NEW ALBANY, Ind. – Indiana University Southeast welcomed Jerry Finn, Shelley Gast, Roger Harbeson, Martin Padgett, Marguerite Stearns and Beau Zoeller to the Board of Advisors at their June 23 meeting. The purpose of the board is to be an active conduit for the sharing of IU Southeast information to the Southern Indiana community and from the community back to the administration at IU Southeast and to help the campus provide programs and services that support academic success for the region’s diverse student population.
Jerry Finn
Jerry Finn recently retired as executive director of the Caesars Foundation of Floyd County after 19 years at the foundation. He has served on several community boards including One Southern Indiana, Keep New Albany Clean and Green and Friends of the Town Clock Church.
Finn graduated from IU Southeast in 1977 with an A.S. in Nursing, and in 1978 with a Bachelor of General Studies. He received his master’s degree in Theological Studies from Saint Meinrad Seminary and School of Theology. Finn is a recipient of the IU Southeast Chancellor’s Medallion. He received the IU Southeast Alumni Award of Excellence and the IU Southeast Distinguished Alumni Award in 2012. Finn is a Lifetime member of the IU Alumni Association.
Finn’s wife, Jill, is a graduate of IU School of Education. Between the two, they have four adult children, T. J., Chrissy, Katherine and Jerome. Jerome is a 2017 graduate of IU Southeast’s School of Business.
Shelley Gast
In 2006, Shelley Gast joined Norton Healthcare where she serves as the system vice president of managed care and payor strategy. She was recently named a 2020 Best in Finance honoree by Louisville Business First. Gast serves on the board of Rauch, Inc. which supports people with disabilities and their families. She previously served on the board of the Healthcare Financial Management Association.
Gast has six children: Kea (who received her B.A. in English with a minor in communication from IU Southeast in 2017), Kevin, Kyle, Oksana, Max and Nastia. Oksana is a rising sophomore at IU Southeast.
Roger Harbeson
Roger Harbeson is a past president of Monroe Shine accounting firm and provides audit, account and tax services to a variety of public and closely-held businesses. Harbeson also specializes in services to community financial institutions. He is active in several professional accounting organizations. Outside of his professional life, he is a member of the board of directors of the Hospice of Southern Indiana Foundation and Hosparus, Inc., as well as the board of directors for the Lincoln Heritage Council, Boy Scouts of America. He graduated from IU Southeast in 1981 with a B.S. in Accounting and is a certified public accountant in Indiana, California and North Carolina and is a certified fraud examiner.
Harbeson is a Lifetime member of the IU Alumni Association and a member of the IU Foundation 1820 Society.
Harbeson and his wife, Karen, have two adult children, Audrey and Patrick. Patrick is a 2015 graduate of the IU Southeast School of Business. They also have two grandchildren and are expecting a third.
Martin Padgett
Martin Padgett joined Clark Memorial Hospital in 1997 as a vice president and the chief financial officer and was named to his current position of chief executive officer and president in 2005. Prior to joining Clark Memorial Hospital, he served as a director of finance at St. Claire Medical Center in Morehead, Kentucky, and as a senior accountant at Ernst & Young, LLP. Padgett remains dedicated to his community, serving on a number of boards including Greater Clark County Schools Educational Foundation and Ivy Tech in Sellersburg. Padgett received his B.S. in Accounting from the University of Kentucky and his Master of Business Administration from Morehead State University.
Padgett and his wife, Sue, have three adult children, Justin, Cassidy and Kelly.
Marguerite Stearns
Marguerite Stearns received her Bachelor of Science in computer science, with a minor in business, from IU Southeast. She currently works in IT for Homecare Homebase, a cloud-based software company for hospice and home health care organizations.
Stearns has been very involved in her local and IU communities. In addition to serving on the IU Southeast Alumni Association as a member and past president, she is the former president of the Bluegrass chapter of the International Institute of Business Analysts and is a former member of IU Southeast’s Natural Sciences advisory board. In 2018, she was inducted into the Bluegrass Business Analysis Hall of Fame by the Bluegrass chapter of the Institute of Business Analysts. She is a Lifetime member of the IU Alumni Association and an IU Foundation 1820 Society member.
Stearns has two adult children, Cecile and Robert.
Beau Zoeller
Beau Zoeller is a partner with Frost Brown Todd LLC in Louisville. In this role, he assists government entities and financial institutions with various aspects of finance, lending, economic development and redevelopment initiatives. He previously served as the senior vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary for the 19th Capital Group.
Zoeller received his first bachelor’s degree from Franklin College in 2006 and his second bachelor’s degree in political science with a minor in international studies from IU Southeast in 2009. In 2012, he received his Juris Doctorate from the IU McKinney School of Law. He is a Lifetime member of the IU Alumni Association.
Zoeller has received a number of awards, including being named one of Louisville Business First’s 2020 Forty Under 40 honorees.
Zoeller is the grandson of the late Indiana governor Frank O’Bannon. He and his wife, Melanie, have a daughter, Emerson, and an infant son, Weston Lewis.
Rotating off the board this year is Dennis Ott who has completed six years of service and is the outgoing chair, Joey Rivera who has completed three years of service, Diane Fischer who has completed three years of service and Phil Eskew who has also completed three years of service.
Michael Bauer will serve as the new chair of the Board of Advisors for a two-year term.
“These new Board Members have a broad array of talents, from fundraising to financial and operational management,” said IU Southeast Chancellor Ray Wallace. “They will provide a wide variety of experience and will play a key role in collaborating with the leadership at IU Southeast to develop strategies that mutually benefit the community and the campus.”