YOUNGSTOWN — Businessman and community advocate, Sterling Williams, has been appointed to the Youngstown State University board of trustees by Gov. Mike Dewine, the school announced.

DeWine also appointed Zane Perrico of Youngstown, a junior majoring in physics and math, as a student trustee.

Williams owns Sterling McCullough Williams Funeral Home, a family-owned business that has more than 70 years of service in the Warren and Youngstown areas. In addition to his funeral home business, Williams manages multiple companies, including Tax Master Accounting and Tax Services Inc., Twin Realty and Leasing LLC and Steel Town LLC.

A graduate of Rayen High School, Williams earned his bachelor’s degree in business administration in 1977 from Miami University. He received a master’s degree in business administration in 1980 from Kent State University.

He has served on several boards, including the Youngstown State University Penguins Club, the Western Reserve Port Authority, the Warren-Youngstown Economic Development Committee, Association of Ohio Commodores, the Medici Museum of Art, Community Foundation Hospice Trust of Trumbull County, Visiting Nurses Board of Northeastern Ohio and the Frank Bentley Scholarship Foundation.

“Sterling brings a wealth of experience and a deep commitment to the community to the YSU board of trustees,” Bill Johnson, YSU president, said in a news release.

Williams will serve a nine-year term through June 2035. He replaces Molly Seals, whose term recently expired.

Perrico, a Canfield High School graduate, is a member of the YSU Sokolov Honors College and a YSU student senator, serving on the Academic Programs Committee, Academic Grievances Board and Calendar and Course Schedule Task Force.

He works on campus as a peer tutor in the Resch Academic Success Center, assisting fellow students in their studies. He also serves as a student employee in the Physics, Astronomy, Geology and Environmental Science department in the College of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. Perrico is a member of the National Mathematics Honors Society and the American Physical Society. He has also served in leadership roles in the Society of Physics Students and the Rocket Club.

The son of two YSU alumni, Perrico replaces Julie Centofanti, who has graduated.