The McDaniel College Board of Trustees has elected Bruce H. Preston to serve as chair, following the passing of Otto J. Guenther.
A 1975 alumnus, Preston has served on the college’s Board of Trustees since 1995. During his time on the board, he has been instrumental in the college’s management of the WMC Development Corporation, which owns numerous commercial assets in Westminster including the College Square Shopping Center, which is anchored by Safeway, and the Best Western. He is past chair of the buildings and grounds committee and the audit committee. Most recently, he served as chair of the governance committee and led the presidential search committee.
Preston has long been actively engaged in the college’s fundraising initiatives, including several capital campaigns, and has supported the college as a member of the Founders Society, as well as the Carpe Diem Society. He has also volunteered with numerous committees of the Alumni Council and was honored in 2015 with the alumni college service award for his exceptional leadership, devotion, and service to the Council.
“Bruce’s in-depth knowledge of the Board of Trustees as a long-serving member and his strong business acumen will be incredible assets as he steps into this new role. I am thrilled to have the opportunity to work with him and look forward to all we will accomplish together in the years ahead,” said McDaniel President Julia Jasken.
During his time as an undergraduate at the college, Preston, who majored in sociology, was a member of the lacrosse and football teams. He was also a member of the college’s Alpha Gamma Tau fraternity. He received the Felix Woodbridge Morley Memorial Award as the outstanding freshman in 1972 and The Barry A. Winkelman Lacrosse Award in 1975.
A legacy graduate, his father, Wilbur D. “Woody” Preston, Jr., was a 1944 alumnus who served as chair of the college’s Board of Trustees from 1971-1982, and his mother, May, is also a 1945 alumna. In addition, his wife, Patrice, received her Master of Education from the college in 1979, and his son, Gibbs, graduated from McDaniel in 2010. Other family members have also attended the college, including aunts, uncles, cousins, and siblings.
Preston went on to earn a master’s degree in 1984 from Towson University. He has spent his professional career in commercial real estate and is formerly a vice president for MidAtlantic Realty Trust. In 2003, Preston formed Preston Realty, LLC, a commercial real estate development company specializing in retail development and commercial brokerage. He is also chairman of the UMBC Research Park Corporation, part of the University System of Maryland.
For more information about McDaniel College, visit www.mcdaniel.edu.
McDaniel College, founded in 1867, is a four-year, independent college of the liberal arts and sciences offering more than 70 undergraduate programs of study, including pre-professional specializations and student-designed majors, and over 20 graduate programs. One of 40 “Colleges That Change Lives,” McDaniel emphasizes experiential learning and student-faculty collaboration to develop the unique potential in every student. Represented by the Green Terror, its 24 athletic teams compete in the NCAA Division III Centennial Conference. A student-centered community of 1,800 undergraduates and 1,400 graduate students offers access to both Baltimore and Washington, D.C., plus a European campus in Budapest, Hungary. www.mcdaniel.edu
