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DSU elects trustees
Delaware State University’s Board of Trustees has appointed two new members.
Claibourne Smith, board chair, swore in Mark Turner, WSFS Bank CEO, and John J. Allen, Jr., Delmarva Power vice president, as the board’s newest trustees during its regular Jan. 10 public meeting. Both Turner and Allen have been appointed by the Board to serve six-year terms that will end in 2019.
Turner has been president, CEO and director of WSFS Financial Corporation and WSFS Bank since 2007. He also served as the chief operating officer and chief financial officer of WSFS. His career also included posts at CoreStates Bank, Meridian Bancorp, as well as the international professional services firm of KPMG, LLP.
An active leader in business, civic and community circles, Mr. Turner has served as board chairman of the Delaware Bankers Association, board vice chairman of the Delaware Business Roundtable, and as an executive committee member of the Delaware State Chamber of Commerce,
John J. Allen, Jr., is Delmarva Power’s vice president responsible for Kent and Sussex counties in Delaware as well as the counties of the Eastern Shore of Maryland since 2005.
An employee of Delmarva Power for 32 years, Allen’s background includes Customer Care Leadership, Organizational Training and Development, Training Instructional Design and Development, Human Performance Technology and Performance Improvement and holds industry certificates for Strategic Leadership.
Christiana CEO named chair-elect
Christiana Care Health System CEO Robert J. Laskowski, M.D., MBA, has been chosen to serve as the 2012–2014 chair-elect of the Council of Teaching Hospitals and Health Systems of the Association of American Medical Colleges.
He was also elected to the AAMC board of directors for 2012–2013.
Laskowski becomes COTH chair for the 2014–2016 period. He has been an active member of COTH since 2007.
COTH represents the interests of major teaching hospitals in the United States and Canada.
Laskowski has been president and chief executive officer of Christiana Care since 2003.
COTH is one of the Association of American Medical Colleges’ three member councils. The AAMC represents all 141 accredited U.S. and 17 accredited Canadian medical schools, nearly 400 major teaching hospitals and health systems, including 51 Department of Veterans Affairs medical centers, and nearly 90 academic and scientific societies.
Potter Anderson partners
Potter Anderson & Corroon LLP announced that Jonathan Choa, Jeffrey Safran and Jennifer Wasson have been named partners at the firm, effective January 1.
Jonathan A. Choa represents clients in complex commercial disputes, focusing primarily on intellectual property litigation and corporate litigation disputes.
Jeffrey B. Safran, Ph.D. concentrates his practice primarily on the preparation and prosecution of biotechnology and chemical, domestic and foreign patent applications as well as licensing, opinion work and due diligence.
Jennifer C. Wasson focuses her practice on insurance coverage cases, commercial contract disputes, and employment litigation in state and federal court.
She regularly serves as counsel for policyholders in complex insurance coverage litigation against their insurers, and she routinely represents corporate clients in a broad range of litigation matters.
Vardell joins Long & Foster
Long & Foster Real Estate, Inc. welcomed Mollie Vardell to its Rehoboth Beach office, in Rehoboth Beach, Del. Vardell will specialize in working with homebuyers and sellers in both Virginia and Delaware.
A native Delawarean, Vardell’s family roots go back more than 200 years in the Sussex County area of Delaware. Raised in Wilmington, she spent every summer growing up in Rehoboth and continues to own property there.
in 2012 Vardell won the Hall of Fame Award from The Rehoboth Beach Historical Society in recognition of her years of service. Vardell is also actively involved with the Rehoboth Art League which will celebrate its 75th Anniversary in 2013.
Prior to joining Long & Foster, Vardell enjoyed a highly successful 26-year career in commercial architecture and design.
Jennings named finance director
Sussex County voted to appoint Gina A. Jennings as the County’s new Finance Director, effective May 1. Jennings, who is being promoted from director of the county’s Accounting division, will replace Susan M. Webb. Webb will retire in May after 20 years of service to County government.
As Finance Director, Jennings will oversee the county’s entire financial system, including the county’s overall annual budgeting, accounting, purchasing, tax assessment and collection, and all other financial affairs.
Jennings holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting as well as a master’s degree in business administration and public administration.
Jennings, 34, grew up near Millsboro and attended Sussex Central High School in Georgetown before moving away to enroll at the University of Delaware.
Upon graduating from UD, she worked in the private sector as an accountant for Ernst & Young in Philadelphia before moving back to Sussex County.
Jennings lives with her husband, Rob, and their two children near Milton.
Lapointe honored
Newark’s Mayor and City Council extended a heartfelt thanks to former Public Works Director Rich Lapointe for his years of service to the City of Newark at its January 14 City Council meeting. Lapointe, hired in 1993, retired after twenty years with the city.
Lapointe supervised 46 employees in the Engineering, Maintenance, Refuse and Street Divisions and eventually had the responsibility for the systematic reduction of 9.5 positions through attrition and introducing more efficient operation methods that provided a savings of approximately $750,000 annually to the city.
Lapointe oversaw many city projects including the replacement of the transfer station compactor and the underground fuel tanks, construction of a new warehouse, storage shed and salt storage shed, Rittenhouse Park bioengineering stream stabilization, city-wide sidewalk installation, the design and development of the Folk and Karpinski Parks, closure of the University of Delaware and Cleveland Avenue landfills, structure retrofit of the George Wilson Center, the design and development of the Iron Glen compost site, work at Timberline Drive, and the review of 67 subdivisions.
Deputy city manager for Newark
Newark City Manager Carol Houck announced that Andrew Haines will fill the newly created position of Deputy City Manager. The Deputy City Manager is positioned to be the second in command in the City’s staff organization. Haines was previously with Newark from 2002 to 2007 as Parking Administrator where he managed all daily operations of the Parking Division and its staff including human resource matters, oversight of expenditures and construction projects, and management of all Parking Division capital projects as well as creation of future capital projects for City Manager and City Council consideration. He also served on various committees of the Downtown Newark Partnership during that time.
Haines will begin working with the City of Newark on January 28, 2013. He has recently been serving as Township Manager for Hatfield Township in Pennsylvania since 2008 where he oversaw the day-to-day operations of the township with a $12.5 million budget. He managed a staff of 56 full-time, 15 part-time, and 125 seasonal employees that serviced a population of approximately 21,000 residents and over 825 businesses.
“I’m looking forward to Andy joining our team as we start the New Year as his hiring is the final step of the reorganization of the Administrative Department,” says City Manager Houck. “Andy was selected from 45 applicants and I believe best represented the skills, experience, and forward thinking attitude that I place great value in as we are tasked with moving our organization forward and embrace efficiencies.”
The Deputy City Manager position was developed following a restructuring of the City’s Administrative Department after Houck’s appointment as Newark’s permanent City Manager in September 2012. Charles Zusag, the current Assistant to the City Manager, will retire in February after 27 years of service to the City of Newark. He led the organization’s efforts in the areas of human resources, labor negotiations, pension plan and fringe benefit administration, along with many other administrative functions.
