Mount Board Welcomes New Chair and Four Trustees

Gracelyn Ashby McDermott, C'93

THE MOUNT ST. MARY’S BOARD OF TRUSTEES has elected Gracelyn Ashby McDermott, C’93, to serve as chair of the board and Richard P. Miller, C’74, as vice chair. McDermott is the second woman and first African American to lead the 31-member board of the 212-year-old university. Four of the trustees are newly elected (see related article).

McDermott, who succeeds Mary D. Kane, C’84, is executive director of account management at Kaiser Permanente of the Mid-Atlantic States. Her overall professional career includes sales, operations and information technology leadership in the health care field. Prior to joining Kaiser, McDermott served as vice president of accrediting and client services at URAC, an independent health care accrediting organization, and director, specimen administration for Ameritox, LLC, formerly a leader in pain medication monitoring.

“I am honored that the Board has entrusted its leadership to me,” McDermott said. “My goal is to provide Dr. Trainor with full support while we continue to successfully manage through the pandemic and to forge initiatives that will solidify the Mount as a premier university for years to come—building on all the previous efforts initiated under Mary Kane’s leadership.”

A member of Leadership Maryland’s Class of 2018, an eightmonth hands-on learning program for senior executives dedicated to building a better Maryland, McDermott is also a Certified Project Management Professional (PMP). She is vice chair for the Maryland Chamber of Commerce and a member of the boards of the nonprofit organizations Vehicles for Change and Excellence in Education Foundation for PGCPS, Inc.

After graduating from the Mount with an undergraduate degree in international studies and Spanish, McDermott earned an MBA from Johns Hopkins University. A member of the Mount’s Board of Trustees since 2013, she previously served as vice chair and secretary. She gives generously of her time and talent to the university, including participation in the inaugural Alumni of Color Panel in 2019 and a 2020 webinar for alumni on health care. In 2017, she received the Academic Circle of Excellence Award, which recognizes distinguished Mount alumni who are leaders in their communities or in their chosen profession. McDermott lives in Mount Airy, Maryland, with her husband and two daughters.

Miller, who previously served as secretary of the board, is the retired president and CEO of Virtua Health. He delivered the commencement address and received an honorary doctorate in humane letters in 2017. Miller has long demonstrated his commitment to his university and local communities and has served on the boards of several community health organizations, including the New Jersey Hospital Association, the American Heart Association and the March of Dimes of Southern New Jersey. He has served as a trustee for five years. Miller lives in Philadelphia with his wife; they have two adult daughters.

“I am excited to continue working with Gracelyn and Rich in their new leadership roles on the university’s opportunities to spread our goodness. They are accomplished business leaders, proud alumni and deeply devoted supporters of the Mount’s mission and our students,” said President Timothy E. Trainor, Ph.D. “All of our current and newly appointed trustees bring diverse and valuable perspectives, experiences and expertise to help move us into the future with confidence, strength and vision.”

Kane, who has served as chair for nearly five years, will leave the board after the June 2021 meeting, having completed nine years of service. The Board of Trustees honored her with the title chair emerita. Kane led the board through a presidential transition and the creation of a five-year strategic plan for the university as well as reimagined the board and its structure. “I want to thank Mary Kane for her tremendous leadership and service to the university as chair and for her ongoing support as a proud Mountaineer,” Trainor said.

David P. Conaghan, C’81, executive director of CIBC Capital Markets, will step into the role of board secretary previously held by Miller. Richard M. Folio, C’88, MBA'98, executive vice president and CFO of Midwest Railcar Corporation, is the new treasurer of the board.

