Board of Trustees adds new members, leadership
07/01/2026
The William Jewell College Board of Trustees announces the appointment of two alumni to the Board: Katie Lawson and Ted Kapke. In addition, a new chair and vice chair were approved at the last meeting.
Trustee David Warm, who joined the Board in 2021, has been voted to serve as chair. This fall he will retire from Mid-America Regional Council after 35 years as executive director. Prior to MARC, he was the city administrator of Liberty. Warm earned a B.A. degree in political science and economics from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and an M.P.A. from the University of California, Riverside. He and his wife are the proud parents of a Jewell honors graduate.
Tyler Griffin, Jewell class of 2001, joined the Board in 2025 and has stepped into the role of vice chair. Since 2023,Griffin has served as a strategic advisor for Healthlink Advisors, working with hospital executive teams across the country on large-scale healthcare IT initiatives. Previously, Griffin spent 21 years in senior leadership at Cerner Corporation/Oracle Health. He is a Jewell Citation for Achievement recipient and holds an MBA from UMKC’s Bloch School of Management.
New Members
Dr. Katherine “Katie” (Martin) Lawson, Class of 1999, serves as executive director of special programs for North Kansas City Schools. She has more than 20 years of progressive experience in Liberty Public School District and North Kansas City School District, specializing in federal programs, early education, instructional leadership, large-scale facilities planning and cross-functional collaboration. She helped facilitate the opening of NKC Schools’ Early Education Center—which was named the 2022 Program of the Year by the Future Builders Foundation—as well as the district’s innovative Future Ready Lab and Adult Education Center.
Lawson has also been honored as the Missouri Association of Elementary School Principals’ Assistant Principal of the Year for the Northwest Region and a Jewell Citation for Achievement distinguished alumna. At Jewell, she was a member of Alpha Gamma Delta, a four-year basketball letterwinner, a two-year volleyball team member and letterwinner, Academic All-American and a two-time Outstanding Education Major recipient. She holds a master’s degree in educational leadership and an Ed.D. in educational leadership and policy analysis.
She has been active in the community through organizations such as Mid-America Regional Council, Northland Early Education Council, Liberty United Methodist Church, Resurrection Liberty, Boy Scouts and various Jewell committees and initiatives. A graduate of Liberty High School, Lawson also is an active member of Blue Jay Nation and a 2021 inductee into Liberty High School’s Hall of Fame.
George “Ted” Kapke Jr., J.D., is a partner with Kapke and Willerth LLC in Lee’s Summit. Kapke is a trial attorney with extensive experience representing individuals, businesses and municipalities in high-stakes disputes. He has a proven record as lead trial counsel in jury trials with expertise in employment law, civil rights litigation and complex commercial matters including fiduciary liability and risk.
The 1999 Jewell alumnus was a four-year varsity letterman in football, sports editor for the Hilltop Monitor and president of Phi Gamma Delta fraternity. He continues to serve his alma mater through the Committee on Athletics, the Phi Gamma Delta Board of Chapter Advisors and many other capacities. He graduated with distinction from UMKC School of Law where he also serves as an adjunct professor of trial advocacy.
Kapke is past president of the Eastern Jackson County Bar Association and board chair of the Country Club United Methodist Church Board of Trustees. His Bar admissions include Missouri, Kansas, U.S. District Court - Eastern District of Missouri, U.S. District Court - Western District of Missouri, the U.S. District Court - District of Kansas, and the Federal Court of Claims.