12 minute read
EDUCATION & HEALTH
Joseph L. Chillo
PRESIDENT Thomas More University
Chillo leads the Catholic institution in Crestview Hills founded 100 years ago by the Benedictine Sisters as Villa Madonna College. He was president of Newbury College in Brookline, Massachusetts, before taking over TMU in 2019. The school has been approved for provisional membership in the NCAA Division II Great Midwest Conference, a step up in competition from its NAIA status. Enrollment is more than 2,200.
Hometown: Mahopac, New York Education: Binghamton University (undergraduate), Long Island University (master’s), Northeastern University (DLP) Has your leadership approach changed because of thepandemic? As a servant leader, my responsibility is to ensure that our university, our mission, and our people benefit from the work we all do to provide every student with a strong Catholic liberal arts education.
Jonathan Cooper
SUPERINTENDENT Mason City Schools
Cooper, who has led the district since 2018, came to Mason in 2014 as the Chief Innovation Officer and helped develop the Experiential Learning and Personal Learning Device programs for the district, which has more than 10,200 students. Its average teacher salary of more than $77,000 is one of the highest in the area.
Hometown: Upland, Indiana Education: Ball State University (undergraduate), University of Dayton (master’s), Miami University (Ed.D.) What has been the toughest challenge for you as a business leader during the COVID-19 pandemic? This is the first time in our history that every single person has experienced some level of trauma. We often discuss the concerns around our physical health, but the mental health of a person is just as important and there will be long term impacts on our communities we’ll need to address together.
Mark Clement
PRESIDENT AND CEO TriHealth
Clement leads the healthcare provider that operates five Greater Cincinnati hospitals (Good Samaritan, Bethesda North, TriHealth Evendale, Bethesda Butler, and McCullough-Hyde in Oxford) and has improvement projects planned at Good Samaritan in Clifton ($140 million) and Bethesda North in Montgomery ($85 million). It’s the fourth-largest employer in the region with more than 12,000 employees, including more than 650 doctors and an independent medical staff of 1,800.
Gregory Crawford
PRESIDENT Miami University
Since 2016, Crawford has led Miami, one of the oldest public universities in the country, chartered in 1809 and opened in 1824. It welcomed its largest incoming class of more than 4,600 students this year. The university received one its five largest gifts in 2020 when Rick McVey (Class of 1981), founder of MarketAxess, a New York financial technology company, donated $20 million to fund construction of the Richard M. McVey Data Science Building.
Garren Colvin
PRESIDENT AND CEO St. Elizabeth Healthcare
Colvin, who began working at St. Elizabeth as a co-op student in 1983, has led Northern Kentucky’s largest healthcare provider since 2015. It is the largest employer in Northern Kentucky with more than 9,700 staff workers and opened its Cancer Center, a $140 million facility in Edgewood, in 2020. Colvin was elected to a two-year term as board chair of the Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce in September.
Hometown: Ludlow Education: Thomas More College (undergraduate), Northern Kentucky University (MBA)
Bill DeVille
CEO Health Carousel
The co-founder of the Norwood-based staffing company has more than 35 years in the industry. Health Carousel provides services in nurse travel, temporary physicians, international nursing, and allied health staffing. It’s acquired six companies since 2015, including Houston-based Vitruvian, an anesthesia staffing business, and MedPath of Connecticut, a recruitment process outsourcing and locum tenens firm, in the past year. Those acquisitions have totaled nearly $90 million in annual revenue.
Hometown: Westerville, Ohio Education: Ohio State University (undergraduate and MBA) How are your employees feeling as they and your business emerge from the pandemic? They’re anxious because of the uncertainty and disruption created by the virus, the variants, and the durability of vaccines. But they are also highly motivated to make a difference in the lives of patients across the U.S.
Fernando Figueroa
PRESIDENT Gateway Community & Technical College
Since 2016, Figueroa has led the school that has grown to more than 4,000 students on campuses in Covington, Florence, and Edgewood; almost half also work full-time. The mission of enhancing access to education and training for a relevant curriculum has created an atmosphere for students to learn marketable skills from instructors who have worked in the field.
Michael Fisher
PRESIDENT AND CEO Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center
Fisher, who has led the award-winning healthcare provider since 2010, announced in April that he will retire when his successor is in place. He has overseen construction of the $600 Critical Care Building and in May announced a $99 million expansion of the College Hill campus. He chairs the Children’s Hospitals Solutions for Patient Safety organization, a group of more than 140 international pediatric providers.
