Board of Directors

The NPEA is governed by a seven member Board or Directors which is composed of six members who are elected for two year terms by the membership, and a past president. The board annually elects from among its members a president, president elect, secretary, and treasurer. The terms of the six elected members are staggered so that three are elected at each conference.

The Board of Directors is responsible for the administration of the organization and for providing the leadership necessary to ensure that the NPEA Mission is properly implemented.

Any member interested in serving on the board should notify the president of the board in writing. The Board’s nomination committee will make a recommendation of the candidate to be elected at the annual conference.

Mr. Terrence F. O’Connor, President
Texas County and District Retirement System • Post Office Box 2034 • Austin, TX 78768-2034
Phone: (512) 637-3254 • E-mail: terry@tcdrs.org
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Terry O’Connor is the Director of Member Services for the Texas County and District Retirement System (TCDRS ) where he oversees all member services and member benefits, and related member communication issues and staff responsible for serving TCDRS’ 160,000 members, and 560 county and district employers.

Prior to joining TCDRS, he was the manager of member and field services for the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund (IMRF). For twelve years, he directed a staff responsible for administering services to IMRF’s members and government employers through member and employer presentations, retirement planning seminars, member benefit counseling, and its 800 number. Before joining IMRF, O’Connor was the vice president of sales and marketing and manager of reservations for an international charter airline. He has been a member of NPEA since 1999.

 

Ms. Susie Dahl, President Elect
Missouri Department of Transportation and Highway Patrol Employees' Retirement System (MPERS)
1913 William Street •P.O. Box 1930 •Jefferson City , MO 65102-1930
Phone: (573) 522-9374 • E-mail: Susie.Dahl@modot.mo.gov
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Susie Dahl has served as the assistant executive director of the Missouri Department of Transportation and Highway Patrol Employees' Retirement System (MPERS) since November of 2001.  Prior to assuming her current position, she was the manager of benefit services for the Missouri State Employees’ Retirement System (MOSERS), where she began employment in 1993 as the executive assistant to the director. Dahl served as a trustee on the Jefferson City Fireman’s Pension Fund from 1995 to 1998. She is currently the president of the Missouri Association of Public Employee Retirement Systems (MAPERS) and has served on the Board since 1995.  Susie was elected to the NPEA board in October 1999 and served as the treasurer from 2001 to 2004.

Susie received a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration from Lincoln University in Jefferson City. She holds a CRC designation from InFRE and has completed her IFEBP certification in Retirement Plans.

 

Ms. Aimee L. Rives, Treasurer
Kentucky Retirement Systems • Perimeter Park West
1260 Louisville Road • Frankfort, Kentucky 40601
Phone: (502) 696-8578 or or (800) 928-4646 ext. 8578 • E-mail: Aimee.rives@kyret.com
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Aimee Rives coordinates member and employer education for the Kentucky Retirement Systems. The Kentucky Retirement Systems is responsible for the investment of funds and administration of benefits for over 250,000 state and local government employees in the Commonwealth of Kentucky. These employees include state employees, state police officers, and city and county employees, as well as non-teaching staff of local school boards and regional universities.

Rives first joined KRS in December 1992 as a retirement counselor. She then moved to Massachusetts in January 2000 and joined the Massachusetts Teachers’ Retirement Board, serving as the Educational Services Coordinator from February 2000 through May 2002. She returned to Kentucky in January 2003 and resumed her former position with Kentucky Retirement Systems. Rives has 10 years’ combined experience developing member education programs for both KRS and the MTRB and has been a member of the NPEA since 1996.

 

Ms. Judy Price Utley, Secretary
Retirement Systems of Alabama • 135 South Union Street • Montgomery, Al 36130-2150
Phone: (800) 214-2158 ext. 1617 • (334) 241-0617 • Email: judyu@rsa.state.al.us
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Judy Price (Guy) Utley is the Director of Field Services for the Retirement Systems of Alabama. The RSA is comprised of the Teachers’ Retirement System, the Employees’ Retirement System, the Judicial Retirement System and the Public Education Employees’ Health Insurance Plan. The Retirement Systems of Alabama cover approximately 206,000 active members and 88,000 retired members. Ms. Guy oversees all educational services, presentations, workshops, etc., offered to the RSA membership throughout the state.

