FAIRFIELD - Key Persons
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- Member of the Merrill Lynch Wealth Management Team
- Head of Internal Audit
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- Senior Principal IP / Counsel Medtronic
Andres Leonardo Carrano, PhD joined as the Dean of the School of Engineering and Computing in 2020, after serving in administrative and endowed professorship positions at various institutions, including Auburn University and Rochester Institute of Technology.
Dr. Carrano earned a BS degree in Industrial and Systems Engineering from Universidad Catolica AndresBello (the oldest Jesuit university in Venezuela), a MSc from Johns Hopkins University, and a MS/PhD from North Carolina State University. He was appointed as research fellow at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, has served as a Fulbright specialist in Italy, and has held faculty appointments at universities in Japan and Turkey. A little-known fact about Dr. Carrano is that he is part of four consecutive generations of engineers in his family - and that three of those generations have been Jesuit educated.
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- Member of the Advisory Board
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- Media Industry Advisory Council
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- President, Fairfield College Preparatory School
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- Dean, Library & University Librarian
- Library and University Librarian
Christina S. McGowan was appointed to lead the operations of Fairfield University's DiMenna-Nyselius Library as dean of the library and University librarian in January 2020.
McGowan was named interim University librarian in June 2019, and previously served as assistant University librarian for Reference and Circulation Services from 2011 until May 2019, as head reference librarian from 2003 until 2011, and as senior reference librarian. Her accomplishments include providing leadership in the development and implementation of reference and circulation services, and leading and managing all aspects of the Reference Department with functional supervision of Reference Services, Information Literacy, and Outreach.
As assistant University librarian, McGowan participated in initiatives such as NEASC accreditation and the President's Institutional Diversity Council. McGowan has supported and advanced the mission of Fairfield University as a cura personalis mentor, as a mentor for the Service for Justice Residential College, and as personal librarian for first-year students.
She earned her MS in library and information science from Simmons College Graduate School of Library and Information, and her BA in history from Mount Holyoke College.
Chuck Burke - CEO, COO, Founder, Managing Director, President
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- CEO
- Chief Operating Officer
- Founder
- Managing Director
- Member of the Board
- President
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- Member of the Advisory Board
- Vice President / the Schechter Foundation
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- Member of the Advisory Board
- Physical Therapist
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- Head
- Member of the Merrill Lynch Wealth Management Team
- SVP
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- Vice President, Strategic Enrollment Management
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- Member of the Advisory Board
- Orthopedic Surgeon
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- Chairman of the Campus Sustainability Committee
- Vice President, Facilities
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- Visiting Assistant Professor of Public Health
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- Vice President of Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging
Dr. Meredith Wallace Kazer completed her BSN degree Magna Cum Laude at Boston University. Following this, she earned a MSN in medical-surgical nursing with a specialty in geriatrics from Yale University and a PhD in nursing research and theory development at New York University (NYU).
During her time at NYU she was awarded a pre-doctoral fellowship at the Hartford Institute for Geriatric Nursing. In this capacity she became the original author and editor of Try This: Best Practices in Geriatric Nursing series. She was the managing editor of the Journal of Applied Nursing Research and the research brief editor for the journal and is currently editor-in-chief of the Building Healthy Academic Communities Journal.
Dr. Kazer is the author of numerous journal articles and book chapters. She published Prostate Cancer: Nursing Assessment Management and Care which won an American Journal of Nursing Book of the Year Award. Preceding this, she was the associate editor of The Geriatric Nursing Research Digest, and the second edition of the Encyclopedia of Nursing Research. She also published and edited a case studies book for advanced practice, all of which won American Journal of Nursing Book of the Year Awards. She is the past recipient of the Springer Publishing Company Award for Applied Nursing Research and the Virginia Henderson Award for Outstanding Contributions to Nursing Research.
In 2014, Dr. Kazer was named among the 15 top adult gerontology professors. In 2015, she was named the 10th most influential dean of nursing in the United States. In 2018 she received the Connecticut League for Nursing President's award for furthering the mission and goals of the organization. She is an adult and gerontological primary care nurse practitioner and currently maintains a practice with a focus on chronic illness in older adults.
