University of Scranton Names Four New Trustees
University of Scranton alumni, from left, were named to the University’s Board of Trustees: Ellen Boyle, Esq. ’84, John Douthit ’90, Mary Dwyer-Cassis ’81 and Thom Spoto ’91.The University of Scranton named four new members to its Board of Trustees: Ellen Boyle, Esq. ’84, John Douthit ’90, Mary Dwyer-Cassis ’81 and Thom Spoto ’91.
Ellen Boyle, Esq. ’84
Boyle is a former deputy general counsel, Commercial Insurance Products, for American International Group, Inc. (AIG), a leading global insurance organization. She spent more than 30 years of her career at AIG, primarily in global legal, compliance and regulatory positions, but also in positions in claims and reinsurance. In her immediate past position, she led the legal team supporting AIG’s commercial insurance products, including all aspects of underwriting operations and distribution, directly overseeing legal support for North America while collaborating closely with legal, regulatory and compliance colleagues globally.
Dedicated to civic engagement, Boyle served on the AIG Pro Bono Steering Committee and was AIG’s liaison with the New York State Mentoring Program, organizing a program in which AIG employees mentor at-risk elementary and high school students.
Prior to joining AIG, Boyle was a litigator in New York City.
She earned a bachelor’s degree in marketing from The University of Scranton, a Juris Doctor from St. John’s University School of Law and an L.L.M., Taxation from New York University School of Law.
Boyle serves on the Executive Committee of the University’s President’s Business Council and received the Frank J. O’Hara Distinguished Alumni Award in 2024.
She resides on Long Beach Island, New Jersey.
John Douthit ’90
Douthit currently serves as president and CEO of John S. Burke Catholic High School and Academy in Goshen, New York. His tenure at Burke Catholic spans more than a decade, during which he has held progressive leadership roles including director of Alumni Relations, director of Development, director of Admissions and Advancement, principal and chief operations officer.
A graduate of Burke Catholic himself, Douthit is a product of 18 years of Catholic education. He earned a bachelor’s degree in marketing from The University of Scranton and a master’s degree in public administration from the College of New Rochelle. Prior to his career in education, he spent 22 years in the financial services industry, gaining extensive experience in various leadership positions across New York, London and Chicago.
Deeply committed to Catholic education and institutional advancement, Douthit serves as executive director of the John S. Burke Catholic High School Foundation. He is president of the New York Metropolitan Catholic High School Presidents’ Association and a member of the Executive Committee of the Catholic Schools Administrators Association of New York State (CSAANYS).
While a student at Scranton, Douthit was a four-year member of the University’s baseball team. As an alumnus, he has been active with the University’s Parents Executive Council. He and his wife, Beth, reside in Monroe, New York, and are the parents of two sons, Patrick and Brendan, a graduate of the University’s Class of 2024.
Mary Dwyer-Cassis ’81
Dwyer-Cassis’ accomplished career has spanned more than 30 years of leadership roles and general management responsibilities at Waters Corporation, a provider of analytical instruments and software used by life sciences, materials and food industries. She joined the Waters Division of Millipore Corporation as a life science applications chemist and leveraged her laboratory experience to support product development and marketing initiatives before transitioning into sales. Throughout her career, she focused on supporting and collaborating with pharmaceutical, life science and industrial chemical researchers across the northeastern United States.
More recently, Dwyer-Cassis has been sharing her decades of experience, devoting her time to coaching and advising students and early-career professionals as they transition from academia and laboratory science into business and finance. She has also mentored students pursuing graduate education and research opportunities in the life sciences.
Born and raised in Scranton, she attended Scranton Preparatory School and earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from The University of Scranton. She pursued graduate studies at the University of Rhode Island in Kingston, earning a master’s degree and Ph.D. in analytical chemistry.
She and her husband, Eugene, currently reside in St. Petersburg, Florida. The couple has two children.
Thom Spoto ’91
Spoto is a distinguished leader in the financial services industry. He is a partner in the External Investing Group (XIG) within Goldman Sachs Asset Management, where he is a member of the Secondaries Investment Team (Vintage Platform). Additionally, he is chair of the XIG Vintage Credit Strategies Committee and is a member of the XIG Vintage Funds and XIG Private Co-Investment Strategies Committees.
Earlier in his career, Spoto was a vice president in Leveraged Finance and Corporate Finance within the Investment Banking Division at Goldman Sachs. He initially joined Goldman Sachs in 1998 as an associate, rejoined the firm in 2015 as a managing director and was named partner in 2024.
Prior to rejoining Goldman Sachs, he was a managing director at AlpInvest Partners, where he was the head of US Equity Co-Investments, head of Mezzanine Investments and also a member of the firm’s Global Investment Committee. Previously, he worked at Salomon Brothers in the Investment Banking Division.
Spoto earned a bachelor’s degree in economics and finance, magna cum laude, from The University of Scranton and was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to the National University of Singapore.
Spoto is a member of the Executive Committee of the University’s President’s Business Council. He resides in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.