University of Richmond Elects Three to Board of Trustees
May 18, 2005
Three people have been elected to four-year terms on the University of Richmond Board of Trustees.
The new members are Richard S. Johnson of Richmond, Charles A. Ledsinger Jr. of Silver Spring, Md., and Patricia L. Rowland of Glen Ellyn, Ill.
Johnson is president and chief executive officer of The Wilton Companies, a full-service real estate development company established in 1945. He and his partners purchased the company in 2003. Prior to acquiring Wilton, Johnson was chairman and CEO of Southern Title Insurance Co. and, subsequently, founder of Southern Financial, which became part of The Wilton Companies. He received a B.S.B.A. degree from the University of Richmond in 1973 and an M.S. from Virginia Commonwealth University in 1978.
Ledsinger is president and CEO of Choice Hotels International Inc., one of the world’s largest hotel franchisors. Ledsinger joined Choice in 1998 and is based at the company’s headquarters in Silver Spring. He previously served as president and COO of The St. Joe Company, Florida’s largest private landowner and developer of master-planned communities, commercial and industrial facilities, resorts and location-based entertainment. He is a 1972 graduate of the University of Virginia and received an M.B.A. from the University of Memphis in 1977. He and his wife, Anita, are the parents of a rising University of Richmond junior.
Rowland is retired as senior vice president for business development and marketing of CIGNA Healthcare. Rowland began her career with CIGNA in 1983, advancing through a variety of management positions until her appointment to the senior management team in 1995. She received a B.S. in biology in 1977 and an M.B.A. in 1981, both from the University of Richmond.