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- Dean, Charles F. Dolan School of Business
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- Member of the Merrill Lynch Wealth Management Team
- Managing Director / E.a. Hughes and Co., Inc
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- Member of the Advisory Board
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- Interim Dean, School of Education and Human Development
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- Member of the Merrill Lynch Wealth Management Team
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- Member of the Advisory Board
- Retired Vice President Advertising Promotion and Publisher
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- Senior Resident Director, Senior Vice President
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- Visiting Instructor / Nursing and Lab Coordinator
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- Co - Founder
- Managing Partner
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- Member of the Advisory Board
- Associate Executive Director of Finance / Phelps Hospital
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- Vice President, Marketing and Communications
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- Senior Vice President, Finance and Administration
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- VP of Technology / O'Keefe Controls Co.
John C. Meditz - Founder, Managing Director
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- Co - Founder
- Managing Director
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- Member of the Merrill Lynch Wealth Management Team
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- Member of the Merrill Lynch Wealth Management Team
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- Member of the Advisory Board
- Member of the Merrill Lynch Wealth Management Team
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- Vice President, Student Life
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- Member of the Merrill Lynch Wealth Management Team
- Executive VP and Chief HR Diversity Officer
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- Member of the Merrill Lynch Wealth Management Team
- Senior Operating Partner
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- Director of Board Relations
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- Member of the Merrill Lynch Wealth Management Team
- SVP
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- Interim President ( January 2017 - June 2017 )
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- President
- Chairman of the Connecticut Conference of Independent Colleges
- Learn More about President
On July 1, 2017, Mark R. Nemec, PhD, became the first lay and ninth Ignatian President of Fairfield University.
Working with his senior leadership team, constituents across campus, and the University's alumni and civic communities, President Nemec has positioned Fairfield to be a modern, Jesuit Catholic University of national prominence - committed to lifelong learning, holistic formation, and expansive partnership while instantiating academic excellence, fostering comprehensive achievement, and advancing educational access.
Under President Nemec's leadership, Fairfield has renewed its commitment to the nearly 500-year-old traditions of Jesuit pedagogy, with an emphasis on excellence in all things, care for the whole student, and a broad-based liberal arts and sciences foundation. This values-based, student-centric, outcomes-focused approach is dedicated to forming men and women for and with others, in pursuit of societal stewardship and productive citizenship.
At the same time, he has led the University through a course of expansion and innovation designed to meet the challenges of the 21st century, and has expanded the University's reach to learners of all ages, emphasizing: innovation in teaching methods, embracement of the potential of big data and emerging technologies, the launch of new graduate and professional programs designed to meet the needs of today's students, and the fostering of industry and community partnerships to strengthen the University's reputation as a leader in contemporary higher education. Since 2017, Fairfield has seen traditional undergraduate enrollment grow from 4,003 to 5,217 while increasing selectivity to 33 percent, ranking it sixth amongst all Catholic universities and colleges, up from 50. In this same period, Fairfield's total enrollment has grown from 5,197 to 6,895.
During Dr. Nemec's tenure, Fairfield has also embarked on a series of efforts to serve broader student populations in ever more innovative ways. Inspired by its longstanding relationship with Brooklyn Jesuit Prep and Camp Montmarte, the University has expanded its commitment to educational access through the significant expansion of Academic Immersion, the creation of the Company Scholars program for high-achieving first-generation students from Cristo Rey and Jesuit high schools, and the initiation of Bellarmine campus, a two year associate's degree program fully supporting students as they bridge to college or career, launched in Bridgeport in conjunction with the Diocese in 2023.
President Nemec also led completion of the largest capital campaign in University history, Fairfield Rising, exceeding an original goal of $160 million to raise a total of $218 million to benefit the institution. Currently, the University is in the quiet phase of its next campaign Called to Do More and to date has raised $236 million against a $340 million goal.
