Dr. Lyman grew up on a small cotton farm in southwest Louisiana and enrolled at AMC through a scholarship offered by the Sisters of St. Anne and encouragement from a mentor, Fr. Neil Sullivan. After graduating, she earned advanced degrees from Brandeis University and Harvard University and her Ph.D. from Louisiana State University.  Dr. Lyman has worked in higher education for more than 30 years and has served primarily at universities that are devoted to meeting the educational needs of their regions and that serve significant populations of first generation college students. 

 

Dr. Lyman has steadily risen through the administrative ranks, as an associate graduate dean, assistant graduate dean, department chair, Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs and Vice Provost for Academic Programs.  She currently serves as Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs at Shippensburg University in Pennsylvania. Dr. Lyman has been published in a number of professional journals and has given many presentations at national and international conferences.  She currently serves as a periodic reviewer for the Journal of Diversity in Higher Education.

Col. O’Sullivan joined the Massachusetts Army National Guard in 1968 and recently retired as the Command Chief Warrant Officer for the Army National Guard where he was stationed in Washington, DC at the Headquarters of the National Guard Bureau.  In his position of Command Chief Warrant Officer, the Colonel was recognized as the Senior Warrant Officer at all military functions and directly influenced the careers of the 8,000 members of the National Guard Warrant Officer community.  He speaks nationally to audiences involved in professional development and addresses officers at all military levels regarding warrant officer issues.  Col. O’Sullivan has received numerous military awards and decorations over the last 40 years.

 

In addition to his Guard service, Col. O’Sullivan was a teacher and then Director of Special Education at Shawsheen Vocational Tech in Billerica, MA for 30 years before his military activation after September 11, 2001. He was recognized as one of the pre-eminent special education teachers in the state of Massachusetts having  positively affected the lives of thousands of special education students.  In addition, the Colonel provides in-service programs for school systems statewide.

 

Mr. Hamm, and his wife Linda – Class of 1983 – have been dedicated members of the AMC family since they enrolled as undergraduates in the late ‘70s.   A student leader on campus, Mr. Hamm remained involved with the College after graduating, first as a member of the Alumni Council and, since 2001, as a member of the Board of Trustees.  Now in his tenth year on the Board, he has been an involved and engaged Trustee, providing important leadership to the College through a period of transition and change. The Chief Administrative Officer and CIO of Eastern Bank, Mr. Hamm shares his financial expertise with the College as Chair of the Audit and Finance Committee, which oversees the College’s annual budget and major financial transactions, appraises the College’s financial control and auditing systems, and oversees the annual audit, as well as the College’s investments.

 

In addition to his work as a Trustee, Mr. Hamm served on the Presidential Search Committee in 2006-2007, served on two committees to analyze the College’s technology needs, regularly represents AMC at events in the Worcester community, and is a strong and vocal advocate for the College.

 

 

Mr. Sharma majored in Management Information Systems at AMC and was a top student, graduating first in his class and earning the prestigious Dr. Bernadette Madore Award for Academic Achievement.   Given his academic resume, he had a job offer waiting for him immediately following graduation.  However, after meeting Mr. Sharma at Commencement and recognizing his talent and potential, Trustee and alumnus, Lloyd Hamm, urged Mr. Sharma to consider entering Eastern Bank’s management training program instead.

 

Mr. Sharma accepted the offer and today he is Eastern’s Senior Information Security Officer, monitoring the bank’s systems for potential breaches and advising on policies and procedures to reduce the risk of intrusions.  He  has been promoted three times since graduating the management training program, serving first as an Information Security Officer, then a Technology Risk Officer and later a Data Security Administrator.  Mr. Sharma holds four industry-recognized certifications and is currently pursuing his master’s degree in information management.

 

The Honorary Alumnus Award is given annually to an individual who is not a graduate of AMC but has been a loyal friend and advocate of the College.

 

A resident of Paxton since 1963, Mr. Goodrich is in his ninth year on the Board of Selectmen for the community. He previously served on the Zoning Board of Appeals, the Personnel Advisory Committee and the Conservation Committee. Throughout his years of service, Mr. Goodrich has always advocated that Anna Maria College is good for Paxton and that the College and the Town need to maintain a strong working relationship.  He has played an instrumental role in a number of important Town-College partnerships and also worked on an effort to develop a public safety complex to be shared by the Town and the College.

 

The relationship was reciprocal on the part of the College with AMC students giving many hours of community service to Paxton from teaching computer skills to seniors through the Council on Aging to sprucing up Town Hall.   Students in the criminal justice program have also been hired to work as public safety dispatchers and the town has trained AMC Fire Science students to serve Paxton as call firefighters.

 

Mr. Goodrich is familiar with AMC both as a student in the MBA program and as a parent with two daughters having graduated from the College.