Greitens picks local businessman for Mizzou board

Gov. Eric Greitens today announced the selection of Springfield businessman Jeff Layman as a member of the University of Missouri Board of Curators.

Layman, founder of The Layman Group operation of Morgan Stanley in Springfield, was chosen alongside St. Louis attorney Darryl Chatman and St. Louis businesswoman Jamie Farmer, according to a news release.

A senior portfolio management director for Morgan Stanley, Layman served as finance chairman for Greitens’ gubernatorial campaign and studied business at the University of Missouri-Columbia. He’s also a past member of the Ozarks Technical Community College Board of Trustees.

The Mizzou board lists six members — Donald Cupps, Maurice Graham, Pamela Quigg Henrickson, John Phillips, Phillip Snowden and David Steelman — and three vacancies. No other members reside within Springfield Business Journal’s 50-mile coverage area.

The nine-member board of curators is the governing body of the University of Missouri system, similar to the Missouri State University Board of Governors.  Six meeting dates are scheduled for 2017.

“We have the potential to make Missouri’s higher education system a national model. Our state has excellent students, talented teachers and a people committed to education. There are also many areas where higher education can be improved,” Greitens said in the release. “We can encourage more intellectual diversity and become the best state in the country at preparing students for rewarding careers. These curators bring knowledge and real world experience to the table. They will be important voices for our students and families.”  

Greitens’ proposed $27.6 billion budget for fiscal 2018 includes $1.2 billion for higher education in the state, which is down from $1.3 billion in the fiscal 2017 budget. For the current fiscal year, Greitens withheld $146.4 million from higher education, including funding for the University of Missouri School of Medicine Springfield clinical campus.

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