The State Universities Retirement System (SURS) Vice-Chairperson Collin Van Meter, on behalf of SURS elected board members, today announced the appointment of Herbert Pitman as an active-member trustee to the SURS Board of Trustees.
Pitman was selected by a majority vote of the other five eligible elected trustees from many applicants to fill a vacant three-year seat. His term begins July 15.
Pitman is currently a full-time lecturer of Health Administration at Governors State University in University Park, IL. His health care lectures include topics in accounting, financial management, statistics and economics. He has also previously served as a graduate advisor and adjunct professor for the department.
Prior to joining Governors State University, Pitman founded and was president of Perennial Corporation, a business management firm in Chicago. He also served as the Information Technology consultant for the chancellor and vice-chancellor of City Colleges of Chicago and as chief financial officer and bursar for Kennedy-King College.
“We are excited to welcome Herbert Pitman to the SURS Board of Trustees,” said Van Meter. “His background in finance, administration and with our state’s universities and colleges will be beneficial to the board’s governance. We look forward to working with him.”
Pitman holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics from Chicago State University, was an Alfred P. Sloan Fellow with the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and received his Master of Science degree in Public Policy and Finance from the Heinz School of Public Policy and Management at Carnegie Mellon University.
The Illinois Pension Code [40 ILCS 5/15-159(e)] directs the eligible elected members of the board to fill any unexpired term of a fellow elected trustee by a majority vote. SURS received multiple applications from active members interested in serving on the board. Elected trustees reviewed all applications and interviewed several qualified candidates before selecting Mr. Pitman.
The vacancy was the result of the outcome of the May 1, 2024, trustee election. The only candidate who sought to fill the three-year unexpired active trustee seat on the board was employed by the University of Illinois Springfield. They were disqualified from serving due to restrictions in the Illinois Pension Code and in applicable SURS administrative rules* that limit the board to having a maximum of two active-member trustees from any of the University of Illinois campuses. SURS election rules mandate that the six-year term seats be filled before any unexpired term seats are filled and because newly elected Trustee Collin Van Meter (elected May 1 to a second six-year term) and current Trustee Andriy Bodnaruk are both employed by the University of Illinois, the candidate seeking the three-year term seat could not serve.
The SURS Board of Trustees consists of 11 trustees including four elected active members, two elected annuitants, and five members appointed by the governor, of which one is the appointed chair of the Illinois Board of Higher Education. Trustees serve six-year terms.
*Due to the restrictions in 40 ILCS 5/15-159(D)(3) and (4) of the Illinois Pension Code and in SURS Administrative Rule 1600.730(g), there cannot be more than two active-member trustees from any of the University of Illinois campuses (Urbana-Champaign, Chicago or Springfield) serving on the SURS board and no more than one of the two annuitant members of the board can be retired from any of the University of Illinois campuses.