Two new trustees will join the Hillsdale College board, according to aNov. 23 press release. The additions are David Hough, a private practice psychotherapist, and Nersai Nazari, founder and executive chairman of Vital Connect Inc.
“The Hillsdale College Board of Trustees has been in continuous operation for 177 years,” Rich Péwé, chief administrative officer and secretary to the board, said in the press release. “These new members will continue to build on Hillsdale’s long legacy of providing a liberal arts education outstanding among American universities.”
Hough, whose wife is an alumna of the college, works with terminally ill adults and children. He also specializes in grief, marriage, and family counseling. Hough was named an honorary alumnus of Hillsdale College in 2016, and contributed to the Frederick Douglass scholarship.
“I’m deeply honored, I really am. I’ve met a number of the trustees,” Hough said. “ It’s no small honor to be a trustee of Hillsdale College. I’m very much looking forward to it.”
Nazari and his company have developed advanced technology to monitor patients in and out of the hospital. He has more than 10 published technical papers and 12 patents for technology, which have helped save lives throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the press release said.
As trustees of the college, Nazari and Hough are charged with being the “faithful stewards of Hillsdale’s historical example of freedom,” according to the Hillsdale College website. They must “remain dedicated and committed to Hillsdale’s longstanding tradition of institutional independence and academic excellence.”
“I am going to do everything and anything to keep outside forces from trying to mitigate change and redirect the core principles of the school,” Hough said. “I think that’s probably the greatest. It’s called standing guard. I am very, very invested in that endeavor.”
