Search Committee Members

Co-Chairs

Shelly L. Fisher ’80, elected to the Syracuse University Board of Trustees in 2017, is chief executive officer and founder of the Pay It Forward Group LLC, the parent company for Girls Nite Live, I Help Educate, and Positivities.com—all supporting students and community-focused initiatives. An entrepreneur and philanthropist with more than 30 years of business experience, Fisher has built giving back into every aspect of her work. She is also founder and president of the Herb It Forward Foundation, which provides scholarships and leadership opportunities to underserved youth, and of The Philly Service Award, a citywide competition encouraging community service. Fisher earned a B.S. from the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University in 1980 and an M.Ed. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1982.

Elisabeth “Lisa” Fontenelli ’86, elected to the Syracuse University Board of Trustees in 2018, is a former managing director at Goldman Sachs, where she served as global head of securities research and deputy head of the Global Investment Research Division. Named a Goldman partner in 2006, she was also a member of the firm’s partnership committee. At Syracuse University, she serves on the Executive, Facilities, Investment and Endowment, and Finance Committees, and chaired the Board Finance Committee from 2019 to 2022. She is a past chair of the Whitman Advisory Council and was a member of the University’s 2022 chief financial officer search committee. Fontenelli earned a B.S. in 1986 from both the Martin J. Whitman School of Management and the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications.

Members

  • Richard M. Alexander L’82, vice chair, Board of Trustees
  • Joanne F. Alper ’72, life trustee
  • Steve Ballentine ’83, voting trustee
  • Sharon R. Barner ’79, voting trustee
  • Steven W. Barnes ’82, H’19, vice chair, Board of Trustees
  • Alexia Chatzitheodorou, Ph.D. candidate, College of Arts and Sciences
  • Daniel A. D’Aniello ’68, H’20, life trustee
  • Tula Goenka G’86, professor, Newhouse School of Public Communications
  • Chris E. Johnson, professor, College of Engineering and Computer Science
  • Lawrence S. Kramer ’72, vice chair, Board of Trustees
  • Mark J. Lodato, dean, Newhouse School of Public Communications
  • Ryleigh Mellen L’26, J.D. candidate, College of Law
  • German Nolivos ’26, president, Student Government Association
  • Brice Nordquist, associate professor, College of Arts and Sciences
  • Ronald P. O’Hanley ’80, voting trustee
  • Brett Padgett, senior vice president and chief financial officer
  • Beth Patin, associate professor, School of Information Studies
  • Andrea Persin G’25, assistant dean of budget, finance and administration, College of Arts and Sciences
  • Kira Reed, associate professor, Whitman School of Management
  • Shane Sanders, professor, David B. Falk College of Sport
  • Jeff Scruggs, chairman, Board of Trustees
  • Emily Stokes-Rees, professor, College of Visual and Performing Arts
  • Mike Tirico ’88, vice chair, Board of Trustees
  • Pun To (Douglas) Yung, associate teaching professor, College of Engineering and Computer Science