KU Endowment board elects five new trustees

LAWRENCE — Five new trustees were elected to the KU Endowment board of trustees at its Annual Meeting on Oct. 23. Representing a range of professional backgrounds and areas of expertise, they bring valuable perspectives and experience to the board. Brief biographies follow.

Cathleen Curless

Cathleen “Cathy” Curless earned a bachelor’s degree in microbiology in 1976 and a master’s in business administration in 1978 from KU. She and her husband, Frank, live in Lawrence. After a distinguished career in information technology and management, Curless joined the faculty of the KU School of Business, where she taught strategic management to undergraduate and MBA students for 10 years. She also mentored KU students through the University Scholars program and was an inaugural member of the Women Philanthropists for KU. Curless served on the School of Business dean search committee and is a longtime member of the Dean’s Advisory Board, where she currently serves as past chair of the executive committee. Curless also serves as vice chair of Falling Forward Foundation.

Eric Edell

Eric Edell earned a bachelor’s degree in biology in 1976 and a Doctor of Medicine in 1981, both from KU. He completed his internal medicine internship and residency at St. Luke’s Hospital in Kansas City before joining Mayo Clinic, where he completed a fellowship in thoracic diseases in 1988. Edell and his wife, Rosemary, reside in Rochester, Minnesota, where he is a consultant in Mayo Clinic’s Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care, Allergy and Sleep Medicine and a professor of medicine. Edell served on the KU Medical Alumni Board, the KU Alumni National Board and the Onward Campaign Steering Committee. He is a native of Smith Center.

Janet Cinelli

Janet Cinelli earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from KU in 1990. She and her husband, Eric Ryan, also a KU graduate, live in Lawrence. Cinelli serves as executive director and president of the Cinelli Family Foundation after spending more than 30 years in telecom and cloud computing. 

In 2016, she joined the KU Libraries Board of Advocates, and she concluded her term as chair in 2024.

Justin Mills

Justin Mills earned a bachelor's in history in 2001, a Doctor of Medicine degree in 2006 and completed a pediatrics residency in 2009, all at KU. He also earned a master's degree in public health from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Mills served for 15 years with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services while also splitting his time at a local federally qualified health center. He recently resigned from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, and he and his wife, April, and their daughter Cora, have since relocated to Oaxaca, Mexico. Mills served on the KU Medical Alumni Board and was the recipient of the Early Career Achievement in Medicine Alumnus Award in 2024. He also served on the Ad Astra Education Foundation board of directors.

Sarah DeVries

Sarah DeVries earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from KU in 1985. While at KU, she was a Kansas Honors Scholar and a member of Chi Omega. DeVries is a native of Salina, and her family has been linked with KU for seven generations and 130 years. She and her husband, Mark, live in Wichita, where she serves on the board of director of the Cerebral Palsy Research Foundation of Kansas and was previously on the board of directors of the Holy Family Needs Foundation through the Catholic Diocese of Wichita.

KU Endowment is the independent, nonprofit organization serving as the official fundraising and fund-management foundation for KU. Founded in 1891, KU Endowment is the first foundation of its kind at a U.S. public university.