Chairman of Trustee Board retires

Hayley Tsukayama Staff Writer

Many Vassar students might not know who Richard Van Demark ’77 is, and he probably prefers it that way. As the current Chairman of the Vassar College Board of Trustees, Van Demark has made a quiet name for himself as a humble and hard-working man.

As we celebrate the Fergusson years, students should be thinking about the Van Demark years as well. As Board Chair, Van Demark has worked with the College for 22 years.

Born in Sioux Falls, SD, Van Demark came to Vassar in 1973. His sister, Ruth ’66, encouraged him to attend Vassar after it went coeducational in 1969. He was an economics major and graduated Phi Beta Kappa. He went on from Vassar to earn advanced business degrees from the University of Chicago, and a law degree from Northwestern University in Evanston, IL.

In 1982, Vassar asked the then 27-year-old Van Demark to join the Board of Trustees. He accepted, and began many years of service to the Vassar College community. Van Demark assumed chairmanship of the Board in 1996, taking over for James C. Kautz. He is the twenty-second chairperson of the board in the history of the College, and the first alumnus to hold the position. Van Demark decided, however, that with his long-time colleague President of the College Fran Fergusson leaving this year, it was time for him to leave Vassar as well.

When asked about Van Demark, Fergusson said in an e-mailed statment, he “has been an extraordinary leader for the Vassar Board of Trustees.”

She said, “I shall miss working with him. We talk at least once a week, sometimes much more often, and he is always there with good advice, great ideas and warm friendship.”

As newly retired Board Chair, Van Denmark told the Vassar Alumnae/i Quarterly in the Winter 2005 issue that he plans to concentrate more on his financial consultant business.

“You have to be semi-retired to do this job,” said Van Denmark. “It’s a lot of fun.”

Fergusson said that Van Denmark “has always understood the character and ethos of Vassar and worked hard behind the scenes to make sure that the College’s policies and the work of the Board reinforce all the best things about Vassar.”