Glendon Brown

Foundation Board Member

For several decades, Dr. Glendon Brown has played an essential part on the Bay College Foundation Board. In addition to his role on this board, Glendon serves in a similar capacity for a local high school.

According to Glendon, he joined the foundation board in the 1990s while working for the Mead Corporation’s Escanaba paper mill (now operated by Verso). By the time he retired, Glendon had become vice president of production technology for the company’s publishing paper division, which consisted of the Escanaba mill and two other facilities.

“The publishing paper division was approached about someone being a member, and the president asked if I’d be interested in volunteering to work on the board. That’s my best memory of it, anyway,” he said.

Along with this, former executive director of college advancement Carolyn Bissell contacted him to discuss the possibility of serving on the foundation board.

“I knew how important the community college was to the area since it allowed people to continue their education beyond high school. Some of the advanced trades training that Bay offered was of significant interest to the paper mill, as well,” Glendon said.

Glendon decided to join the foundation board and has been an active member ever since. Almost immediately after he started serving on the board, he became involved with its investment committee. Today, he is the head of this committee.

“Assisting in the management of our endowment and trust funds is probably the biggest role I’ve had with the foundation. By managing these funds, they can sustainably grow and fund the scholarship programs Bay provides,” he said.

One of Glendon’s most notable accomplishments as a board member has been his efforts to establish an investment policy for Bay. He was primarily responsible for drafting this policy. A version of it is still used for annual performance reviews of investment managers today.

Bay’s investment portfolio has grown considerably in the decades since Glendon joined the board. About five years ago, the assets managed by the foundation passed the $10 million mark. Glendon said he was glad to play a role in helping Bay offer a sizable scholarship program to its students.

While he was serving on the board, Glendon’s two children attended calculus classes at Bay. They were in high school and taking advanced courses at Bay allowed them to keep up with other students in their chosen field of study.

“Bay being readily available allowed them to take calculus classes before they went off to college. They were both going into engineering and would have been behind if they weren’t able to take classes in this subject before college,” he said.

Along with his role on the Bay College Foundation Board, Glendon serves on the Escanaba High School scholarship committee. He joined the committee shortly after joining Bay’s foundation board and is still involved with both organizations.

Though they are different in some ways, Glendon said both groups are similar in their ability to offer confidence to possible educational donors.

“We can look a potential donor in the eye and say ‘we’re going to take excellent care of any money you entrust to us. This money’s going to be managed well, and it will serve the purpose of funding scholarships for a long time into the future,’” he said.

Glendon said his experience as a member of the Bay College Foundation Board has been highly positive.

“I would encourage anyone to volunteer to serve on Bay’s board. It’s a very worthwhile opportunity to do good for the community,” he said.