2016 RBJ 75: The CEOs

Jose Acevedo M.D.
President and CEO, Finger Lakes Health
Acevedo became the first physician to head Finger Lakes Health when he was named president and CEO in 2010. He joined the health system in 2004 as vice president for medical affairs and chief medical officer. In 2009, he became executive vice president. Before that he trained and worked at Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn. Acevedo also received an MBA from New York Institute of Technology. He serves on the board of Seagate Alliance, the board of Keuka College, the community center advisory council of the Boys & Girls Club of Geneva, the Independent Judicial Election Qualification Commission, and the Geneva 2020 Education Committee.

José Almeida
Chairman and CEO, Baxter International Inc.
Prior to joining Baxter in October 2015, Almeida served as chairman, president and chief executive officer of Covidien plc from 2012 through 2015. He also held leadership roles at Covidien’s predecessor, Tyco Healthcare, including president of its worldwide medical device business and vice president of worldwide manufacturing. He began his career as a management consultant at Andersen Consulting, now Accenture. A native of Brazil, Almeida received a bachelor’s of science degree in mechanical engineering from Escola de Engenharia Mauá in São Paulo.

Mary Barra
CEO, General Motors Co.
Barra was named CEO of General Motors in January. She is also a member of the GM board of directors. Barra had been executive vice president, global product development, purchasing and supply chain, since August 2013, and before that was senior vice president, global product development, since February 2011. Barra began her career with GM in 1980 as a General Motors Institute (Kettering University) co-op student at the Pontiac Motor Division. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering in 1985. In 1990 she graduated with an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business after receiving a GM fellowship in 1988.

Eric Bieber
President and CEO, Rochester Regional Health
Bieber came to Rochester Regional Health in 2014 from University Hospitals in Cleveland, where he served as both the president of Community Hospitals West Region and the president of University Hospitals’ accountable care organizations. He earned a B.A. in biology from Illinois Wesleyan University and an M.S. in microbiology from Illinois State University. He received his Doctor of Medicine degree at Loyola University’s Stritch School of Medicine. He later went on to earn an M.S. in health care management at Harvard University. Earlier in his career, Bieber held positions as executive vice president of strategic network development and as chief medical officer for a regional hospital within the Geisinger Health System in Pennsylvania.

Christopher Booth
President and CEO, Lifetime Healthcare Cos. Inc.
Booth became head of Lifetime Healthcare Companies in 2013 after serving as a senior executive with the company since 2004. He began his career in 1986 at Hinman Straub P.C. in Albany, with a practice dedicated exclusively to health care services for insurers and HMOs. During the last years of his tenure with Hinman Straub, he served as chairman of the firm’s health practice. A native of Waterbury, Conn., he earned a B.A. in English from the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Mass., and a J.D. degree from Union University’s Albany Law School.

James Branciforte
President and CEO, Lifetime Assistance Inc.
Branciforte has been president and CEO of Lifetime Assistance since 1988. Under Branciforte’s leadership, Lifetime Assistance has grown tenfold. Branciforte is a graduate of Rockefeller Graduate College of Public Affairs and Policy, SUNY Albany, and SUNY College at Brockport. Branciforte serves as chairman of Person Centered Services of Western New York, a collaborative organization of 12 top developmental disability service providers in the Greater Rochester, Finger Lakes and Greater Buffalo area.

Daan Braveman 
President, Nazareth College
Braveman became president of Nazareth College in 2005. A Rochester native, he graduated from Brighton High School and the University of Rochester and received his law degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 1972. He clerked for Justice Samuel J. Roberts of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court and later worked as an attorney for the Greater Upstate Law Project in Rochester, where he was engaged in civil rights litigation throughout New York State. Braveman joined Syracuse University College of Law in 1977, serving as dean from 1994 to 2002.

William Brown
Chairman, president and CEO, Harris Corp.
Brown was appointed president and CEO in November 2011 and elected chairman of the board in April 2014. Earlier he had held executive positions in several divisions of United Technologies Corp. Before joining UTC in 1997, he worked for McKinsey & Co. as a senior engagement manager and at Air Products and Chemicals Inc. as a project engineer. He received bachelor’s and master’s degrees in mechanical engineering from Villanova University, and an MBA from the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School.

Ursula Burns
Chairman and CEO, Xerox Corp.
Burns joined Xerox in 1980 as a summer intern in mechanical engineering and later assumed roles in product development and planning. From 1992 through 2000, she led business teams including the office color and fax business and office network printing business. In 2000, she was named senior vice president for corporate strategic services, and subsequently led Xerox’s global research as well as product development, marketing and delivery. Burns was named president in 2007, CEO in 2009 and chairman in 2010. She earned a B.S. in mechanical engineering from Polytechnic Institute of New York University and an M.S. in mechanical engineering from Columbia University.

