Mote Board elects new vice chairman
Credit:Conor Goulding/Mote Marine Laboratory
Written by Stephanie Hagan
Mote Marine Laboratory’s Board of Trustees is pleased to announce the election of Howard (Sam) Seider Jr., M.D., as its new Vice Chairman of the Board. Seider, elected in late May, is serving alongside re-elected Officers Robert Essner, Chairman, Retired Lt. Gen. Howard G. Crowell, Treasurer, Nigel Mould, Secretary, and Dr. Michael P. Crosby, Mote’s President & CEO.
In addition, Mote Trustees entering new three-year terms on the Board include: Judy Graham, Chairman Emeritus, Frederick M. Derr, Chairman Emeritus, Scott Collins, Mickey Callanen, Charles R. Smith, Sandra Stuart, Trudo Letschert and Rande Ridenour. Trustee Scott Collins was also elected to serve as Trustee-at-Large on the Executive Committee.
The Mote Board of Trustees provides broad level oversight and significant support for Mote in its mission of advancing marine science, education and outreach, with specific goals as outlined in Mote’s 2020 Vision & Strategic Plan (Read the plan: mote.org/about-us).
Howard (Sam) Seider Jr., M.D., Vice Chairman
Seider, Chairman Emeritus and active member of the Mote Marine Foundation Board and former Chair of Mote’s Investment Committee, has been a Mote Trustee since 1997. In 2017, Seider received Mote’s 20-Year milestone Volunteer Service Award, but Seider’s bond with Mote began long before he was a volunteer — his father was a friend of the late William R. Mote, Mote’s first president, major benefactor and namesake. Seider also currently serves on the Mote Marine Foundation Board, Audit Committee, as Vice Chair of the Development Committee, and will now Chair the Executive Committee. Seider and his wife, Dorene, are members of Mote’s Legacy Society, which supports Mote through estate planning. The Seider’s are also fund holders at Manatee Community Foundation, where Sam serves as Secretary, and both are active business and community leaders.
Following his residency at the Miller School of Medicine at the University of Miami, Seider moved to Bradenton in 1976 where he became Manatee County’s first plastic surgeon. He has practiced at all of the local hospitals and is responsible for building the first accredited Outpatient Surgery Center in Southwest Florida. Seider’s children have witnessed his love for Mote, and share the family’s dedication. Seider’s son, Matt, was accepted as a member of Mote’s Advisory Council in 2015.
“It’s important to me that my children adopt the passion I have for the ocean and get engaged in protecting our waters,” Seider said. “Dorene and I want our children and grandchildren to enjoy the same quality of our region’s natural environment as we have, and we continue to support Mote to maintain this quality.”
“With Sam’s election as Vice Chairman and the re-election of several of our most dedicated and forward-thinking Board members to officer positions, Mote is well positioned to forge ahead with our goals for 2020 and beyond, from new levels of research and restoration efforts focused on Florida Keys coral reefs to the creation of our new Mote Science Education Aquarium in the coming years on mainland Sarasota County,” said Mote President & CEO Dr. Michael P. Crosby. “I am looking forward to working even more closely with Sam in his new leadership role, and I am thrilled that all of our Board leadership and Trustees have enthusiastically recommitted themselves to embracing their roles as champions for Mote’s vision, mission and goals.”