In the October 2007 annual meeting of the Nichols College Board of Trustees, three were appointed as new trustees: Thomas B. McIlvain Jr. '67, Robbie P. Munce '99 M.B.A. ‘01 and Martin J. Power ‘78.
Thomas B. McIlvain Jr. ‘67
McIlvain graduated from Nichols in 1967 with a bachelor's in business administration with a concentration in management.
McIlvain is chairman of TBM Hardwoods Inc., one of the largest hardwood lumber distributors in the United States, which was founded in 1955 by his father who built a mill in King of Prussia along the Pennsylvania Turnpike. The family has been in the lumber business for seven generations and McIlvain joined in the late 1960s following his Nichols graduation. Today, the company employs nearly 80 people and operates out of offices in both King of Prussia and Hanover, Pennsylvania, serving a wide variety of successful companies from Ohio to the Eastern Seaboard, North Carolina to Maine, and beyond.
McIlvain has been active at Nichols, serving on the corporate committee for the College's first campaign and pledging to name the new track along Vendetti Field. In 1993, McIlvain received Nichols' Alumni Achievement Award and in 2007, was named Outstanding Alumnus.
McIlvain currently resides in New Hampshire and is building a home in Georgia near Sea Island. He plans to divide his year between Georgia and New Hampshire. He and his wife, Claudia, have four children and six grandchildren.
Robbie P. Munce '99 M.B.A. ‘01
In addition to being named to the Board of Trustees, Robert P. Munce was elected to a two-year term as president of the Alumni Board of Directors.
A member of the Alumni Board since 2001, Munce has been a key liaison with the Admissions office to help coordinate alumni involvement in the recruitment of prospective students. He holds dual degrees from Nichols: a B.S.B.A. with a specialization in general business ('99) and an M.B.A.('01).
Munce is a principal at Munce's Superior Petroleum Products Inc., a third generation family business started in the late 1960s as a gas station and repair shop. Located in Gorham, New Hampshire, Munce's entered the heating oil business in the early 1970s. Under the leadership of Munce's father, Harold, the business has since grown from a one-man operation to a full-line petroleum distributor that employs 240 people in three states. Munce's Superior has further diversified and now includes home heating oil, burner service, propane, gasoline wholesale, gasoline retail, commercial bulk fuel, 11 Munce's Konvenience locations, full-line lubricants distribution, Superior Trucking Inc, Gorham Oil Inc, and Beaver Trails Campground.
Munce was as an admissions counselor at Nichols College while completing his M.B.A. He currently serves as president of the Androscoggin Valley Chamber of Commerce; secretary of the Androscoggin Valley Hospital Auxiliary Board; and co-chair of Munce's MDA Golf Classic, a charity tournament now in its twentieth year, supporting muscular dystrophy research. While at Nichols, Munce was a member of the ski team, the men's rugby football club, and served as vice president of the SGA in 1998-1999.
He and his wife Holly M. (French) live in Berlin with their two children, Hayden and Redyn.
Martin J. Power ‘78
Power graduated from Nichols in 1978 with a bachelor's in business administration with a concentration in accounting.
He is currently employed at Koch Supply and Trading LP, a subsidiary of Wichita-based Koch Industries Inc., which is a privately held firm that owns a diverse group of companies engaged in refining and chemicals, process equipment and technologies, commodity and financial trading, fibers and polymers, and forest and consumer products. Power has had more than 25 years of experience in the industry primarily with Coastal Corporation/El Paso and British Petroleum.
Prior to joining Koch, Power was a principal of Riverway Petroleum Partners LLC, which was formed in March 2003 by four former Coastal Corporation/El Paso Corporation executives. He has held a variety of trading and management positions in both crude and petroleum products and served as managing director of El Paso Merchant Energy in charge of all commercial functions related to crude before his departure in December 2002.
Power was captain of the Bison football team in 1977 and a New England Football Conference First Team All-star offensive guard in 1974, 1975, 1976 and 1977. He was named to the UPI All-New England team in 1976. Power was inducted into the Nichols College Hall of Fame in 1996 and, as part of the Vendetti Field campaign, an end zone has been named in his honor.
Power and his wife, Shelly, have one daughter, and reside in Houston, TX.