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Board Members
Charles F. Desmond, Ed.D., Chairman (Biography)
G.L. Peter Alcock, Jr., Vice Chair, State College Representative (Biography)
Mary-Elizabeth Beach, Ed.D. (Biography)
Mario Borunda, Ed.D. (Biography)
Jeanne-Marie Boylan, Community College Representative (Biography)
James Coyle (Biography)
C. Bernard Fulp (Biography)
Nancy D. Harrington, Ed.D. (Biography)
Nancy Hoffman, Ph.D. (Biography)
Kate Quigley, State College Student Representative (Biography)
Paul Reville, Ex Officio (Biography)
Henry Thomas III, University of Massachusetts Representative (Biography)
Non-Voting Student Advisors
Nicholas Medico, Community College Student Representative
Lindsay McCluskey, University of Massachusetts Student Representative
Charles F. Desmond, Ed.D., Chairman
Dr. Charles Desmond was appointed by Governor Patrick in September 2008 to the Board of Higher Education, and in December 2008, the Governor appointed him to serve as Chair.
A Fulbright Scholar, Charlie served from 2002 to 2009 as Executive Vice President of the Trefler Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to improving educational opportunities and success for Boston's urban youth. At Trefler, he provided managerial oversight, advocacy and leadership on behalf of the Foundation to strengthen partnerships with Boston Public Schools, and nourished collaborative initiatives between and among philanthropic institutions in order to enhance their impact on urban educational reform.
Prior to Trefler, Charlie worked for 30 years at the University of Massachusetts Boston, with a focus on student affairs and community collaboration. He was Associate Chancellor for School/Community Collaboration, Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs, Director of the Department of Pre-Freshman Programs and Project Director of College Preparatory Program/Upward Bound, among other positions. He has also served as a guidance counselor at Northeastern University’s African/American Institute, and in the Boston Public Schools.
Charlie is active in civic and community organizations, including service as President of AARP Massachusetts and as a member of the Review Committee for the Broad Prize in Urban Education, Board of Governors for the Northeast and Islands Regional Educational Laboratory at Brown University, Brown University Design Group/Annenberg Institute for School Reform, and Cambridge College Board of Trustees. He was the co-chair and executive director of the Urban Educators Corps and is a past president of the Massachusetts Educational Opportunity Association, and he has been active with the American Council on Education, and the National Council of Educational Opportunity Associations, among other organizations.
Charlie earned his Ed.D. in instructional leadership from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and a B.S. in sociology from Northeastern University. He is a decorated veteran of the U.S. Army, receiving both Silver and Bronze stars.
G.L. Peter Alcock, Jr., Vice Chair, State College Representative
In August 2003, Peter Alcock was elected by his peers to represent the nine state colleges on the Board of Higher Education. He was re-elected in August 2006 for another term and currently serves as vice chair, a position he has held for three years. Peter is also a member of the Massachusetts State College Building Authority, to which he was appointed in September 2005 by Governor Romney. The authority is an independent agency which owns and oversees all Massachusetts state college dormitories, student centers and recreation centers. In 1999, Governor Cellucci appointed Peter as a trustee of Fitchburg State College, and in May 2001, the Fitchburg trustees elected him as Chairman of their Board. In this capacity, he led the board in its strategic redirection of the college’s operations and in improving the school’s academic reputation.
Peter has built a career restoring under-performing companies, with experience as both CEO and board member for companies in various consumer product and hi-tech industries. He also has extensive experience as a strategic management consultant. In December 2000, Peter acquired Beckwood Services, Inc., a Plaistow, New Hampshire-based manufacturer of electronic controls for automated capital equipment and analytical instruments. He is a member of the Association for Corporate Growth and the Turnaround Management Association, and served for five years as Vice President and Director of the Boston Chapter of the Association for Corporate Growth.
Peter graduated from Northeastern University with a B.S. in business and studied corporate finance at Northeastern University’s Graduate School of Business.
Mary-Elizabeth Beach, Ed.D.
