EDWARDSVILLE — The SIU Board of Trustees elected J. Phil Gilbert to serve as the board chair for the 2019-2020 year, replacing Alton-based lawyer Amy Sholar.

Shirley Portwood was elected to vice-chair and Joel Sambursky was appointed as board secretary. The vote for the appointments was almost unanimous, except for Sholar’s vote against Gilbert and Sambursky.

Gilbert is a lifelong resident of Carbondale, Illinois and graduated from Carbondale Community High School in 1967.

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“Without reliving the past year which has been rocky for the SIU System, i want to concentrate on the future of SIU and its two outstanding universities with many exceptional parts to each of them,” Gilbert said in a written statement.

Two of the trustees elected to leadership positions today  could be removed by Gov. JB Pritzker, if he so chooses to do so in his appointments to the board in the near future.

Gilbert was appointed by Gov. Bruce Rauner in 2015 and will serve on the board until 2021 but Portwood and Sambursky are in their final year as trustees; each one serves on a six-year term.

Pritzker could remove the two and Randall Thomas as their trustee tenure closes at the end of the year. Pritzker also could remove trustees Marsha Ryan and Tom Britton, both who were appointed by Gov. Bruce Rauner but never confirmed by the Illinois senate.

The Daily Egyptian’s news desk can be reached at 618-536-3397 or [email protected].

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