Arcadia University Alumna Elected President of Board of Trustees
GLENSIDE, Pa., Thursday, August 19, 2010─Margaret Wright Steele, a 1980 graduate of Arcadia University, becomes the second alum to be elected Chair of the Arcadia University Board of Trustees.
Five new members joined the Board this summer: Jean S. Hassler, Richard Llewellyn Jones Jr., Charles William Lentz, David Paone, and John Edward Riggan.
A successful businesswoman with a passion for the Baseball Hall of Fame, Steele joined the Board in 1999. In her five years as Vice Chair, Steele has served as the Board’s representative on the University Planning Committee, helping to shape the future of Arcadia. She also serves as Co-Chair to At Home & In the World—The Campaign for Arcadia University, the largest campaign in the University’s history.
“I was among the generations who knew this institution as Beaver College. It was the personal commitment that faculty and staff exhibited that made the difference when I was a student. As I survey Arcadia’s future, I see a University that continues to grow, not only in size, but also in the quality of our programs. The University is on a sound fiscal footing and continues to advance its leadership role in a globalized learning environment.”
Graduating with honors and a degree in Business Administration from Arcadia in 1980, Steele launched Perez-Steele Galleries, a prosperous business venture that she started with her late husband, Frank. The firm holds an exclusive license to design limited-edition artist renderings of every Baseball Hall of Fame member for avid collectors. She also created the Steele Internship program at the Baseball Hall of Fame, which brings 25 college students to Cooperstown, N.Y., for a 10-week paid internship. Steele’s community service includes serving as Vice Chair of the Board of Trustees of Chestnut Hill Academy, a pre-K-through-12 private boys’ school in Chestnut Hill.
Five new members have been elected to the Arcadia University Board of Trustees:
Jean S. Hassler, of Jenkintown, Pa., is a former part-time adjunct Professor of English. She has been a member of the Junior League of Philadelphia for 27 years and has maintained her membership on the Institutional Review Board for the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia since 2000 and the Board of the Jenkintown Day Nursery since 2002. She earned an M.A. in English from Arcadia in 2000.
Richard Llewellyn Jones Jr., F.A.C.H.E, of Huntingdon, Valley, Pa., was President and CEO of Abington Memorial Hospital from 1998 until his retirement in 2010. As a board member for several regional and national committees, including the Hospital and Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania and the Voluntary Hospitals of America, Jones has a background in developing and maintaining collaborative relationships. He established the hub hospital that led to Abington Health.
Charles William Lentz, of Hatboro, Pa., is an Alumni Trustee beginning a four-year term. Lentz has worked in the Abington School District for 20 years, serving as Principal of McKinley Elementary in Abington since 2008. Lentz is involved in numerous community committees, including Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Bucks County, St. Luke and the Epiphany Church, and the Welsh Society of Philadelphia. Lentz earned an M.S. in Educational Leadership from Arcadia in 2003.
David Paone, of Glenside, Pa., is a mental health therapist at Salisbury Behavioral Health in Glenside and a coach for the Montgomery County Special Athletes’ Association. At Arcadia, he was a resident assistant, an orientation leader, and a member of the Orientation Planning Committee. He was named the Arcadia University Campus Leader of the Year in 2002. He earned a B.A. in Psychology with a minor in Secondary Education in 2004 and an M.S. in Special Education in 2009 from Arcadia.
John Edward Riggan, of Philadelphia, is the co-founder of Riggan Enterprises LLC and the Board Chair and Strategist of Solutions for Progress. He was with The Conservation Company from 1981 until 2005, serving as Chairman and CEO from 1996-05. Riggan worked with the National Peace Corps in Africa, and he has served on numerous professional advisory panels for international, national and local organizations, including private foundations, governments, nonprofits, and for-profit businesses.
About Arcadia University: Arcadia University is a top-ranked private university in metropolitan Philadelphia and a national leader in study abroad and international education. The 2009 Open Doors report ranks Arcadia University 1st in the nation among master’s universities in the percentage of undergraduate students studying abroad. U.S. News & World Report ranks Arcadia University among the top master’s universities in the North, as one of the top study abroad programs in the nation, and a “top up-and-coming school” for the second year. The Physical Therapy program is ranked 7th in the nation. Arcadia University promises a distinctively global, integrative and personal learning experience that prepares students to contribute and prosper in a diverse and dynamic world.
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