David Calhoun
Executive director, Wayne ARC
Calhoun has been executive director at Wayne ARC since 2006. He was previously executive director at the Arc of the South Shore in Weymouth, Mass. He received a B.A. in history from Central Connecticut State College and a M.S. in special education from Central Connecticut State University. He currently co-chairs the Wayne County Collaborative Council and is treasurer of the Wayne County Rural Health Network. He also serves on the boards of the Collaborative of the Finger Lakes and the Wayne County Business Council and on the START Advisory Board of Western New York.

Marc Casper
President and CEO, Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc.
Casper joined Thermo Fisher Scientific in 2001 and was named president and CEO in 2009. Prior to joining Thermo Fisher, he was president, CEO and a director of Kendro Laboratory Products. Before Kendro, he worked at Dade Behring Inc. and at Bain & Co. as a strategy consultant and later joined Bain Capital. Casper received an MBA from Harvard Business School and a B.A. in economics from Wesleyan University.

Jeffrey Clarke
CEO, Eastman Kodak Co.
Prior to joining Kodak, Clarke was a managing partner of Augusta Columbia Capital, a private investment firm he co-founded in 2012. From 2012 to 2014, Clarke was chairman of Travelport Inc., a private travel technology firm, where he had served as CEO from 2006 to 2011. Earlier, he had held leadership positions at HP, Compaq Computer and Orbitz. He has served on the boards of Autodesk, Red Hat Inc. and the Compuware Corp. Clarke earned an MBA from Northeastern University, where he serves as a trustee. He holds a B.A. in economics from SUNY Geneseo.

Christopher Crane
President and CEO, Exelon Corp.
Christopher Crane was appointed CEO of Exelon Corp. in 2012 after serving as the company’s president and chief operating officer since 2008. He has worked in the nuclear industry in progressively more responsible positions for more than 30 years. Crane is chairman of the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations, vice chairman of Edison Electric Institute and is an executive committee member and immediate past chairman of the Nuclear Energy Institute.

Frank Curci
Chairman and CEO, Tops Markets LLC
Frank Curci joined the Tops team as president and chief executive officer in 2000, serving until 2003. He rejoined the Tops team as president and CEO in 2007, when Morgan Stanley Private Equity acquired the company. In December 2013, Curci led a six-person team of local Tops executives in a management buyout. Prior to joining Tops, he served as chief operating officer for Alabama-based C&S Wholesale Grocers, managing the startup of a 142-store chain, and as senior vice president of operations for Farmer Jack Supermarkets, a wholly-owned subsidiary of A&P that operated 105 stores in southeastern Michigan.

Bruce Darling
President and CEO, Center for Disability Rights Inc.
Darling is co-founder of the Center for Disability Rights Inc. During his career, he has dealt with a variety of disability issues. He also is a community organizer with ADAPT, a national grassroots community of disability rights activists, and has written a number of public policy analyses on disability rights issues. He holds a B.A. degree in English from the University of Rochester and an M.S. degree in public relations management from Syracuse University.

Mark Davitt
CEO, ConServe
Davitt founded ConServe in 1985. With more than 30 years of experience in the collection industry, he has served as president, chairman of the National Legislative Council and other leadership positions at The Association of Credit and Collection Professionals. He earned a B.A. from Hamilton College, received both the scholar and fellow degrees in collection business management and has been conferred a master credit executive by the Society of Certified Credit Executives. He has served on the United Way’s Business Advisory Council of Rochester, received the Rochester Small Business Council’s 2013 Business Person of the Year Award and was inducted into the Rochester Business Hall of Fame in 2015.

Paul DeCarolis
Chairman, DeCarolis Truck Rental Inc.
DeCarolis runs the company started by his father, Louis DeCarolis, during the Great Depression. He has been a member of the Rochester Rotary Club, the Italian Heritage Foundation of Rochester and the Circus Saints and Sinners Club of America. He also has been director of the Truck Rental and Leasing Association, a trade group.

Thomas Degnan
CEO, Reynolds Group Holdings Ltd.
Degnan is a director of Reynolds Group Holdings and a director and officer of a number of companies within the group. He served as a director of Burns, Philp & Co. Pty. Ltd. and of Carter Holt Harvey Ltd. while both were public companies.

William Destler
President, Rochester Institute of Technology
Destler became president of Rochester Institute of Technology in 2007. He had been senior vice president for academic affairs and provost of the University of Maryland at College Park. He serves on the American Council on Education’s Commission on Effective Leadership and is a board member for the National Institute of Aerospace Foundation. He is a member of the board for New York’s Commission on Independent Colleges and Universities. He is on the steering committee for the American College & University Presidents’ Climate Commitment. Destler serves on community boards as well: Rochester General Health System, Greater Rochester Enterprise, Rochester Business Alliance, Golisano Family Foundation, High Tech Rochester and Torvec Inc. He earned a B.S. in physics from Stevens Institute of Technology and a physics Ph.D. from Cornell University.

