Company: Green Mountain CollegeGreen Mountain College Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs Dr. William Throop was elected chair of the board of directors of the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) effective Jan. 1, 2012, during the organization's annual conference in Pittsburgh earlier this month.

Union Institute & University (UI&U), a private, non-profit university with academic centers in Montpelier and Brattleboro, has announced the hiring of Jeff Sellers as director of development and George “Slate” Kirk as director of marketing.

The Vermont Natural Resources Council is pleased to announce that Kate McCarthy has been hired as Sustainable Communities Program Director.

Most recently, McCarthy worked as a regional planner for the Windham Regional Commission in Brattleboro, where she provided technical assistance on a variety of community planning issues to member towns. She also coordinated the commission’s energy programs and helped manage their Brownfields redevelopment program.

Elizabeth Silva, a Real Estate Sales Professional in Colchester, has joined The Adam Hergenrother Team at Keller Williams Realty Green Mountain Properties.

Over the last several months, Saint Michael's College has named four new members to its governing board of trustees and has announced a new board chairman.

William Gallagher, CEO of Atlantic Data Services of Quincy, Mass., is the new board chair. Mr. Gallagher and his wife Penelope are the parents of 1999 Saint Michael's College graduate, Becky, and her husband Thomas Fontana who is also a 1999 graduate.

New members of the board are the following:

Donna M. Rizzo has been selected for the Jackie M. Gribbons Leadership Award, presented to a woman who has demonstrated leadership ability, served as a model and mentor, developed innovative programs and contributed significantly to the institution and profession. Rizzo is an associate professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and the Department of Computer Science at UVM. Her colleagues write that she is such a ground breaker for women in engineering and serves as such an important role model" and she is an academics’ academic.

Mount Snow has announced that Day Franzen, an industry acclaimed terrain park veteran, has been hired as the new Freestyle Terrain Manager for Carinthia; the East’s number one terrain park system. Franzen comes to Mount Snow with almost 20 years experience designing, building and managing freestyle terrain parks across the country.

Keller Williams Realty has announced that Nate Hayward, owner of Hayward Design Build, and a realtor with Keller Williams Realty Green Mountain Properties, has won the Better Home Award for Single Family Home Over 3,000 Square Feet- Cost under $500,000 at the 2011 Vermont Home Builders and Remodelers Association Awards Banquet.