University of Scranton Names New Trustees
The University of Scranton has named seven individuals to its Board of Trustees:
Mary Beth Farrell ’79, New York, N.Y.; Matthew Geiger ’81, Shrewsbury, Mass.; Otto H. Hentz, S.J., Washington, D.C.; George V. Lynett, Jr. Dalton; Kathleen C. Santora, Esq. ’80, Annandale, Va.; Teresa M. Schafer ’81, Berryville, Va.; and Patrick W. Shea, Esq. ’78, New York, N.Y.
Through March 2010, Farrell was executive vice president of AXA Equitable Life Insurance Company, a member of the company’s Executive Management Committee and vice chair of AXA Advisors, LLC, the company’s retail distribution channel. Farrell also headed the company’s Six Sigma program in the United States. Before joining AXA Equitable, she was senior vice president and controller at GreenPoint Financial/GreenPoint Bank. In 1987, Farrell joined Citicorp/Citibank, where she held several management positions. She began her career at KPMG Peat Marwick, where she advanced to audit senior manager. Farrell is chair of The University of Scranton President’s Business Council and served on the Board of Trustees from 2002 – 2009, including two years as vice chair (2007 – 2009). She was also a member of the Lincoln Center Corporate Board. Farrell, a CPA, graduated with honors from The University of Scranton, earning a bachelor’s degree in accounting.
Geiger has co-owned and served as treasurer of Response Environmental Inc., an environmental remediation and spill management company located in Worcester, Mass., since 1997. Previously, Geiger worked in various financial positions for several units of Air & Water Technologies Corporation, an engineering company. At Air & Water, Geiger served as the finance and administration manager for a wastewater system operations and management contract in Egypt. After earning a bachelor’s degree in accounting from The University of Scranton, he worked for Price Waterhouse for five years.
Fr. Hentz, an associate professor in the Theology Department at Georgetown University, has served in various positions at the Washington, D.C., university over the past five decades. In 1955 he entered the Society of Jesus, and later taught philosophy at Georgetown from 1962-1965. Fr. Hentz was ordained as a priest in 1968 and did his doctoral studies in theology at the University of Chicago. He returned to Georgetown in 1972 as a member of the Department of Theology. Fr. Hentz has served as an associate professor at Georgetown since 1978, teaching courses on the Catholic Church in the modern world, Christianity and Jesus Christ, and systematic theology.
Lynett has served as chief executive officer of Times-Shamrock Communications since 2009. Previously, he was the publisher of The Towanda Daily & Sunday Review and president of the Towanda Printing Company, where he managed nine papers in Pennsylvania and New York for the Times-Shamrock Weekly Group. Having received a bachelor’s degree from the College of Holy Cross, Worcester, Mass., Lynett earned a diploma in business studies and industrial relations from the London School of Economics, London, England. He later received a master’s degree in business administration from Georgetown University, Washington, D.C. Lynett served in the U.S. Navy, earning the Navy and Marine Corps’ Achievement Medal in 1998 and Commendation Medal in 2000.
Santora is the chief executive officer of the National Association of College and University Attorneys, a post she has held since 2001. She previously served as vice president and the chief executive officer of the American Association for Higher Education, as well as various positions at Georgetown University, the National Association of Independent College and Universities and the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges. Santora earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from The University of Scranton and a juris doctorate from the Columbus School of Law at The Catholic University of America.
Schafer has more than 25 years of global experience as chief operating officer (COO) and business manager for several major banks and investment banks in London, Tokyo and New York City. Recently, she relocated to northern Virginia, where she is a partner and consulting COO/chief financial officer with a start-up online investment company. Schafer previously worked for Credit Suisse, serving as global COO for equity derivatives and later managing director/COO for North American equities. Schafer has also worked for Bankers Trust, Price Waterhouse and Salomon Brothers. She earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting from The University of Scranton.
Shea is a partner in the Paul Hastings’ Employment Law Department, representing companies on a wide range of employment-related litigation involving benefits, discrimination, claims and wrongful discharge matters. He is a fellow of the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers, and he was named in The Best Lawyers of America, an annual referral guide published by Best Lawyers, a peer-review publication for the legal profession. Shea is a member of the District of Columbia and Connecticut bar associations and is admitted to a number of federal district and circuit courts. He earned his bachelor’s degree, with honors, from The University of Scranton and a juris doctorate from Yale Law School.
Images available through The University of Scranton’s Public Relations Office. Call 570-941-7669.