Beyond his research on the role of higher education in American political development, Dr. Nemec has been a frequent speaker on the current and future state of higher education and has presented to a diverse array of audiences including the White House's Forum on College Affordability, the British Council's Going Global, the New England Board of Higher Education's Summit on Cost in Higher Education, and the annual meetings of numerous higher education associations.
Dr. Nemec serves as Chair of the Connecticut Conference of Independent Colleges and Vice Chair of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Council of Presidents. He also serves on the Educational Resources Committee of Loyola High School and is a fellow of Timothy Dwight College of Yale University. For his and the University's commitment to educational access, he has been honored with Brooklyn Jesuit Prep's Sister Thea Bowman Award, Cristo Rey New York's Ensuring Our Future Award, as well as the Archdiocese of Bridgeport's Foundations in Education Award.
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- VP of Operations and Strategy
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- Member of the Advisory Board
- President and CEO / Visiting Nurse Service of New York ( VNSNY )
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- Member of the Advisory Board
- Nurse / South Shore Hospital
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- Member of the Advisory Board
- Quality and Patient Safety Nurse / Ascension Medical Group
Michael Archbold - CEO, COO, Founder, Managing Director, President
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- CEO
- Chief Operating Officer
- Founder
- Managing Director
- Member of the Board
- President
Michael Bentivegna - CEO, COO, Founder, Managing Director, President
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- CEO
- Chief Operating Officer
- Founder
- Managing Director
- Member of the Board
- President
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- Member of the Advisory Board
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- Deacon, Diocese of Bridgeport / Former GM of IoT, IBM
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- Vice President, Human Resources
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- Vice President for Athletics, Carly Thibault - DuDonis, Women 's Basketball Coach, and President Nemec
- Vice President, Athletics
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- Director, Investor Relations
Peter Costello - CEO, COO, Founder, Managing Director, President
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- CEO
- Chief Operating Officer
- Founder
- Managing Director
- Member of the Board
- President
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- Special Assistant to the President for Arts and Culture
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- President / Regis High School
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- Dean, Morrissey College of Arts and Sciences / Boston College
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- President / Loyola High School of Los Angeles
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- Provincial Assistant for Secondary and Pre - Secondary Education
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- Vice President, Mission and Ministry
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- Dean, College of Arts and Sciences
Dr. Greenwald serves as the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Fairfield University. Prior to joining Fairfield on July 1, 2017, he served as the dean of the School of Humanities & Social Sciences at Brooklyn College CUNY.
Dr. Greenwald has a strong background in liberal arts education, having served in both public and private institutions. Before serving as dean at Brooklyn College, he was the executive dean at St. Joseph's College in New York, and the chair and founding director of the Business Studies Program, dean of Graduate Education, and director of University Partnerships at Drew University, among many other appointments. He has been a teacher of history, business and sociology since 1995, and received his PhD in American History from New York University.
Named by the Chronicle of Higher Education as one of the leading "higher-education thought leaders," Dr. Greenwald's extensive scholarship and writings have been published in major national outlets including Inside Higher Education, the Wall Street Journal, The Chronicle of Higher Education, Boston Globe, and New York Daily News, among others.
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- Vice President, Strategic Initiatives
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- Member of the Advisory Board
- Nurse / Primary Care and Acute Care
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- Member of the Advisory Board
- Nurse
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- Chairman
- Managing Director
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- COO
- Managing Director
- Member of the Merrill Lynch Wealth Management Team
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- Vice President and Chief Information Officer, Information Technology Services
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- Member of the Merrill Lynch Wealth Management Team
- Dean of Curtis L Gerrish School of Business
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- Managing Director
- Member of the Merrill Lynch Wealth Management Team
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- Member of the Merrill Lynch Wealth Management Team
- Partner / Ernest & Young LLP
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- Director for Advanced Technology Programs
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- Member of the Merrill Lynch Wealth Management Team
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- CFO
- Member of the Merrill Lynch Wealth Management Team
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- Vice President, University Advancement
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- Vice Provost, Graduate, Continuing, and Professional Studies
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- Executive Assistant to the President
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- Associate Vice President and Dean of Student Life