College of Arts & Sciences Advisory Board

David Wakefield ‘98 is chief financial officer for Fidelity Institutional, which offers clearing, custody, and investment management products to help financial professionals, institutions, and other intermediaries service their clients and grow their businesses. Fidelity Institutional is a division of Fidelity Investments, a leading provider of investment management, retirement planning, portfolio guidance, brokerage, benefits outsourcing, and other financial products and services to more than 27 million individuals, institutions, and financial intermediaries.

In his current role, David is the CFO responsible for all aspects of financial management related to the portfolio of businesses that serve Fidelity's institutional and intermediary clients, including Fidelity Clearing & Custody Solutions, Fidelity Institutional Asset Management, and Fidelity Capital Markets. David is directly responsible for FP&A, pricing strategy, client analytics and strategy and planning. Previously, Mr. Wakefield was vice president Strategy, Planning and Analytics for Fidelity’s Asset Management division. Prior to that David served as vice president of Decision Support for Fidelity’s holding company, FMR LLC and vice president Capital Planning within the corporate treasury department.

Prior to Fidelity, David was an associate with a Chicago-based private equity firm assessing investment proposals and executing leveraged buyouts. David started his career as an analyst with Morgan Stanley in New York in the Foreign Exchange group.

David earned his BA in history from Fairfield University and his MA in business administration from the F.W. Olin Graduate School of Business at Babson College.

David and his wife Suzanne ’96 first met at Fairfield. Together they have three children: Eamon, Kelsey, and Declan and reside in Newton, MA.

Renee Appelle ’03 has been an impactful and inspirational revenue generating leader for more than 20 years, including ten as an executive at private and public companies in the media and marketing landscape. She combines strategic and inspiring leadership, delivering growth and consistently strong market performance. Known for her industry leading client relationships, Appelle is always on the pulse of market needs and leverages her innate ability to connect people and products to help future-proof businesses.

Currently, Appelle serves as global head of partnerships and strategy at Vox Media, the leading modern media company, with an unrivaled collection of pioneering brands and passionate voices that inform and entertain millions of people world-wide. She has delivered an average 40 percent growth on revenue yearly, consistently beating revenue targets with budgets ranging from $200M-$500M. Under her leadership, the company inked its first ever holding company endeavor and grew marketplace penetration exponentially.

As a champion of equity and corporate responsibility, Appelle holds an unwavering commitment to generating partnerships around “media for good,” data efficiency & privacy, quality journalism, DE&I, and sustainability. She has cultivated valuable partnerships rooted in diversity, equity, and inclusion including Vox Media’s & Universal McCann’s Breaking Media program, with the American Advertising Federation (AAF), which provides free education and mentorship to students in HBCUs and HSIs. An inaugural member of Vox Media’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion + & Accountability Group (DAG), Appelle partners with a collection of other nominated executives to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion. She aids in executing org/brand-specific DEI+ strategies and will ultimately be DE&I+ certified. Carrying through that passion of equity in access to the media and marketing industry, Appelle serves on Fairfield University’s College of Arts and Science Advisory Board and co-founded the Media Industry Advisory Council (MIAC), which aims to encourage more diverse students to join the media and marketing landscape.

With a continued passion for connecting insights into action, Appelle founded three client councils at Vox Media: Brand Council, Agency Council and New Guard Council, that empower industry leaders to address marketplace challenges and provide strategic guidance on Vox Media’s path forward.

Appelle earned her BA from Fairfield University majoring in communication with a minor in journalism and serves on the College of Arts and Sciences Board. Appelle is an avid health and wellness enthusiast and podcast junkie. She is married with two incredible boys and lives in Manhattan, NY.

Jorge Chilusia has 30 years of Corporate Finance experience. His business career includes 23 years with GE Capital and five years at Siena Lending Group, a small boutique commercial lender. He has worked globally across various commercial and consumer lending industries. He earned his BA (’89) and MBA (’06) from Fairfield University. He serves on the Fairfield University’s Advisory Boards of the Charles F. Dolan School of Business, the College of Arts and Sciences, and the board of Access Educational Services Program.

Jorge is passionate about education and participates in various student mentorship programs with high school and university students. He emigrated from Ecuador in 1981, and currently resides with his family in Milford, CT. In his spare time, he enjoys running, reading and traveling.

