Drexel Board of Trustees Appoints New Members

Drexel University recently announced six new appointments to its Board of Trustees. The new Drexel trustees are:

Sally J. Bellet, Esq., president of the Stein/Bellet Foundation, Inc.  Prior to heading the Foundation, she worked on behalf of the city of Philadelphia for 17 years followed by 12 years as vice president of Real Estate Development at Amtrak. The Stein/Bellet Foundation supports education, medical research and the arts. Bellet serves as an officer and member of the Board of Trustees as well as the chair of the School Committee and Human Resources Committee of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. She has established the Bellet Fellowship at the Parkinson's Disease and Movement and Disorder Center at Pennsylvania Hospital and the Bellet Scholarship at the Fordham University School of Law. Bellet is a member of the Advisory Board for Inflammatory Bowel Disease at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and is a member of the External Advisory Board of the Institute of Aging at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. Bellet also serves as chairwoman of the Hope Lodge Philadelphia Council of the American Cancer Society. Bellet is a 1976 graduate of the Fordham University School of Law.

Gregory S. Bentley, CEO of Bentley Systems, Inc., a global engineering software company producing solutions for the design, construction and operations of infrastructure. As one of the largest software providers that has remained privately owned since its founding, Bentley Systems has grown to over 3,000 colleagues, with annual revenues exceeding $550 million. Prior to Bentley Systems, Greg co-founded and was CEO of Devon Systems International, Inc., a provider of financial trading software, which was acquired by SunGard Data Systems. He served on SunGard’s board of directors from 1991 until it went private in 2005, then among the world's largest IT vendors. Bentley earned a bachelor's degree in decision sciences from the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA in finance from the Wharton School. He has been a member of the Board of Overseers for the School of Design at the University of Pennsylvania, and a trustee of the National Building Museum. At Drexel, Bentley chairs the Pennoni Honors College Board of Advisors.

Domenic M. DiPiero, III, president and founder of Newport Capital Group, an integrated financial services firm providing customized investment and non-investment solutions to a diverse client base, from individuals to multinational corporations. In 2010, DiPiero was named as one of the 300 Most Influential Advisors in Defined Contribution by 401kwire.com. In 2009, the business newspaper NJBIZ honored him as one of New Jersey’s Forty Under 40 award winners and named him a finalist as a Corporate Citizen of the Year through the Business of the Year program. DiPiero was previously president of the marketing division of Delphi Petroleum and president of Dove Terminals. He serves as chair of Riverview Medical Center Foundation and as vice chair of Meridian Health System Foundation. DiPiero is a graduate of Salve Regina University.

Thomas Kline, Esq., founding partner along with Shanin Specter of Kline & Specter, P.C., one of Philadelphia’s leading injury law firms. In three decades of practicing personal injury law, Kline has forged an incomparable record of courtroom victories. As a result, Kline has received a litany of accolades and recognition, including his selection as president of the Inner Circle of Advocates, described by The Washington Post as “a select group of 100 of the nation's most celebrated trial lawyers.” Kline also has been honored for nine consecutive years as the No.1 attorney among Pennsylvania’s 34,000 lawyers by Super Lawyers magazine for 2004 through 2012. Kline was selected for the 2007 edition of the World's Leading Product Liability Lawyers. Kline received his bachelor’s degree from Albright College, where he has been honored with the college’s Distinguished Alumni Award. He earned a master’s degree in American History from Lehigh University and later attended Duquesne University School of Law, where he graduated with the school’s Distinguished Student Award and later received its Distinguished Alumni Award. At Drexel, Kline serves as chairman of the Earle Mack School of Law Advisory Board. 

Michael A. Rashid, president and CEO of the AmeriHealth Mercy Family of companies.  Headquartered in Philadelphia, the AmeriHealth Mercy Family of Companies is among the largest organizations of Medicaid managed care plans and related businesses in the United States. Prior to his current position, Rashid was executive vice president and chief operating officer of Ameri­Health Mercy, and had primary oversight of the company’s growth and operations. Before joining AmeriHealth Mercy, he was president and CEO of Mercy Health Plan of New Jersey (currently Horizon NJ Health). He serves on the boards of many organizations including Medicaid Health Plans of America, the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce, the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation and Vision of Hope. Rashid has been recognized with numerous awards and honors. He was named one of the recipients of the Philadelphia Business Journal’s Minority Business Leaders of 2011. Rashid was also presented the prestigious American Diabetes Association “Father of the Year” Award and the Martin Luther King Jr. Association’s Drum Major Award for Corporate Social Responsibility. Rashid earned an MBA in finance from the Harvard Busi­ness School and a bachelor of science degree in marketing from the University of Southern California.

Michael J. Williams ’80, ’83, recently served as Fannie Mae’s president and chief executive officer, and as a member of the company’s Board of Directors. During his tenure as CEO, the company provided over $2.7 trillion in liquidity to the mortgage market, enabling over 8.1 million homeowners to refinance their mortgage, 2.2 million families to purchase a home and 1.3 million units of affordable rental housing to be constructed. As a result of these efforts, Fannie Mae returned to profitability, posting $7.8 billion in net income for the first half of 2012. Williams held several executive leadership positions since joining Fannie Mae in 1991, most notably as the executive vice president and president of eBusiness, executive vice president for Regulatory Agreements and Restatement, and executive vice president and chief operating officer. Prior to joining Fannie Mae in 1991, Williams’ career included positions with KPMG Peat Marwick and the DuPont Company. He has his MBA in finance and his bachelor of science in commerce and engineering from Drexel University. Williams is currently a member of the Board of Directors for the Children’s National Medical Center (CNMC) in Washington, D.C., where he also serves as treasurer of the Board. Williams also serves on the Advisory Board for Drexel’s LeBow School of Business.