Dr. Mary-Elizabeth Beach was appointed to the Board of Higher Education by Governor Patrick in September 2008. She is currently Superintendent of Ware Public Schools, a position which she has held since July 2006. Prior to this, Mary-Elizabeth was Special Assistant to the Superintendent for Research and Accountability/Chief Academic Officer in the Springfield Public Schools. She has worked in Washington, DC, both for the District as Assistant Superintendent, Office of Categorical Programs and Development, and in the U.S. Department of Education Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, where she managed the Standards and Assessment team for Title I / No Child Left Behind Act.
Mary-Elizabeth was also Principal of the Tri-County High School in Northampton, MA, and worked as an Educational Specialist for the Massachusetts Department of Education. She has taught at the elementary, high school and college level, including as a Teaching Fellow in Educational Psychology and Special Education at Springfield College.
Mary-Elizabeth received her Ed.D. in educational administration from the University of Vermont, Burlington, and a B.S. in special education and elementary education from Lyndon State College in Lyndonville, VT.
Mario Borunda, Ed.D.
Dr. Mario R. Borunda was appointed to the Board of Higher Education by Governor Patrick in September 2008. He is currently Dean of the School of Education at Lesley University, a position which he has held since July 2004. In that time, Mario has overseen the largest expansive period of the School of Education’s history. Prior to this, Mario was Vice President at the executive search firm Isaacson, Miller, where he worked extensively with many higher education institutions, public, private and charter schools in the K-12 arena, and non-profit school reform organizations from around the country. Previously, he was Dean of the Graduate School of Wheelock College in Boston.
Mario received his doctoral degree from Harvard Graduate School of Education, where he was the Chair of the Harvard Educational Review and co-founder of the Center for Urban and Minority Education. Dr. Borunda currently serves on several boards, including the Board of Directors for the Reading Recovery Council of North America, the Advisory Committee for Health Practices in Early Childhood Programs, (a Schott Fellowship project), and the Massachusetts Early Education and Care and Out-of-School Time Workforce Development Task Force, a one-year council (2007-2008) that he co-chaired.
Jeanne-Marie Boylan, Community College Representative
Jeanne-Marie Boylan was elected by her peers in 2003, and reelected in 2007, to represent the 15 community colleges on the Board of Higher Education, and currently serves as Chair of the Board’s Fiscal Affairs and Administrative Policy Committee.
Since 1999, Jeanne-Marie has served as the Chair of the Board of Trustees at Bunker Hill Community College, and as a Director and Treasurer of the Bunker Hill Community College Foundation. In 2001, she was elected President of the Massachusetts Community College Association, composed of the trustees and presidents of Massachusetts community colleges. Active in the Association of Community College Trustees, which represents more than 1,100 two-year colleges nationwide, Jeanne-Marie serves on the Association’s Public Policy Committee and is a past member of the Finance and Audit Committee.
Jeanne-Marie is active on the boards of many civic and community organizations, including The Boston Harbor Association, The Massachusetts Workers’ Compensation Advisory Council, Tufts University School of Dental Medicine Board of Overseers, Tufts University Development Corporation and the United States Golf Association. She also worked in the office of Governor Edward King as Director of Community Service and Secretary of Appointments to State Service. She is currently Executive Vice President and Treasurer of Boston Sand & Gravel Company, a construction supply firm with operations in Massachusetts and New Hampshire.
Jeanne-Marie earned a B.S. from Manhattanville College in Purchase, New York, and an M.B.A. from the University of Miami, Coral Gables, Florida.
James Coyle
James Coyle was appointed to the Board of Higher Education by Governor Romney in December 2006. Since 2005, Jim has been General Agent-Secretary Treasurer of the Metropolitan Boston Building Trades Council. He began his career in the Building Trades as an ironworker in Local 7 in 1964 after graduating from Sacred Heart High School. Jim worked the first year after graduation as an ironworker, following in his father’s and two brothers’ footsteps. He was accepted to the Massachusetts College of Art and started classes in the fall of 1965, graduating in 1969 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts. After successfully completing his apprenticeship with Local 7, he worked in all phases of that trade and, in 1994, was elected to the Executive Board at Local 7. He served as Chairman of the Executive Board until the election in 1997, following which he served as Business Agent and Business Manager of Local 7. Jim was also elected to the position of Financial Secretary Treasurer of Local 7, as well as serving as a Delegate to two International Conventions, and trustee to the Ironworkers Funds and several Building Trades Councils. Jim also serves on the Board of Directors of the Boston Redevelopment Authority.
