2011-2012 NAGDCA Executive Board
Contact the NAGDCA Executive Board
Julia Durand, California State Teachers Retirement System (CalSTRS)
President
Julia Durand is the Deferred Compensation Administrator for The California State Teachers Retirement System (CalSTRS) 403(b) and 457 plans. In addition, Julia provides oversight for the State mandated 403bCompare website and the CalSTRS 403bComply program which provides compliance and administration services for School and Community College Districts in the State of California. Julia has over 20 years of experience in providing retirement education to public employees. Julia is an active member of the National Association of Government Defined Contribution Administrators (NAGDCA) and serves on the NAGDCA Executive Board. Julia is a Certified Retirement Counselor (CRC), has a Bachelor of Arts in Social Work and a Masters Degree in Human Behavior.
Thomas Mueller, Sanitation Districts of Los Angeles County, CA
Vice-President
Mr. Mueller is the Chief Accountant for the Sanitation Districts of Los Angeles County (Districts). He is responsible for the accounting, cash management, investment, and internal audit responsibilities for the Districts. For the past 13 years, Mr. Mueller has served as the committee chairman for the Sanitation Districts of Los Angeles County Employees' Deferred Compensation 457 Plan with assets totaling $143 million. He was instrumental in developing a deferred compensation plan where the revenue sharing actually exceeds the plan's administrative expenses. In addition to a $0 participant administrative fee structure, the operating expense fund ratios are low and all mutual fund selections are well known publicly traded funds.
Mr. Mueller holds a bachelor's of science degree from the University of Southern California and is a Certified Public Accountant. Mr. Mueller is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the Government Finance Officers Association, the California Society of Municipal Finance Officers, and the National Association of Government Defined Contribution Administrators.
Mr. Mueller lives in Southern California with his wife Joyce, daughter Kristy, and two sons Jeffrey and Daniel.
Eric Sanderson, Ohio PERS
Secretary-Treasurer
Eric Sanderson is the Defined Contribution Plan Manager for the Ohio Public Employees Retirement System (Ohio PERS). He is responsible for all aspects related to the administration of the two defined contribution plans, with over 17,000 participants and assets of approximately $300 million.
Prior to his work with Ohio PERS, Eric was employed with Nationwide Insurance Co. from 1996 – 2001. He served as a Pension Consultant, Nationwide Pension Services (1996 – 1999) where he administered 401(k) and 403(b) plans, including the conducting of discrimination testing, creation of annual plan statements, etc. and as a Key Account Manager, Nationwide Retirement Solutions (formerly PEBSCO) (1999 – 2001) where he was the internal contact for external marketing force and plan administrator for public sector retirement plans. He also worked on projects and enhancements related to current 457 client base.
Eric has served on various NAGDCA committees from 2006-2009 and he was chairperson the last three of those years. He was a Navy representative/escort for Sen. Dick Lugar's (R-IN) Service Academy Selection interview process for three years and was a volunteer for the National Hockey League (NHL) Draft – Columbus Ohio in 2007. Eric also served as team leader of the strategic team responsible for evaluating the products and plan design of benefits offered by Ohio PERS, including the funding of these benefits in 2008.
Eric is also a Commander in the US Navy Reserves. He currently serves in a unit that drills at the Pentagon and performs “capabilities assessment” analysis in support of the Chief of Naval Operations.
Ed Rutherford, Larimer County, CO
Member-At-Large 1
Ed is a Certified Public Accountant and has a B.S. in Business Administration from Colorado State University. He has resided in Fort Collins, CO since 1980.
Mr. Rutherford is the Business Manager for Larimer County's Human Services Department where he is responsible for the department's budget and the oversight of accounting, fraud and recovery, and imaging. Ed was elected to the retirement board in 1991 and has served as the chairman of the board for the past 12 years. He has previously served as the Colorado representative to the National Conference on Public Employee Retirement Systems. Ed began his accounting and management career with Deloitte, Haskins & Sells in Albuquerque, NM.
Tara Hagan, State of Nevada
Member-At-Large 2
As Executive Director, Ms. Hagan is responsible for the day to day oversight of the Program. In addition to managing the daily operations, she is responsible for contractual relationship management, Board business management, and oversight of legislative and investment issues.
Prior to her current position, Tara Hagan was the Regional Manager for a defined contribution provider. She managed relations with the governing Board members, Plan consultants, Department heads, and other key contacts in Nevada. Before moving to Nevada, Tara was a Field Representative assigned to both the City and County of San Francisco and the City of San Jose 457 Deferred Compensation Plans. As an Account Executive, she counseled employees on asset allocation, investment options and retirement distributions.
Prior to moving to California, Ms. Hagan held the position of Retirement Benefits Officer for the State of Iowa's Department of Personnel. In this role, she created a statewide educational program for the State's 457 and 403(b) programs. Ms. Hagan earned a B.A. in journalism and political science from the University of Iowa.
Gay Lynn Bath, State of Oregon
Past President
Gay Lynn Bath is the Deferred Compensation Manager for the Oregon Savings Growth Plan in Salem, Oregon. In that capacity, she administers a $1 billion 457 plan for the benefit of state and local government employees in Oregon. Prior to moving to Oregon in 2004, she was the 401(k) Plan Administrator for the Public Retirement System of Idaho (PERSI) for three years. Before working in the public realm, Gay Lynn was a 401(k) Plan Administrator for two years at a technology manufacturing company in Nampa, Idaho.
Gay Lynn has served on several NAGDCA committees, including conference planning, survey, and publications. At the 2006 conference, she moderated a panel on Auto Contribution Arrangements. She currently serves on the advisory board of the IBF Pension & Investments 401(k) Conferences where she has also participated as a panelist at several sessions. She also served on the board of the National Institute of Pension Administrators (NIPA) in Boise, Idaho.
She has an MBA from Northwest Nazarene University in Nampa, Idaho.
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Roderick Crane, TIAA-CREF
Industry President
Mr. Crane is a national authority on public sector retirement plans and is responsible for developing and executing strategies for the state and local government 401(a), 457, 401(k) and 403(b) markets for TIAA-CREF. Before joining TIAA-CREF, Mr. Crane was a senior consultant with The Segal Company and Mercer Human Resources Consulting. During this 22-year period, he worked primarily with large state and local governments on the design and administration of their defined benefit and defined contribution retirement programs as well as their deferred compensation and retiree health savings plans. Prior to entering the benefits consulting arena, he served as staff legal counsel for the North Dakota Legislative Assembly and its public employee retirement oversight committee.
As an attorney, Rod also brings expertise with regard to federal tax and workplace laws as they apply to public and private sector 401(a), 401(k), 457 and 403(b) arrangements as well as fiduciary and governance requirements that apply to plan sponsors and boards of trustees.
Michael Studebaker, Nationwide Retirement Solutions
Industry Observer
Mike has 26 years in public sector deferred compensation plans. He joined Nationwide in 1984 as a Compliance Attorney, and was part of Nationwide's Office of General Counsel until 1988, when he got involved in Sales/Relationship management for the public sector business. In 1992, Mike joined National Deferred Compensation (NDC) as General Counsel, Director of Human Resources and also had relationship management responsibilities with large accounts. In 1998, NDC was acquired by Nationwide, bringing Mike back to the Company. Since 2000 he has been a Regional Vice President for the Midwest Region in the Public Sector Retirement Plans business.