Anthony DiMarzo
President, Mark IV Enterprises
DiMarzo is a Rochester native who began his career at his family’s small grocery store. He earned a degree in finance and real estate at Syracuse University and established Mark IV Construction Co. Inc. with other family members in 1965. Mark IV and its affiliated companies build and manage town-home communities, apartment communities and commercial and professional office developments.

Richard Dorschel
President and CEO, The Dorschel Automotive Group
Dorschel began his career in 1968 as a new-car salesperson and in 1977 purchased Dorschel Buick-Toyota from his father. He is a past recipient of the Rochester Chamber of Commerce Small Business Person of the Year, the Rochester Business Journal Fifty Over 50, and the General Motors Dealer of the Year awards. He serves on the JPMorgan Chase Regional Advisory Board and is a member of the Rochester Automobile Dealers Association. Dorschel and his wife, Nancy, oversee the Nancy & Richard Dorschel Family Foundation, which supports local service organizations. He earned a B.A. in business administration management from the University of Georgia.

Daniel Edwards
President and CEO, Vision Automotive Group
Edwards owns and operates Vision Automotive Group. He graduated magna cum laude from SUNY College at Oswego with a bachelor’s degree in marketing and minors in finance and economics. He started as a parts and service representative in California, moved to a sales position with Chrysler Motors and then became general manager at a Dodge Chrysler Jeep dealership in Florida. In 1995, Edwards moved to Rochester and founded Vision with two partners and seven employees. In 2012, Edwards bought out his partners, and he and his wife, Margie Edwards, became sole owners.

Mark Gearan
President, Hobart and William Smith Colleges
A former director of the Peace Corps, Gearan has been president of Hobart and William Smith Colleges since 1999. He was deputy chief of staff and director of communications in the White House during the Clinton administration. Gearan serves on the advisory councils of the Happiness House Foundation, Ontario ARC and the Geneva Community Center, and is a founding member of Geneva 2020. A native of Massachusetts, Gearan earned his B.A. in government at Harvard University and his law degree at Georgetown University.

Marisa Geitner
President and CEO, Heritage Christian Services
Geitner has been with Heritage Christian Services for more than 20 years and became CEO in January 2013. She began with the agency by working relief shifts as a direct support professional. After becoming a full-time employee, she developed a speech pathology department and then a new model for day programs that spread throughout the state; created a workforce development department that now supports more than 2,000 employees; and planned and launched the agency’s Pieters Family Life Center. Geitner is a Nazareth alumna and earned her bachelor’s degree in education and her master’s degree in speech and language pathology there.

Ralf Gerbershagen
CEO, Kodak Alaris Holdings Ltd.
Prior to joining Alaris on April 1, 2014, Gerbershagen was vice president and general manager Europe for mobile devices at Motorola GmbH. Educated in electronics and computer science at the University of Bingen, Gerbershagen started his professional career with Siemens AG, where he held global responsibility for the power capacitors business. He was export sales manager at Siemens & Matsushita and moved to Motorola in 1995.

William Goodrich,
CEO and managing partner, LeChase Construction Services
William Goodrich joined LeChase in 1985. He served as vice president and partner, chief operating officer and president before becoming CEO in 2007 and managing partner the following year. He is a board member for the Greater Rochester Chamber of Commerce, Hillside Children’s Center, Keuka College, Lifetime Healthcare, Greater Rochester Enterprise and the CMAC Performing Arts Center. He is also a member of the Associated General Contractors of America. This spring, Goodrich completed Harvard Business School’s Owner/President Management program. He holds a B.S. degree in business from Roberts Wesleyan College and an A.A.S. degree in construction engineering technology from Alfred State, where he received a President’s Medallion in 2010 and an honorary doctorate in 2014.

Naren Gursahaney
President and CEO, ADT Corp.
Before appointment to his current position, Gursahaney was president of Tyco Security Solutions, which included ADT Security Services, and later as president of Tyco Engineered Products and Services. Prior to joining Tyco, he spent 10 years in leadership roles at General Electric. Before GE, he served four years with Booz Allen & Hamilton. He holds a bachelor of science in mechanical engineering from Pennsylvania State University and an MBA from the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business Administration.

Frank Hamlin III
President and CEO, Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co.
Hamlin joined Canandaigua National in 2004 as a member of the board of directors. He is the fifth generation of the Hamlin family to lead the company and is the great-great-grandson of Frank H. Hamlin, who was the first president of the bank in 1887. Prior to joining Canandaigua National, Hamlin was a defense attorney for more than a decade. He is a graduate of Canandaigua Academy and received his B.A. from the University of Vermont and his law degree from Albany Law School. He serves on the board for Thompson Health System and is a member of the Ontario County Bar Association.

