St. Lawrence University’s Board of Trustees has elected Andrew (Andy) Chan ’14 and Emma Phillips ’16 as McCurdy-Sprague trustees with terms beginning June 1, 2021, and concluding May 31, 2025.
McCurdy-Sprague trustees are named in honor of Delos McCurdy, one of the first two graduates in St. Lawrence’s first graduating class in 1865, and Sarah Elmira Sprague, one of the first two women to graduate in 1866. McCurdy-Sprague trustees exist to ensure young alumni have a voice in University direction and governance and must have graduated from St. Lawrence between two and 10 years before their election. The Board selects McCurdy-Sprague trustees based on their undergraduate success, professional promise, interpersonal skills, and activity with St. Lawrence since graduation.
Andy Chan ’14
Andy Chan is a Director of Product Management at Avalara, a cloud-based software platform that provides an end-to-end suite of sales and other transactional tax compliance solutions. Currently, he leads a team of four product managers who collaborate with software engineers, data scientists, marketers, and sales teams to build industry-leading SaaS (Software as a Service) products. Previously, he held roles as an individual contributor at Sageworks (financial risk management software) and Infinia ML (artificial intelligence).
Chan, who graduated from St. Lawrence with honors in economics, also holds a master’s in analytics from Johns Hopkins University and an MBA from Duke University. While at St. Lawrence, Chan was vice president of the investment club, a teaching assistant for the Department of Economics, and an alto sax player for the SLU Funk Revue. Highlights of his St. Lawrence experience include opening for Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, interning at Morgan Stanley through the Liberal Arts in New York City Semester program, and meeting his wife, Samantha (Panek) Chan ’14. In 2019, he took part in TEDxStLawrenceU where he gave a TEDx talk titled “Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Work.”
Chan and his wife are currently located in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and are in the process of adopting their soon-to-be daughter Julia, age 11.
Emma Phillips ’16
Emma Phillips is currently the Administrative Specialist for the Office of Self Governance within Indian Affairs at the U.S. Department of Interior. She is also pursuing a Master of Science degree in Sustainability Management within the Kogod School of Business at American University.
Phillips was born and raised in Akwesasne, New York, and is a proud enrolled member of the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe. She graduated from St. Lawrence with a degree in environmental studies. While on campus, she served as president of the Native American Student Alliance, was a member of the Black Student Union, and participated in the Sustainability Program. Using her experience at St. Lawrence and a deep interest in sustainable agriculture, Phillips researched, wrote, and completed a Food Sovereignty Assessment for her community while working at the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe Environment Division’s Agriculture Program.
Phillips is the first member of the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe to be elected to St. Lawrence’s Board of Trustees.
