St. John Fisher College Welcomes Seven New Members of the Board in 2019

St. John Fisher College has welcomed seven new members to its Board of Trustees in 2019, including six alumni. They include James R. Reis ’79, William G. Clark ’78, Rebecca Pelino ’86, Matthew J. Rowe ’90, Anthony Lee ’17, Heather Williams ’85, and Rev. George T. Smith, CSB.

James R. Reis ’79, William G. Clark ’78, Rebecca Pelino ’86, Matthew J. Rowe ’90, Anthony Lee ’17, Heather Williams ’85, and Rev. George T. Smith, CSB were welcomed to the St. John Fisher College Board of Trustees this year.

“I am pleased to welcome our newest Trustees, and look forward to their continued positive contributions to the College,” said President Gerard J. Rooney.  “It is particularly special to have so many alumni join, all of whom have remained engaged with Fisher in a variety of ways and have a vested interest in helping to move Fisher forward.”

Reis is currently executive vice chairman of Gainsco, Inc., a property and casualty insurance holding company based in Texas. He is also founder and managing director of First Western Capital, LLC.

Clark recently retired after a 37-year career with the Urban League of Rochester, NY, Inc., including his most recent position as president and CEO since 1994. He served as the keynote speaker at the College’s 2019 Commencement.

Pelino has had an extensive career as a commercial real estate broker and land developer and is a founding partner and managing partner of Capital Investment Advisors, located the Washington, D.C., area.

Rowe has served as the president of Gotham Surgical, a medical device distributor, in New York City since 1998.  A formal Fisher football player, he is the benefactor of the William E. Rowe ’61 Football Coaching Suite in the Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Athletic Center, dedicated in memory of his father in spring 2017. 

Lee is the first to be named as a Recent Alumni Trustee, a newly created Board position to ensure recent graduates had a voice in the direction of their alma mater. In this position, Lee is a full voting member of the Board. He is assistant buyer of golf equipment for DICK’S Sporting Goods in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Williams serves as marketing manager for Ontario Specialty Contracting (OSC), Inc. and executive director of the OSC Charitable Foundation in Buffalo, New York.  She and her husband, Jon, also a Fisher alum, launched the East Delavan Academy, a workforce development program focused on training in the building and equipment trades.  Williams has been a long-time supporter of the College, and has also served on the President’s Advisory Council. 

Smith, former superior general of the Congregation of St. Basil, currently serves as interim dean of the faculty of theology at Saint Paul University in Ottawa. He previously served as the president of St. Thomas More College at the University of Saskatchewan and St. Joseph College at the University of Alberta. He was the recipient of a President’s Medal from the College at the 2018 Commencement. 

In addition, four long-time members of the Board have stepped down from their duties after decades of combined service. William Hughes ’62, Martin Keating ’75, John (Jack) Palvino ’55, and C. McCollister Evarts, M.D., were named to the Trustees Emeriti Society with Palvino appointed chair of the 14-member group.