June 30, 2011
Guido M. Pichini elected chair of Board of Governors
Contact: Kevin Hensil, khensil@passhe.edu
Harrisburg – The Board of Governors of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE)
has elected Guido M. Pichini of Wyomissing as its new chair—the first State System
university alumnus to hold the position.
Pichini is president of Security Guards Inc. and its subsidiaries, WSK and Associates
Consulting Group and Vigilant Security Services, all of Wyomissing, He is a 1974 graduate
of Kutztown University of Pennsylvania.
The Board also elected as its vice chairs Marie Conley Lammando, director of the Children's
Miracle Network at the Penn State Hershey Children's Hospital, and Aaron A. Walton,
a retired senior vice president for Highmark Inc. of Pittsburgh. Both also are PASSHE
university graduates.
The 20-member Board of Governors has overall responsibility for planning and coordinating
the development and operation of PASSHE, which is the largest provider of higher education
in the Commonwealth, enrolling nearly 120,000 students. The Board establishes broad
fiscal, personnel and educational policies under which the 14 PASSHE universities
operate.
Mr. Pichini is in his second term on the Board of Governors. He first served from
June 2005 to October 2009 and was reappointed in October 2010. He also is chair of
the Council of Trustees at Kutztown University and is former chair of the Pennsylvania
Association of Councils of Trustees (PACT), the statewide organization that comprises
the trustees from all 14 PASSHE universities.
Mr. Pichini graduated from Kutztown University in 1974 with a degree in education/political science, and completed graduate studies in public administration at Kutztown. He also graduated from Wilson College with certification in the minor judiciary, attaining the highest grade in the history of Pennsylvania.
Mr. Pichini becomes the fourth chair in PASSHE’s 28-year history. He succeeds Kenneth
M. Jarin, who served as chair for six years.
As director of the Children’s Miracle Network, Ms. Conley Lammando is in charge of
an international non-profit organization that has affiliations with 170 children's
hospitals and seeks to generate funds and awareness programs for PSU Hershey Children's
Hospital and the children and families it serves. Previously, she worked on numerous
political campaigns, including those of former President George W. Bush and former
Governor Tom Ridge. Additionally, she served as the convention director for the Pennsylvania
delegation at the 2004 Republican National Convention in New York and was convention
coordinator for the state delegation in Philadelphia in 2000.
She is a 1994 graduate of Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania, with Bachelor of
Arts degrees in speech communications and political science, and served for a number
of years on the university’s Council of Trustees. She has been a member of the Board
of Governors since 2002 and also chairs the Board’s Human Resources Committee.
Mr. Walton of Allison Park was responsible for administering Highmark’s public policy
and social mission strategy and overseeing the departments of Community Affairs, Community
Health and Strategic Health Initiatives, the Highmark Foundation and Gateway Health
Plan. He serves on the Council of Trustees at California University of Pennsylvania
and previously served as its chair from 1999-2003. He holds a bachelor’s degree in
speech pathology and audiology from California University of Pennsylvania and a master’s
degree in public policy and management from Carnegie Mellon University.
Mr. Walton was first appointed to the Board of Governors in 2005, and has served as
a vice chair since 2006. He also chairs the Board’s Academic and Student Affairs Committee.
Other members of the Board of Governors are Leonard B. Altieri III of Newton Square,
a student at West Chester University of Pennsylvania; Rep. Matthew E. Baker of Wellsboro;
Governor Tom Corbett; Sarah C. Darling, Lancaster, a student at Millersville University
of Pennsylvania; Rep. Michael K. Hanna, Lock Haven; Ronald G. Henry, Bryn Mawr; Sen.
Vincent J. Hughes, Philadelphia; Kenneth M. Jarin, Newtown; Bonnie L. Keener, Edinboro,
a student at California University of Pennsylvania; Jonathan B. Mack, Indiana; Joseph
F. McGinn, Linwood; C.R. “Chuck” Pennoni, Bryn Mawr; Sen. Jeffrey E. Piccola, Harrisburg;
Harold C. Shields, Allison Park; Robert S. Taylor, New Hope; Secretary of Education
Ronald J. Tomalis; and Christine J. Toretti, Indiana.
The 14 PASSHE universities are Bloomsburg, California, Cheyney, Clarion, East Stroudsburg,
Edinboro, Indiana, Kutztown, Lock Haven, Mansfield, Millersville, Shippensburg, Slippery
Rock and West Chester Universities of Pennsylvania. PASSHE also operates branch campuses
in Clearfield, Freeport, Oil City and Punxsutawney and several regional centers, including
the Dixon University Center in Harrisburg. Combined, the universities offer degree
and certificate programs in more than 120 areas of study. Nearly 500,000 PASSHE alumni
live and work in Pennsylvania.