Dave Fiske
PRESIDENT Mercy Health Cincinnati
Fiske runs Mercy Health’s local operations under John Starcher, who became CEO of the Cincinnati-based healthcare system after its 2018 merger. It operates five Mercy Health hospitals (including Jewish Hospital in Kenwood) in Greater Cincinnati and plans to build a $156 million, 60-bed facility in Mason that will create 275 new jobs.
Hometown: La Habra, California Education: Penn State University (undergraduate), DePaul University (MBA) What has been the toughest challenge for you as a business leader during the COVID-19 pandemic? In 2020 it was trying to ensure that we had the resources to take care of our patients. In 2021 it’s having have the staff to take care of our patients. How are your employees feeling as they and your business emerge from the pandemic? From a health care perspective, the pandemic is definitely not over.
Jodi Fronczek
CHIEF OPERATIONS OFFICER Dental Care Plus Group
Fronczek replaced Robert Hodgkins to lead the Sharonville location of the dental insurance provider that was founded by a group of dentists in 1986 and was bought by DentaQuest of Boston in 2019. The company offers access to more than 275,000 provider locations for more than 400,000 dental and vision plan members. It has annual revenue of more than $110 million. __
Christopher Garten
HEAD OF SCHOOL Seven Hills School
Garten has led the private pre-K through grade 12 school since 2009. More than 1,000 students attend classes at two campuses, Hillsdale on Red Bank Road and Doherty in East Walnut Hills. It has an average class size of 15 pupils with teachers that average 18 years of experience. Graduates in the class of 2021 received an average scholarship award of $36,000. All but one, who is taking a gap year, is attending a fouryear university.
Hometown: New York City Education: Princeton University (undergraduate), Columbia University (master’s)
Deborah Hayes
PRESIDENT AND CEO The Christ Hospital
Hayes, who was named interim leader when Arturo Polizzi departed last year, assumed the healthcare provider’s CEO role in May. Hayes has spent her career of more than 30 years at Christ, beginning as a student nurse aide. She will manage more than 6,000 employees at the organization that’s been ranked No. 1 in Greater Cincinnati for seven straight years by U.S. News & World Report.
Gail Kist-Kline
PRESIDENT Christ College of Nursing and Health Sciences
Kist-Kline, who was formerly superintendent of Mason and Wyoming city schools, became leader of the college on the Mt. Auburn campus of The Christ Hospital Health Network in 2018. The school, which was founded in 1902, offers degrees in nursing and healthcare administration for more than 900 students.
Hometown: College Corner, Ohio Education: Miami University (undergraduate, master’s, and Ph.D.) What has been the toughest challenge for you as a business leader during the COVID-19 pandemic? Providing answers quickly and with clarity about where we’re headed as an organization. Because we’re in both the healthcare and higher education spaces, we had to pivot in so many aspects to meet our students’ and our community’s needs. Has your leadership approach changed because of the pandemic? I leaned more on empathy, understanding, and giving grace.
Colleen Hanycz
PRESIDENT Xavier University
Hanycz replaced Father Michael Graham, who retired in June after 20 years as the Jesuit school’s longest-tenured leader. She is the first woman and layperson to lead the university in its 190-year history. She had been President of La Salle University in Philadelphia, where she was also the first woman and layperson to lead that Catholic institution, since 2015.
Hometown: Toronto, Canada Education: University of Toronto (undergraduate), Dalhousie University in Halifax, Canada (J.D.), Osgoode Hall Law School in Toronto (Ph.D.) What has been the toughest challenge for you as a business leader during the COVID-19 pandemic? Maintaining close proximity in the midst of an environment where we have needed to be more socially distant. How are your employees feeling as they and your business emerge from the pandemic? Our faculty and staff have done a remarkable job of serving our students, but there’s been a high cost to this level of commitment.
Richard Lofgren
PRESIDENT AND CEO UC Health
Lofgren has led the healthcare provider since 2013, overseeing more than 11,000 employees at UC Medical Center, West Chester Hospital, Drake Center, Lindner Center of HOPE, and more than 30 outpatient centers in three states. It opened a clinic at the main campus this year for COVID “long-haulers.”
Hometown: Royal Oak, Michigan Education: University of Michigan (undergraduate and medical school), University of Minnesota (master’s) Has your leadership approach changed because of the pandemic? The pandemic was a powerful reminder to me about the important fundamentals of leadership. First, be present even if it means using different and unfamiliar ways to connect, such the various digital modalities. Second, be authentic, transparent, and confident in your team without providing false reassurance. And finally teamwork, collaboration, and respecting everyone’s contribution are all essential.
