Palm Beach Atlantic appoints 2 new trustees

Jeff Swindell (left) and Aaron Joseph Rinker (right) have joined the Palm Beach Atlantic University board of trustees. [Photo by Palm Beach Atlantic University]

Palm Beach Atlantic University has appointed two new members to its board of trustees, Jeff Swindell and Aaron Rinker.

Swindell, a PBA alumnus and Disney finance executive, says joining the board is an opportunity to give back to the university that helped shape his life and career.

“My faith is important to me, and my time at PBA was a formative period in my life,” Swindell says. “I built relationships there that I still value, and I’ve always felt grateful for those relationships and that experience.

Swindell became involved with the university again several years ago after PBA President Debra A. Schwinn invited him to serve on the advisory board for the Rinker College of Business. Becoming a trustee felt like a natural next step, he says.

Swindell began working for Disney in 1998, shortly after graduating from PBA with a bachelor’s in business management. He now serves as chief financial officer and senior vice president of finance for Disney Signature Experiences.

“I think a growth mindset applies to higher education as much as it does to business,” Swindell says. “The same discipline that helps a company grow the right way, thoughtfully, with good governance behind it, applies just as much to a university like PBA.”

As the university grows, Swindell sees an opportunity for PBA to expand its reach while preparing students for rapid technological change.

Swindell credits the university’s emphasis on character, integrity and servant leadership with influencing the leader he became. He particularly remembers business professor Bob Myers, whose lessons about servant leadership helped shape his work ethic and commitment to service.

Rinker began as a middle school teacher before transitioning into banking and real estate. He founded his own firm and later joined JJR Properties, where he managed the family-owned company’s commercial building portfolio and led finance and development initiatives.

Now retired from full-time operations, Rinker serves on the board of the Marshall & Vera Lea Rinker Foundation.

“Having Jeff and Aaron join our board is a further signal of this institution’s commitment to growth and to serving our community,” Schwinn says. “We are genuinely pleased to welcome them and are confident they will bring invaluable momentum and expertise to our board and the university.”

For more information about Palm Beach Atlantic University, visit pba.edu.