University of Scranton Names Five New Trustees

University of Scranton Names Five New Trustees

The University of Scranton has named five individuals to its Board of Trustees: Rachele Mackin Browning ’84; Kathleen Sprows Cummings, Ph.D. ’93, G’93, H’19; Rev. Ryan J. Maher, S.J; John R. Mariotti, D.M.D. ’75; and Steve Sandherr ’80.

As managing director of SEI’s institutional group, Browning is responsible for new client outreach and business development in the U.S. for health care, nonprofit and the corporate markets. Prior to working for SEI, a global provider of asset management, investment processing and investment operation solutions that she joined in 1995, Browning was a commercial lender at CoreStates Bank responsible for business development in the United Kingdom and their U.S. subsidiaries. She later was responsible for the sales and marketing of the derivatives desk in CoreStates Capital Markets Group, hedging corporate client portfolios.

Browning earned her bachelor’s degree from The University of Scranton and received the University’s Frank J. O’Hara Distinguished Alumni Award in 2019. She currently serves on the Board of Mindfulness through Movement, a Philadelphia organization committed to nurturing the wellness of children in underserved areas through mindful breathing and movement. A resident of Villanova, she and her husband, Tom, have two sons, Curran and Colin.

Dr. Cummings is the William W. and Anna Jean Cushwa Director of the Cushwa Center for the Study of American Catholicism at the University of Notre Dame and the Rev. John A. O'Brien Professor of American studies and history. In addition to directing the Cushwa Center, Dr. Cummings presently oversees the History of Women Religious, an academic organization devoted to the historical study of Catholic sisters. Her teaching and research interests center on the history of Catholicism in the United States, the study of American women and the relationship between religion and American society.

Dr. Cummings is the author of the books “A Saint of Our Own: How the Quest for a Holy Hero Helped Catholics Become American” and “New Women of the Old Faith: Gender and American Catholicism in the Progressive Era,” which won three 2009 Catholic Press Association Awards. She often serves as a media commentator on contemporary events in the Church and appeared on NBC’s live coverage of the canonization of Popes John Paul II and John XXIII, and Pope Francis’ visit to the United States in 2015. She is frequently quoted in the New York Times and other media outlets on Catholic subjects.

Dr. Cummings earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from The University of Scranton, and a second master’s degree and her doctorate from the University of Notre Dame. Dr. Cummings received the University’s Frank J. O’Hara Distinguished Alumni Award for religion and spirituality in 2013 and, earlier this year, received the University’s Pedro Arrupe, S.J., Award for Distinguished Contributions to Ignatian Mission and Ministry and an honorary degree from the University. A resident of South Bend, Indiana, Cumming and her husband Thomas have three children.

A native of Phoenix, Arizona, Father Maher has served as the president of Scranton Preparatory School since 2015. Previously, he served as executive director of The University of Scranton’s Jesuit Center, a resource center he founded to help faculty and staff understand and engage more fully in the Catholic and Jesuit mission of the University. During his career, Father Maher has taught in Jesuit high schools in Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., and served for 11 years as an associate dean and professor at Georgetown University. He also worked for three years on Capitol Hill as a legislative assistant in the United States Senate.

A former trustee of the University, Father Maher entered the Maryland Province of the Society of Jesus in 1986 and was ordained a priest in 1997. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Georgetown University. He holds a master’s degree in philosophy from St. Louis University and a master’s degree in divinity from the Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley. He earned his doctorate from the University of San Francisco.

Dr. Mariotti has worked as an orthodontics and dentofacial orthopedics practitioner for 35 years. He is certified by the American Board of Orthodontics in the specialty of orthodontics. In the past few years, he has been chosen to be a fellow of the International College of Dentists and to the Pierre Fauchard Academy. Both societies honor doctors throughout the world who aspire to excellence.

Dr. Mariotti earned his bachelor’s degree from The University of Scranton and his Doctor of Dental Medicine degree from Temple University. After graduating, he joined the U. S. Army and was commissioned as an officer with the rank of captain in the Army Dental Corps. After completing his tour of duty, Dr. Mariotti returned to New York where he pursued his post-graduate degree in orthodontics at the Eastman Dental Center at the University of Rochester. While studying at Eastman, one of the top dental training centers in the U.S., Dr. Mariotti did research in growth and development and TMJ disorders. Recognized as an outstanding student, he was invited to join one of the faculty practices prior to his graduation.

Since returning to Scranton, Dr. Mariotti has served as president and chair of the Board of the Scranton District Dental Society, and was a board member of the Middle Atlantic Society of Orthodontists, having served as its president in 2005. He has also served as an active member of the Medical Alumni Board at The University of Scranton.

Since 1997, Sandherr has served as chief executive officer of the Associated General Contractors of America, the nation’s largest commercial construction trade association with more than 27,000 member firms across the country. In that capacity, he leads efforts to protect and promote the construction industry in Congress, federal agencies and the courts. For the past 12 years, the newspaper The Hill has named Sandherr as a top association lobbyist. He has also served as labor and small business counsel for the National Association of Home Builders and practiced law with the firm of Thompson, Mann and Hutson.

Sandherr earned his bachelor’s degree from The University of Scranton and his J.D. degree from the Columbus School of Law of the Catholic University of America. He is a member of the Bar of the District of Columbia. He is an honorary trustee of the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C., and was elected to the National Academy of Construction. He resides in Alexandria, Virginia, with his wife, Cynthia.