Gidget Hopf
President and CEO, ABVI and Goodwill of the Finger Lakes
Hopf previously served as president of the board of Goodwill Industries International. She currently serves on the New York State Vision Rehabilitation Association board, the Geneseo College Council and the Rochester Rotary Charitable Trust board. She was named Rochester’s Not-for-Profit Executive of the Year in 2009. Hopf earned her undergraduate degree in speech pathology from SUNY Geneseo, an M.A. in audiology and communication science from Kean College of New Jersey and an Ed.D. in leadership and organizational studies from George Washington University in 2005.

Robert Hurlbut
President and CEO, Hurlbut Care Communities
Hurlbut has led the company since 1994. He is a long-serving member of the state Department of Health’s Public Health and Health Planning Council. Hurlbut’s community involvement includes current and past board service to the Memorial Art Gallery, the Strong Memorial Board, the University of Rochester Nursing Advisory Board, Public Health Planning Council, Eldersource, R.I.T. Advisory Board and American Red Cross. He was named one of Rochester’s Forty Under 40 by the Rochester Business Journal in 1995. Hurlbut earned a B.S. degree in hotel administration from Rochester Institute of Technology’s School of Food, Hotel and Travel Management in 1984.

Jeremy Jacobs
Chairman, Delaware North Cos.
In addition to his leadership of Delaware North Cos., Jacobs has owned the Boston Bruins for more than 30 years. In 2007, he was elected chairman of the NHL Board of Governors. He was inducted into the Western New York Sports Hall of Fame in 2006. Jacobs has served on the U.S. Travel and Tourism Advisory Board. He is an alumnus of SUNY Buffalo’s School of Management and the Harvard School of Business Advanced Management Program.

Thomas Judson Jr.
Chairman, The Pike Cos. Ltd.
Judson began his career in construction during school summer breaks as a laborer and carpenter apprentice for John B. Pike & Son Inc., a general contracting company founded by his great-grandfather in 1873. Judson became president of the company in 1975 and established the Pike Company Inc. in 1985. He serves on the executive committee and board of trustees of Rochester Institute of Technology and the Rochester Chamber and on the board of directors of the Business Council of New York State Inc. Judson received his B.S. from Yale University and an MBA from Cornell University.

Michael King
President and CEO, Jewish Senior Life
King was appointed president and CEO of Jewish Senior Life in March 2015. King served in JSL’s senior management for 10 years before becoming CEO and has more than two decades of managerial experience in the senior services profession. King currently serves as board member for Lifespan. He also serves as a committee member of the Skilled Nursing Cabinet for LeadingAge New York, a state association for non-profit senior living communities. He holds a master of public administration with a health care emphasis from SUNY College at Brockport, and a bachelor of science in business administration from SUNY College at Fredonia.

Patrick Kron
Chairman and CEO, Alstom S.A.
Kron is a graduate of École Polytechnique and the Paris École des Mines. He started his career in the French Ministry of Industry, then joined the Pechiney Group in 1984. In 1993, he became a member of the executive committee of the Pechiney Group and was appointed chairman of the Carbone Lorraine Co. From 1998 to 2002, Kron was CEO of Imerys S.A. before joining Alstom. He has been CEO and chairman of Alstom since 2003.

Giovanni LiDestri
President and CEO, LiDestri Foods Inc.
LiDestri began his career only two years after coming to America from Italy. Starting at age 16, he worked through high school and college as a manufacturing and operations employee for Ragu Foods Inc. He remained at Ragu until 1976, when he was hired to be general manager at Cantisano Foods Inc. In 1991, LiDestri became its president, and six years later he was named CEO. LiDestri purchased all outstanding shares from the Cantisano family in September 2002 and changed the name of the company to LiDestri Foods Inc.

Stephen Macadam
President and CEO, EnPro Industries Inc.
Macadam became president and CEO in April 2008. Before joining EnPro, Macadam had served as CEO of BlueLinx Holdings Inc. since October 2005. He also was president and CEO of Consolidated Container Co. LLC, executive vice president with Georgia-Pacific Corp. and principal in charge of McKinsey and Co. Inc.’s Charlotte, N.C., operation. He received a B.S. in mechanical engineering from the University of Kentucky, an M.S. in finance from Boston College and an MBA from Harvard University.

Martin Madaus
Chairman and CEO, Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics Inc.
Martin Madaus has served as executive chairman of Quanterix Corp., senior health care advisor to The Carlyle Group, president and CEO of Millipore Corp. and in senior executive roles at Roche. He began his diagnostics industry career in Germany and holds advanced degrees in veterinary medicine. Madaus sits on the Quanterix board and has been a director for other public and private companies.

