President and The Cabinet
Donald P. Lofe, Jr., ’79 IND
CPA, CGMA (Active Status)
President and Chief Transformation Officer
Mr. Donald P. Lofe, Jr., officially assumed the role of President and Chief Transformation Officer at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri, on July 1, 2021. After a unanimous vote, the College’s Board of Trustees officially announced Mr. Lofe as the historic college’s 23rd president in April 2021, citing the major progress the 171-year-old liberal arts college made that year under his leadership as Interim President, even during an exceptionally challenging year and in the midst of the pandemic.
A 1979 Westminster College graduate and a two-time NAIA Indoor Track and Field All-American, Mr. Lofe previously served on Westminster’s Board of Trustees for approximately eight years in a variety of capacities, including Board Chair, throughout his Board tenure. Mr. Lofe serves on the Board as an ex-officio member, consistent with the historic practice for the role of the College’s president. He is also on an indefinite and extended leave of absence from his board chair role. Prior to his appointment at the College as Interim President and Chief Transformation Officer in 2020, Mr. Lofe was most recently a Partner and the Chief Risk Officer for Global Business Services – Mortgage and Lending Solutions for the IBM Corporation based in San Ramon, California.
Mr. Lofe served in several senior executive roles for insurance, community lending, and other financial and mortgage-related service entities, both domestically and internationally, before his tenure with the IBM Corporation. He was a Partner with PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, specializing in financial services, insurance, and private and public higher-education clientele. He also served as the engagement partner for The Progressive Corporation. Mr. Lofe is a CPA, CGMA (Active Status) and is also COSO Certified by the AICPA. He was named by Treasury and Risk, a leading corporate finance and treasury periodical, as one of the 100 Most Influential People in Finance.
In October 2022, Mr. Lofe was inducted into the Association of Churchill Fellows of Westminster College. In 2011, Mr. Lofe was awarded the Lifetime Alumni Achievement Award from Westminster, where he received bachelor’s degrees in Accounting and Political Science as an undergraduate. Mr. Lofe also holds an MBA, with concentrations in Finance and Business Policy, from The University of Chicago.
Mr. Lofe is a member of the Board of Directors of the Callaway County Chamber of Commerce and the Missouri College Fund, Inc.
Mr. Lofe’s wife, Lorraine, is a native of St. Louis, Missouri, who graduated from Southeast Missouri State University in Cape Girardeau with a BS in Business Administration. She also is a CPA (Active Status). The couple met in St. Louis and married in 1992. They have a set of grown twins. Their daughter, Lauren, graduated with honors from the University of San Diego in 2019 and is Director of Marketing for a digital marketing an real estate development startup in San Diego. Their son, Don III, graduated with merit in 2020 from the U.S. Naval Academy. He is now a Naval Aviator who officially graduated from flight school in January 2023 at Naval Air Station Corpus Christi in Corpus Christi, Texas.
Dr. Steve Tyrell
Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer, and Chief Operating Officer
Dr. Steve Tyrell is Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer, and Chief Operating Officer for Westminster College. Dr. Tyrell oversees various administrative operations for the College, including the Business Office, Information Technology, Human Resources, Strategic Communications and Institutional Marketing, and Plant Operations. He is also co-leading with colleagues the institution’s current strategic planning process and its master plan program. Dr. Tyrell also serves as Treasurer and Secretary to the Board of Trustees.
Prior to joining Westminster’s staff, he served as a consultant for the institution through his consulting firm, Excalibur Consulting Group. Dr. Tyrell has served in various higher education roles throughout the past 39 years, including college President, Vice President, and interim roles as Vice President for Academic Affairs and Chief Financial Officer at North Country Community College, State University of New York at New Paltz, Alfred State College, Michigan Tech, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and McKendree College. He also has served as a conflict mediator in New York, Michigan, and Massachusetts. Dr. Tyrell has a PhD in Rhetoric and Technical Communication with a focus on organizational communication from Michigan Technological University. He has taught interpersonal communication and student development theory to application.
Dr. Tyrell’s research areas and published works include organizational politics, mid-level management identity, residential living and community development, and academic integrity. He has a master’s degree in Educational Administration and Supervision and a bachelor’s degree in Speech Communications: Radio and Television Production from the State University of New York at New Paltz.
