Board of Advisors
The mission of the Loyola College of Arts and Sciences Board of Advisors is to assist the dean and the leadership of the School to enact the vision, values, and plans of Loyola University Maryland in the lives of the undergraduate and graduate students and faculty, administrators, and staff of Loyola University Maryland.
Board of Advisors
Raymond Truitt, '79
Board Chair
Ballard Spahr LLP
Raymond Truitt is a partner in the real estate department at Ballard Spahr LLP, a national law firm with more than 500 attorneys in 13 offices practicing in litigation, business and finance, real estate, intellectual property, and public finance. He concentrates his practice in commercial real estate financing, leasing, development, and restructuring. Truitt is also Ballard Spahr's managing partner, finance and operations. Truitt graduated with a B.A. in political Science from Loyola College in Maryland (now Loyola University Maryland) and holds a J.D. from University of Virginia School of Law. He is a member of the American Bar Association and the Maryland Bar Association, and he has served as an adjunct faculty member at both the University of Baltimore Law School and Johns Hopkins University. Truitt and his wife, Mary Tilghman, live in Baltimore, MD, and have three children—Elizabeth, John, and Katherine.
Geraldine (Gerry) Johnson Geckle, '74
Vice Chair of the Board
Universal Health Services, Inc.
Gerry Geckle is senior vice president of human resources for Universal Health Services, Inc. (UHS), one of the nation's largest healthcare management companies, operating—through its subsidiaries—acute care hospitals, behavioral health facilities, and ambulatory centers nationwide, in Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and the United Kingdom. Geckle graduated with a B.A. in sociology from Loyola College in Maryland (now Loyola University Maryland) and is very interested in Loyola's internship and career mentoring programs. She resides in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania, and is the mother of Christopher, '12, and Annie, The University of Richmond, '14.
Stephen P. Auvil, '88
Maryland Technology Development Corporation
Stephen is currently Senior Vice President - Technology Transfer & Commercialization for the Maryland Technology Development Corporation (TEDCO) where he oversees a number of programs that support entrepreneurial development and technology transfer at Maryland’s universities and federal laboratories. Before arriving at TEDCO, he spent ten years at the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC) in the roles of Assistant Vice President for Research and Director of the Office of Technology Development, and he worked for seven years in the Office of Technology Licensing at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Prior to working at Johns Hopkins, Stephen worked for two small medical device companies where he had a variety of responsibilities ranging from rebuilding medical devices under GMP to setting-up and networking computerized accounting systems. Stephen graduated with a B.S. in biology and engineering science from Loyola College in Maryland (now Loyola University Maryland), and went on to earn a MBA from the University of Baltimore and a M.S. in biotechnology from the Johns Hopkins University.
Ryan Blake, CPA '16
KPMG
Ryan Blake graduated from Loyola University Maryland in 2016 with a BBA in accounting. Ryan is an audit senior associate at KPMG where he services a number of industries, including music, entertainment, and power and utilities. Ryan is a recent graduate from Loyola where he served on the Student Government Association as Vice President, and ran for the Division 1 cross country team. He is interested in increased collaborative engagement between Loyola's Sellinger School of Business and Loyola's College of Arts and Sciences. He currently resides in New York City.
Claudine Carter Pereira, '95, M.S., CLPE
Crime Laboratory of Broward County Sheriff's Office
Claudine Carter Pereira, M.S., C.L.P.E. born and raised in Freeport, Grand Bahama Island in the Bahamas, had aspirations of becoming a prima ballerina. From the age of nine through most of her teen years, she studied extensively with the Joffrey Ballet School in New York City in their Trainee Program. Through an unexpected turn of events, Claudine put her dance career on the “back-burner” to pursue a Bachelor of Science Degree in Biology from Loyola College in Maryland. She then moved to Richmond, Virginia to pursue a Master of Science degree in Forensic Science from Virginia Commonwealth University, where she graduated Cum Laude and was inducted into Alpha Phi Sigma (Criminal Justice Honor Society). Despite her change in career path, she continued dancing throughout graduate school at both Virginia Commonwealth University and Richmond Ballet.