Edward Maier
President and CEO, G.W. Lisk Co. Inc.
Maier has led the company for more than two years. Before that, he worked at Harris Corp.’s RF Communications division in Rochester as vice president of technical operations. He previously worked at Emerson Electric Co. for more than two decades.

Robert Marcus
Chairman and CEO, Time Warner Cable
Marcus became chairman and chief executive officer of Time Warner Cable on Jan. 1, 2014. He had served as the company’s president and chief operating officer since 2010 and as its chief financial officer from 2008 through mid-2011. Marcus joined Time Warner Cable in 2005 as senior executive vice president. From 1998 until he joined Time Warner Cable, Marcus held various positions at Time Warner Inc. From 1990 to 1997, he practiced law at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP. Marcus received a J.D. from Columbia Law School and earned a B.A., magna cum laude, from Brown University.

Faheem Masood
President and CEO, ESL Federal Credit Union
Faheem Masood became president and CEO of ESL Federal Credit Union in March 2016, having served as president and chief operating officer since 2012. In that role, he directed the personal banking, business banking and wealth management lines of business. Faheem launched his career at ESL in 1991 as a senior financial analyst and was later named manager of financial planning and analysis in 1994. He was appointed president and chief operating officer of ESL Investment Services LLC in 1997 and named vice president of corporate product development three years later. In 2003 he was promoted to senior vice president/marketplace director. Masood received a bachelor’s degree in economics from Allegheny College and an MBA from SUNY College at Buffalo. Masood serves on the board of directors of Rochester Regional Health, Geva Theatre Center, and the Greater Rochester Chamber of Commerce.

Lowell McAdam
CEO and chairman, Verizon Communications
CEO of the company since 2011 and chairman since 2012, McAdam held key executive positions at Verizon Wireless since its inception in 2000. Earlier, he was president and CEO of PrimeCo Personal Communications and held executive positions with Pacific Bell. McAdam earned a bachelor’s degree in engineering from Cornell and an MBA from the University of San Diego. He spent six years in the U.S. Navy Civil Engineer Corps and became a licensed professional engineer in 1979.

Daniel McCarthy
President and CEO, Frontier Communications Corp.
Daniel McCarthy was appointed CEO of Frontier in April 2015 and has been a member of Frontier’s board of directors since 2014. Since joining the company in 1990, he has held positions of increasing responsibility in Frontier’s operations and corporate headquarters and was named president and chief operating officer in 2012. McCarthy earned a bachelor’s degree in marine engineering from the State University of New York Maritime College at Fort Schuyler, and an M.B.A. from the University of Phoenix.

Michael McRae
President and CEO, St. Ann’s Community
McRae came to St. Ann’s in 2010 as senior vice president and administrator. In 2014 he became the organization’s third president and CEO. He has more than 25 years of experience in health care, including nine years as administrator at Catholic Health in Buffalo and six as continuous quality improvement director at Niagara Falls Memorial Medical Center. He earned a B.S. degree in gerontology from SUNY Buffalo in 1988 and a master’s in human services from SUNY College at Buffalo in 1993.

Martin Miskell
Executive director, The Arc of Livingston-Wyoming
Martin Miskell joined The Arc of Livingston-Wyoming in 2002 as director of finance, became chief financial officer in 2007 and was promoted to executive director in 2015. Prior to joining The Arc, Miskell oversaw all financial functions for Lew-Mark Baking (Archway Cookies) in Perry, Wyoming County. Miskell has served as a board member for New York State Parks and Recreation, Genesee Valley Conservancy, Teresa House (hospice), Association for the Preservation of Geneseo, and other community organizations. He graduated from SUNY Geneseo in 1986 with a B.A. in economics, and received his MBA with a concentration in accounting from Rochester Institute of Technology in 1993.

Robert Morgan
President and CEO, Morgan Management LLC
Morgan earned a B.S. degree in business from Rochester Institute of Technology in 1979. He was inducted in the Rochester Business Hall of Fame in 2013. In the same year, he received the Herbert W. Vanden Brul Entrepreneurial Award.

Martin Mucci
President and CEO, Paychex Inc.
Mucci was named president and CEO in 2010. He joined the company in 2002 as senior vice president of operations. Before joining Paychex, Mucci was CEO of Frontier Telephone of Rochester and president of telephone operations for Frontier Communications, with responsibility for sales, operations, customer service and financial performance of Frontier’s 34 local telephone companies. Mucci holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting from St. John Fisher College and is past chairman of its board of trustees. He also has an MBA from the University of Rochester’s Simon Business School. Mucci is a member of the Upstate New York regional advisory board of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and of the Rochester Chamber executive committee.

