The Board of Governors serves as the governing body for Missouri Southern State University.
The eight members, are appointed by the governor and approved by the Missouri Senate. The board holds the Missouri Southern State University mission, vision and values in highest regard.
Appointed: April 2017
Term ends: 2022
Committees: Executive Committee, chair; Budget/Audit Committee; Personnel/Compensation Committee
Carlos Haley has bachelor degrees in Computer Information Science and Business Administration from Missouri Southern, and an MBA in Healthcare Management from Western Governor’s University in Salt Lake City, Utah.
He is a member of the American College of Healthcare Executives and the Health Care Compliance Association. Haley is a past president of the MSSU Lionbackers Steering Committee, a graduate of the Missouri Hospital Association Leadership Series and serves on the board of the Joplin Family YMCA.
Appointed: Jan. 2, 2018
Term ends: 2023
Committees: Executive Committee, vice chair; Academic Affairs Committee
Benjamin Rosenberg is the owner of a pediatric dental practice in Joplin, which he opened in 1968.
He is part owner of Missouri Steel Casings and Atlas Iron & Steel more than 20 years ago.
Rosenberg earned his Bachelor of Arts in history from the University of Oklahoma, his degree in dentistry from the University of Missouri at Kansas City, and completed a two-year pediatric residency at Children’ Mercy in Kansas City.
He’s a past president of the Boys and Girls Club and the Joplin Airport Board. He served on the Joplin School Board from 1994-2003 and as a Joplin City Councilman from 2008-16. He has served on the Mount Hope Cemetery board since 2007 and is a volunteer at the Community Clinic.
Appointed: Sept. 7, 2018
Term ends: 2024
Committees: Budget/Audit Committee; Personnel/Compensation Committee, chair
T. Mark Elliott, of Webb City, is an Agency Sales Manager with Missouri Farm Bureau Insurance in Webb City. He graduated from Carl Junction High School and attended Drake University and Missouri Southern State University.
He was first elected to the Missouri House of Representatives in 1986 and served until his retirement in 2000. He served as the Republican Whip from 1988-94 and was the Ranking Republican on the House Committee on Banking from 1988-2000.
He served as a member of the Carl Junction Board of Education and as President of the Jasper County Farm Bureau.
Appointed: April 25, 2024
Term ends: 2029
Committees: Budget/Audit Committee, vice chair
Rodney “Rod” Hendricks of Jerico Springs was appointed to the Missouri Southern Board of Governors by Gov. Mike Parson. Mr. Hendricks currently owns and operates a cow-calf operation in Jerico Springs. He previously served as operations project manager for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Stockton Lake Management Office. Mr. Hendricks has a Bachelor of Science degree in fish and wildlife management from the University of Missouri-Columbia.
Appointed: June 11, 2015
Term ends: 2020
Committees: Academic Affairs Committee
Alison Hershewe is a member of the Hershewe Law Firm. She has practiced law since 1994 and has worked in professions related to the law since the 1980s. She served with the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri and the Supreme Court of the United States in 2013. She is a member of the Springfield Metropolitan Bar Association, the Kansas City Metro Bar Association, the National Association of Criminal Defense Attorneys and the Missouri Association of Trial Lawyers.
Hershewe received a certificate as a legal secretary from State Fair Community College in Sedalia Mo. and a certificate in court reporting from Kansas City (Mo.) Business College. She obtained a Bachelor of General Studies degree from Missouri Southern State University in 1990. She received a Juris Doctor with honors from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill in 1994.
Appointed: Nov. 6, 2019
Term ends: 2021
Committees: Academic Affairs Committee, chair; Personnel/Compensation Committee, vice chair
Mariann Morgan is an attorney with Checkett & Pauly P.C. in Carthage. She currently serves on the McCune Brooks Healthcare Foundation and the Carthage Community Foundation Board, and is a member of Carthage Soroptimist International and a serves on the Board of Trustees for Carthage’s First United Methodist Church.
She holds a Bachelor of Arts in organizational communication from Creighton University in Omaha, Neb., and a Juris Doctorate from the University of Georgia in Athens.
Appointed: Jan. 4, 2016
Term ends: 2021
Committees: Executive Committee; Academic Affairs Committee, vice chair
Anita Oplotnik works in Springfield and has been in the financial services industry for over 30 years.
She earned her bachelor's degree in business administration from Missouri Southern, and her MBA from Missouri State University. In 2001, she was inducted into MSSU’s Basketball Hall of Fame.
Appointed: Sept. 14, 2023
Term ends: 2025
Committees: Budget/Audit Committee, chair, Personnel/Compensation Committee
Michael Seibert is a Senior Cardiovascular Representative with Bristol-Myers Squibb Pharmaceutical Company. He has served on the Joplin Parks & Recreation Board, served three terms on the Joplin City Council, and was elected by Joplin City Council to serve as Mayor of Joplin for two terms.
Other activities include being a member of the Advisory Board for the Missouri Southern State University Plaster School of Business and a member of St. Paul’s United Methodist church. He is a volunteer for the Breast Cancer Foundation of the Ozarks and served as an adult leader with Boy Scouts of America Troop 39.
He is a graduate of Missouri Southern State University earning a Bachelor of Science degree in Marketing and Management.
Appointed: December 22, 2023
Term ends: December 31, 2025
Maddox Studdard serves as the student representative for the Board of Governors. He is a business administration major with an emphasis in finance.
