BINGHAMTON, NY – The Board of Trustees of the Link Foundation unanimously appointed James R. Van Voorst to its group of special advisors on Apr. 6, 2012. Van Voorst’s significant experience in finance and administration will be a strong asset to the Foundation.

Van Voorst currently serves as vice president for administration at Binghamton University and is an ex-officio member of the Binghamton University Foundation Board of Directors where he has held various committee assignments. He served as interim vice chancellor of finance and administration for the State University of New York in 2008-2009, a position reporting directly to the chancellor and appointed by the Board of Trustees.

Van Voorst holds a bachelor’s degree from Siena College, a master’s degree from the State University of New York at Albany, and he is a Certified Public Accountant. He began his career as an auditor with the New York State Comptroller’s Office, and served as university accountant at the State University of New York at Albany, and controller at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst before joining Binghamton University as assistant vice president for administration in 2000.

The Link Foundation, www.linkfoundation.org is a charitable trust, established in 1953 by the late Edwin A. and Marion Link, who made their residence in Binghamton, N.Y. and on the Treasure Coast in Florida. Since 1953, grants totaling nearly $13 million have been awarded to universities, colleges and other non-profit organizations to fund scholarships, fellowships and research projects which have benefited thousands of students nationwide and in Canada. These grants are primarily dedicated to the advancement of energy resources development and conservation, simulation and training, and ocean engineering and instrumentation. The Foundation is governed by a board of five trustees and 11 special advisors, selected on the basis of their professional experience. Binghamton area trustees include Douglas R. Johnson and Thomas F. Kelly, PhD.  In addition to Van Voorst, special advisors in the Binghamton area include Frank M. Cardullo, David Gdovin, David Gouldin, Esq. and Robert Hansen.