Kevin Murai
President and CEO, Synnex Corp.
Appointed co-CEO of Synnex in March 2008, Murai took over sole leadership of the company in December 2008 following Robert Huang’s retirement. He was previously employed at Ingram Micro Inc. for 19 years in several executive management positions, including president and chief operating officer. He holds a bachelor of applied science degree in electrical engineering from the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada.

Michael Pearson
CEO, Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc.
Pearson joined Valeant as CEO in 2008 after having been global head of McKinsey & Co. Inc. and a member of McKinsey’s board of directors. He had joined McKinsey in 1984 and held various positions, including head of its global pharmaceutical practice and head of its mid-Atlantic region. He has B.S. and BSE degrees from Duke University and an MBA from the University of Virginia.

John Perrotti
President and CEO, Gleason Corp.
Perrotti has been president and CEO since 2005 and had been executive vice president and chief financial officer. He became vice president and controller in 1993, vice president of finance in 1995 and treasurer in 1997. He holds a B.S. degree from Rochester Institute of Technology and an MBA from the University of Rochester’s Simon Business School.

Deana Porterfield
President, Roberts Wesleyan College
Porterfield became president of Roberts Wesleyan College in 2014. She previously served at Azusa Pacific University and Azusa Pacific Online University for more than 24 years in various roles. She earned a doctorate in organizational leadership from the University of La Verne in California and also holds a master’s degree in organizational management and a bachelor’s degree in music from Azusa Pacific University.

Jonathan Rich
Chairman and CEO, Berry Plastics Group Inc.
Rich became chairman and CEO of Berry Plastics Group in October 2010. Before that, he was president and CEO of Momentive Performance Materials Inc. from 2007 until 2010. Prior to Momentive, he held executive positions at Goodyear Tire and Rubber from 2000 until 2007, including president of Goodyear North American Tire and president of Goodyear Chemical. Rich began his career at General Electric in 1982. He has a bachelor of science degree in chemistry from Iowa State University and a Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Wisconsin.

Dennis Richardson
President and CEO, Hillside Family of Agencies
Richardson joined Hillside in 1994. Before that, he was executive director of the Children’s Study Home in Springfield, Mass. He also worked at St. Joseph’s Children’s Services in Brooklyn and at the Catholic Guardian Society of Brooklyn and Queens. He was an adjunct faculty member at the University of Connecticut School of Social Work. Richardson is board chairman of the Alliance for Children and Families and of the Greater Rochester Health Foundation and a board member of Frontier Telecommunications. He is a graduate of Columbia University School of Social Work.

George Romell
President and CEO, YMCA of Greater Rochester
Romell has led the YMCA since 1998 and was vice president of operations and CEO for five years before then. He joined the YMCA of Greater Rochester as executive director of the Southeast Branch in 1989. Before joining the Rochester association, Romell was the associate executive director at the Rome Family YMCA. He began his career as assistant director of youth and family services at the Springfield (Mass.) Metropolitan YMCA. Romell is on the boards of the Council of Agency Executives and the Eugenio Maria de Hostos Charter School. He has a master’s degree from Springfield College.

Gerard Rooney
President, St. John Fisher College
Formerly executive vice president for enrollment, advancement, and planning at St. John Fisher College, Gerard Rooney became its seventh president in October 2015. He received his undergraduate degree in sociology at Villanova University, a master’s degree in educational administration and supervision at Fairfield University, a doctoral degree from the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy, Higher Education Program at SUNY Buffalo and a certificate in higher education leadership from the Harvard University Graduate School of Education. Rooney is a member of the board of McQuaid Jesuit High School, the Holy Sepulchre Cemetery, the Greater Rochester Chamber of Commerce and ABVI/Goodwill. He is also a council member of the Rochester Regional Health Advisory Council and a 2016 campaign cabinet member for the United Way of Greater Rochester.

Charles Runyon
President and CEO, St. John’s
Runyon has led St. John’s since 2001, after serving for eight years as executive vice president, chief operating officer and administrator. Honored in 2016 with a Healthcare Achievement Award in Management and LeadingAge NY’s James W. Sanderson Award for Leadership, Runyon is a former chairman of both the Rochester Area Association of Homes & Services to the Aging Inc. and the New York State LeadingAge Association. Runyon has a bachelor’s degree in business administration from St. Bonaventure University.

Robert Sands
President and CEO, Constellation Brands Inc.
Sands joined Constellation Brands in 1986 as general counsel overseeing the company’s legal affairs, particularly acquisitions. He became president and CEO in 2007. He is also a member of Constellation’s board of directors. Prior to joining Constellation, Sands was an associate with the Rochester law firm of Harter, Secrest & Emery. Sands is chairman of the board of the New York Wine & Culinary Center, a member of the board of trustees of Rochester Regional Health System, a member of the board and executive committee of the Rochester Business Alliance and a member of the board of trustees of Thompson Health. In 2008, he was named an inaugural member of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s Upstate Regional Advisory Board.