C. Bernard Fulp
C. Bernard Fulp was appointed to the Board of Higher Education by Governor Patrick in September 2008. Bernie is widely recognized for his expertise in bank operations, commercial lending, and trust and investment services, and for his success in business development.
He brings more than 30 years of experience in the financial services industry to his role as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of GoBiz Solutions. Bernie led the organization of Middlesex Bank & Trust, and served as its Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer until its acquisition by Associated Community Bancorp, Inc. In the past decade, his primary focus has been on serving the financial needs of growing companies, small business owners and other executives, as well as professional and high net worth clients.
Bernie is active in business and community affairs and public service. He serves on the Board of Trustees of Lesley University, the Board of Directors of the American Red Cross of Massachusetts Bay, the Board of Directors of The Ron Burton Foundation and the Board of Directors of GoDec., a software company. He has served on the Suffolk University School of Management Advisory Council, the US Small Business Administration's Regional Advisory Council, the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce Small Business Committee, and the Urban League of Eastern Massachusetts.
Bernie is a graduate of the Program for Management Development (PMD) at Harvard University's Graduate School of Business Administration. He also earned a M.A. from the University of Connecticut, and a B.S. from Winston-Salem State University.
Nancy D. Harrington, Ed.D.
Dr. Nancy D. Harrington was appointed to the Board of Higher Education by Governor Patrick in October 2007, and currently serves as Chair of the Board’s Assessment and Accountability Committee.
As President of Salem State College from 1990 until her retirement in 2007, Nancy led the institution through two decades of continuous growth and expansion. A lifelong resident of Salem, Nancy arrived at the College in 1956 as a freshman in pursuit of a degree in education. The college granted her a bachelor's degree in 1960 and a master's degree in 1963. Except for a three-year stint as a teacher in West Peabody, Nancy remained part of the college for more than 50 years. When she was named the 12th president of Salem State College in 1990, she became not only the first female president, but also the first Salem native and the first graduate of the college to hold that position. She presided over a vision for the college's new Central Campus which added new facilities for the School of Business, the Music Department and Information Technology.
Nancy also initiated and directed the development of the Master of Science in Nursing and Master of Business Administration programs, each the first of its kind in the Commonwealth's state colleges. She played a key role in the development of the College's Master of Social Work Program, the only such program in the Massachusetts public higher education system.
Nancy is Commissioner of the Essex National Heritage Commission, and a member of the Board of Trustees, Salem Hospital; Salem Partnership; North Shore Chamber of Commerce; Women Presidents' Group; and Reaching Higher, Inc. She was also appointed to the Council of State Representatives for the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU).
Nancy Hoffman, Ph.D.
Dr. Nancy Hoffman was appointed to the Board of Higher Education in December 2008 by Governor Patrick. Dr. Hoffman is Vice President, Youth Transitions Cluster, at Jobs for the Future (JFF), a national non-profit in Boston. The Cluster includes the Early College High School Initiative, funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, a network of over 200 schools blending high school and two years of college. The Cluster also works with states on aligning and integrating high school and college and developing new pathways to degree completion. The Cluster also works with the Lumina Foundation on two initiatives: Making Opportunity Affordable, the goal of which is to increase the productivity of higher education, and Achieving the Dream: Community Colleges Count, a multiyear national initiative to help more community college students succeed. Achieving the Dream works on multiple fronts, including efforts at community colleges and in research, public engagement and public policy. It emphasizes the use of data to drive change.
