ALBION - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Senior Vice President of Administration
Allison Maki serves as the Senior Vice President of Administration and Chief Financial Officer of the Detroit Lions. Maki originally joined the Lions in 2004 as the director of finance and in 2008, she was promoted to vice president of finance, a position she retained for seven years. Maki was named to her current role in 2015. She oversees the team's finance and information technology functions, as well as the facility operations at the Lions' Practice Facility in Allen Park. She assists in the oversight and management of the organization's key business partners, while serving as the Treasurer for Detroit Lions Charities. Maki is currently one of only eight female chief financial officers in the NFL. She currently serves as a member of the NFL's Club Technology Advisory Board.
Maki graduated from Albion with a degree in economics and management and upon graduation worked with the accounting firm of Ernst & Young in Detroit for seven years. Maki received the College's Distinguished Alumni Award in 2019.
Maki and her husband, Ryan, '97, reside in South Lyon, MI with twins Colin and Kendall and their mischievous Labrador retriever.
Maki serves as an Albion College trustee because…
the Albion experience made such an impact on her life, both personally and professionally. She wants to help continue that for the next generation of Albion students.
Job Titles:
- Senior Vice President
- Senior Vice President / Market Leader
Art Gray is a Senior Vice President and Corporate Banking Market Leader covering Greater Michigan and Northwest Ohio. He leads a team of bankers who support companies throughout the region. Art offers more than 30 years of deep banking experience arranging capital solutions for clients including specific experience with manufacturing, transportation, metals, building products, insurance, pharma and medical device firms in addition to organizations tied to a number of other industries. He also provides his clients with access to various partners to help them accomplish their strategic objectives.
Gray graduated from Albion College in 1992 with a B.A. in economics and management. He holds FINRA series 63 and 79 licenses.
Gray has been involved with numerous charities, including past-Chair of Great Sports, Great Kids, a board member of Grand Rapids Public Schools Foundation, and a board member of Junior Achievement.
Gray serves as an Albion College trustee because…
his time at Albion provided invaluable experiences that helped shape him both personally and professionally. He looks to continue Albion's tradition of building strong individuals across the globe.
Job Titles:
- Finance and Operations Consultant
Austin Baidas is a Chicago-based finance and operations consultant with experience in both public, non-profit and private sectors. In addition to having run for public office, Austin was appointed to leadership roles at the US Department of Transportation during the Obama Administration and in Illinois State Government during Governor Quinn's Administration. Prior to his government service, Austin served as a Chief Executive in the environmental testing laboratory and manufactured housing businesses. Austin earned a Bachelor of Arts from Albion College in Economics and Management.
Austin is active in his community. He currently serves as a Trustee of Albion College where he Chairs the Mission and Student Success Committee and raises scholarships for talented Chicago students from disadvantaged neighborhoods. He also serves on the Howard Brown Health Board of Directors where during a three year term as Treasurer, he helped lead the organization through the pandemic and implemented a significant capital expansion. Additionally, Austin and his family lead a Scholarship Fund created 2006 in honor of his late father which has awarded more than a million dollars in scholarships for college tuition. Austin previously served 8 years on the board of the Center on Halsted playing a key role in developing the nation's first LGBT senior housing apartments.
Job Titles:
- Member of Committee
- Professor of Geological Sciences
Job Titles:
- Associate Professor of Chemistry
- Member of Committee
Job Titles:
- Member of Committee
- Professor of Music
Job Titles:
- Associate Professor of Philosophy
- Member of Committee
Bishop David Alan Bard is currently serving as Bishop of the Michigan Area and interim Bishop of the Minnesota Area of The United Methodist Church. A United Methodist pastor for over thirty years he has served congregations in Minnesota, and was from 1998-2005, the Northwest District Superintendent for The United Methodist Church in Minnesota. Just prior to coming to Michigan, Bard was pastor of First United Methodist Church Duluth, Minnesota, the community he grew up in. He served on a number of regional and denomination-wide boards and committees and was elected to represent the Minnesota Conference at five General Conferences (2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, and 2016). He was elected to the episcopacy in 2016. He is currently serving as the president of the North Central Jurisdiction College of Bishops.
