Three members join CUF board, Board Leadership enters second year

On July 1, new members Noel M. Geoffroy, Ernest D. Haynes III and Mark Wasserman begin four-year terms on the Clemson University Foundation (CUF) board of directors. They were elected by unanimous vote of the board, having been nominated by alumni and friends and reviewed by a nominating committee of the board.

Kenneth L. Smith of Greenville, South Carolina, and Anthony L. Mathis of Cincinnati, Ohio, begin the second year of their terms as chair and vice chair.

The mission of the Clemson University Foundation is to support Clemson University by promoting growth and stewardship of resources entrusted to it which fulfill its covenants with donors. It stewards Clemson’s endowment, most recently valued at over $950 million.

New members are:

Noel M. Geoffroy — Head (Region President) of North America Consumer Healthcare, Sanofi

Noel M. Geoffroy of Basking Ridge, New Jersey, earned a Bachelor of Arts in language (French) and International trade from Clemson in 1992. In 1996, she graduated with an MBA from the University of Virginia Darden School of Business. Additionally, she completed an Executive Leadership Development Program in Global Enterprise Leadership at the Harvard Business School and is a Fulbright Scholar.

Currently, Geoffroy serves as the Head of North America Consumer Healthcare at Sanofi — a multinational pharmaceutical company headquartered in Paris, France. Geoffroy joined Sanofi in 2019 and is responsible for the long-term business strategy and commercial operations in the United States and Canada for Sanofi’s consumer portfolio of healthcare brands, which includes Allegra, Icy Hot, Aspercreme, Dulcolax and Gold Bond. Before Sanofi, Geoffroy held positions at Kellogg’s, H.J. Heinz Co and P&G.

She is a member of the Network of Executive Women, an executive board member of Consumer Healthcare Products Association (CHPA) and a board member at The Erwin Center for Brand Communications at Clemson University and Deirdre’s House, a center for child victims of abuse in Morristown, NJ.

Noel is married to Sylvain Geoffroy. They have two children, Nicolas and Alex. Nicolas is a current student in the ClemsonLIFE program, class of 2024.

Ernest D. Haynes III — Vice President and General Manager, Sonoco’s Rigid Paper and Closures North America Division

Ernest D. Haynes, III of Columbia, SC is currently the Vice President & General Manager of Sonoco’s Rigid Paper and Closures North America Division.

Haynes is an alum of The Wharton School’s Executive General Management Program (WMP’20) and a 1997 graduate of Clemson University with a B.S. in industrial engineering. In his more than 23 years with Sonoco, he’s held numerous leadership roles within both their Consumer Division and Industrial Division with his most recent assignment in Rigid Paper & Closures set to direct growth and innovation strategies for 2021 and beyond.  Sonoco, founded in 1899, is one of the largest global diversified packaging companies with headquarters in Hartsville, SC. The company is a global provider of consumer, industrial, healthcare and protective packaging. 

Haynes serves on the Snelsire, Sawyer, Robinson Clemson Career Workshop Advisory Board. Sonoco is a sponsor of the upcoming Snelsire, Sawyer and Robinson Clemson Career Workshop Gala.

Haynes is a Lifetime Member of the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. where he pledged at Clemson and is also a member of IPTAY.

To honor his daughter, he established the Harley Madison Haynes Diversity Scholarship in 2020. In addition, he has supported the Diversity: Honors College Opportunity Fund at Clemson University.

Mark Wasserman — Co-Chief Executive Officer and Managing Partner, Eversheds Sutherland (US) LLP

Mark Wasserman of Marietta, Georgia, received two degrees from Clemson, a Bachelor of Science in economics in 1982 and a Master of Arts in economics in 1983. He earned a Juris Doctor in 1986 from Emory University School of Law.

Wasserman has been the Managing Partner of Eversheds Sutherland (US) LLP for the last 16 years. With over 30 years of experience as a corporate lawyer, he has represented and advised both public and private companies on a broad spectrum of business matters especially those related to mergers, acquisitions and federal and state securities laws.

Today, Wasserman serves as Chair of Emory University’s School of Law Advisory Board and is a member of Emory’s Transactional Law Advisory Board. He also serves on the boards of the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, The Atlanta Women’s Foundation, the Atlanta Police Foundation and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra.  Wasserman is a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation, and previously served on the  boards of Equal Justice Works, the Clemson University Research Foundation and the Wilbur O. and Ann Powers College of Business Trevillian Cabinet.

Wasserman was selected as one of Atlanta Business Chronicle’s Most Admired CEOs for 2017 and honored with the Daily Report’s Distinguished Leader Award for his role in leading the formation of the largest law firm combination in the world in 2017.

He is married to Clemson alumna Rebekah (Haskin) Wasserman ’85, and they have two children, Aaron and Jared.

Clemson University Foundation

The Clemson University Foundation is an independent, not-for-profit 501(c)(3) entity organized to promote the welfare and future development of Clemson University. It was chartered in 1933 to support the University’s educational and scientific goals. It is the responsibility of the board of directors to manage and disburse assets prudently within a policy that encourages the enhancement of the resources of the foundation.