April 30, 2020

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Retired Anixter executive Bob Eck will serve as board chair

MILWAUKEE — The Marquette University Board of Trustees elected Bob Eck as its new chair, the university announced today. Eck, who has served as vice chair of the board since 2019, succeeds NCR Corporation executive Owen Sullivan, who has been in the position since May 2017.

Todd Adams, president and chief executive officer of Milwaukee-based Rexnord Corporation, a global diversified industrial company, has been elected vice chair.

A 1980 graduate of Marquette’s Klingler College of Arts and Sciences, Eck served as the chief executive officer of Anixter International Inc., a leading global distributor of network and security solutions, electrical and electronic solutions, and utility power solutions from 2008 to 2018. Eck currently serves on Anixter’s board of directors; he is also on the board of Ryder System Inc.

“Marquette University is fortunate to have Bob Eck’s deep and varied leadership experience. He is a passionate and involved alumnus who cares so much about Marquette’s future,” President Michael R. Lovell said. “Bob has strong ties to a wide network of Marquette alumni, as well as the Milwaukee and broader business communities. I’m looking forward to working with him during his tenure as board chair.”

Lovell also expressed appreciation for Sullivan’s leadership over the past three years. “Owen Sullivan provided steady leadership for our university and sage counsel to me during one of the most pivotal times in Marquette’s history. The university community owes him tremendous gratitude.”

Eck is a member of the Marquette University Archbishop Henni Founders Society, the Marquette University President’s Society and St. Ignatius Legacy Society and has served on the advisory board of the Center for Supply Chain Management in the College of Business Administration.

He and his wife, Kim, met while attending Marquette.

Two new trustees elected
The Board of Trustees also elected two new members: Amy Ford Souders, a 1992 graduate of the Klingler College of Arts and Sciences, and Micky Minhas, a 1989 graduate of the Opus College of Engineering.

Souders is a principal, director and founding member of Cornerstone Government Affairs, a full-service, bipartisan consulting firm specializing in federal and state government relations, public affairs and strategic communications, and advisory services. Prior to that, she spent several years at two well-respected lobbying firms in Washington, D.C., and served as deputy treasurer for a successful U.S. Senate campaign.

Souders is a longstanding member of The Les Aspin Center for Government Board of Visitors, as well as a member of the Dean’s Advisory Council for the Klingler College of Arts and Sciences, a past president of the Illinois Group and past board member of the Illinois State Society.

She met her husband, Patrick, a fellow resident assistant, at Marquette.

Minhas is senior vice president at the Marconi Group, a Dallas-based intellectual property licensing firm. Before joining Marconi in March 2020, he was chief patent counsel for Microsoft, managing the Microsoft patent group since 2012. Minhas previously served as vice president of intellectual property strategy at Qualcomm in San Diego.

Minhas has a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Marquette, a master’s degree in electrical engineering from the George Washington University, and juris doctor and master of law degrees from the University of New Hampshire, where he continues to work as the Franklin Pierce Distinguished Professor of Intellectual Property Practice. Minhas served on the Marquette Alumni Association Board of Directors from 2016–20, serving as president from 2019–20.

He met his wife, Jennifer, a 1989 College of Nursing alumna, while attending Marquette.

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About Christopher Stolarski

Chris is an associate director of university communication in the Office of University Relations. Contact Chris at (414) 288-1988 or christopher.stolarski@marquette.edu.