Claudine’s career began with the Baltimore City Police Department, as a Crime Laboratory Technician, just prior to graduating with her master’s degree. In 1999 she moved to Fort Lauderdale and was hired by the Broward Sheriff’s Office as a Latent Print Examiner. Shortly thereafter, she attained her certification in Latent Print Examination from the International Association for Identification (IAI) and was promoted to Senior Latent Print Examiner. In 2004, Claudine was promoted to Latent Print Unit Manager and after ten years in that capacity, she was promoted once again to her current position of Crime Laboratory Director. Claudine continues to strive to be innovative and has worked diligently to establish continuity between the various forensic units within the Broward Sheriff’s Office Crime Lab. In her tenure as Laboratory Director, the Crime Lab has been awarded the FORESIGHT Maximus award for both 2019 and 2020 which is presented annually to participant laboratories operating at 90% or better of peak efficiency and productivity. Most recently, in addition to maintaining ISO 17025 accreditation by ANSI National Accreditation Board (ANAB), the laboratory was also recognized by the Organization of Scientific Area Committees (OSAC) for Forensic Science at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) for implementation of quality forensic science standards.
Claudine is an ANAB ISO 17025 and ISO 17020 Certified Technical Assessor in the Friction Ridge discipline and has been on numerous assessments in the US and abroad; having also been chosen as a Site Leader for an International assessment. Claudine serves on committees for various professional organizations including: the Forensic Management Committee for the International Association for Identification (IAI), the Latent Print Certification Committee and the Latent Print Identification Committee for the Florida Division of the International Association for Identification (FDIAI), and most recently the Friction Ridge Subcommittee (FRS) for the Organization for Scientific Area Committees for Forensic Science (OSAC) Physics/Pattern Scientific Area Committee (PSAC).Despite her change in career path, Claudine, also known as the “Forensic Ballerina,” attributes many of her successes in life to lessons learned in ballet class. She shares this concept through her passion for the art of dance and continues to teach and mentor many young dancers who have come to realize that you can have the best of both worlds; pursue a career and yet still maintain your passion for the arts.
Gloria A. Flach, '81, MBA '85
Northrop Grumman Corporation
Gloria A. Flach served as Corporate Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Northrop Grumman Corporation, a global security company, and from that position at the end of 2017. She currently serves on the board of directors of Emerson Electric Company. Flach graduated with a B.S. in computer science and MBA in finance from Loyola College in Maryland (now Loyola University Maryland), and completed the Executive Marketing Program at UCLA and the General Manager's Program at Harvard University. Flach was inducted into Loyola's Computer Science Hall of Fame for outstanding contributions in the field and is interested in furthering the sciences and technology at Loyola.
Sanjey Gupta, M.D., '96
Northwell Health
Sanjey Gupta, MD, is Vice-Chairman of Emergency Medicine at Long Island Jewish Medical Center/Northwell Health in New Hyde Park, NY. He is an assistant professor at Hofstra North Shore-LIJ School of Medicine.
Chase Hatchett, '11
Fitch Ratings
Chase Hatchett graduated from Loyola University Maryland in 2011 with a B.A. in history. Chase works in the commercial mortgage-backed securities group at Fitch Ratings, where he is involved in the rating of newly issued transactions. He currently lives in New York City.
Shreya Hessler, Psy.D. '03
MINDset Center
Dr. Hessler is the founder and director of The MINDset Center. She has been in private practice for over a decade. She specializes in the identification and treatment of anxiety disorders, attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder, depression, and behavioral disorders. Dr. Hessler is trained in cognitive-behavioral and applied behavioral therapy for the treatment of children, adolescents, and adults. She uses a comprehensive approach in working with clients. After a thorough diagnostic interview, clients collaborate with Dr. Hessler to create a treatment plan that target specific symptoms.
In addition to her therapy practice, Dr. Hessler has been an affiliate member of the faculties at Towson University and Loyola University in Maryland and has taught psychology courses both the undergraduate and graduate levels. In recent years, she has worked with youth athletes and consulted with sports programs to create healthy environments for athletic development. She now works with athletes and staff at Towson University’s Sports Medicine Department, promoting mental health wellness for students. Dr. Hessler frequently presents locally and around the country on topics regarding anxiety and behavior management. Dr. Hessler also volunteers her time as a member of the Local Management Board of Harford County and Advisory Board for the College of Arts and Sciences at Loyola University in Maryland. She is currently the President of the Maryland Psychological Association.
Courtney E. McGuinn, '99
Greenberg Traurig, LLP
Courtney E. McGuinn concentrates her practice on virtually all aspects of commercial real estate, including financing, acquisition and development. She has experience with restructuring and modifying distressed loans and drafting multi-party loan agreements and modifications. McGuinn represents institutional lenders and investment banks in various aspects of loan origination for all types of commercial real estate financing, including hotel, multi-family, multi-property, construction and Shariah financing.
