The Daniel C. Gainey Conference Center of the University of St. Thomas recently welcomed two new members to its Board of Overseers. Mary Hazzard, Osceola, Wis., and Dr. Victoria Young, of St. Paul, both bring extensive business and personal experience to the board.
Mary Hazzard
Hazzard is president and owner of Business AdvantEdge, a small-business professional association member-benefit provider. She has worked in group travel sales and incentives and previously owned two travel companies.
Hazzard received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Minnesota in Spanish and Portuguese. She has served as an officer and board member for Minnesota Executive Women in Travel and as secretary for National Parks and Trails, Gateway Trail Association.
She is a member of the National Federation of Independent Business Leadership Committee. Hazzard has been named to Travel Agent Magazine’s list of “Most Powerful Women in Travel” and one of Travel Counselor Magazine’s “18 Most Influential Women in the Travel Industry.”
Dr. Victoria Young
Young is an associate professor and director of the Master of Arts in Art History Program at St. Thomas. She focuses on 19th- and 20th-century architecture, with interests in space, kinetic architecture and the work of architect Frank Gehry. Young and several students are writing an exhibition for the Gehry-designed Winton Guesthouse that has been moved to the Gainey Center and is being restored.
Young received her undergraduate degree from New York University and her master’s and doctorate in architectural history from the University of Virginia. She is a former director and president of the Minnesota Chapter of the Society of Architectural Historians. Currently she serves on Minnesota’s State Historic Review Board and Governor’s Residence Council. She is a director for the National Board of the Society for Architectural Historians.
Gainey’s 17-member Board of Overseers is drawn from the Owatonna community, corporate users of the center and deans and directors of St. Thomas. They are called on to suggest opportunities for growth and provide advice on operational issues.
The conference center opened in 1982 on the estate of the late Daniel C. Gainey and incorporates his striking French Norman home. A respected businessman with a commitment to education, Gainey designated that his estate be developed into an educational center as a legacy to his love for learning.
