Fairfield University elects five trustees | Press Releases

The Fairfield University Board of Trustees has re-elected Roger Lynch, a limited partner with Goldman Sachs and Company and a graduate of the University, as chairman and Vincent Gierer Jr., president and chief operating officer of UST, Inc., as vice chairman. The board also elected five new members, including three alumni, who have distinguished themselves in the business and community service sectors.

The new board members are James Bigham, executive vice president and chief financial officer of Continental Grain Company in New York City; Charles Hanley, president and CEO of Thomas C. Wilson, Inc., Long Island, N.Y.; Marian Heard, president and chief executive officer of the United Way of Massachusetts Bay and former president and CEO of the United Way of Eastern Fairfield County in Bridgeport.

Also, Diane Oakley, vice president of TIAA-CREF pension system, in New York; and Mary Dillon Reynolds, former portfolio consultant for Milestone Capital Manager.

Roger Lynch, who will begin his second term as chairman of the board, became involved in student activities as an undergraduate at Fairfield. He has since served the University as vice chairman of the board, chairman of the 25th reunion of his class, and as chairman of the annual Fairfield Awards Dinner which supports the University's Multicultural Scholarship Fund. He and his wife, Nancy, have also created a scholarship fund to assist students with financial needs. Mr. and Mrs. Lynch, residents of Greenwich, Conn., have three children, including Stephen, a graduate of Fairfield.

Vincent Gierer Jr. joined UST, Inc., in Greenwich, Conn., in 1978 as an accounting manager, was elected controller and later a vice president, then executive vice president and was named president and chief operating officer in 1990. He was previously with Ernst & Young as an audit supervisor. A graduate of Iona College and a CPA, he is a resident of Wilton, Conn., and a director of the community's Family YMCA and a member of the American Institute of CPAs, American Management Association, and the Financial Executive Institute. Mr. Gierer and his wife, the former Josephine Lindenmeyer, have three children.

James Bigham holds a bachelor of social science degree from Fairfield, class of '59, and an MBA from Columbia. Prior to joining Continental grain, he was with the Celanese Corporation and the Hoechst Celanese Corp. in various capacities including president of the Advanced Technology Group. He is also chairman of the board of the ContiFinancial Corporation and a director of the National Executive Service Corp. A resident of New York City, he and his wife, the former MaryEllen Jeffries, have four children.

Charles Hanley joined Thomas C. Wilson Inc. in 1958 and is now president and CEO of the machine tool business. A resident of Glen Head, N.Y., he is active in community service as a member of the Knights and Ladies of the Holy Sepulcher and a Eucharist minister at St. Paul the Apostle as well as a volunteer at St. Francis Hospital. He is an alumnus of St. Michael's College. In recognition of the Hanley family's service, The School of the Holy Child presented them with the "Family of the Year Award." Mr. and Mrs. Hanley (the former June Wilson) have seven children, including a Fairfield graduate and a current student.

Marian Heard served the United Way of Eastern Fairfield County for 17 years, the last three as president and chief executive officer. In 1992, she became president and chief executive officer of the United Way of Massachusetts Bay as well as chief executive officer of the United Ways of New England. Since then she has received many awards and is a nationally recognized speaker on children's issues, volunteerism and human services. Her community involvement is extensive and she is a member of the boards of Fleet Bank, Liberty Mutual Insurance Company, the New England Aquarium as well as the boards and councils of health and mentoring organizations and government task forces.

She has received an associate's degree from the University of Bridgeport, a bachelor's degree in business from the University of Massachusetts, a master's in education from Springfield College and honorary doctorate degrees from Fairfield University and other universities.

Mrs. Heard and her husband, Winslow, are the parents of two sons.

Diane Oakley , a 1975 graduate in mathematics from Fairfield with an MBA from Fordham University, serves as vice president in charge of associations and government relations for TIAA-CREF, the world's largest pension system, based in Washington, D.C. In that capacity, she acts as the liaison with higher education associations, congressional committees and federal agencies. She joined TIAA-CREF in 1975 and has counseled universities on employee benefits, managed the Washington area office, and as chair of the Nondiscrimination Work Group, helped universities comply with new regulations. She is a member of the board of directors of the National Association of College and University Business Officers, the steering committee of the American Savings Education Council, the American Association for Higher Education and the National Association of Women in Education.

Mary Dillon Reynolds earned a bachelor of science degree from Fairfield University in 1979 and has served as an auditor at Chase Manhattan Bank; assistant portfolio manager with Smith Barney Harris Upham; senior associate portfolio manager for Prudential Insurance Corp. and portfolio management consultant for Milestone Capital Management. She is a member of Fairfield University's President Circle and Trustee Advisory Council. A resident of Flushing, N.Y., she and her husband Glenn are the parents of three daughters.