Izzy Colon earned a BS in Chemistry from Fairfield University in 1972 and a PhD in Organic Chemistry from Worcester Polytechnic Institute.  Izzy taught Chemistry at W.P.I. as an Assistant Professor of Chemistry in 1976-1977.  He then joined Union Carbide Corporation as a Senior Chemist in 1977. His initial assignments at Carbide were in the Engineering Polymers and Solvent and Coatings Materials Divisions of Carbide.  By 1988 he had risen to role of R&D Director.  From 1988 through 1994, he held a number of Director level business assignments with Carbide. 

In 1994, Izzy joined Troy Corporation as Vice President Science and Technology. During his 21 years at Troy, Izzy has taken on a variety of different assignments in addition to running the technology organization on a worldwide basis.  He has run operations in Thailand, was Managing Director for Troy’s European Operations from 2006 through 2010. He is currently Vice President/General Manager for Troy’s Additives Business Unit. 

Izzy has generated an extensive list of patents and publications throughout his career. In addition to his formal degrees, Izzy also completed a Business Administration Curriculum sponsored by Union Carbide and taught by faculty from New York University. 

Joellin graduated from Fairfield University in 1974 with a BA in English. Following a short stint in insurance, she returned to Cornell University, graduating with an MBA in 1977. She joined Accenture Ltd (then Arthur Andersen Consulting) in 1977 and worked happily there for 30 years until her retirement in 2007. While there she had many different roles, including running the Capital Markets Business, working in Corporate Development and for her last 5 years, running the Accenture Outsourcing Business.

Joellin traveled continuously for business and lived for periods of time in Tokyo, London and San Francisco (while always wanting to return to New York!). Joellin is single, the oldest of nine children and aunt to 17 wonderful nieces and nephews. Of those in university, none have gone to Fairfield yet, but 13 remain in the wings.

Joellin currently resides in Miami and New York. She still enjoys travel (for leisure), opera and is attempting to improve her Brooklyn accented French and Italian.

Mr. Feigenson has spent over 16 years in the public finance industry focusing exclusively on education and not-for-profit municipal market financings nationwide. He currently works on the investment banking team for education and 501(c)(3) borrowers at Morgan Stanley. Prior to that he worked with JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America Merrill Lynch and FirstSouthwest Co. Since 2000, Mr. Feigenson has served on financing deal teams for a broad range of higher education, not-for-profit and cultural institutions nationwide and has worked on more than 160 municipal bond and commercial bank lending financing transactions totaling over $8 billion during that period. He has developed a particular expertise in highly structured financings utilizing a variety of security features and asset/liability strategies as well as P3 development projects. He has focused specifically on the creation of long-term capital plan financing tools to stress-test operating forecasts, as well as to evaluate debt capacity and credit strength within the capital planning process. Mr. Feigenson has previously served in a volunteer capacity as a member of the Georgetown University Main Campus Academic Committee, the Georgetown University College of Arts and Sciences Admissions Committee and as a member of the special committee tasked with writing the Georgetown University Mission Statement. Mr. Feigenson holds a Bachelor of Arts in Government from Georgetown University.

After graduation from Fairfield University in 1969 with a degree in English, Tom started teaching English in Copenhagen, N.Y. He also became active as a church volunteer, Boy Scout master, coach, and other roles. Tom also served as president of the teachers' union local. Tom then entered Fordham University School of Law and moved back to the New York City area.

Since graduation from law school, Tom has held legal positions with a number of securities brokerage firms, including:

• Shearson Hayden Stone (while still in law school)
• E.F. Hutton, the New York Stock Exchange
• Cralin & Co
• L.F. Rothschild, Unterberg Towbin.

Since 1986, Tom had been associated with Pershing, LLC, including its predecessor firms. He retired as managing director, general counsel, and member of the Executive Committee. Tom has been active in industry-related organizations, serving as a member of various legal and regulatory committees. Tom currently is engaged in the private practice of law and frequently acts as an expert witness in securities matters.

Tom is currently active in the community as a member of the Knights of Columbus, involved in church activities, and is a trustee of Fairfield University. Tom lives in Chatham, N.J. with his wife, Bethany. They both enjoy travel and golf.

