CLEVELAND.- The Cleveland Museum of Art (CMA) announced today that Richard H. Fearon, Frederick R. Nance, and Jerry Sue Thornton have been appointed to five-year terms as standing members of the Board of Trustees. In addition, Helen Collis, Lucia S. Nash and Cara S. Stirn have been named Honorary Trustees.

“I am delighted to welcome these accomplished individuals to the board during this transformational time for the museum,” said Alfred M. Rankin, Jr., president of the Board of Trustees. “Each individual brings a unique perspective that will complement and enhance the already outstanding talents of our CMA board members, who have been working collaboratively to strengthen the museum’s position as one of the premiere cultural institutions in this country.”

The museum is currently undergoing a $350 million comprehensive renovation and expansion of its facilities, led by internationally renowned architect Rafael Viñoly. The project, the largest of its kind ever undertaken by a cultural institution in the State of Ohio , will leave no part of the museum untouched upon its completion in 2012. With the first phase of the project nearly complete, it was recently announced that $204.5 million has been raised through significant community and trustee support.

“Since the museum’s founding, the guiding principles of our Board of Trustees have been progressive thinking, sustained leadership and civic engagement,” said museum director Timothy Rub . “I am very much looking forward to working with the new members of our board, for they have embodied these ideals through their impressive professional and personal achievements. It is their demonstrated spirit of community responsiveness that will continue to enrich the Cleveland Museum of Art for generations to come.”

Biographies for Incoming Standing Trustees
Richard (“Rick”) H. Fearon has been executive vice president and chief financial and planning officer for the Eaton Corporation since 2002. He currently serves on the boards of PolyOne Corporation, the Playhouse Square Foundation, and Hawken School , and was co-chair of the 2007 Pacesetter Committee for the United Way of Greater Cleveland. Fearon received a bachelor of arts in economics, with distinction, from Stanford University , where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. He later received a master of business administration from Harvard Business School , where he was a Baker Scholar, and a Juris Doctor, cum laude, from Harvard Law School .

Frederick R. (“Fred”) Nance is the regional managing partner for Squire, Sanders & Dempsey L.L.P. His legal practice focuses on commercial litigation, construction law, sports law, client counseling, and public-private partnerships. Nance is a member of the executive committees of the Greater Cleveland Partnership, Ohio Business Roundtable, and 50 Club of Cleveland . He serves on the boards of The Cleveland Foundation, Cleveland Clinic, United Way of Greater Cleveland, and BioEnterprise, Inc. Nance received a bachelor of arts in economics from Harvard University and a Juris Doctor from the University of Michigan .

Jerry Sue Thornton, Ph.D. has been president of Cuyahoga Community College since 1992. Thornton serves on many boards, including those of National City Corporation, American Family Insurance, Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc., RPM, Inc., American Greetings Corporation, University Hospitals , Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, United Way of Greater Cleveland, and Greater Cleveland Partnership. Thornton earned a bachelor and master of arts from Murray State University in Kentucky , and her doctorate from the University of Texas at Austin . She is also a graduate of Harvard’s Institute for the Management of Lifelong Education and holds honorary doctorates from the College of St. Catherine, Minnesota, and Youngstown State University .

Biographies for Incoming Honorary Trustees
Helen Collis is actively involved in Cleveland ’s Greek-American community. She is a founding member of the Hellenic Preservation Society of Northeastern Ohio and a national board member of the Greek Orthodox Ladies Philoptochos Society, Inc. She and her husband have established an endowment for the museum’s annual John and Helen Collis Lecture, bringing art historians and archaeologists specializing in ancient Greek and Byzantine art to the CMA to share news of scholarship, excavations, and exhibitions. Collis was a volunteer in CMA’s extension department and has been a member of the Womens Council of the Cleveland Museum of Art.

Lucia S. Nash has been a longtime museum member and a member of the Women’s Council of the Cleveland Museum of Art. She and her sister, Cara Stirn, are co-chairpersons of The Kelvin and Eleanor Smith Foundation. In 2000, Nash was recognized by the Garden Club of America for her exceptional service. Her civic interests extend to the Chagrin Valley Land Conservancy and the Nature Conservancy.

Cara S. Stirn, an artist, specializes in watercolor and is an associate member of the National Watercolor Society. Stirn, along with her sister, Lucia S. Nash, is co-chairperson of The Kelvin and Eleanor Smith Foundation. Stirn has been a member of the Museum Council and Women’s Council of the Cleveland Museum of Art and, along with her husband, Howard, the museum’s Donor Circles. In other community affiliations, she has served on the board of the Cleveland Museum of Natural History and is on the National Board of the Cleveland Botanical Garden .