Lenoir-Rhyne greets new trustees for 2025

The Lenoir-Rhyne University Board of Trustees has approved four new members. Tammy Ice ’95, David Moore ’76, Frank Surface ’85 and Boyd Wilson ’76 each began their three-year terms on June 1, 2025.

Tammy Ice ’95 is a global clinical research marketing executive with more than 20 years of success in marketing and communications. She has more than 15 years’ experience in leadership roles within contract research organizations and the biotech and biopharma industries. As vice president of patient experience for the Alliance for Multispecialty Research, she leads efforts in marketing and community outreach to enhance reputation and build partnerships with patient advocacy groups, research centers and key opinion leaders. Her career has focused on patient recruitment, retention and engagement in clinical trials. While at Lenoir-Rhyne, Ice majored in communications and was active on campus as a resident advisor, member of the Student Government Association and A Cappella Choir, and as a student worker in the admissions office.

David Moore ’76 is the owner of a long-standing plumbing, heating and cooling business. He has held leadership roles in both the North Carolina and National Plumbing Heating Cooling Association, including service as state president and national zone director. Moore has been a member of First Baptist Church of Hickory since 1980, serving twice as deacon chair. A loyal supporter of Lenoir-Rhyne, he currently serves on the College of Business and Economics Advisory Board and is a member of the President’s Society. His past involvement includes service on the Board of Visitors, Bears Club Board, and as a class agent and Annual Fund chair. Moore and his wife, Sara, have been married for 35 years and have two adult children.

Frank Surface ’85 is chairman of Superior Paving, a family-owned company where he has served for more than 35 years in roles that have included operations manager, CEO and now chairman. Under his leadership, the company has grown from 20 employees in 1976 to more than 450 in 2025. A former football player at Lenoir-Rhyne, Surface remains actively involved with the university through service on the Board of Visitors and the Bears Club board. His support for athletics includes funding contributions for the Surface Family Practice Field and the Surface Family Press Box at McCrorie Family Stadium. He has three adult children – including a son who played lacrosse for LR – and three grandchildren. He attends Park Valley Church and volunteers in his community through youth coaching and events such as Night to Shine, which hosts local prom nights for people with special needs.

Boyd Wilson ’76 holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Lenoir-Rhyne and a master’s in economics and business from Appalachian State University. His diverse career spans roles in sporting goods sales, local government, finance, community college instruction and corporate leadership. He spent more than two decades in the furniture industry, including service as vice president of finance and administration for two La-Z-Boy companies. Wilson later served as executive vice president of Broyhill Investments, Inc., managing the Broyhill Family Office and leading efforts to redevelop industrial and commercial real estate into medical office facilities. Wilson’s community leadership includes 18 years on the Caldwell Memorial Hospital Board, prior service on the Lenoir-Rhyne University Board of Trustees, and leadership roles with the Greater Western Carolinas Chapter of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation / Breakthrough T1D and two regional banking boards.

The university also extends its gratitude to the outgoing members of the Board of Trustees for their dedication: Kate Esch ’70, who served for nine years; Katherine McKenzie ’69 and Steve Carter, M.D., ’74, who joined the board in 2019; Corie Pauling, with three years of service; and the Rev. Tim Smith, retiring bishop of the North Carolina Synod, who contributed 15 years of leadership to the board and the synod.