Dr. Ingrid Ilinca
Vice President, Chief Academic Officer, Provost, and Co-Chief Student Retention Officer
Dr. Ingrid Ilinca is the College’s new Vice President, Chief Academic Officer, Provost, and Co-Chief Student Retention Officer. Dr. Ilinca is passionate about education and supporting Westminster’s students as a teacher, advisor, and administrator. She has held a number of roles at the College since joining the faculty as an Assistant Professor of French in 2010. Most recently, Dr. Ilinca has served as the Associate Vice President of Enrollment Management and Chief Student Retention Officer after six years of increasingly complex roles in the areas of student success and retention. In that capacity, she has fully developed the Student Success Center into a vibrant facility that comprehensively supports students in many important ways.
During her tenure at Westminster, Dr. Ilinca has also served as Chair of the Department of Foreign Languages, Chair of the Division of Humanities, and Chair of the Curriculum Committee. Her work in the Advising Task Force and Curriculum Reform Task Force stimulated her genuine desire to contribute to positive changes in these areas. As a faculty member, Dr. Ilinca designed Westminster’s French program and taught 15 different courses in five years. A native of Iași, Romania, Dr. Ilinca earned an MA in French Interdisciplinary Studies and a PhD in French Studies at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign.
Dr. Stephanie Wells
Vice President of Strategic Communications and Institutional Marketing
Dr. Stephanie Wells joined the Westminster team in January 2023 as the College’s new Vice President of Institutional Marketing and Strategic Communications. She is a member of the president’s Cabinet. Stephanie has an MA in Communication and a PhD in Communication with a collateral field in Psychology. She brings to Westminster a comprehensive background in communications and marketing, with her most recent appointment being Consultant to the Office of the President and the Vice President of Strategic Communications at William Woods University. Stephanie and her family reside in Fulton, and she is excited to be working with the faculty, staff, students, alumni, and others in the Westminster community.
Dr. David Jones
Chief Accreditation Officer and Professor of Psychology
A longtime faculty member at Westminster College, Dr. Jones is currently Chief Accreditation Officer and the senior member of the faculty. He has published a number of articles, educational materials for psychology courses, and has presented more than 30 times at professional conferences. Dr. Jones recently served as Acting Dean of Academic Affairs and Dean of Faculty and as Interim Associate Vice President and Associate Dean of Faculty. In past years, he served Westminster in a variety of roles, including several years in academic administration, twice as Associate Vice President/Associate Dean of Faculty, and three times as Acting Vice President for Academic Affairs. Prior to that, Dr. Jones served as the department chair for psychology, the division chair for social sciences, the Director of the Westminster Seminar Program, the Director of Academic Advising, and the Director of Assessment.
Currently, he serves as Westminster’s Accreditation Liaison Officer to the Higher Learning Commission as well as a member of HLC’s Appeals Body, Marshal of the College, faculty advisor to the Skulls of Seven, and as the faculty sponsor of Westminster’s most prestigious national honor society, Alpha Chi.
Additionally, he works with both national, regional, and state associations, including as President of the Alpha Chi National College Honor Society, as an HLC Peer Review Team Chair, as a member of the Missouri Committee on Transfer and Articulation, and as a leader with the Advanced Placement Program in Psychology.
Dr. Jones is from Los Angeles, California, and is both a first-generation American and college graduate. He received his bachelor’s degree and PhD in psychology from the University of Southern California. Dr. Jones is married to Kathy, and they have a son, Ethan, as well as dogs and cats. He is also a big sports fan — especially the Los Angeles Dodgers, USC Trojans, and Los Angeles Lakers.
Derek Zander
Vice President of Enrollment and Student Services
Mr. Derek Zander began his position with Westminster College as Vice President of Intercollegiate Athletics, Athletics Advancement, and Strategic Programs on May 31, 2023. Prior to arriving at the College, Mr. Zander worked for 11 years at Iowa Wesleyan University, where he most recently served as Vice President for Advancement and Athletics. At Westminster, Mr. Zander is focused on achieving strategic goals while broadening these concepts to impact Westminster’s student-athletes.
Mr. Zander experienced phenomenal success at lowa Wesleyan in fundraising, marketing, alumni relations, community relations, recruitment, retention, and operations, despite the challenging factors impacting higher education. He is particularly noted for leading Iowa Wesleyan’s advancement team to enhance communication with alumni and key stakeholders, quickly increasing annual giving overall from 2020 to the present. From fiscal year 2020 to 2022, he increased fundraising by 167%. In 2022, he led the advancement team to a record performance of $3.7 million raised. Prior to his vice presidential role, Mr. Zander served in a variety of capacities at Iowa Wesleyan, including Assistant Athletic Director, NCAA Compliance Officer, Head Baseball Coach, and Assistant Baseball Coach. A native of Fort Walton Beach, Florida, Mr. Zander grew up in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
In 2011, he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Exercise Science from Iowa Wesleyan, where he played collegiate baseball. In 2014, he earned a master’s degree in Coaching and Administration from the University of Concordia-Irvine. In 2019, he received both the Carol Nemitz Staff Member of the Year Award and the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Service Award. Mr. Zander and his wife, Anna, are the parents of two sons: Mason (6) and Gavin (2).
