Governor announces appointments to the W&M Board of Visitors

William H. Payne II ’01, Christopher M. Little and Lisa E. Roday will join Sue H. Gerdelman ’76 as appointees to the William & Mary Board of Visitors, Gov. Terry McAuliffe announced today. Their four-year terms begin July 1, 2014.

Payne, communications director for the Virginia Sheriffs’ Institute and Virginia Sheriffs’ Association; Little, a retired publishing and media executive who served as president of Newsweek; and Roday, a consultant based in the Richmond area who specializes in time management, fundraising and legal issues, have been appointed as new members to the Board. They replace Charles A. Banks III, HON ’05, Edward L. Flippen M.B.A. ‘67, J.D. ‘74 and L. Clifford Schroeder, Sr., HON ‘08.

Gerdelman has held a number of leadership roles at W&M, including serving as chair of the William & Mary Foundation, and she now has a significant role in the university’s philanthropic efforts. She was first appointed in 2013 to fill an unexpired term.

“It is marvelous to have Sue Gerdelman return to the Board of Visitors for a full term,” said President Taylor Reveley. “We welcome as well our new members Will Payne, Chris Little and Lisa Roday. I look forward to working with them for the good of William & Mary.”

“We will miss enormously the Board’s three departing members. Charlie Banks, Ed Flippen, and Cliff Schroeder have made a great difference for the better at William & Mary. We are truly grateful to them for their manifold contributions to the progress of the university.”

Sue H. Gerdelman ‘76

Gerdelman received her undergraduate degree in elementary education from William & Mary and taught school for six years in Washington State. She later worked at the White House as an executive assistant to the Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism and as associate director of the President's National Economic Council.

In addition to her many leadership roles at William & Mary, Gerdelman has held a number of posts in the community, including current service as president of the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation, Inc. Board of Directors. In 2011, Gerdelman received the Alumni Medallion, the highest honor given by the William & Mary Alumni Association.

On the Board, she currently serves as chair of the Committee on Development and is a member on the Executive Committee, the Committee on Athletics and the Richard Bland College Committee.

William H. Payne II ‘01

Payne graduated from William & Mary in 2001 with his bachelor’s degree in public policy. He also served in 2005 as a fellow at the Sorensen Institute for Political Leadership at the University of Virginia.

Since November 2013, he has served as communications director of the Virginia Sheriffs’ Institute and Virginia Sheriffs’ Association. In addition, Payne serves as principal with Bull Moose Strategies, a public affairs consulting firm. He is also co-founder and executive director of two nonprofit organizations, the Virginia Shield Foundation and the Royal Blueliner Society. The Virginia Shield Foundation focuses on support for public safety officers and their families. Royal Blueliner Society is a W&M alumni organization that supports and promotes the university’s club ice hockey team. He is also a partner in Commonwealth Outfitters, a hunting and fishing guide service based on the Eastern Shore of Virginia and is co-founder and executive director of the Virginia Sportsmen’s Foundation, a nonprofit organization devoted to Virginia’s sporting traditions.

Since graduating from William & Mary, Payne has been active in a number of political campaigns in Virginia. He has also been an active supporter of his alma mater. In addition to serving as assistant coach of the W&M hockey team, Payne has been a member of the William & Mary Annual Giving Board of Directors since 2012. In 2011, he received the W&M Alumni Association Board of Directors Cup.

Christopher M. Little

Little graduated from Yale University in 1963. He received his LL.B. in 1966 from the University of Texas and completed the executive program at the Stanford University Graduate School of Business in 1978. He worked for several years in the nation’s capital as an attorney before joining The Washington Post Company in 1976 as vice president and counsel. In 1980, Little became president and publisher of The Herald in Everett, Wash. From 1984 to 1986 he was senior vice president at Newsweek and served as president of the magazine from 1986 to 1989.

Until his retirement in 2001, Little continued to work as a successful publishing executive – first as president of Cowles Magazines and later as vice president and then president of the magazine and publishing groups of the Meredith Corporation. Since then, he has remained active on a number of boards and foundations, including serving as chairman of the president’s council of the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. In addition, Little serves as a board member of the American Shakespeare Center, treasurer of the Staunton Augusta Art Center and advisor to both the AFS International Foundation and the Virginia Baroque Performance Academy.

Lisa E. Roday

Roday brings to the Board of Visitors a wide range of professional experience as a lawyer, educator, scholar, consultant and volunteer. She received her undergraduate degree from the State University of New York at Binghamton in 1979. In 1982, Roday received her law degree from Brooklyn Law School.

She began her legal career that same year and became a partner with the New York firm of Colton, Hartnick, Yamin & Sheresky in 1990. She went on to be a partner at two additional firms, focusing on matrimonial litigation.

In addition to her legal career, Roday has been active as a teacher and mentor. She was a lecturer for the New York State Bar Association, adjunct professor of law at the T.C. Williams School of Law in Richmond, and a guest lecturer, job skills mentor and moot court honor society judge at Brooklyn Law School.

Between 2008 and 2011, Roday worked as a March of Dimes NICU family support specialist, where she developed and implemented a program to support families with infants in neonatal intensive care. She has authored several NICU publications related to the care of infants. In 2011, she received the Pat Rose Staff Excellence Award, the highest award of recognition presented to a Virginia chapter March of Dimes employee. In her current role as a consultant, Roday offers counsel to a Florida-based hedge fund principal on topics such as time management, client cultivation and fundraising.

Roday also has strong connections to William & Mary. This past May, her sons, Harrison and Ethan, graduated as members of the undergraduate Class of 2014.