Scott is a 1982 graduate of Fairfield University with a degree in Psychology. He was a four year member of the Rugby club and three year member of the Football club. His career includes 30+ years of technology sales and sales management experience including 10+ years at Adobe Systems and 12+ at Apple Inc. At Apple, he managed a team of sales executives and managers that successfully produced over $2 billion in sales. Currently, he is an individual investor in small business startups and owns a vacation rental business. 

Scott and his wife Susie (Martin) ’82 met at Fairfield and reside in Weston, CT where they have raised three daughters. Susie and Scott actively support St. Francis Parish, HomeFront Inc. and the Dr. Martin Luther King Community Center in Newport, RI.

Paul V. Greco is a partner at the law firm of Podell, Schwartz, Schechter & Banfield, LLP in New York City where he has practiced in the field of real property tax certiorari for more than 25 years. Paul has represented a variety of commercial properties ranging from skyscrapers to power plants to sports arenas and directs the firm’s tax exemption practice.

After receiving his BS in accounting from Fairfield University, Paul earned his JD, cum laude, from Pace University School of Law where he served as a senior member of the Pace Law Review. He is licensed as a certified public accountant in the State of New York and admitted to the Bar in New York, Connecticut, and the U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York.

Paul serves as a director and vice president of the New York City Real Estate Tax Review Bar Association and is a member of the New York State Bar Association, the Westchester County Bar Association, and the Columbian Lawyers Association. He is a frequent speaker for groups such as the Real Estate Board of New York, the Appraisal Institute, and the New York County Lawyers’ Association.

Paul and his wife, Kelsie, reside in Rye, NY and he pursues a variety of hobbies and interests including platform tennis, scuba diving, and fly fishing.

Anne Harris P’18 joins the CAS Advisory Board after serving as a Board Member for the Egan School of Nursing from 2018-2023.

Anne has spent her career focused on the field of higher education. She spent a number of years working for a variety of corporations such as Citigroup, Monsanto, and Dun and Bradstreet. Anne has developed an expertise in identifying and sourcing high potential talent from the top colleges and universities here and abroad. From this experience, she became interested and passionate about connecting the needs of employers with the needs of colleges and universities. As a Corporate University Relations leader, she worked closely with Alumni, University Development and Corporate Relations teams to find common ground and deepen the Corporate-University relationship through research dollars, scholarships and grants.  

Anne has also had the opportunity to move to the other side of the desk and joined the Darden Graduate School of Business at the University of Virginia. As the Assistant Dean of Career Development, she was able to leverage her corporate knowledge and relationships to establish a world class Career Development Department leading the school to #2 in the nation.

Anne's passion for Fairfield has grown as she has watched her daughter grow and flourish at the university. Anne often says..."there is something extremely compelling and almost magical about Fairfield University, the school not only educates, but transforms a young adult into a wonderful human being. Perhaps it is the attitude of gratitude that makes all the difference."  

Anne received her BS in Education at the University of Vermont and her MS in Higher Education at Cornell University.

She currently resides outside of Charlottesville, Virginia but spends much of her time in NYC, Connecticut and Naples Florida where her parents currently reside.  

Kristine A. Holland enjoys an accomplished 25+ year career in law firm business development and marketing. As Director of Business Development, she currently leads a talented team of business development and marketing professionals at the law firm of Bracewell LLP, where she focuses on the execution of blended techniques, using both traditional and cutting-edge strategies to expand current client relationships and penetrate new markets. Kristine enjoys mentoring and managing a terrific team, providing continuous professional development ideas and training opportunities across offices and practice groups.

Prior to her marketing career, Kristine was employed as a legislative staff member of New Jersey House Republicans and Connecticut House and Senate Republicans, and she ran various campaigns for local, state, and federal candidates.

Kristine received her BA in political science from Fairfield University and a secondary teaching certification for history and social studies from Western New England University.