Dr. Linda Webster
Associate Vice President and Associate Dean of Faculty and Academic Operations, Chair of the Department of Computing and Digital Technology, Interim Chair of the Department of Business.
Dr. Linda Webster is Associate Vice President and Associate Dean of Faculty and Academic Operations, Chair of the Department of Computing and Digital Technology, Interim Chair of the Department of Business, and a tenured professor. During her time at the College, she has served in various capacities, including department chair, Director of Assessment, Director of Academic Advising, program coordinator, and as Associate Dean of Faculty. She also has been a member on most faculty committees. Dr. Webster’s educational background includes a PhD in Business Education from the University of Missouri-Columbia with emphasis areas in Computer Science and Information Science; an MBA from the University of Arkansas-Fayetteville with emphasis areas in Data Processing and Quantitative Analysis; a Bachelor of Science in Office Management from Arkansas Tech University with emphasis areas in Data Processing and Business Administration. She has also completed a graduate-level certification in Information Assurance from the University of Illinois-Springfield. Dr. Webster has extensive research publications and presentations in business and computing educational pedagogy and has taught a wide range of courses across both disciplines. She brings to her classrooms and to her administrative roles practical experience from business and industry.
Sandi Bliss
Vice President of Institutional Advancement and Alumni Engagement
Bliss comes to Westminster with more than 20 years of experience in fundraising, donation management, alumni and donor relations, cohesive partner development, strategic planning and team building skills.
Bliss most recently served as Vice President of Institutional Advancement at the University of Texas Permian Basin in Odessa, where she was actively involved in growing the donor contingency from $2 million to $30 million and increased end-of-year giving in Fiscal Year 2024 by 64%.
From 2017 to 2023, Bliss was the Chief Advancement Officer for the Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets in Blacksburg, Virginia. There, she reached a major campaign goal five years ahead of schedule and was noted for putting together a highly effective advancement team. Bliss was also the Senior Director of Development for Central Initiatives and Scholarships at the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida (2014 to 2016), and served in a number of senior development roles for the Oklahoma State University Foundation (2008-2014) as well as the Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences (2004-2008).
Bliss earned an M.S. in family sciences from Oklahoma State University and a B.A. in psychology from Oklahoma State University.
Timothy Riley
Sandra L. and Monroe E. Trout Director and Chief Curator, America’s National Churchill Museum, and Churchill Fellow of Westminster College
Since 2016, Mr. Timothy Riley has served as the Sandra L. and Monroe E. Trout Director and Chief Curator for America’s National Churchill Museum, or ANCM. Mr. Riley is a graduate, cum laude, of Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin, and pursued post-graduate study at Columbia University in New York. He served as a curatorial assistant, education assistant, and lectures/concerts coordinator at The Cloisters, a part of The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. From 2006 to 2011, Mr. Riley served as director of The Trout Museum of Art in Appleton and was appointed Director Emeritus in 2012. Mr. Riley was inducted into the Association of Churchill Fellows of Westminster College in 2016.
As Director and Chief Curator, Mr. Riley has expanded the Museum’s reach, curating exhibitions aboard the Queen Mary in Long Beach, California, at the Society of Four Arts in Palm Beach, Florida, and at Washington University in St. Louis, among others. Vanity Fair called the latter exhibition “the most comprehensive collection of Churchill paintings ever to be presented.” He is an in-demand lecturer on Winston Churchill and the author or co-author of articles on a variety of art, music, and historical topics, including several essays about Winston Churchill. He is a contributing editor for Finest Hour, the journal of the International Churchill Society.
Mr. Riley has led ANCM’s $10 million High Roads of the Future Campaign, securing since 2018 gifts and pledges totaling $9.68 million for the preservation of Christopher Wren’s St. Mary the Virgin, Aldermanbury, at ANCM and for Museum programs, educational outreach, and operations.
He serves as an ex-officio member of the Board of Governors of the Association of Churchill Fellows of Westminster College and the Board of Directors for the International Churchill Society – United States.