Last week was the first meeting of Radford University's board of visitors since Robert Blake's resignation over secrecy and the board's plans to nearly quadruple the deferred payment portion of President Penelope Kyle's compensation package.

It was also the first meeting for three newly appointed board members: Darius Johnson, Walter Rugaber and Ronald Wesley.

Gov. Tim Kaine also reappointed three board members: Thomas Fraim, a 1987 Radford University graduate who lives in Virginia Beach; Mark Pace, a 1993 graduate of the university; and Stephen Musselwhite of Roanoke County.

The governor's appointments leave two seats vacant in addition to Blake's.

The new board members:

n Darius Johnson, senior vice president and chief lending officer of Consolidated Bank & Trust Co., lives in Richmond. He is on the board of the Virginia Council on Economic Education, the University of Richmond Alumni Association and the Sorensen Institute for Political Leadership. Johnson got his undergraduate degree from the University of Virginia and his master's degree from the University of Richmond.

n Walter Rugaber, the former president and publisher of The Roanoke Times, lives near Meadows of Dan in Patrick County. As a Virginia Tech Presidential Fellow, he worked with the College of Architecture and Urban Studies and the Center for Innovative Leadership on issues of education and economic development. A graduate of Northwestern University, Rugaber was interim president of Hollins University from May 2001 to June 2002.

n Ronald Reynolds Wesley, a resident of Richmond, currently serves as principal of Reynolds Wesley P.C., a firm that offers advice on corporate and administrative law, financial transactions and business formations. A graduate of Yale University, Wesley got his law degree from the University of Virginia. Wesley did not attend last week's meetings.

There are two relatively new nonvoting members on the board, too.

Juliann Abercrombie, a senior from Ashburn, is the student representative. She's majoring in marketing, with a minor in psychology.

Wayne Saubert, professor of accounting finance and business law, is the faculty representative.