Creighton announces new Board leadership, trustees
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Diane Duren, BSBA'81, (left) becomes the newest chair of the Creighton Board of Trustees and the first woman to lead the Board in University history. She has been a Board member since 2019 and was awarded Creighton’s Heider College of Business Alumni Merit Award in 2011.
Creighton President the Rev. Daniel S. Hendrickson, SJ, PhD, has announced new leadership for its Board of Trustees and has welcomed six new members.
Diane Duren, BSBA’81, was elected as chair, becoming the first woman to serve in the role. She succeeds Nizar Ghoussaini, BS’75, MS’76, who had been chair since 2021.
A member of Creighton’s Board since 2019 and vice chair since 2021, Duren is a former executive vice president and chief administrative officer at Union Pacific, where she spent 32 years holding a variety of finance, marketing and sales positions including vice president and general manager–chemicals in marketing and sales.
Holding a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Creighton University, Duren first started her career as a certified public accountant before joining Union Pacific in 1985.
“Diane continues to be a valued leader on our Board of Trustees as someone who embraces the Creighton mission and has fostered such a distinctly broad range of relationships across business and civic communities,” said the Rev. Daniel S. Hendrickson, SJ, PhD, president of Creighton University. “Given the truly significant moments that have occurred over these recent years I am eager to continue building on the momentum we have created on our campuses in Omaha, Phoenix, and the Dominican Republic.”
“It is a great honor to serve Creighton University as chair of the Board,” Duren said. “Creighton continues a nearly 150-year history of educating and developing outstanding individuals who contribute greatly to their professions and communities in the Jesuit tradition. I am proud to be part of these endeavors.”
Diane continues to be a valued leader on our Board of Trustees as someone who embraces the Creighton mission.
— Rev. Daniel S. Hendrickson, SJ, PhD
Duren has remained engaged with Creighton throughout her professional life and was awarded Creighton’s Heider College of Business Alumni Merit Award in 2011. In that same year she was recognized by Profiles in Diversity Journal in “Women Worth Watching” and in 2022 was named Arthritis Foundation of Nebraska Woman of the Year. She is a community and philanthropic leader, serving as chair of the Metropolitan Entertainment and Convention Authority (MECA) Board and trustee of the Peter Kiewit Foundation. She was also previously elected chair of the Children's Hospital and Medical Center Board.
Joining Duren in a leadership role on Creighton’s Board of Trustees as vice chair is Mark Henkels, BSBA’83. A member of the Board since 2019, Henkels is a managing director at Moelis & Company, a global independent investment bank based in New York City, where he serves clients in the industrials sector. While at Creighton, Mark played baseball and was named All-Missouri Valley Conference two of his four years. He received the Heider College of Business Alumni Merit Award in 2017.
“My personal experience at Creighton combined academic and athletic achievement with spiritual leadership which has governed my daily life,” Henkels said. “As a trustee at Creighton University the responsibility is a privilege. Our objective is to help every individual student succeed and help define for each what ultimately makes a Creighton graduate especially unique – a force for good and a guiding light for others consistent with Jesuit tradition.”
Newly named trustees include Todd Foje, JD, BSBA’87, CEO of Great Plains Communications LLC; Lee Graves, BSBA'80, JD'83, founder and chairman of ELM Companies; Robert Greenwood, BSPHA‘77, owner of Greenwood Pharmacy; Elizabeth Lenke, BSN’86, a licensed therapist working in the non-profit sector; Ann Schmitt, vice president of enterprise computer payments at The Walt Disney Company; and Jim Simpson, BA’80, former president of strategic initiatives for Sirius Computer Solutions.
Fr. Hendrickson also named three new trustees being recognized with emeriti status: outgoing chair Nizar Ghoussaini, former senior operational partner for Triton; Frank Hayes, majority owner and president of Hayes & Associates LLC; and outgoing vice chair Gail Werner-Robertson, JD, founder and CEO of GWR Wealth Management LLC.
Meet the New Trustees
From left, Todd Foje, JD, BSBA'87; Lee C. Graves, BSBA'80, JD'83; Robert Greenwood, BSPHA'77
From left, Elizabeth (Beth) Lenke, BSN'86; Ann Schmitt, MBA; Jim Simpson, BA’80
Todd Foje, JD, BSBA’87, has more than 20 years of experience in the telecommunications industry and became CEO of Great Plains Communications in 2008. He earned a Bachelor of Business Administration from Creighton, a Juris Doctor from George Washington University and a Master of Laws in Taxation from Georgetown University. Foje serves on the boards of directors of First National Bank of Omaha and Ritter Communications, and as an advisory board member to the RD Offutt Companies. His charitable service has included key volunteer and board roles with Creighton University, Creighton Prep High School, Duchesne Academy, the Durham Museum, Nebraska Chamber of Commerce, Nebraska Telecommunications Association, USTelecom, the American Red Cross and as a participant in the TeamMates youth mentoring program.
Lee Graves, BSBA’80, JD’83, earned his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and Juris Doctorate from Creighton University. As president and CEO of ELM companies, which he founded in 1998, he provides innovative solutions to utility services, including sustainable energy solutions through products like the VirtuHOT HD solar tubes that help provide energy efficient hot water to 400 first-year Creighton students in Graves Hall. Graves has served as president of the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Peoria for over 20 years and strongly supports St. Jude, Easter Seals, the Peoria Riverfront Museum and others.
Robert Greenwood, BSPHA’77, is a pharmacist and a community and professional leader in Waterloo, Iowa. He has been a pharmacy owner and manager for over 40 years as he, with his wife Cheryl, owns five pharmacies in Northeast Iowa. He served on the Waterloo City Council for 12 years; he has been and officer, and president, of both the National Community Pharmacy Association (NCPA) and the Iowa Pharmacy Association. The School of Pharmacy and Health Professions recognized Greenwood with its Alumni Merit Award in 2014. He and his wife have three children who attended Creighton.
Elizabeth (Beth) Lenke, BSN’86, began her career as a nurse in the Burn/Trauma Intensive Care Unit at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis, Missouri, after receiving her BSN from Creighton University. She spent a career delivering quality healthcare delivery systems and access to healthcare before earning a Master of Social Work degree from Columbia University in 2022 and now serves as licensed psychotherapist in New York City. She currently sits on the boards of Felician University, serving two years as vice chair, and previously served on the Villa Duchesne Board of Trustees, serving three years as chair. She received the Alumni Merit Award from Creighton’s College of Nursing in 2023.
Ann Schmitt, MBA, is responsible for The Walt Disney Company’s global payments strategy; partner strategy; risk management and controls; and enterprise initiatives. Her team supports major direct to consumer products and projects undertaken by the company across all brands and geographies. She is the past co-chair of the Parent and Family Leadership Council at Creighton University; current chair of the Board of the Merchant Advisory Group; and has long been involved in corporate mentorship and financial literacy initiatives. She received her MBA in Finance from the University of Colorado, and a BS from South Dakota State University.
Jim Simpson, BA’80, earned his Bachelor of Psychology degree from Creighton in 1980 and spent nearly 40 years in the IT industry, beginning at IBM where he spent 19 years in sales and sales management. He would go on to work at MSI Systems Integrators for 10 years as its president and CEO before it was acquired in 2010 by Sirius Computer Solutions, when he assumed the role of president of strategic initiatives, retiring in 2019. He previously served on the Junior Achievement, Completely Kids and Creighton’s College of Arts and Science Advisory boards and is former chairman of the board for the Children’s Hospital and Medical Center in Omaha. Along with his wife, Kathy, he serves as the namesake for Graves Hall’s Simpson Family Courtyard.
