Wolf nominates new member for Clarion trustees panel

From staff reports

Gov. Tom Wolf has nominated Neil R. Weaver, a 2000 Clarion University graduate from York, to the university’s Council of Trustees.

Wolf is also proposing that James L. Kifer of Rimersburg (Clarion Class of 1983) and Syed Ali-Zaidi of Shippenville be reappointed to the council.

The panel is comprised of 11 members who, except for the student member, are nominated by the governor and appointed by the Pennsylvania Senate.

Weaver, who holds a bachelor’s degree in communication from Clarion, is executive deputy secretary for the state Department of Community and Economic Development, where he oversees the management, programs and operations for the state agency.

Kifer was first appointed to the council of trustees in 2006, then reappointed in 2009 and again this year. He is chairman of the council, having served as vice chair and secretary.

He is president, chief executive officer, chief financial officer and a member of the board of directors of Clarion County Community Bank.

Ali-Zaidi was appointed to the council of trustees in 1980 and reappointed in 1985, 1991, 1997, 2003, 2009 and 2016. He was a founding member of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education Board of Governors, serving from 1984 to 1988 and from 1997 to 2002.

He is retired from a 25-year career in research and development with the glass industry. He has a bachelor’s degree in glass technology from Sheffield University in England, and a master’s and doctorate degree in ceramic engineering, both from The Ohio State University.