Ann Scheetz
Executive director, Ontario ARC
Scheetz was named executive director of Ontario Arc in 2012. She began her career at Ontario ARC in 1984 and developed an extensive background in all facets of the agency’s core programs. Scheetz has served on the Finger Lakes Workforce Investment Board and NYSARC’s Collaborative of the Finger Lakes and as a member of the Executive Directors Association of NYSARC.

Jeffrey Schlarbaum
President and CEO, IEC Electronics Corp.
Schlarbaum was appointed president and CEO in February 2015. From June 2013 to June 2014, he served as chief operations officer for LaserMax Inc. He also served as IEC’s president from October 2010 to February 2013. Before that, he served as the company’s executive vice president and president of contract manufacturing from October 2008 to October 2010, executive vice president from November 2006 to October 2008, and vice president of sales and marketing from May 2004 to November 2006. Schlarbaum also has served in several executive management roles with advanced electronics companies including Plexus Corp. and Seagate Technologies. He holds an MBA from Pepperdine University.

Gerald Schwartz
Chairman and CEO, Onex Corp.
Before establishing Onex in 1984, Schwartz was the co-founder and president of CanWest Capital. Prior to that he worked at a Wall Street investment banking firm, specializing in mergers and acquisitions. His previous experience also includes the practice of corporate law in Canada. Schwartz has been appointed as an officer of the Order of Canada and inducted into the Canadian Business Hall of Fame. Schwartz holds an MBA from the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration and an L.L.B. and B.Comm. from the University of Manitoba.

Joel Seligman
President, University of Rochester
Seligman became president of the University of Rochester in 2005. Previously, he was the dean of the Washington University School of Law. One of the nation’s leading experts on securities law, Seligman is one of three co-authors of the 11-volume “Securities Regulation,” the leading treatise in the field, and author of “The Transformation of Wall Street: A History of the Securities and Exchange Commission and Modern Corporate Finance.” He has authored or co-authored 20 books and more than 40 articles on legal issues related to securities and corporations. Seligman earned his bachelor’s degree from UCLA and his law degree from Harvard University.

Sankar Sewnauth
President and CEO, CDS Life Transitions
Sewnauth has been with CDS Life Transitions since 1989, serving as the organization’s president/CEO for the past 18 years. He also serves as the chairman for iCircle Services. Sewnauth received his B.A. in psychology from MidAmerica Nazarene College and his M.A. in public administration from SUNY College at Brockport. He is a member of the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities.

Kris Sirchio
CEO, North American Breweries Inc.
Prior to joining NAB in April 2014, Sirchio served as executive vice president, global chief marketing officer and executive committee member for Brown-Forman, where he led overall profit, growth and innovation strategies for the company’s global portfolio of wine and spirits brands. Prior to that, Sirchio served as global business unit leader for Syngenta, one of the world’s largest lawn and garden companies. Sirchio started his career at Procter & Gamble, spending more than 13 years in Europe managing some of the company’s largest brands. Sirchio received a bachelor’s degree in political science from Duke University, and a master’s degree in business administration from Southern Methodist University.

James Smith
President and CEO, Thomson Reuters
Smith began his career as a journalist and rose through the ranks at Thomson Newspapers to become responsible for operations in North America. He then led a number of professional publishing businesses serving the legal, regulatory and academic markets. He was global head of human resources before becoming chief operating officer of the Thomson Corp. After the acquisition of Reuters in 2008, he ran the professional division of the combined company. He was named CEO in January 2012. He graduated from Marshall University, which awarded him an honorary degree in 2013.

Tony Thomas
President and CEO, Windstream Corp.
Thomas was appointed president and CEO of Windstream in December 2014. He has more than 20 years’ experience in the communications industry, most recently serving as president of real estate investment trust operations at Windstream since October 2014 and as chief financial officer from 2009 through September 2014. Thomas joined Windstream as controller following the spinoff from Alltel Corp. Before entering the communications industry, he was a senior auditor with Ernst & Young in the telecom practice. He holds a master’s degree in business administration from Wake Forest University and a bachelor’s degree in accountancy from the University of Illinois.

James Torgerson
CEO, Avangrid Inc.
Torgerson is a former president and CEO of UIL Holdings Corp. and was named CEO of Avangrid after that company’s merger with Iberdrola USA in December 2015. Prior to joining UIL Holdings, he served as president and CEO of Midwest Independent Transmission System Operator Inc. He earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration and a degree in accounting from Cleveland State University.

