Internet2 Announces Election and Appointment of New Board Trustees

WASHINGTON, Nov. 20, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Internet2 elected one new trustee, re-elected its board vice chair, and appointed five additional trustees to the Internet2 Board of Trustees. The board provides strategic direction, leadership, and oversight for Internet2, and it includes four standing committees.

The board held its annual election this fall, electing one new trustee, Bret Blackman, vice president for information technology and chief information officer at the University of Nebraska System. Additionally, the board re-elected its vice chair, Cynthia Larive, chancellor of the University of California, Santa Cruz, to a second term. They will each serve three-year terms beginning on November 1, 2025.

Appointed Trustees and Mid-Term Vacancies

Three trustees were appointed to second terms as board representatives, with terms from November 1, 2025, to October 31, 2028. The reappointed trustees include:

• Elias Eldayrie, senior vice president and chief information officer at the University of Florida
• Mary Lou D. Ortiz, chief financial officer and vice chancellor for finance and administration at the University of California, Irvine
• Dan Reed, presidential professor in computational science (emeritus) at the University of Utah

Earlier this year, the board filled two mid-term vacancies by appointment. M. Brian Blake, president of Georgia State University, was appointed to a president/chancellor representative seat for a term running from July 30, 2025, to Oct. 31, 2027. Aimee Heeter, senior vice chancellor for finance and administration at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, was appointed to an appointed representative seat for a term running from Aug. 1, 2025, to Oct. 31, 2026.

Additionally, Tripti Sinha has transitioned from an elected network representative seat to the ex officio Internet2 President and CEO seat.

Acknowledging the Service of Outgoing Trustees
Internet2 extends its deep appreciation to the outgoing trustees for their leadership and service. Their contributions have strengthened Internet2's mission and advanced the community it serves.

Outgoing trustees are:

• Santa Ono, former president of the University of Michigan
• Howard Pfeffer, former president and CEO of Internet2
• Steve Relyea, executive vice chancellor and chief financial officer emeritus for the California State University
• Sean Reynolds, vice president for information technology and chief information officer at Northwestern University
• Satish Tripathi, president of the University at Buffalo

Learn more about the Internet2 Board of Trustees.

About Internet2
Internet2^® is a non-profit, member-driven advanced technology community founded by the nation's leading higher education institutions in 1996. Internet2 serves 336 U.S. universities, 58 government agencies, 46 regional and state education networks and through them supports more than 80,000 community anchor institutions, over 1,000 InCommon participants, 64 leading corporations working with our community, and 70 national research and education network operators that represent more than 100 countries.

Internet2 delivers a diverse portfolio of technology solutions that leverages, integrates, and amplifies the strengths of its members and helps support their educational, research, and community service missions. Internet2's core infrastructure components include the nation's largest and fastest research and education network that was built to deliver advanced, customized services that are accessed and secured by the community-developed trust and identity framework. For more information, visit https://internet2.edu.

SOURCE Internet2