Alan Martin
VICE PRESIDENT PHARMACY OPERATIONS Humana
Martin is responsible for mail-order, overthe-counter, retail, engineering, and specialty operations for the Louisville-based company that has call center and distribution facilities in Springdale and West Chester. He oversees those operations in eight states, managing more than 2,000 employees. Humana Pharmacy has received national recognition for excellence in customer service, including a Specialty Pharmacy Patient Choice Award from Zitter Insights.
Matt Miller
SUPERINTENDENT Lakota Local Schools
Miller leads one of Ohio’s largest school districts with more than 15,500 students, 1,000 teachers, and 700 support personnel. He was hired in 2017 and in December signed a new five-year contract. He has emphasized technology in the schools and social media (#WEareLakota) to keep families involved in policy decisions. He hosts a monthly hourlong conversation called In the Loop with the Supe that alternates between in-person and online.
Dean Nicholas
HEAD OF SCHOOL Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy
Nicholas replaced the retiring Randy Brunk, who had led the private institution’s Symmes Township campus and downtown location since 2003. Nicholas has worked at the school for 25 years as both Assistant Head of School and Upper School Principal. More than 1,300 students from age 2 through grade 12 represent 140 area churches. CHCA has a robust international program with students from more than 25 countries attending classes.
Education: Wheaton College (undergraduate and master’s), Hebrew Union College (Ph.D.)
Neville Pinto
PRESIDENT University of Cincinnati
Pinto, who took over in 2017, launched Next Lives Here in 2018, a 10-year plan focusing on academic excellence, innovation, and urban impact to celebrate UC’s 200th anniversary in 2019. The public research university has an enrollment of more than 46,000. In August, Valerio Ferme, dean of the College of Arts & Sciences, was named Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs, the administration’s No. 2 officer.
Hometown: Mumbai, India Education: Indian Institute of Technology in New Delhi, India (undergraduate), Penn State University (master’s and Ph.D.)
Monica Posey
PRESIDENT Cincinnati State Technical & Community College
Posey, who has worked at the school for almost 30 years and led it since 2016, was rewarded with a new five-year contract in May. Trustees praised improved graduation rates, strong fiscal position, enhanced relationships with the community, and increased awareness by the public. Almost 12,000 students take classes through campuses in Clifton, Harrison, Evendale, and Middletown.
Hometown: Philadelphia Education: Cornell University (undergraduate), University of Pennsylvania (MBA), University of Cincinnati (Ed.D.)
Tim Reilly
PRESIDENT St. Xavier High School
Reilly, a 1976 graduate, became the first lay leader of the all-male Jesuit school, the largest private high school in the area with more than 1,400 students in grades 9-12. Daniel Lynch, who taught mathematics at the school since 2014, was promoted to principal in July to replace Terry Tyrrell. Founded in 1831, St. X has a student body from 76 Zip codes in Greater Cincinnati with a 20 percent minority enrollment.
Rich Wilson
HEAD OF SCHOOL The Summit Country Day School
The former Procter & Gamble executive has led the Hyde Park Catholic school founded in 1890 by the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur since 2010. Wilson has led fundraising efforts that paid for renovation and construction projects, increased the endowment, and championed innovative initiatives for faculty and staff development. He’s announced that he will retire at the end of the 2021-22 school year.
Hometown: Towson, Maryland Education: Davidson College (undergraduate), University of Chicago (MBA) Has your leadership approach changed because of the pandemic? I’ve learned to be more patient and empathetic: patient with those who strongly disagree with the protocols we’ve put in place, and empathetic with those who have lost loved ones and those for whom this virus is a significant health threat.
Rob Zimmerman
HEAD OF SCHOOL Cincinnati Country Day
The CCD graduate replaced Tony Jaccaci, who led the K-12 private school in Indian Hill since 2015. Zimmerman was an attorney with Dinsmore & Shohl for 16 years and has been active in school affairs as a member of the board, chairman of the COVID task force, alumni council president, and parent. The school was founded in 1926 and has an enrollment of 870.
Hometown: Cincinnati Education: Vanderbilt University (undergraduate), University of Cincinnati (J.D.) How are your employees feeling as they and your business emerge from the pandemic? Our faculty and staff are disappointed that we haven’t fully emerged from the pandemic, but we’re also feeling confident in our ability to navigate another school year impacted by COVID.
