October 21, 2013
State Senate confirms six to PASSHE Board of Governors
Contact: Kevin Hensil, khensil@passhe.edu
Harrisburg – Guido M. Pichini, chair of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education’s
Board of Governors, recently was confirmed by the state Senate to a new four-year
term on the Board that oversees the 14 state-owned universities.
Board members Marie A. Conley of Harrisburg, Jonathan B. Mack of Indiana and Aaron
A. Walton of Allison Park also were confirmed to new four-year terms.
The Senate also confirmed Christopher H. Franklin of Paoli and David M. Maser of Philadelphia to new seats on the Board. Mr. Franklin replaces former Board member Harold C. Shields and will serve through December 2014. Mr. Maser’s term is for four years. He replaces former Board Chair Kenneth M. Jarin who left the Board last December.
The Senate also confirmed Christopher H. Franklin of Paoli and David M. Maser of Philadelphia to new seats on the Board. Mr. Franklin replaces former Board member Harold C. Shields and will serve through December 2014. Mr. Maser’s term is for four years. He replaces former Board Chair Kenneth M. Jarin who left the Board last December.
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 about 112,000 students. The Board establishes broad
fiscal, personnel and educational policies under which the 14 PASSHE universities
operate.
Mr. Pichini is president of WSK & Associates and its related companies of Wyomissing.
He is a member of the Council of Trustees at Kutztown University of Pennsylvania,
and former chair of the Pennsylvania Association of Councils of Trustees (PACT). He
served on the Governor's Advisory Commission on Postsecondary Education and is a member
of the Executive Committee of the Pennsylvania Workforce Investment Board.
Mr. Pichini graduated from Kutztown University 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. He was elected to his third consecutive
term as Board Chair in July.
Ms. Conley is a consultant focusing on engagement strategies and fund development
to a variety of clients through her company Conley Consulting, LLC. She works primarily
with the Paterno family to assist with a variety of initiatives around the issue of
child sexual victimization. She previously was director of the Children’s Miracle
Network at Penn State Hershey Children’s Hospital. She has been a fundraising and
political consultant, having served on numerous statewide campaigns and also served
as the director for the Pennsylvania delegation for three Republican National Conventions.
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 chairs the Board’s Human Resources Committee.
Mr. Mack is an attorney and partner with Marcus & Mack, P.C., of Indiana. A member
of the Pennsylvania Trial Lawyers and Western Pennsylvania Trial Lawyers, he received
his Juris Doctor degree from the University of Toledo School of Law and bachelor’s
degree from Dickinson College, where he graduated cum laude. He is vice chair of Indiana
University of Pennsylvania’s Council of Trustees and also chairs the Council’s Academic
and Student Affairs Committee and is a member of IUP’s Middle States accreditation
team. He is president of the J.S. Mack Foundation; vice chair of the Seeds of Faith
Christian Academy and chair of its capital campaign; co-chair of the Indiana County
Salvation Army’s Red Kettle campaign; a board member for the Indiana Experiment; and
an elder at Summit Church in Indiana. Mr. Mack is chair of the Board of Governors'
External Relations Committee.
Mr. Walton is a retired senior vice president of Highmark, Inc. of Pittsburgh, where
he had accountability for Highmark’s public relations and social mission strategies.
Additionally, he had oversight of the corporation’s Community Involvement, Strategic
Health Initiatives and its joint venture affiliate, Gateway Health Plan. Mr. Walton
recently joined the leadership team of Silver Eco-Solutions of Indianola as a senior
vice president. Silver Eco-Solutions supplies products to the oil and gas industry.
He is a member of California University of Pennsylvania’s Council of Trustees, which
he chaired from 1999 to 2003. Mr. Walton 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. He is chair of the Board’s
Academic and Student Affairs Committee.
Mr. Franklin is president and chief operating officer of Aqua America Inc., based
in Brwn Mawr, where he is responsible for the company’s regulated operations throughout
the company’s service area, which includes approximately 3 million customers in 10
states. A 20-year veteran of the company, he has held executive roles in public affairs,
customer operations and most recently as regional president of the company’s southern
and mid-western operations, where he managed eight states. Mr. Franklin earned his
undergraduate degree from West Chester University of Pennsylvania and his MBA from
Villanova University. He serves on WCU’s Council of Trustees and is past president
of the Board of Directors of the West Chester University Foundation.
Mr. Maser is of counsel with Chimicles & Tikellis, which has offices in Haverford
and Wilmington, Del. He is a member of the firm’s Client Development Group and works
closely with institutional clients. He has worked in both law and government for 17
years and has been involved with multiple presidential campaigns and numerous other
federal, state and local campaigns. He previously worked with the Major League Baseball
Players’ Association and as a government affairs specialist, representing numerous
clients, including Fortune 500 companies, and counseling them in legislative issues,
appropriation requests and business development opportunities at the federal, state
and local levels. Mr. Maser is a graduate of Temple University School of Law and Pennsylvania
State University, where he received a bachelor’s degree in marketing.
PASSHE is the largest provider of higher education in the Commonwealth, with about
112,000 students. The 14 PASSHE universities offer degree and certificate programs
in more than 120 areas of study. About 500,000 PASSHE 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. PASSHE also operates branch campuses
in Clearfield, Freeport, Oil City and Punxsutawney and several regional centers, including
the Dixon University Center in Harrisburg.