Bard is a graduate of the University of Minnesota Duluth (B.A. cum laude, philosophy and psychology), United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities (M.Div.) and has a Ph.D. in Religious Studies, with a concentration in Christian Ethics from Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas. He has taught courses at The College of St. Scholastica, Duluth, MN. and United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities as an adjunct faculty member. Among the courses he taught are United Methodist History and Polity, Religious Perspectives in Living, Dying and Grieving and Religious Perspectives on Health Care Ethics. He has served on various civic boards, including the Board of Directors for Life House, an outreach program for homeless youth and the St. Louis County Heading Home Governance Board.
Bard serves as an Albion College trustee because…
Dr. Jeffrey Ott graduated from Albion College in 1986, where he majored in economics and management, and also German. He was a member of the Gerald R. Ford Institute for Leadership in Public Policy and Service. Upon graduation, he attended the University of Michigan where he earned his J.D. Ott is currently a partner and practices law with Warner Norcross + Judd LLP, specializing in securities, banking, mergers and acquisitions, and general corporate law. Ott has represented large publicly traded and privately held companies, including: Chemical Financial Corporation; Fifth Third Bancorp and Old Kent Financial Corporation; Spartan Stores, Inc.; Wolverine World Wide, Inc.; Guardsman Products, Inc.; Haworth, lnc.; Howard Miller Clock Company; and Traxys North America.
For his successful career in law, Ott has been recognized in Best Lawyers in America for Banking and Finance Law and Financial Services Regulation Law, was named Best Lawyers in America's 2013 Grand Rapids Financial Services Regulation Lawyer of the Year, and was named to Michigan Super Lawyers in 2010.
Ott's Albion College experience includes: member of the Gerald R. Ford Institute for Leadership in Public Policy and Service; Albion College player; Phi Beta Kappa, Albion College fellow; Omicron Delta Kappa; Omicron Delta Epsilon; Mortar Board; recipient of Project 250 Leadership Award; station manager for Albion College's radio station WLBN; member of the International House residential dorm House Council; statistics tutor; career development volunteer, Admissions and Institutional Advancement volunteer; and Member of the Gerald R. Ford Institute Visiting Committee from 1988 until 2009.
In addition to serving on the Albion College Board of Trustees, Ott currently serves on the board of directors of St. Cecilia Music Center, the Mary Currie Foundation and Albion Reinvestment Corporation, and is a member of the Mortgage Finance Committee for Habitat for Humanity Kent County. He previously served on the board of directors for Habitat for Humanity Kent County and Equest Center for Therapeutic Riding, Inc. (where he served as President for 6 years).
Ott and his wife, Mary Ann Sabo, live in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He has one son, Alexander.
Ott serves as an Albion College Trustee because…
he believes his Albion College experience was fundamental to his success in his profession and community involvement. Ott would like to preserve and promote the Albion College experience so that future generations can achieve similar success and pride in their communities.
Job Titles:
- Director, Ferguson Center for Technology - Aided Teaching & Learning
Job Titles:
- Center for Teacher Development
Job Titles:
- Member of Committee
- Professor of English
Job Titles:
- Associate Director of the Library and Head of Library Systems & Technology
- Member of Committee
Job Titles:
- Assistant Professor of Education
Job Titles:
- Director
- Member of Committee
Job Titles:
- Interim President of Albion College, Can Be Contacted
Joe Calvaruso, the Interim President of Albion College, can be contacted by email at president@albion.edu.
Job Titles:
- Associate Vice President for Strategic Initiative and Academic Affairs
- Member of Committee
Job Titles:
- Assistant Professor of Communication Studies
- Member of Committee
Job Titles:
- Member of Committee
- Professor of Chemistry
Job Titles:
- Member of Committee
- Provost
Joanne (Joey) Miller, '75, has been appointed the new Chair of the Albion College Board of Trustees. She succeeds Michael J. Harrington, '85, who stepped down recently after a nearly two-year term as chair and a decade on the Board.
Job Titles:
- Marketing and Communication
Job Titles:
- Director of Instructional Technology & Web Development
- Member of Committee
Job Titles:
- Chairman
- Member of Committee
- Professor
- Professor of Education
Job Titles:
- Director of the Career and Internship Center
- Member of Committee