clear direction, achieve measurable goals and create deep value for his organization.

As president and CEO of Best Western International (BWI), Mr. Evans and his team revived the brand and its market position, recruited one of the best-recognized management teams in the industry, created greater unity among members worldwide and set a clear direction for the future. While serving as CEO for Jenny Craig International, Evans built a leadership team that took the company to unprecedented growth, increasing annual revenues from $120 million to $500 million and improving all key metrics. Most recently, he  established Ardent Hotel Advisors (AHA) in 2006, where he served as CEO and Co-Founder. Operating as a resort and hotel management company, AHA was created to provide the best-in-class hotel management services to institutional and private owners. At AHA, Frater Evans and his team reengineered a select group of hotels from positions of critical weakness to significant improvement.

 

 

 

Frater Geoffroy was initiated into Alpha-Chi Chapter at the University of Louisville in February 1965. He received the Excellence in Education Award in 2007. Holding two degrees in chemistry: a Bachelor of Science with honors (1968) from the University of Louisville; and a Ph.D. (1974) from the California Institute of Technology, Geoffroy is a nationally acclaimed researcher in Organometallic chemistry. He has published more than 200 research articles in journals, presented more than 200 invited lectures in the United States and nine other nations, and is co-author of the book "Organometallic Photochemistry."

 

Dr. Geoffroy became the 14th president of Iowa State University on July 1, 2001 and was officially installed to the post in October of that year. Previously, Geoffroy served as senior vice president for academic affairs and provost at the University of Maryland, College Park. He also served as interim president at Maryland in 1998. Prior to this, Geoffroy served in several positions at Pennsylvania State University, University Park, from 1974 to 1989, including dean of the Eberley College of Science and professor and chair of chemistry.

 

Under Geoffroy's leadership, Iowa State has set records in fundraising, enrollment and external funding. Campaign Iowa State, the university's largest fundraising effort to date, surpassed its $800 million goal. The university hit a record $388.2 million in grants, contracts, gifts and cooperative agreements during FY10, an increase of $83 million and 27 percent over the previous year's record. Student enrollment soared to a record 28,682 students in fall 2010, which also ushered in the most diverse student body in ISU history. Geoffroy's goal of doubling the number of endowed faculty positions at Iowa State, from 75 to 150, also was met in 2010. And the university (in 2007) established the Bioeconomy Institute to support and advance work in biorenewable technologies. 

 

Co-Founder Becker Underwood
 

Frater Roger was initiated into TKE at Epsilon Chapter (Iowa State University) where he graduated with a B.S. degree in Agriculture Business in 1980. He earned a Key Leader Award in 1985, has been the Chapter Board Treasurer since July 1992 and also held the positions of Chapter Advisor, Alumni Association President and Faculty Advisor.

Following graduation from Iowa State University, Frater Underwood worked in the Ag chemical distribution industry as a product manager and sales manager. In 1982, he co-founded Becker Underwood. Company sales in the first year of operations were approximately $45,000, and, today, are over $130 million annually. Becker Underwood is the world's leading supplier of non-pesticide specialty chemical and biological products to well-defined markets within the agricultural, landscape, and turf and horticulture industries. Becker Underwood sells products into 54 countries from nine facilities in seven countries on four continents, giving it a global perspective with a local presence. The company did a recapitalization with Century Park Capital Partners of Los Angeles, California in 2000 and after considerable growth Century Park sold its interest to Norwest Equity Partners of Minneapolis, Minnesota in August of 2004. Following 23 years as Chief Executive Officer of Becker Underwood, he stepped back from daily operations in January of 2006.

In 1996, Underwood was named Outstanding Agribusiness Alumni of the Year by the ISU Ag Business Club, and was named Order of the Knoll Outstanding Young Alumni in 2000 and in 2008 received the Floyd Andre Award for outstanding accomplishments in business and service to the College. He is a Board Member of the ISU Foundation Board of Governors, CropLife America organization in Washington D.C.; Muscatine Foods of Muscatine, Iowa; First American Bank of Ames, Iowa; La Crosse Forage & Turf of La Crosse, Wisconsin; Seeds 2000 of Breckenridge, Minnesota; and Technology Crops International of Winston-Salem, North Carolina. He is currently Chairman of the Iowa State University $800 Million dollar fund-raising campaign: With Pride and Purpose.