The Loras College Board of Regents has named their new officers for the next two-year period. Rich Scalise has been elected to serve as the board chair. He is joined by co-vice chairs Mary Meehan, PhD, and Tim Suther, and secretary Steve Sloan.
“The Board of Regents has selected a great slate of officers to lead Loras into the future. I am so grateful to Rich, Mary, Tim and Steve for their selfless willingness to serve during these especially challenging times in higher education. Their collective dedication, expertise and experience will help to further advance Loras’ many successes and future direction,” President Jim Collins said.
As chairman, Scalise, a 1976 Loras graduate from Naperville, Ill., oversees the work of the board. His career has included leadership roles at General Foods, president and COO of ConAgra’s refrigerated food division, and president of Ralcorp Frozen Bakery. In 2009, Rich Scalise founded the startup Hearthside Food Solutions, which has grown to become the industry’s largest contract manufacturer and private bakery with over 13,000 employees and 39 manufacturing locations in the USA and Europe. Today, Rich serves as Hearthside’s chairman; he is also a partner at the private equity firm E2P Capital. Additionally, Rich serves on multiple corporate and philanthropic boards.
Meehan is a former Seton Hall administrator and university alumna. Meehan has spent more than 30 years in executive positions at higher education and healthcare institutions, including more than a decade as the first lay president of Alverno College, a leading Catholic women’s college in Milwaukee, Wis., Meehan earned her B.A., M.A. and Ph.D. at Seton Hall, as well as an M.S. in Health Policy and Management from New York Medical College. At Seton Hall, she served as vice president and assistant to the president from 1996 to 2001 and as executive vice president for administration from 2001 to 2004. Meehan served as Seton Hall’s interim president from 2017 to 2019. She has an extensive professional healthcare background, having previously served as executive vice president and chief operating officer at St. Mary’s Hospital in Passaic, N.J., and as administrator and CEO of St. Vincent’s Medical Center in Harrison, N.Y., Meehan is a life fellow in the American College of Healthcare Executives, and is a licensed professional mental health counselor.
Suther is senior vice president at Change Healthcare. Previously, he served JP Morgan Chase and an eight-year career at Acxiom, where he was responsible for the company’s global marketing, strategy and business development activities. He led the company’s worldwide digital, agency and multichannel marketing services business. He has more than 35 years of experience at the intersection of data, marketing and technology. Suther is a member of the Direct Marketing Association (DMA) Board of Directors, Board of Advisors for Loyalty 360 and the North American Advisory Board for the CMO Council. He is also a former member of the executive board of directors for the Sam M. Walton College of Business Center for Retailing Excellence at the University of Arkansas, and the former co-chair of the DMA’s iDirect Leadership Committee. He graduated from Loras in 1982 with a degree in finance and marketing.
Sloan, O.D., received his bachelor of science in biology from Loras College in 1978. Following Loras, he enrolled at the Illinois College of Optometry from where he was awarded his Doctor of Optometry degree in 1982. Sloan began his career in private practice in Galena, Ill., In 1985, he joined a group practice with offices in East Dubuque, Galena and Bellevue, Iowa. In 1996, Sloan formed Vision Health Center, P.C. as president with offices in Dubuque and Bellevue, Iowa. In 1988, Steve was chosen by the Optometric Management Journal as one of 21 outstanding young optometrists in the United States. Steve has served on the board of directors of the Iowa Optometric Association including a term as president.
With the new officers in place, the board recognized the service of outgoing chairperson and 1972 Loras graduate Tony Reardon, who completed three consecutive terms in the role. Reardon is the retired chairman, president and chief executive officer for Ducommun Incorporated. He oversaw the strategic direction of the growth-oriented manufacturing company, which provides electronic and structural solutions to customers in the aerospace, defense and industrial sectors.
“Tony’s six years of service as Loras’ board chair was incredible. His love for Loras is unmatched and his legacy will underscore a number of great achievements to include: the completion of Loras’ most successful campaign in the history of the college having raised $106 million; the development of an inspiring strategic plan to guide the College over the next few years and; establishment of a strong governance structure that was exceedingly helpful in navigation the College through the pandemic. I so appreciate that he served as both a great friend and mentor to me throughout,” Collins said.
