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Board Members
Charles F. Desmond, Ed.D., Chairman (Biography)
Louis Ricciardi, Vice Chair, State University Trustee Representative (Biography)
David J. Barron (Biography coming soon)
Jeanne-Marie Boylan, Community College Trustee Representative (Biography)
Angel Donahue-Rodriguez, Student Member, State University Representative (Biography)
C. Bernard Fulp (Biography)
Nancy D. Harrington, Ed.D. (Biography)
Nancy Hoffman, Ph.D. (Biography)
Keith J. Peden (Biography)
Fernando M. Reimers (Biography coming soon)
Paul Reville, Ex Officio (Biography)
Henry Thomas III, University of Massachusetts Trustee Representative (Biography)
Paul F. Toner (Biography)
Non-Voting Student Advisors
Stacy Mulei, Community College Student Representative
Jim Tarr, 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.
Louis Ricciardi, Vice Chair, State University Trustee Representative
Lou Ricciardi joined the Board of Higher Education in July 2009 following his election by his fellow state university board chairs. Lou serves as chair of the Bridgewater State University Board of Trustees and co-chair of the State Trustees Association. Since his graduation from Bridgewater State College in 1981, he has managed his financial and investment advisory practice, The Ricciardi Financial Group, which today manages over $200 million on behalf of customers in a dozen states.
Lou began his service on the Bridgewater State College (BSC) Board of Trustees in 1989 as the elected alum member. In 1990, at age 30, he was elected chair, becoming the youngest-ever chair in the state system, and he held that position through 1994. He continued his service through 1999 as secretary of the board and chair of the budget and finance committees. His first two trustee terms were marked by the complete overhaul of the college's organization, the establishment of new schools, the pursuit and awarding of a $10 million federal grant (the largest ever to a New England state college at the time), and the college's first-ever capital campaign, which Lou himself conceived and co-chaired, raising $400,000 that built a new baseball/softball complex. In 2004, he appointed to serve again on the BSC Board of Trustees by Governor Romney, and in 2006, he was again elected chair.
Lou also served as chair of BSC’s Foundation from 1996 to 2004 and, in 1997, launched the “Campaign for Bridgewater,” the college's inaugural endowment campaign. The campaign raised $10 million in five years, an amount that eventually grew to over $17 million, providing scholarships and first-of-their-kind undergraduate research grants. He has personally endowed four separate scholarships at the college as part of the campaign.
In his local community, Lou is currently serving the last year of his term as president of the Boys & Girls Club of Taunton. He is also president of the Taunton Development Corporation (which has built two industrial parks with over 870 companies and 7,000 new jobs), is a past president of the Taunton Rotary Club, and serves on the Board of Directors of Bristol County Savings Bank, Beacon Bancorp, and Morton Hospital. He has been recognized with a number of community service and "man of the year" awards over the years for his service.
David J. Barron
Biography coming soon.
Jeanne-Marie Boylan, Community College Trustee 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.
Angel Donahue-Rodriguez
Angel Donahue-Rodriguez is a senior at Salem State University, majoring in Criminal Justice. He is a member of Salem State's Board of Trustees. In his time as the Salem State University Student Trustee he created, along with a faculty member, the state's second non-credit financial literacy program called S.M.A.R.T. (Save More, Act Responsibly, and Thrive). The program has been a huge success, winning regional awards and being featured in The Boston Globe. On August 9, 2011, he was appointed to the Massachusetts Board of Higher Education by Governor Patrick. After graduation he is planning to attend law school to become a federal prosecutor. He is the son of John and Rosanna Donahue of Salem, MA.
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. Recent publications include Woman’s True Profession: Voices from the History of Teaching (2003), and, edited with Richard Kazis and Joel Vargas, Double the Numbers: Increasing Postsecondary Credentials for Underrepresented Youth (2004), and Minding the Gap: Why Integrating High School with College Makes Sense and How to Do It (2007), edited by Hoffman and Vargas with Andrea Venezia and Marc Miller. All three books are published by the Harvard Education Press.
