Scott M. Jenkins and Douglas M. Orr Jr. elected to Berea College Board of Trustees

Financial services executive Scott M. Jenkins of Rosemont, Pa., and former Warren Wilson College President Douglas M. Orr Jr. of Black Mountain, N.C., were elected to the Berea College Board of Trustees at the Board’s recent meeting. Both were appointed to six-year terms and will serve through 2012.Jenkins is the president of S.M. Jenkins & Co., the financial and management consulting firm he founded in 1991. In addition, he is the General Partner of Jenkins Partners, L.P. From 1990-1991, Jenkins served as vice president of The First Boston Corporation, and from 1984-1990 was vice president with Goldman, Sachs and Co.

A graduate of United States Naval Academy where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree, Jenkins also holds a Master of Business Administration degree from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. After serving for six years in the United States Navy as a nuclear submarine officer from 1976-1981, Jenkins was a senior consulting engineer for Westec Services, Inc. He also has served as a nuclear engineering consultant to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Jenkins’ professional activities include serving on the board of directors of several companies, including The Reinvestment Fund and Urban Growth Partners, L.P. of Philadelphia, an organization involved with reclaiming and transforming neighborhoods through socially and environmentally responsible development. Jenkins’ civic contributions include serving on the boards of numerous history, arts, education and healthcare-related organizations.

Orr brings almost 40 years of experience in higher education to Berea’s Board. From 1991-2006, he served as President of Warren Wilson College in Asheville, N.C. Warren Wilson shares Berea’s mission as a work college and both schools are noted for their service learning, international studies focus and environmental programming. At the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, he was a member of the geography faculty for 22 years beginning in 1968, and served in leadership roles as Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs from 1973 – 1980 and as Vice Chancellor of Development and Public Service from 1980 – 1991.

His experience also includes professional service to the Association of Governing Boards of Colleges, the Southern Association of College and Schools reaccreditation teams and on research projects concerning higher education in North Carolina. He was the principal planner for Charlotte’s University City, an award-winning mixed use project. Orr’s involvement on professional and civic boards includes the National Council of Independent Colleges and the National Commission on the Status of Women in Higher Education. As a geography scholar he is the author of many professional articles and several books.

Orr received a B.A. degree from Davidson College and M.B.A. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His personal interests include traditional Scottish, Irish and Appalachian music of which he is both a historian and performer.

Berea, the South’s first interracial and coeducational college, focuses on learning, labor and service. Berea charges no tuition, admitting only academically promising students, primarily from Appalachia, who have limited economic resources. All students must work 10 hours weekly, earning money for books, room and board. In national rankings, Berea is consistently named the South’s top comprehensive college. Graduates from Berea go on to distinguish themselves and the College in many fields, living out the College’s motto “God has made of one blood all peoples of the earth.”