James L. Keeler of Moneta, Va., retired president and CEO of WLR Foods Inc., began service as chairman of the Bridgewater College Board of Trustees in November 2003. A 1957 graduate of the College, he has been a member of the board since 1974.
Before joining WLR Foods Inc. in 1988, he was a partner and commercial lawyer with the law firm of Wharton, Aldhizer & Weaver. He was a founding partner of the Harrisonburg accounting firm of Keeler, Phibbs & Co., now known as Phibbs, Burkholder, Geisert and Huffman, and practiced as a certified public accountant for more than 20 years. From 1971 to 2004, he and his wife, Sandra, were partners with their son, Greg, in Mooreland Farms, a purebred cattle breeding business in Timberville, Va.
In addition to serving on the College's Board of Trustees, Keeler is a past president of the Bridgewater College Alumni Association. He has served in three Virginia governor-appointed roles: the Board of Directors of the Commonwealth of Virginia Economic Development Partnership (appointed by Gov. George Allen), the Governor's Advisory Committee on Virginia's Strategy (appointed by Gov. James Gilmore) and the Commonwealth of Virginia Board of Purchases and Supply (appointed by Gov. Mills Godwin). He also is a past vice-chairman of the Virginia Business Council's executive committee, past chairman of the Virginia Chamber of Commerce and past member of the executive advisory council for James Madison University's College of Business. He has served on the board of Rockingham Memorial Hospital, Massanutten Regional Library, and the Valley of Virginia Partnership for Education.
A graduate of the University of Virginia School of Law, Keeler received the Distinguished Alumnus Award from Bridgewater College in 1990. He was named Business Person of the Year in 1995 by the Harrisonburg-Rockingham Chamber of Commerce and received the Outstanding Member Award from the Virginia Society of Certified Public Accountants.
Keeler is married to the former Sandra Barnhart, a 1970 graduate of Bridgewater College. They have four children: Mark; Tracy Ann Budd, a 1980 Bridgewater graduate; Steve; and Greg, a member of the BC class of 1984.
|
|
