Hillsdale College announced this month that it has elected two new members to its Board of Trustees.
The board approved Tobias Buck and Ronald Nolan in September to fill two vacancies on the 35-person governing body. A position became available after the now-late Hazel Hare resigned from the board Feb. 16, 2016, after being diagnosed with Lou Gehrig’s disease, also known as ALS.
“They are both experienced entrepreneurs and businessmen,” said Rich Péwé, chief administrative director and secretary for the Board of Trustees. “They’re both staunch supporters of Hillsdale College and its missions and freedom and liberty and higher learning. They’re perfect matches.”
President Larry Arnn suggested names to the board’s nominating committee, which then made recommendations to the board in its entirety on which to vote.
Buck is the founder, chairman, president, and CEO of Paragon Medical, which works to create solutions for surgical instruments, implantable components, and design and development services to the medical device marketplace at its 11 international facilities.
Buck has received numerous awards and recognitions, including Indiana’s Entrepreneur of the Year award for small manufacturing firms from Ernst & Young Global Limited in 1998 and 2004.
He graduated from Purdue University and completed The Harvard Executive Development Program and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Birthing of Giants program. He is also a member on the Board of Advisers to Purdue’s biomedical school and, in the past, served as a trustee for Trine University.
Buck has been married to his wife for 39 years, and they live in Warsaw, Indiana. They have four children and nine grandchildren.
“I am proud to join Hillsdale College’s Board of Trustees,” Buck said in a news release. “I look forward to serving this great college and its students, faculty, and staff members.”
Nolan is the founder of Nolan Real Estate Services, a full-service acquisition and management business specializing in the hospitality sector. He has bought, sold, and brokered more than $2 billion in assets and handled more than 100 transactions.
Nolan graduated from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, with a bachelor’s degree in psychology. He is an avid bird hunter and a high-performance track-car driver residing with his wife on a farm in Louisburg, Kansas.
“Thank you to the Board of Trustees, Hillsdale’s president, Dr. Arnn, and all who welcome me to the college,” Nolan said in a news release. “I look forward to helping serve the college’s mission to pursue truth and defend liberty.”
