Goings ’12H Named New Chair of Rollins Board of Trustees

Rick Goings '12H succeeds the late Susan Whealler Johnston ’75 as the new chair of the Rollins Board of Trustees. Goings was elected to the board in 2000 and previously held a seat on the Crummer Graduate School of Business’ Board of Overseers the four years prior.

Throughout his career, Goings has held numerous global senior management positions in Europe, Asia, and the U.S. He started his first company, one of the nation’s first direct sellers of home security systems, at 24 years old and was later recruited by Avon Products, where he held numerous senior management positions. In 1992, he joined Tupperware as CEO, where he was ultimately named chairman and served in that capacity for more than than two decades.

Goings is on the national board of the Smithsonian Institution and a member of the Advisory Board of the Global Peter Drucker Forum, the Economic Club of Washington, D.C, and Yale University’s Chief Executive Leadership Institute. He was an inaugural HeForShe Champion of the United Nations’ initiative toward gender equality and a founding member of the organization’s Leadership Advisory Council. Goings proudly served in the U.S. Navy and was presented with the distinguished Chevalier de la Legion d’Honneur degree by the former president of France, the prestigious Marco Polo Award by the People’s Republic of China, and the Herbert Hoover Humanitarian Award by the Boys & Girls Clubs of America.

His work in the service of children, both in the U.S. and abroad, spanned three decades on the National Board of Governors for the Boys & Girls Clubs of America, where he also served two separate terms as the organization’s chairman. Goings led the initiative to open clubs outside the U.S. and co-founded the World Federation of Youth Clubs with his wife, Susan Porcaro Goings ’78. He currently serves as the organization’s Chairman with Affiliates in more than 35 countries representing more than 3,000 Youth Clubs.

As members of the Fiat Lux Luminaries, the College’s lifetime giving society, Rick and Susan have been highly generous in their support of students in both the College of Liberal Arts and Hamilton Holt School. Three of their sons are Rollins graduates—Todd Goings ’14, Everett “Rett” Goings ’15, and Nico Hendrix Porcaro ’17—and they recently established an endowed scholarship in memory of their son, Miles Porcaro, to support students who have demonstrated financial need and have either a military background or an interest in music, art, or theater.

In addition, they have supported The Global Links Initiative since its inception. Rick was responsible for creating the partnerships that grew into this cross-cultural exchange program that provides in-depth business training in social entrepreneurship and practical business skills to high-achieving female scholars in developing and post-conflict countries. 

“Rick and the Goings family’s passion for Rollins is demonstrated in their service and support,” says President Grant Cornwell. “It will be a privilege to work even more closely with Rick as chair of our board.”