Dr. Hoffman’s career spans work in high schools and higher education. She came to JFF from Brown University, where she was Senior Lecturer in Education and also served as Director of the President’s Office and Secretary of the Brown Corporation. Previously, at Temple University, she served as Vice Provost for Undergraduate Studies, Presidential Fellow, and director of the University Honors Program, with faculty appointments in English and women’s studies.
Hoffman has held posts as Academic Services Dean at Harvard Graduate School of Education and Program Officer at the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education. She was a founder and faculty member of the College of Public and Community Service at the University of Massachusetts, Boston. At the University of Massachusetts, she also ran the Center for the Improvement of Teaching. She has held teaching positions in English and comparative literature at the University of California Santa Barbara, Portland State University, and MIT. For many summers, she co-convened the Academic Environment Unit of HERS Summer Institute for Women in Higher Education Administration.
Hoffman holds a B.A. and Ph.D. in comparative literature from the University of California, Berkeley. She chaired the board of directors of the Feminist Press, the oldest women’s press in the United States, from 2002 to 2006. In addition to her publications for Jobs for the Future, she is the author most recently of Women's True Profession: Voices from the History of Teaching (Harvard Education Publishing Group).
Kate Quigley, Student Member
Kate is a senior at Westfield State College, and is the student representative on the Board of Higher Education and the Westfield State College Foundation. She was nominated by her peers and appointed to her one-year term on the Board by Governor Patrick in June 2008. Kate is a very active member of the Student Government Association. She is also a member of the Westfield State College Class of 2009 Council, and serves on a number of committees, including the Enrollment Management Board and Campus Activities Board. Kate also works as an Orientation Leader for New Students and Parents. In her spare time, she volunteers as a coach and event coordinator for Special Olympics Massachusetts.
Paul Reville, Ex Officio
As Secretary of Education, Paul Reville directs the Executive Office of Education. Prior to becoming Secretary, Paul was appointed by Governor Patrick as chairman of the Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education. He also served on Governor Patrick’s Transition Team and was chair of the Governor’s Pre-K–12 Task Force on Governance.
Until his appointment as Secretary of Education, Paul was the president of the Rennie Center for Education Research & Policy. Paul was also the Director of the Education Policy and Management Program and a lecturer on educational policy and politics at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
Paul is the former executive director of the Pew Forum on Standards-Based Reform, and was the founding executive director of the Massachusetts Business Alliance for Education (MBAE). From 1991-96, he served on the Massachusetts State Board of Education. From 1996 – 2002, he chaired the Massachusetts Commission on Time and Learning as well as the Massachusetts Education Reform Review Commission, the state body that provided research and oversight for the state's implementation of education reform in the Commonwealth.
In 1985, Paul was the founding executive director of the Alliance for Education, a multi-service educational improvement organization serving Worcester and Central Massachusetts. Prior to his work at the Alliance, Paul was the principal/education director and a teacher in two alternative secondary schools.
Paul is a graduate of Colorado College and holds a master's degree from Stanford University. He serves on numerous boards and advisory committees, and is a frequent writer and speaker on school reform and educational policy issues.
Henry Thomas III, University of Massachusetts Representative
Henry Thomas is a member of the University of Massachusetts Board of Trustees, and was elected in 2007 to represent the University on the Board of Higher Education.
Henry is a native of Springfield, MA, and has worked in the Urban League movement for 35 years, including 31 years as President and CEO. At the age of 25, he became the youngest appointed Urban League affiliate President and CEO in the nation. Henry also serves as CEO for the historic Camp Atwater -- the oldest African American overnight youth camp in the United States – which he reopened in 1980 following a six-year hiatus.
Henry earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology and master's degree in human resource development from American International College; and a J.D. from Western New England College School of Law. He has also received honorary doctoral degrees from Bay Path College and Westfield State College, and a certificate of completion for the Senior Executive Leadership Program from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
Henry was appointed by Governor Deval Patrick to serve on his 2007 Transition Team on Pre-K through Higher Education, as well as the Leadership Circle of the Governor’s Readiness Project.