Dilip Vellodi
Chairman and CEO, Sutherland Global Services Inc.
Vellodi is the founder, chairman and CEO of Sutherland Global Services. He has been involved in numerous philanthropic endeavors including the Mayo Clinic and the Humane Society and has received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Boys and Girls Club of America, the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award and the Herbert W. Vanden Brul Entrepreneurial Award. Vellodi began his career as a consultant to Merck & Co., subsequently joining Xerox Corp., where he held several senior assignments. He earned a bachelor’s degree in economics with mathematics and statistics from Loyola University, and an MBA from Rutgers University.

Barbara Wale
President and CEO, the Arc of Monroe County
Wale started her career at the Arc of Monroe County in 1978. She earned a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in speech pathology from SUNY College at Geneseo and an MBA from the Bittner School of Business at St. John Fisher College. Wale became the president and CEO of the Arc in 2008. She is chairwoman of the NYSARC Executive Directors Association as well as vice-chair for NYSARC’s Collaborative of the Finger Lakes. She also serves on the NYS Surrogate Decision Making Committee, NYS OPWDD Provider Association Committee and SUNY Geneseo Opportunities for Leadership Development Program committee.

Danny Wegman
CEO, Wegmans Food Markets Inc.
Wegman joined his family’s business in 1964, becoming a store manager in 1969. In 1971, he directed implementation of the planning and scheduling process, and in 1976 he was named president. He became CEO in 2005. Wegman serves on the board of directors of the Hillside Work-Scholarship Connection, co-chairs the Finger Lakes Regional Economic Development Council, is on the board of the Greater Rochester Chamber of Commerce and is chairman-elect of the University of Rochester board of trustees. Since 1981, he has served on the Food Marketing Institute’s board of directors, and he is past chairman of its task force on food safety. In October 2008, Ethisphere magazine named Wegman to its list of the “100 Most Influential People in Business Ethics.” Wegman graduated from Harvard University with a degree in economics.

Robert Weiss
President and CEO, Cooper Cos. Inc.
Weiss has served as president since March 2008 and CEO since November 2007. He also served as president of CooperVision, the contact lens subsidiary, from 2007 to 2008. He previously served as chief operating officer from 2005 to 2007 and as executive vice president from 1995 to 2007. He was chief financial officer from 1989 to 2005 and treasurer from 1989 to 2002. Since joining Cooper in 1977, he has held finance positions both with the company and its former parent, Cooper Laboratories Inc. Weiss is also a director of Accuray Inc.

Thomas Williams
Chairman and CEO, Parker Hannifin Corp.
Williams was appointed Parker’s chairman and CEO in January 2015 after serving as executive vice president and operating officer for Parker’s aerospace, engineered materials, filtration, instrumentation and Asia Pacific groups; he also led the strategic pricing department. Prior to joining Parker in 2003, Williams held key management positions at General Electric. Williams earned a mechanical engineering degree from Bucknell University and an MBA from Xavier University.

Robert Wilmers
Chairman and CEO, M&T Bank Corp.
Wilmers has been chairman and chief executive officer of M&T Bank Corp. and its principal subsidiary, M&T Bank, since May 1983. Wilmers graduated from Harvard College and attended the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration. After working in banking in New York, he served in New York City government and then worked at Morgan Guaranty Trust Co. Wilmers served as a director of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York from 1993 to 1998, as chairman of the New York State Bankers Association in 2002 and as chairman of the Empire State Development Corp. from 2008 to 2009.

Louise Woerner
Chairwoman and CEO, HCR Home Care
Woerner, founder of HCR Home Care, received the Distinguished Service Award from the Rochester Academy of Medicine, entrepreneurial awards from President Ronald Reagan and Rochester Institute of Technology and a Breakthrough Award from the International Transcultural Nursing Society. She was the first living woman inducted into the Rochester Business Hall of Fame. Woerner was the first non-nurse Fellow in the American Academy of Nursing and has written on nursing innovation and leadership. She served two terms on the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, chaired the N.Y. Public Health Council, served on the board of the American Academy of Nursing’s Institute for Nursing Leadership and as vice chairwoman of the Atlantic Council of the United States. She holds an MBA from the University of Chicago, a B.S. from Trinity University, and an honorary doctorate from Nazareth College.

Karen Zandi
President and CEO, Mary Cariola Children’s Center
Zandi joined Mary Cariola Children’s Center in October 2012. Before that she was executive director of Hillside Children’s Center, where she worked for 25 years. Zandi is a board member for the New York State Coalition of 853 Schools. She has a master’s degree in social work from the University of Pennsylvania.

4/29/2016 (c) 2016 Rochester Business Journal. To obtain permission to reprint this article, call 585-546-8303 or email [email protected].