Mount Board Welcomes Four Impressive Trustees

Lieutenant General (Retired) Nadja Y. West

LIEUTENANT GENERAL (RETIRED) NADJA Y. WEST is the 44th surgeon general of the United States Army and former commanding general of the U.S. Army Medical Command. She became the first Black surgeon general of the U.S. Army on December 11, 2015, and served in the position until her retirement in 2019. She oversaw the highest medical readiness of our forces and highest survival of battlefield wound rates in history. Among her other firsts are becoming the first Black female major general of the Army’s active component in 2013 and Army Medicine’s first African-American female twostar general. Prior to serving as surgeon general, West was the principal medical advisor to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. In that role, she assisted in crafting the plan for U.S. government response to the Ebola crisis in Liberia in 2014. West held numerous other leadership positions in the Army throughout the U.S. and overseas. She served as a 2019-2020 Hauser Leader for the Harvard Kennedy School Center for Public Leadership. She serves on the boards of Nucor Corporation, Tenet Healthcare Corporation, National Recreation Foundation and Americares. West is a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy with a Bachelor of Science degree in engineering and of the National War College with a master’s degree in national security and strategic studies. She attended the George Washington University School of Medicine, where she earned a Doctor of Medicine degree. West and her husband Don are the proud parents of two adult children, and currently live in Maryland.

Koki Adasi, C'04

KOKI ADASI, C’04, is senior vice president of Compass Real Estate. Following his graduation from the Mount with a Bachelor of Science degree in business and minor in psychology, he embarked on a career in real estate by working in the accounting department of a construction company as he studied for and obtained his real estate license. Adasi credits his team’s position as one of the most successful in the country to their comprehensive approach to client care. He is also committed to volunteerism and philanthropy with organizations such as Horton’s Kids, StudentAthletes Organized to Understand Leadership (SOUL), Kindred and Cornerstone Montgomery. Adasi served as president of the Greater Capital Association of Realtors® in 2019 and will serve the National Association of Realtors® as liaison for Member Services in 2021. A Division I basketball player at the Mount, Adasi still enjoys playing basketball, traveling and spending time with his wife, son and daughter. They live in Washington, D.C.

Pat Locke, Founder of the Seeds of Humanity Foundation

PAT LOCKE, founder of the Seeds of Humanity Foundation, is by order of merit the first African American woman to graduate from the United States Military Academy in 1980. She was commissioned as an air defense artillery officer and embarked on a career in the U.S. Army, commanding in Germany, working in Human Resources Command and serving on staff at the Pentagon. Locke retired from active duty service in 1995. She created the Seeds of Humanity Foundation to help underserved students and their influencers, particularly with STEM education, ethics and leadership. She served as co-chair for the West Point Leadership and Ethics Conference in the Washington, D.C. area and has helped West Point and the West Point Association of Graduates execute more than 50 leadership and STEM events. In addition, Locke is coauthor of The Power of Civility: Top Experts Reveal the Secrets of Social Capital, published in 2011. In 2017 she was installed as a member of the Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Services, which advises the secretary of defense on issues relating to women. In 2013 Locke was inducted into the Army Women’s Foundation Hall of Fame and received the Golden Torch Award from the National Society of Black Engineers. Women of Color in STEM honored her with the Visionary Award in 2016. She holds a Master of Science degree in administration from Central Michigan University and a Master of Arts in education from Loyola University Maryland. Locke and her husband live in Virginia. She has an adult daughter.

J. Raphael Della Ratta, C'92

J. RAPHAEL DELLA RATTA, C’92, is president of Commercial Management Company, which manages retail shopping centers, office buildings and hotels in Maryland, Virginia and Florida. After graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English with a minor in philosophy, Della Ratta completed a Master of Arts degree in English literature at Catholic University of America. In his career he has acquired a broad range of experience in journalism, international security policy, project management and executive administration. He served as an inaugural member of the Mount St. Mary’s College of Liberal Arts Advisory Board; endowed a twice-a-year Mount lecture series that fosters multidisciplinary learning that is named in honor of Emeritus Professor of English Robert Ducharme, Ph.D.; and established the Della Ratta Award for Excellence in the Liberal Arts. Della Ratta is a lifelong resident of Glenwood, Maryland. He lives in an historic home, Villa Sperenza, with his wife and three daughters.