December 15, 2000
SENATOR VINCENT J. HUGHES NAMED TO BOARD OF GOVERNORS
Contact: Kevin Hensil, khensil@passhe.edu
State Sen. Vincent J. Hughes, D-Philadelphia, has been named to the State System of Higher Education’s Board of Governors.
The 20-member board has overall responsibility for planning and coordinating the development and operation of the State System. The governors establish broad fiscal, personnel and educational policies under which the System universities operate.
The Board comprises 11 members who are appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Senate, four legislators, three students, the governor or his designee and the secretary of education or his designee. Sen. Hughes was appointed to the Board by Senate Democratic Leader Robert J. Mellow to replace recently retired state Sen. Patrick J. Stapleton, D-Indiana, who had served on the Board since 1988.
Sen. Hughes’ father, the late James A. Hughes, was a founding member of the Board of Governors, serving on the Board from 1983 to 1996. A building on the campus of the Dixon University Center, which serves as the System’s headquarters, recently was renamed Hughes Hall in honor of James A. Hughes and his many contributions to the State System.
“This is a two-fold honor for me. My father was a founding member of the Board and was deeply committed to its mission,” Sen. Hughes said. “Therefore, I hope to serve both that mission and his memory by serving on the Board. I'm proud of the State System’s tradition of academic excellence and commitment to equal opportunity and access for all Pennsylvanians. I'm grateful for the opportunity to contribute to those ideals.”
“I welcome Sen. Hughes to the Board of Governors and look forward to working with him,” said Board Chairman Charles A. Gomulka. “His knowledge of the State System and his commitment to all of higher education will be a tremendous benefit during the course of our deliberations.”
Sen. Hughes has served in the state Senate since 1994. He also was a member of the state House of Representatives for eight years. In the Senate, he is the Democratic chairman of the Communications and High Technology and Public Health & Welfare committees and also serves on the Appropriations, Education, Military and Veterans Affairs and Policy committees.
In addition to the committee assignments, Sen. Hughes is a member of the Joint State Government Commission; Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission’s Heritage & Tourism Advisory Committee; Pennsylvania Legislative Black Caucus, which he chaired for four years; Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency; Pennsylvania Minority Business Development Authority; and the Human Resource Investment Council.
He is a board member of the Center for Human Advancement, co-founder and chairman of Children First Inc. and a board member of the Philadelphia Commercial Development Corporation.
Hughes attended Temple University and also has been awarded an honorary doctoral degree from Cheyney University of Pennsylvania. Sen. Hughes and his wife, Renee, have two children.
The Board of Governors originally comprised 16 members. Four legislators were added to the Board in 1988. All four of the initial appointees remained on the Board until Sen. Stapleton’s retirement Nov. 30. Legislative members of the Board are appointed by the party caucus leaders in each chamber of the Legislature.
Other legislators serving on the Board are Sen. F. Joseph Loeper, R-Drexel Hill; Rep. Jere Schuler, R-Lampeter; and Rep. Jeffrey W. Coy, D-Shippensburg.
Other members of the Board of Governors are Chairman Gomulka of Pittsburgh; Vice Chairs Kim E. Lyttle, Pittsburgh, and R. Benjamin Wiley, Erie; and Syed R. Ali-Zaidi, Shippenville; Angela M. Ambrose, Edinboro University of Pennsylvania; Daniel P. Elby, York; Secretary of Education Eugene W. Hickok Jr., Harrisburg; David P. Holveck, Malvern; James V. Manser IV, Lock Haven University of Pennsylvania; Gov. Thomas J. Ridge, Harrisburg; David M. Sanko, Harrisburg; B. Michael Schaul, Mechanicsburg; John K. Thornburgh, Pittsburgh; Christine J. Toretti, Indiana; and Amy M. Yozviak, West Chester University of Pennsylvania. There is one vacancy.
The State System of Higher Education’s 14 universities offer more than 250 degree and certificate programs in more than 120 areas of study. Nearly 350,000 System alumni live and work in Pennsylvania.
The state-owned universities are Bloomsburg, California, Cheyney, Clarion, East Stroudsburg, Edinboro, Indiana, Kutztown, Lock Haven, Mansfield, Millersville, Shippensburg, Slippery Rock and West Chester Universities of Pennsylvania. The System also operates branch campuses in Clearfield, Kittanning, Oil City and Punxsutawney and several regional centers, including the Dixon University Center in Harrisburg and the University Center for Southwest Pennsylvania in Pittsburgh. The regional centers are part of the Educational Resources Group, which is responsible for coordinating statewide programming.