Following a competitive nominations cycle, the Indiana University Alumni Association Governance Committee engaged in thoughtful and sustained deliberation to choose from many outstanding, qualified individuals. The following candidates have been named for positions on its Board of Managers and Executive Council. Shontrai Irving, BA’97, JD/MA’03, of Gary, Ind., will serve as chair and Yung Nguyen, BS’89, MD’95, of Indianapolis, will serve as immediate past chair beginning July 1 in accordance with the IUAA Bylaws. Both were elected in 2025.
Board of Managers officers serve for one year. Executive Council members and at-large members of the Board of Managers serve for three years.
Board of Managers
Chair-Elect
Mary Susan Buhner, BA’94, of Fishers, Ind., has been Fox 59’s parenting and family lifestyle contributor since 2009 and was named Development & Engagement Strategist for the Booth Tarkington Civic Theatre in Carmel, Ind. She helped start The Hearing Resource Center, a free clinic for children born deaf or hearing-impaired, for which she received a Leadership Service Award from former Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels. Mary Susan has served as chairperson of IU Women’s Leadership Colloquium and Women’s Philanthropy Council, and on the board of directors for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. She currently serves on IU’s College of Arts and Sciences Dean’s Advisory Board, the Dean of Student Affairs’ Parent Advisory Board, and the Greek Life Task Force.
Vice Chair
Kyle King, BS’07, OD’11, of Evansville, Ind., has served in leadership positions with the Evansville, Optometry, and Marching Hundred alumni communities. He was instrumental in leading and successfully executing one of the largest fundraising campaigns of its kind for the Evansville Chapter of the IUAA. Kyle received the IUAA Volunteer Leadership Award in 2019. He works as an optometrist at Evansville Eyecare Associates.
Secretary
Leslie Kidwell, MA’13, of Indianapolis, has been director of development at Vincennes University since 2020. She has also worked in fundraising roles at the IU School of Liberal Arts and the American Red Cross. Leslie has been a volunteer with Dress for Success Indianapolis for 20 years and served the IU Indianapolis Alumni Council as a member and ultimately, as president. She is a current member of the IUAA Executive Council and for her outstanding volunteer work, was honored with the IUAA President’s Award in 2022.
Treasurer
Mike Wargo, BGS’82, of Granger, Ind., is chief operating officer at the Hospice Foundation in South Bend where he oversees strategic and operational aspects of the organization. He has served on the Finance Committee and Executive Council for the IUAA, IU South Bend Board of Advisors, IU South Bend For All Campaign Committee, the IUAA Strategic Directions Task Force, and was president of the IU South Bend Alumni Board. For his leadership in these and other areas, Mike was honored with the IUAA President’s Award in 2001, the IU South Bend Distinguished Alumni Award in 2010, and the Continuing Studies Distinguished Alumni Award in 1999.
Manager at Large
Shishir Deshpande, LLM’06, of Delhi, India, is the past president of the Delhi, India Chapter, former member of the Executive Council, and currently serves as at-large member of the Board of Managers. He has served on the inaugural IU McKinney Dean’s Global Advisory Council. Shishir is practicing attorney and is Advocate on Record for the Supreme Court of India. He was honored with the Volunteer Leadership Award in 2022.
Manager at Large
Cheryl Sullivan, MS’86, PhD’20, of Indianapolis, was policy director for U.S. Sen. Evan Bayh. Prior to this role, she was vice chancellor of external affairs for IU Indianapolis. She retired as CEO of the American Academy of Nursing where she led an organization of more than 3,200 fellows representing nursing’s most accomplished leaders in policy, research, administration, practice, and academia. Cheryl currently serves on the IU School of Nursing Board of Advisors and the IU Foundation Board of Directors.
Executive Council
Members at Large
- Marsialle Arbuckle, BS’82, of Livonia, Mich.
- Randy Brown, BA’78, MPA’85, of Fort Wayne, Ind.
- Ramon Hill, MS’06, of Stuttgart, Germany
- Elizabeth Lancaster, BS’13, of Silver Spring, Md.
- Jim Liesenfelt, BS’91, of Melbourne, Fla.
- Jerilyn Lowery, BA’84, of Batesville, Ind.
- Clayton Nicholas, BS’80, of Indianapolis
- Gaurav Parikh, BS’02, of Mumbai, India
- Marty Posch, BA’95, MPA’09, of Indianapolis
- Alan Sickbert, BS’73, of Woodbury, Minn.
- Natalie Thurston, BSN’96, MBA’01, of New Albany, Ind.
- Taylor Webster, BS’19, JD’22, of Indianapolis
Aside from the Association’s slate of officers, at-large managers, and at-large Executive Council positions, persons who wish to place themselves or another alum on the ballot for any officer or at-large position of the Board of Managers or Executive Council may do so by a petition signed by one hundred (100) alumni and received by the Association no later than February 28, 2026.
These outstanding volunteers are part of the country’s largest living alumni network, with more than 805,000 IU alumni making an impact around the world.