Patrick W. Kelley, MD, DrPH, was appointed a Distinguished Fellow in Nursing and Health Studies at Fairfield University in September 2016 and continues currently as a Senior Fellow in the College of Arts and Sciences teaching in the health studies minor. His focus has been on growing the University’s programming in public health, global health, and health studies. Immediately prior to his arrival at Fairfield, he spent 13 years at the Institute of Medicine of the US National Academies where he was director of the board on global health. His work was wide ranging, encompassing global infectious disease control, violence prevention, health workforce, and federal global health policy. For ten years, he also directed the $20 million African Science Academy Development Initiative, which strengthened the capacity of eight African science academies to provide independent, evidence-based advice to their governments.

Prior to the National Academies, Dr. Kelley served in the US Army for more than 23 years and retired in 2003 as a Colonel. Among his leadership responsibilities he founded and directed the DoD Global Emerging Infections Surveillance and Response System. He also founded the DoD Accession Medical Standards Analysis and Research Activity and served as the specialty editor for a landmark two volume textbook entitled: Military Preventive Medicine: Mobilization and Deployment. He has lectured in over 20 countries and authored or co-authored over 80 scholarly papers, book chapters, and monographs.

Dr. Kelley obtained his MD from the University of Virginia, his DrPH in epidemiology from the Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health, and his BS from Fairfield University. He also holds an honorary Doctor of Science from Fairfield. He is also board certified in Preventive Medicine and Public Health.

John Mancini is a partner with the international law firm of Mayer Brown LLP, based in their New York office. His practice focuses primarily on intellectual property litigation representing such diverse clients as Google, Virgin Media, AT&T, EMI, and Neiman Marcus. John graduated from Georgetown University Law center in 1989 where he served as Editor-in-Chief of The Tax Lawyer law review. Upon graduation from Georgetown Law, John entered private practice in New York City, where he has been practicing for the last 19 years.

Prior to law school, John was graduated from Fairfield University with a degree in Politics where he was extensively involved in extra-curricular activities. Among other activities, John served at various times as:

• FUSA Vice President; Orientation Committee Co-Chair
• Residence Hall Counsel Chair
• Circle K Club President
• Fairfield Board of Trustees
• Student Representative Advisor
• and Alpha Sigma Phi Nu.

John was the recipient of the St. Ignatius of Loyola Medal of Honor upon graduation in 1986.

John has continued to serve his community after graduation. He has served as a board member for the Georgetown University National Law Alumni for, and is currently the chairman of the school advisory board for St. Aloysius School in New Canaan, Connecticut. John has been married to Katherine Marshall, a former nurse, for over ten years. They have five children. In their spare time, they enjoy tennis, skiing and golf.

Carol McCabe earned a B.A. in English from Fairfield University in 1981. From 1981 through 1989, she held positions in public relations and retail promotion in the cosmetics and fragrance industry first with Revlon and then with European luxury brand company, Prestiluxe, a subsidiary of Bénédictine. Carol has spent the ensuing years raising her children and serving as a community volunteer in various leadership capacities with educational and performing arts organizations.

She is currently the President of the West Hartford Playhouse on Park Board of Directors and is a member of the Max Cares Foundation Board of Directors. Carol resides in West Hartford, CT with her husband Patrick and they have three children.

Patrick is an attorney and public affairs consultant with over 25 years of political, public affairs and legal experience. He is a founder and senior managing partner of Capitol Strategies Group, a strategic communications and public affairs firm that develops and implements lobbying, grassroots/strategic communications, and earned-media strategies for a wide range of clients. He received his undergraduate degree in politics from Fairfield University class of 1980, and his JD from the Fordham University School of Law. He is admitted to the Connecticut and New York Bars.

Prior to forming Capitol Strategies, he practiced law in New York City with Rogers & Wells, where his practice focused on the areas of banking, securities, and public finance law. As a public affairs consultant since the early 90’s, Mr. McCabe has represented over 250 organizations at the State Capitol in Hartford and in Washington, DC.

Long active in community affairs, he served three terms on the West Hartford Town Council where he was the Minority Leader. He is a member of the Board of Directors of The Partnership for Strong Communities.

As a student, he was very active in the Fairfield University Student Association and was a member of the Rugby Club for four years. Patrick met his wife, Carol Chamberlin McCabe ’81, at Fairfield. They have three children, their youngest, Mairin, is a Fairfield graduate class of 2016.

Erin Moran ’05 leads the New York City based education team at Google where she's responsible for helping institutions transform their marketing strategies. Prior to leading Education, she oversaw the AT&T partnership at Google for three years. Before joining Google, Moran spent four years at Twitter working in a global capacity leading the company’s largest strategic accounts.

