Three alumni join Manchester University Board of TrusteesLeaders in public administration, education and medicine have joined the Manchester University Board of Trustees. They are all Manchester graduates, with deep family ties to the institution.
Dustin Brown ’99
Dustin Brown works in Washington D.C. in the Office of Management and Budget in the Executive Office of the President.
For the past four administrations, beginning in 2001, he has been the senior career executive responsible for improving the federal government’s results and performance. He also has responsibilities for helping to set the President’s Management Agenda, improving the public’s experience with government services, strengthening the federal workforce and increasing the use of evidence in decision-making.
Brown also represents the United States government in international organizations focused on public governance. He was elected in 2018 to serve as chair of the Public Governance Committee of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.
For the past five years he has been an adjunct professor at the University of Texas LBJ School of Public Affairs in its Washington, D.C., center.
Brown earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from Manchester, received a Fulbright Scholarship to study at Universidad Andina Simon Bolivar in Quito, Ecuador, and holds a master’s degree in public administration from the Maxwell School for Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University.
“I am proud that two of my great grandparents went to Manchester College, two of my grandparents actually met at Manchester. My mother went to Manchester (Judi Miller ’70 Brown), and I met my wife (Heidi Howiler ‘98 Brown) at Manchester. I also grew up in the town of North Manchester where my parents owned the Studio for years.”
“Manchester is a special, special place for so many people. The fact that my grandparents, parents, and my wife and I all met at Manchester shows how significant it has been in my life. I am interested in learning and contributing in any way I can to create opportunities for current and future students as well as supporting the amazing professors that provide the teaching and mentorship that makes Manchester such a unique learning community.”
His volunteer involvement includes coaching his sons’ sports teams and service in his community, Chevy Chase, Maryland, just outside D.C.
Aaron L. Fetrow ’94
Aaron L. Fetrow became president of Heritage Hall in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, in July 2021. Heritage Hall is a P-12 independent school.
His Manchester connections also run long and deep. His wife is Jodi Pippenger ’95 Fetrow. His parents, Lonnie R. Lutz ’76 and Dr. Regan Richardson ’77 Fetrow Lutz Brock, are also alumni . His stepmother, uncle, and his wife’s parents, sister and brother all graduated from Manchester.
“Manchester provided numerous members of our family and all our classmates with exposure to the liberal arts,” he said. “In addition, the lessons all of us learned inside and outside of the classroom reflect Manchester’s mission to produce graduates ‘who draw upon their education and faith to lead principled, productive, and compassionate lives.’”
He went on to say, “There is not an adequate way to repay your alma mater for these life lessons learned, but I hope to be able to return some of what our family owes Manchester through service on the Board of Trustees. I strongly believe that our communities need Manchester graduates.”
Prior to joining Heritage Hall, Fetrow served as vice president for resource development at Roanoke College in Salem, Virginia. He is an honorary inductee of Omicron Delta Kappa and was chosen as the 2015 Commencement Speaker at Guilford College, where he worked before going to Heritage Hall.
A former employment law attorney with the Indiana-based law firm Baker & Daniels, he earned his J.D. from the University of Tennessee College of Law in 2003, a master’s degree in history from Truman State University in 1997 and a bachelor’s degree in history from Manchester.
The Fetrows have two adult sons, Jadon and Zach. His volunteer positions include serving on the Manchester President’s Leadership Council since 2013 and as a member of the Board of Trustees at North Cross School in Roanoke, Virginia, from 2019 to 2021.
Harriet A Hamer, M.D. ’80
Vice-chair of the Manchester Bold $45 million fundraising campaign, Harriet A Hamer, M.D., is staff anesthesiologist member of South East Anesthesiologists doing business as Midwest Anesthesia Consultants, working out of Beacon Memorial Hospital South Bend, and surrounding clinics, since 1991.
She is a prior president of the Indiana Society of Anesthesiologists.
Her education background, including degrees held, includes Snider High School in Fort Wayne, 1976; Bachelor of Arts in biology- chemistry from Manchester, 1980; medical degree from Indiana University School of Medicine, 1984; transitional internship at Memorial Hospital South Bend, 1984-1985; emergency medicine residency, Louisiana State University, 1985-1987; anesthesiology residency, Indiana University, 1987-1990; and Indiana University South Bend, public health certificate, 1998.
Hamer is currently a volunteer with the Fischoff Chamber Music Board of Directors Executive Committee; Fundraising Committee “Planting for the Future” at Camp Alexander Mack in Milford, Indiana; and a standing committee delegate for northern Indiana to the Church of the Brethren, 2023-2025. She has also served with Beacon Health Physician Informatics Committee, By-Laws Committee member; and as a trustee of the St. Joseph County Medical Society.
Married to Abe Bergen, they live in South Bend, Indiana, and have two children and four grandchildren. She is a member of Crest Manor Church of the Brethren and said Manchester’s Brethren connection is an important element in her support of her alma mater.
Hamer formerly served on the Manchester Board of Trustees, from 1999 to 2009, and the Manchester Alumni Board, from 1996 to 1999.
Her parents (Dr. John Hamer ’48 and Esther Rinehart ’50 Hamer) and sister (Krista Hamer-Schweer ’82) are Manchester graduates, and her paternal grandfather taught in the Manchester Education Department.
She decided to join the board because of her belief in the guiding Manchester Mission and Values statements.
Full list of Manchester trustees
Manchester University, in North Manchester and Fort Wayne, Ind., offers vibrant and transformative student experiences. Learn more at
www.manchester.edu/about-manchester.
Our mission and valuesManchester University respects the infinite worth of every individual and graduates persons of ability and conviction that draw upon their education and faith to lead principled, productive, and compassionate lives that improve the human condition.
February 2023