Detroit Mercy welcomes three new members to Board of Trustees

The University of Detroit Mercy Board of Trustees approved three new members at its Oct. 25 board meeting.

The new members are Joseph Daoust, S.J., Tim Gargaro ’76 and Bill Kozyra ’80.

“I am very excited about the depth of experience these three dynamic leaders bring to our board,” said UDM President Donald B. Taylor. “Fr. Daoust is a well-respected leader in Jesuit circles and Tim and Bill are well connected in the financial and manufacturing worlds. I look forward to seeing what they bring to the table to move Detroit Mercy forward.”

Daoust works in pastoral ministry for the Detroit Jesuit Community after serving as the Superior of the De Smet Jesuit Community, which includes Jesuits working with the Lakȟota on the Pine Ridge and Rosebud Reservations and in Rapid City, SD.

He was also associate pastor of Our Lady of the Sioux in Oglala and St. Bernard on Red Shirt Table and served on the administration and board of directors at Maȟpiya Luta|Red Cloud. With graduate degrees in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania and Law from the University of Michigan, he has taught both subjects at universities in Detroit, London and Uganda.

In addition, he has served on the Jesuits’ General Council in Rome where he was the Major Superior of the Jesuits and in the Holy Land. He was also the president of the Jesuit School of Theology in Berkeley, and provincial superior of the Detroit Province Jesuits.

Gargaro ’76 is co-owner of North American Metals, a Tier II automotive supplier located in Canada. He also serves as chairman and CFO of Mercury Medical, a medical device manufacturer in Florida.

Over his 35-year career, he has been a CFO and finance leader of several public and private companies including Lear. In the mergers and acquisitions area, he oversaw and led carve-outs from Ford Motor Co., Fiat, Volvo, SAAB, Borealis and Dunlop Cox among others.

Gargaro holds a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from UDM and earned an MBA from Michigan State University. He is a Certified Public Accountant in Michigan, serves on the CFO Business Panel of the Federal Reserve Board of Atlanta and is a board member of the Detroit Chapter of Financial Executives International. He was also a trustee for the Henry Ford Health System and on the Board of Advisors for Detroit Mercy’s School of Business Administration.

Kozyra ’80 is the chairman and CEO of WILKO Plastics, a Romeo, Mich.-based automotive supplier of complex injected molded components and assemblies. He is also chairman and CEO of Model Craft Inc., a group company to WILKO Plastics, and formed Model Craft Inc., a consulting company.

He retired from TI Fluid Systems as its president and CEO in 2021. He was also the chairman of the company prior to the organization’s IPO in 2017. Kozyra has managed more than 114 manufacturing and five technology facilities in 28 countries worldwide. He was president and CEO of Continental AG North America and a member of the executive board of Continental AG (DAX), Hanover, Germany.

He has been awarded five U.S. patents for vehicle brake and suspension components. He currently serves or has served on many boards including the American Axle Manufacturing Board, Notre Dame Preparatory School, executive board member of the Boy Scouts of America in Detroit, Society of Automotive Engineers and University of Detroit Mercy Alumni Council.

For more about the UDM Board of Trustees, please visit https://www.udmercy.edu/about/leadership/board.php.