Moran graduated from Fairfield in 2005 and currently lives in the Bronx with her husband, Karl, and two dogs, Mia and Charlie.

Patty O'Connor ‘89 has over 25 years of experience in the field of financial crime risk management and law enforcement. As owner and managing member of Compliance Strategy Group, LLC, she provides broad Financial Crime Compliance (FCC) advisory services and work product to financial institutions that ensure compliance with regulatory requirements.

In her previous job as BSA Officer for HSBC North America Holdings, Inc., she led the institution to the successful conclusion of multiple regulatory consent orders, and was also part of the global senior leadership team that successfully concluded a Deferred Prosecution Agreement under a Monitorship. O’Connor also has extensive experience in building credible relationships with regulators and law enforcement. As an FBI Agent, she investigated financial crime, money laundering, and terrorist financing cases, and can uniquely bring a practical and real-world perspective to what compliance programs should be designed to achieve.

O’Connor graduated cum laude from Fairfield University with BS in finance and economics, and earned her MBA and JD degrees from the University of San Diego.

Cindy Stack earned a BA in Economics from Fairfield University in 1980. After graduating from Fairfield, Cindy worked for three years as a Management Trainee in retail. She joined the banking industry in 1983, first working at Manufacturers Hanover Trust Company in the International Division as a Training Manager. Her initial assignments were teaching accounting and other US Banking methods to Correspondent Bankers. Cindy was recruited by Citicorp to work as a Human Resources Generalist. She then served as Training Manager for the Consumer and Real Estate Business and rose through the ranks to lead the global recruiting and development activities for the Management Training Program.

In 1991, Cindy joined The Stride Rite Corporation as Director of Professional Development. At Stride Rite, she designed and developed executive leadership programs using 360-degree assessment. As an internal coach, she worked with management to support achievement of strategic goals. She designed and delivered sales leadership and customer service programs.

In the 2000s Cindy started her own business, coaching leaders and organizations to help enable them to achieve their strategic goals. She graduated from the Coaches Training Institute and is a member of the International Coaching Federation (ICF). As a certified life coach and a graduate of the Positive Psychology program at the Wholebeing Institute, Cindy’s clients are individuals who seek support in life changes.

Cindy serves as a Trustee at the Francis W. Parker Charter Essential School and for AccesSportAmerica.

Cindy lives in Acton, Massachusetts with her husband and 5 children. An avid gardener, you’ll find Cindy in her beautiful yard most of the summer.

Dr. Sybertz received his B.S. in biology from Fairfield University in 1972. He completed a Ph.D. in pharmacology at the University of Minnesota in 1977 where he studied mechanisms by which the nervous system controls cardiovascular function. Ted then did postdoctoral training in pharmacology at the University of Virginia. From 1979-1998 he was employed at Schering Plough Research Institute and held positions of increasing responsibility in drug discovery and development and was appointed to the position of senior director and Presidential Fellow from 1995-1998. Ted was responsible for directing efforts toward the discovery of new therapies for treating cardiovascular and CNS disorders and led the research efforts that culminated in the discovery of Zetia/Vytorin, a novel and important therapy for treating hypercholesterolemia.

Ted joined GelTex Pharmaceuticals in 1998 as senior vice president of Research and Development. In 2000, GelTex merged with Genzyme Corporation, and Ted has been employed at Genzyme since then. He is currently senior vice president and general manager of Drug Discovery and Development.

Ted is the author or coauthor of over 100 scientific publications in the field of drug discovery and pharmacology. He is a member of the American Society for Pharmacology and Therapeutics. He has been active as chairman of the research committee and a member of the board of directors of the New Jersey chapter of the American Heart Association. Ted also serves on the scientific advisory board of Sirtris Pharmaceuticals.

In addition to his professional activities, Ted is an avid and active sportsman. He played ice hockey while at Fairfield and was inducted into the University's athletic hall of fame in 1987. He currently is an avid sailor and skier. Ted is married to Sharon Purdie and has two children; Sherry is a student at Wesleyan University, and Jeff is a student at Lincoln Sudbury. Ted and his family live in Sudbury, Mass.