Keith J. Peden
Keith J. Peden is senior vice president of Human Resources
for Raytheon Company. He was elected to this position in
March 2001. Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN), with
2009 sales of $25 billion, is a technology and innovation
leader specializing in defense, homeland security and
other government markets throughout the world. With
headquarters in Waltham, Mass., Raytheon employs
75,000 people worldwide.
As Raytheon’s top human resources officer, Peden is
responsible for providing worldwide direction for the
company’s human resource initiatives. As such, he leads
organizational change, leadership development, learning,
talent acquisition, diversity, executive compensation,
performance development, benefits and the execution of
contemporary Human Resource process. Previously,
Peden served as Raytheon’s vice president and deputy
director of human resources since 1997. In that role he
was responsible for the execution of the human resource
process in the business as well as international human
resources and human resources systems.
Before joining Raytheon in 1993 as director of benefits,
compensation and human resource management systems,
Peden was director of worldwide compensation, benefits
and human resources information systems for Lotus
Development Corporation. Prior to joining Lotus, he was
a vice president of Alexander & Alexander Consulting and
led the Boston Human Resources practice. He also held various human resources posts at Prime Computer
and Honeywell.
He is committed to lifelong learning and pursues this passion through his participation as a member of both the Wheaton College and Wentworth Institute Boards of Trustees. Further, he was a participant in Governor Deval Patrick’s educational transition team and has contributed to efforts to advance liberals arts education through the Association of American Colleges and Universities.
Peden earned his bachelor’s degree in history, political science (pre-law and education) at Western Michigan University and his master’s degree at Eastern Michigan University
Fernando M. Reimers
Biography coming soon.
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 Trustee 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.
Paul F. Toner
Paul F. Toner, president of the 107,000-member Massachusetts Teachers Association, is a strong voice for educators and a proud public school parent.
Toner, a middle school social studies teacher, lawyer and former president of the Cambridge Teachers Association, was elected MTA president after serving for four years as the association’s vice president. He took office on July 15, 2010.
From 1993 to 2001, Toner taught social studies and reading to seventh- and eighth-grade students at the Harrington Elementary School in Cambridge. During his time there, he was responsible for a seventh-grade inclusion classroom and operated before-school and after-school homework programs. He also developed a school handbook and policies, served as acting assistant principal, and belonged to both the Extended Day Planning Committee and the Student Support Team.
In 2001, Toner was elected president of the Cambridge Teachers Association, a post he held for five years. As CTA president, he represented 1,100 teachers, administrators, paraprofessionals, clerks, and substitutes. He negotiated 12 contracts and handled more than 200 grievances. He was a strong advocate for members and worked with the administration to improve labor-management relations and focus on improving student achievement. Prior to becoming CTA president, he held the offices of vice president, secretary, and building representative. Toner has served for a number of years as a delegate to the MTA Annual Meeting of Delegates and the Representative Assembly of the National Education Association.
Toner graduated from Boston University’s College of Liberal Arts with a bachelor’s degree in political science and international relations. He also holds a master’s degree in secondary education from the University of Massachusetts in Boston. While teaching full time, Toner earned his juris doctorate from Suffolk University Law School at night. During law school, he completed internships with the United States Attorney’s Office in Boston, Massachusetts, and the Office of the U.S. Bankruptcy Trustee in Alexandria, Virginia.
Toner serves as chair of MassPartners for Public Schools, a coalition of organizations representing superintendents, principals, teachers’ unions, and parents, and he is active in the Teacher Union Reform Network, a national group that has sought to develop and share teacher-led school improvement practices at the local level. He served on the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education’s Task Force on the Evaluation of Teachers and Administrators, Task Force on 21st Century Skills and Task Force on Closing the Proficiency Gap. He also was a participant in Governor Deval Patrick’s Readiness Project. Toner is a commissioner on the Massachusetts Group Insurance Commission and a member of the state Board of Higher Education. He is also a labor delegate to the Democratic State Committee and a member of the DSC Executive Committee.
Toner is dedicated to working on behalf of students at all levels and to representing the interests of teachers, education support professionals, and higher education faculty and staff.