MADISON – Wausau resident San W. Orr, Jr. was elected today to a one-year term as president of the University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents. He succeeds Sheldon B. Lubar, Milwaukee, who served as president since June 1997.
Also today, Jay L. Smith, Middleton, was elected vice president, succeeding Orr.
San Orr Jr., an attorney and certified public accountant, is chairman of the board of Wausau-Mosinee Paper Corporation in Mosinee. He also serves as director of Marshall & Ilsley Corp. First American Bank, Wausau Insurance Companies and MDU Resources Group, Inc.
Orr was appointed to a seven-year term on the Board of Regents by Governor Tommy Thompson in October 1993, and has served as vice president of the Board since June 1997. Orr chairs the Board’s 21st Century Study Implementation Subcommittee, and serves on the UW Hospital Authority Board and the Regent Executive Committee.
A native of Madison, Orr received his undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. From 1987-89, he chaired the Board of Visitors of the UW-Madison School of Business. He also served as an officer and director of the Wisconsin Alumni Association. In addition, Orr is a director of Competitive Wisconsin, Inc.; the Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance; the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum, Wausau; and the University of Wisconsin Foundation.
Jay Smith is president and chief executive officer of JLS Investment Group, Madison, which he founded in 1992. He is the former president and CEO of DRG Medical Packaging, a global leader in the manufacture of sterilizable medical packaging, and later served as president and CEO of DRG Ltd. in Bristol, England.
Smith, appointed to a seven-year term on the Board of Regents in May 1995 by Governor Thompson, is a Madison native. He graduated from UW-Madison in 1963 with a bachelor’s degree in economics. His business, civic and University involvement is extensive, and includes the creation of an endowment for International Business Studies at UW-Madison; leadership positions with United Way of Dane County, Madison Art Center, and Future Madison Inc.; and membership on UW-Madison’s External Affairs Committee, Business School Board of Advisors, and Athletic Director’s Board of Advisors.
Smith is a member of the Regent Executive Committee, and chairs the Board’s Education Committee.
Contact:
Peter D. Fox
(608) 262-6448