Saint Mary’s College Welcomes New Trustees
Contact:
Gwen O’Brien
Director of Media Relations
Saint Mary's College
(574) 284-4579
July 18, 2011 (Notre Dame, Ind.)—Saint Mary’s welcomes five new members to the Board of Trustees. At its spring meeting, the Board elected four members to three-year terms (2011-2014) and appointed a student to a one-year term (2011-2012). The Board also re-elected five members to three-year terms (2011-2014). Terms began last month.
Elected to the board are William W. Cushwa, Gretchen A. Flicker ’93, Patricia Wiedner Purcell ’69 and David L. Taiclet. Catherine Cleary ’12 was appointed as the student trustee. Re-elected for a third three-year term is Mary L. Burke ’85, Chair of the Board of Trustees. Re-elected to second three-year terms are M. Suzanne Scherer Calandra ’72, Elizabeth R. Culligan ’72 and the Rev. Edward A. Malloy, CSC. Re-elected to her first three-year term, after completing a partial term, is Sister Agnes Anne Roberts, CSC ’51.
Earlier this year, the Alumnae Board elected Rebecca Anne Votto ’93 as Alumnae Board President. She is fulfilling the two-year term (2010-2012) of Linda Kawecki ’79 who resigned the presidency for personal reasons. As the Alumnae Board President, Votto sits on the Board of Trustees. More information on the new board members can be found at the end of this press release.
In other Board business, JoAnn McDermott Reed ’77 was elected to a three-year term (2011-2014) as Treasurer of the Board.
Meanwhile, Saint Mary’s College thanks the Trustees who departed the Board as of May 31. They are:
o Hollye Harrington Jacobs ’93 (served six years, 2005-2011)
o Beverly Troxler O’Grady ’63 (served nine years, 2002-2011)
o Jennifer Mathile Prikkel ’95 (served nine years, 2002-2011)
o Emma Hoffman ’11 (served one year, 2010-2011)
O’Grady and Prikkel were inducted into the President’s Circle, an advisory group to Saint Mary's College President Carol Ann Mooney. Membership is limited to Trustees who have served a minimum of nine years on the Saint Mary's College Board of Trustees.
Background on new Board of Trustees members:
William W. Cushwa is the past Vice President of Planning and Assistant Treasurer for Commercial Intertech Corporation. Cushwa retired in 1996. He earned an English degree from the University of Notre Dame in 1959 and a master’s degree in business administration (MBA) from Case Western Reserve University in 1975. Cushwa serves on the Board of Directors at Real Services Inc. He served as the Vice President of the Board of Directors at the South Bend Symphony Orchestra, where he was a board member for six years. He remains on the finance committee. Cushwa is also active with ND Downtown, a University of Notre Dame initiative that supports and contributes to creating a prosperous and healthy environment in which to live, work, and raise a family. He and his wife, Anna Jean, have five children, including Margaret Cushwa Haller ’90. An interesting side note, the Cushwa-Leighton Library at Saint Mary's College is named for his mother, Margaret Hall Cushwa ’30. Mary Lou Morris Leighton is the other major benefactor for the building.
Gretchen A. Flicker ’93 is Vice President of Institutional Services for Dimensional Fund Advisors in Santa Monica, California. Prior to joining the firm in 1998, she served as a business developer for the Hewitt Investment Group and as an investment consultant for SEI Corporation. She graduated from Saint Mary's College as a mathematics and business administration major. Flicker received an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. She received her CFA designation in 2004. She is a member of the Madeleva Society Steering Committee and a member of the Alumnae Club in Los Angeles.
Patricia Wiedner Purcell ’69 graduated from Saint Mary's College with a bachelor of arts in special education. She has served on the Madeleva Society Steering Committee (1994 and 1998-2006) and served as a Madeleva Representative of the Reunion Gift Campaign 2004. She is married to Paul E. Purcell and the couple has four children.
David L. Taiclet is President of the Gourmet Food Group of 1-800-Flowers.com, Inc. Prior to taking that position in 2008, he served as Chief Executive Officer of the Fannie May Brands, when 1-800-Flowers.com acquired the company in 2006. Taiclet was Co-Founder of a business that ultimately became known as Fannie May Confections Brands, Inc. (formerly Alpine Confections, Inc.). From May 1991 to January 1995, he served in a variety of management positions with Cargill, Inc., an international marketer, processor and distributor of food, financial and industrial products. He holds a bachelor’s degree in finance from the University of Notre Dame (1985) and earned a master’s degree in business administration (MBA) from Harvard (1991). He is married to Kathleen Conley Taiclet '85 and the couple has four children.
Rebecca Anne Votto ’93 joins the Saint Mary's College Board of Trustees as the new President of the Saint Mary's College Alumnae Board. Votto is a Managing Member of Peninsula Consulting Services, LLC, in Hermosa Beach, California, where she assists clients in executing mergers and acquisitions. She graduated from Saint Mary's College in 1993 with a bachelor’s degree in political science. She is actively involved in the Los Angeles Alumnae Club. Rebecca and her husband, Matt Bennett, live in Hermosa Beach, California.
Catherine Cleary ’12 is a senior majoring in women’s studies. Her community outreach includes organizing a women’s hygiene product drive for the Indiana Women’s Prison; working as a classroom aide/tutor at a South Bend primary center; and teaching English to recent immigrant adults in Minneapolis. Her leadership activities include being a member and Vice President of the Straight and Gay Alliance (SAGA); helping to put on the Women’s Issues in Urban Environments Conference in Indianapolis; and creating a Girl Power Workshop at a South Bend primary center. She has interned with the League of Women Voters, at the Indianapolis Women’s Prison and in the Saint Mary's College Department of Student Affairs as a grant intern for the Operation Diploma program, which assists women veterans pursue a college education. Her other experience includes working in the Belles Against Violence Office (BAVO) as an office assistant and as a resident advisor at the College. The Saint Mary’s Office for Civic and Social Engagement (OCSE) honored her with the Sister Christine Healy, CSC Award for Service with Women and the American Association of University Women (AAUW) selected her to be on the Student Advisory Council, responsible for planning and carrying out the 2011 National Conference for College Women Student Leaders.
About Saint Mary’s College: Saint Mary’s College, Notre Dame, Ind., is a four-year, Catholic, women’s institution offering five bachelor’s degrees and more than 30 major areas of study. Saint Mary’s College has six nationally accredited academic programs: social work, art, music, teacher education, chemistry and nursing. Saint Mary's College ranks among the top 100 “Best National Liberal Arts Colleges” in the U.S. News & World Report 2011 College Guide. Founded in 1844, Saint Mary’s is a pioneer in the education of women, and is sponsored by the Sisters of the Holy Cross.