Drexel’s Longtime Board of Trustees Chair Passes the Torch

When Drexel University Trustee Richard Greenawalt became the Board’s chair, he never imagined he’d stay in the role for nearly two decades. But this month, as he steps down from that post, Greenawalt is confident in the University’s next phase under new leadership: longtime Trustee Mike Lawrie will succeed him as chair of Drexel’s Board, and Antonio Merlo will become the University’s 16th president this summer.

Throughout his long tenure as chair, Greenawalt recalls he would sometimes take stock of his options, consult with his right-hand John Fry — who was president for 14 years — and end up making the decision to stay.

“It’s abnormal to chair a board for 17 years, and in fact, I wouldn’t recommend it,” said Greenawalt, a 1966 College of Engineering alumnus and first-generation student originally from Berks County. “It’s also abnormal for presidents to serve universities for such a long time. The average tenure is about six years today. But, we’ve had that stable leadership here at Drexel, and it’s allowed for a lot of important work.”

Greenawalt, who spent much of his career as an executive at Citibank, Advanta, and running private investment firm RMK Associates, was newly serving as Board chair when President Constantine Papadakis tragically died from cancer in 2009. He painstakingly led the year-and-a-half-long search for Drexel’s 14th president, ultimately hiring Fry, then president of Franklin & Marshall College and a former administrator at the University of Pennsylvania.

Greenawalt and Fry would go on to form a complementary partnership based on trust, one that helped grow the University and its endowment while guiding Drexel through challenges ranging from the closure of the College of Medicine’s teaching hospital to the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, with Fry having departed to lead Temple University and his own tenure concluding, Greenawalt said he feels optimistic about Drexel’s future.

“I feel good passing the reins,” Greenawalt said. “I know Mike and Antonio are going to have a terrific partnership, and Drexel is going to do more than survive in this difficult environment for higher education. Drexel will thrive and it will be successful.”

Lawrie, who has served on Drexel’s Board of Trustees since Papadakis’ presidency and earned his graduate degree in marketing and finance from the Bennett S. LeBow College of Business in 1977, will officially transition as chair during the May Board meeting. Merlo, currently Anne and Joel Ehrenkranz Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Science at New York University, will become Drexel’s president on July 1. Trustee and former Exelon executive Denis P. O’Brien, who has graciously been serving as interim president since the fall, will return to his Board role.

Lawrie led the meticulous presidential search that, in just six months, hired Merlo, announcing his appointment at the end of January.

“His keen intellect, his intuitiveness, his openness, and his ability to listen and relate to all types of individuals has prepared him very well for the challenges we will face at Drexel,” Lawrie said of Merlo. “His enthusiasm is infectious. In many ways, he is a personification of what Drexel is all about. My role as chair of the Board is to help him lead the University community into this next, exciting chapter.”

Lawrie added that he and Merlo will undoubtedly work very well together because they share “a vision of where the University is headed based on Drexel’s longstanding principles.”

After working his way up at IBM over a 27-year career and living throughout the world, Lawrie — a native of Wayne, Pennsylvania — went on to lead several public corporations, including Siebel Systems, Misys, Allscripts and Computer Sciences Corporation. During his tenure, CSC merged with Hewlett Packard Enterprise Services to form the world’s second-largest technology services firm. Following that integration, Lawrie launched The Lawrie Group, which includes a private-equity fund, business services company and SPAC platform (TLG Acquisition One Corp). More recently, TLG, in partnership with Indus Tech Edge, has established another private-equity fund focused on emerging technology companies in India.

Lawrie previously served on the Board of Trustees at Ohio University, his undergraduate alma mater; he’s been ranked in 2018 and 2019 by the Harvard Business Review as one of the Top 50 CEOs in the world; and he’s received an honorary Doctor of Science degree from Shiv Nadar University in India. He is chair of The Lawrie Foundation, which contributes to arts and education initiatives in the U.S., including the Lawrie Advanced Global Leadership Program at LeBow. Like Greenawalt and O’Brien, Lawrie is a member of The Drexel 100.

“Drexel’s future is bright,” said Lawrie. “We certainly have challenges, as does all of higher education, but I see Drexel as a leader in thinking about how students will be educated to prepare them for not only the future job market, but to make a meaningful contribution to society as educated and informed citizens.”

In recognizing Greenawalt, Lawrie noted how much the University has benefited from his steadfast loyalty and belief in Drexel’s foundational values.

“The University has a real debt of gratitude for Rich’s leadership, persistence, consistency and his honest integrity as we navigated so much change over the past 17 years,” Lawrie said. “He never faltered on Drexel’s true north and that’s a legacy we intend to emulate.”