Fairfield University announces five new trustees | Press Releases

Fairfield University has announced the election of five new members to the Board of Trustees, including James Biggs, president and chief operating officer of People's Bank with corporate offices in Bridgeport; Daniel Finn, president of the Louis Dreyfus Energy Corp. in Wilton, Conn.; Mario Gabelli, chairman of Gabelli Funds, Inc. in Rye, N.Y.; Vincent Gierer, Jr., chairman, CEO and president of UST Inc. in Greenwich, Conn.; and Thomas Quick, president and CEO of Quick & Reilly/Fleet Securities, Inc. of New York.

James Biggs

James Biggs , who will retire from People's Bank at the end of the year, has moved rapidly through the ranks since joining People's in 1964, taking on several initiatives, including establishing the Human Resources Department, leading the development of the bank's highly competitive People's Plus checking and Pay-by-Phone services, and managing the new commercial banking business and the start-up of People's Securities, Inc., the bank's discount brokerage. Most recently he headed the bank's major Connecticut initiative, the addition of 45 branches in Super Stop & Shop stores.

In addition, he has served as director and chairman of United Way of Eastern Fairfield County and the Bridgeport Regional Business Council; chairman of the Bridgeport Economic Development Corporation, and director of the Connecticut Business and Industry Association, the Wakeman Boys and Girls Club and Grassroots Tennis in Bridgeport.

Daniel Finn

Daniel Finn has been with the Louis Dreyfus Group for 25 years, where he is president of the Louis Dreyfus Energy Corp. and director of Louis Dreyfus Natural Gas.

He previously served on the Fairfield University Board of Trustees from 1991 to 1997. He also serves as a community advisor to the Pacific House Shelter in Stamford. A graduate of Fairfield University, he earned an M.B.A. at Nortwestern University.

Mario Gabelli

Mario Gabelli is chairman of Gabelli Funds, Inc., the advisor to the Gabelli family of mutual funds and the money management firm Gabelli Asset Management Company.

He began his investment career in 1967 as an analyst with the investment banking firm of Loeb, Rhoades & Company. In 1975 he joined the Wall Street Research boutique William D. Witter. In 1977, shortly after Drexel Burnham merged with Witter, he formed broker/dealer Gabelli & Company, Inc. which has grown into a diversified financial services corporation serving individual and institutional investors. He is a Chartered Financial Analyst and a governor of the American Stock Exchange.

He was a commissioner of the New York State Christopher Columbus Quincentenary Commission and the recipient of an Ellis Island Medal of Honor for Business Leader in 1996. He is a trustee of the Winston Churchill Founcation of the United States and the E. L. Weigand Foundation in Reno, Nev., which supports programs in education, health, community affairs and the arts.

Vincent Gierer

Vincent Gierer, Jr. , of Greenwich, rose quickly throught he ranks at UST Inc., where he was named controller in 1983, senior vice president three years later and chief financial officer the following year. In 1990 he was named president and in 1993 chairman and CEO.

He returns to Fairfield's Board of Trustees where he served from 1991 to 97. He is also active with the National Legal Center for the Public Interest and the Southwestern Area Commerce & Industry Association of Connecticut (SACIA). His professional affiliations include the New York Society of Certified Public Accountants and the Financial Executives Institute.

Thomas Quick

Thomas Quick was named president and CEO of Quick & Reilly/Fleet Securities, Inc. earlier this year when Quick & Reilly became part of Fleet Financial Group, Inc. From 1996 until the firm was acquired by Fleet, he was president and COO of The Quick & Reilly Group, Inc., the New York Stock Exchange-listed holding company for the firm's securities businesses. From 1985 to 1996, he was president of Quick & Reilly, Inc., the leading national brokerage firm.

A graduate of Fairfield University where he studied business, he is a member of the Board of Directors of Fleet Financial Group, Inc. and serves as a trustee for the Securities Industry Foundation for Economic Education. He is also a member of the Board of Trustees, the Investment Advisory Board, and the Endowment Committee for the St. Jude Children's Research Hosptial in Memphis, Tenn., and serves as Committee Chairman for Wall Street Friends of St. Jude. He is trustee and treasurer of the National Corporate Theater Fund and a trustee of the Alcoholism Council of New York.