Ms. Utley has been with the RSA since 2001. Before being named as Field Services Director, she served as the Assistant Director of RSA Communications. Prior to working for the Retirement Systems of Alabama, Utley was the Pre-retirement Education Program Director for the Public Employees’ Retirement System of Mississippi. Judy also taught junior high school for sixteen years and served as a national trainer for drug educational programs and for student assistance programs. She is a graduate of the University of Southern Mississippi.

Judy has been a member of NPEA since 1997. In 2004, Judy served on the NPEA Advisory Committee and was the coordinator for the NPEA Mentorship Program.

 

Ms. Barbara J.C. Baird, Past President
State of Illinois Retirement System • Michael A. Bilandic Building
160 N LaSalle Street, Suite N-725 • Chicago, Illinois 60601
Phone: (312) 814-5853 • E-mail: bbaird@srs.state.il.us
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Barbara Baird is the division manager of the Chicago Office of the State Retirement Systems (SRS) of Illinois. Baird began her career with SRS in 1980 as the northern Illinois field representative, conducting seminars on retirement benefits. In 1986, she expanded the single employee operation to a fully operating field office. She administers the Chicago Division and supervises the Northern Illinois field work, consisting of early, mid- and late-career workshops. She is also a speaker for various organizations and conducts special projects for SRS.

Baird completed her undergraduate and graduate work in philosophy at Northern Illinois University. She received her CRC designation from InFRE in June of 1999. She was elected to the Board of Directors of NPEA in 1998.

 

Ms. Jane Suhr, Board Member
Minnesota Teachers Retirement Association • 60 Empire Drive, Suite 400 • St Paul, Minnesota 55103
Phone: (800) 657-3669 • E-mail: jane.suhr@state.mn.us
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Jane Suhr is a Senior Retirement Services Specialist with the Minnesota Teachers Retirement Fund Association, which serves 170,000 members across the state of Minnesota. She joined the Minnesota TRA in July 2006, when her former retirement fund, the Minneapolis Teachers’ Retirement Fund Association merged with the state teacher’s fund. Jane’s current role at TRA is providing customer service and benefit processing to its members. In her past positions with the former MTRFA, Jane was responsible for benefit counseling as well as coordinating member workshops and presentations for its 13,000 members. Prior to that, she managed the real estate investments held by the pension fund.

Jane has been a member of NPEA since 1996, and has served on the NPEA Advisory Committee and the Mentorship Committee. Jane has a BA in Mathematics and holds the designation of CRC from InFRE.

 

Dearld Snider, Board Member
Public School Retirement System of Missouri
3210 W. Truman Blvd.•Jefferson City, MO 65109
Phone: (800)392-6848 ext. 1041 • E-mail: dsnider@psrsmo.org
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Dearld Snider joined the Public School and Education Employee Retirement Systems of Missouri (PSRS/PEERS) as Director of Member Services in January 2006. He is responsible for overseeing the six sections within Member Services which include: Benefits, Information Center, Member Education, Records Management, Withdrawal/Death, and Communications.

Snider graduated with a BA in Political Science from the University of Missouri-Columbia in 1995. He later received his Master of Business Administration from William Woods University in 1998. His career began with Missouri Consolidated Health Care Plan where he served for over 3 years. In 1999, he joined the Missouri State Employees’ Retirement System (MOSERS) and became an active member in NPEA. Snider also received his Certificate of Achievement in Public Plan Policy through the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans.

 

Mr. David T. Daly, Administrator
PO Box 396 • Clifton Park, New York 12065
Phone: (518) 664-3418 • E-mail: ddpened@yahoo.com
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David Daly recently retired as the manager of the Public Information Office for the New York State Teachers’ Retirement System which represents over 365,000 active and retired members. He was the System’s spokesperson and was responsible for its publications, Web site and media information. Previously, he served as the coordinator of Preretirement Planning where he organized and implemented the System’s Preretirement Planning Seminar Program that has been attended by over 100,000 members and spouses since it began in 1987.

Daly was a junior high school teacher and coach for 10 years before becoming a Retirement System Information Representative. He is a graduate of Mt. St. Mary’s College in Maryland and the State University of New York at Albany. He has received the CRC and CRA designations from InFRE. He has been an active member of NPEA since 1986 and served on the NPEA Board Of Directors from 1994 to 2006.