Christopher McManus, '98
Neuberger Berman
Christopher McManus is a Vice President/Senior Compliance Officer for BNY Mellon Investor Solutions. He joined BNY Mellon Investor Solutions in 2022 with twenty five years of global experience including compliance, trading, risk management, multi-strategy, asset allocation and ESG in roles at Neuberger Berman, Lazard Asset Management & Salomon Smith Barney. He has an MBA with a finance concentration from Fairfield University, an M.S. in organizational management from Manhattanville College, and a B.A. in political science from Loyola University Maryland (1998). He resides in Fairfield, Connecticut with his wife and two children.
Chris Miller, '90
AstraZeneca
Chris is a Biostatistician by training and has led multi-national statistical and programming teams in the development and commercialization of a range of medicines, particularly in the areas of respiratory and inflammatory diseases. His responsibilities have included developing comprehensive clinical develop plans, strategic and tactical leadership in the design and analysis of data from clinical studies, leading written and oral responses to regulatory inquiries on marketing authorizations Worldwide (US, Europe, and Asia), and communicating new clinical study data to scientific audiences worldwide. Recently, Chris has had a leading role in developing medicines to prevent and treat COVID-19.
Chris has held several leadership positions at AstraZeneca since joining the company in 1993, including appointments in Biostatistics, R&D Strategy, Regulatory Affairs, and Health Economics & Outcomes Research. Previously, he served as a Biostatistician with the Neurosciences Venture at Abbott Laboratories (Abbott Park, IL). He is a graduate of Loyola University Maryland with a BS in Mathematical Sciences and minor in Computer Science in 1990. He received a Master’s Degree in Statistics with a minor in Mathematics from North Carolina State University.
Michael O'Day, '97
DLA Piper US LLP
David Ridley, '01
J.P. Morgan
David Ridley is Executive Director, Real Estate Development, with J.P. Morgan Alternatives – Real Estate Americas. He is responsible for overseeing development and capital project implementation across all asset types throughout the U.S. Prior to joining J.P. Morgan in 2007, he was director of construction for the World Trade Center Memorial Foundation, where he worked on the design and construction of the National September 11th Memorial and Museum at the World Trade Center site.
Ridley graduated from Loyola University Maryland with a B.A. in history and business, and has a M.S. in construction administration from Columbia University. He resides in New York City with his wife.
Lily Sehn, '12
Smithsonian Institution
Fran Shammo, MBA, '16
KPMG
Fran Shammo is a Manager, Capital Projects Advisory, with KPMG LLP. Fran is a subject matter professional (SMP) in construction project controls and governance. Fran works with his clients through the complexity of running large capital projects and programs, some valued at more than $3 billion. Fran has seen the impacts of poor project controls and helps his clients to identify control gaps, develop transformation strategies, and facilities execution of roadmaps to create an engaged and effective workforce that embraces the newly established target models. Fran has extensive construction auditing experience working with clients across healthcare, life sciences, power and utilities, and higher education. Prior to his work at KPMG Fran was a project engineer with the Whiting Turner Contracting Company where he gained experience in procurement, estimating, and infield construction management.
Fran received his Bachelors in Mechanical Engineering from Loyola University of Maryland and obtained a Masters in Business Administration from Penn State University. Fran has volunteered his time as a member of the advisory board for the Loyola College of Arts and Science as well as the Industrial Advisory Board (IAB) for the Department of Engineering since 2017. Fran currently resides with his wife in Hoboken NJ.
Laura Werther
GWWO Architects
Laura is a senior principal and the director of marketing and business development at GWWO Architects, a nationally-recognized planning and design firm specializing in cultural and educational projects. With GWWO since 1998, Laura has helped grow the firm from a regional practice of 15 to a team of 60+ serving projects throughout the United States. She is a member of the Society for Marketing Professional Services and a recipient of the Maryland chapter’s Blue Heron Award recognizing her outstanding commitment to mentorship and chapter education. An involved member of the community, her volunteer associations have included the Walters Art Museum’s Walters Enthusiasts, Homeland Association, Sister’s Circle, and the Center Club, among other organizations. Laura holds Bachelor of Business Administration and Master of Business Administration degrees, both from Loyola.