The Equipment Leasing & Finance Foundation announced the officers of its board of trustees who will serve in 2018. Board officers serving include:

• Jeffry Elliott, senior managing director, Huntington Equipment Finance, as chairman
• Scott Thacker, CEO, Ivory Consulting as vice chairman
• Vincent Belcastro, managing director/group head, Corporate Equipment Finance, Santander Bank Equipment Finance, as treasurer
• Ralph Petta, president, Equipment Leasing and Finance Association, as president
• Paul Stilp, VP, Finance and Administration, ELFA, as secretary

The officer elections were held during the board of trustees’ annual meeting.

William Verhelle, member, Harvard Partners, is immediate past chairman and Martha Ahlers, president, United Leasing & Finance, will serve as liaison to the foundation from ELFA’s board of directors.

The new members appointed to the foundation board of trustees include:

• Donald Link, VP and general manager, Medium & Small Ticket Finance Division, Hitachi Capital America
• Thomas Petersen, EVP, Wells Fargo Equipment Finance
• Nancy Pistorio, President, Madison Capital
• Thomas Ware, SVP, Analytics and Product Development, PayNet

“The 2018 board brings a wealth of professional expertise and leadership experience to their role as trustees,” said Elliott. “We are grateful for their commitment to serving the Foundation and the equipment finance industry.”

Other 2018 Trustees include:

• Jeffrey Berg, EVP — North America, DLL
• Katie Emmel, COO, International Decision Systems
• Eric Hanson, Senior Managing Director, Macquarie Capital Advisors
• Randy Haug, EVP and Vice Chairman, LeaseTeam
• James Johnson, PhD, Professor of Finance, Northern Illinois University
• Bonnie Michael, VP, Legal and General Counsel, Volvo Financial Services
• Gordon Scott, VP, CDK Financing Solutions
• Kelli Nienaber, Executive Director, Equipment Leasing & Finance Foundation

Steven R. LeBarron Award

Outgoing Foundation Research Committee honored Scott Thacker, CEO, Ivory Consulting, with the Steven R. LeBarron Award for Principled Research during the Foundation’s Annual Research Planning Meeting, which was held along with the annual board meeting.

Thacker has been a dedicated leader of numerous research project steering committees, including Big Data, Predictive Analytics, Applied Economics and the recently-released video on emerging technology.

The Steven R. LeBarron Award is presented annually to the research committee member who demonstrates the insight, fortitude and dedication exemplified by LeBarron.