2013 Adelphi President’s Gala Honors Outstanding Executives and Alumni

Adelphi University is proud
to announce its 13th annual President’s Gala to be held on April 6, 2013, at 7:00 p.m. at the
Garden City Hotel, 45 Seventh Street, Garden City, NY. The evening will honor
three local executives and alumni, including: LeeAnn Black ’83, Mark W. Harris,
and Eileen McDonnell M.B.A. ’88, with a cocktail reception followed by dinner
and dancing. The Gala supports the University’s ability to remain competitive
in attracting the brightest and most qualified students by funding the
scholarships and institutional aid awarded by the University, which total over
$45 million annually.

 


Honorees:

 



LeeAnn
Black ’83 will be honored with the Outstanding
Alumna award. Black is the Chief
Operating Officer (COO) of Latham & Watkins, a leading global law firm with
more than 2,000 lawyers in 30+ offices across the United States, Asia, Europe
and the Middle East. She is a member of the Latham & Watkins Executive
Committee, which has ultimate responsibility for the strategy, management and
governance of the firm. Ms. Black also oversees Latham’s global operations and
is responsible for the firm’s strategic financial management. Before joining
Latham & Watkins, Black was a senior auditor with Arthur Andersen & Co.
from 1983 to 1987 in its Manufacturing and Service Industries Division.
Additionally, she is a frequent speaker on strategy, financial planning and
risk management in the legal profession, and has won a number of industry
awards, including most recently being selected as one of the “Most Powerful
& Influential Women of the Tri-State Area” by the National Diversity
Council, a non-profit organization that champions diversity and inclusion.

 



Mark
Harris, the President and Chief Executive
Officer of ELS Educational Services, Inc., will receive the Outstanding Executive
award. In 1978, Harris joined Berlitz International, Inc. in Princeton,
New Jersey and three years later became district director for 10 Berlitz
Language Centers in California and Arizona. 
In
1993, he became the managing director of Berlitz On Campus, an ESL campus-based
subsidiary of Berlitz Regional
Headquarters.
Four years later he led the acquisition team, which acquired ELS Educational
Services for Berlitz. Later, as president and CEO, Mr. Harris merged Berlitz On
Campus and ELS into one organization as 28 ELS Language Centers in 2000. In 2007, Mr. Harris founded the ELS American
Education Center in Shanghai, PRC. A member of the Adelphi University
President’s Advisory Council, Mr. Harris was awarded the President’s Medal of
Merit from Adelphi in 2011 for leadership in internationalization of the
University.

 



Eileen
McDonnell M.B.A. ’88 will receive
the Outstanding Service to Adelphi
award. Ms. McDonnell is president and CEO of The Penn Mutual Life Insurance
Company. She joined Penn Mutual in 2008 as executive vice president and chief
marketing officer with an impressive 20-year corporate career in the life
insurance industry. McDonnell
also serves on the Board of Managers of Janney Montgomery Scott LLC, a wholly
owned subsidiary of Penn Mutual. In 2012, Ms. McDonnell was named vice chair of
the Insurance Federation of Pennsylvania and to the Board of The American
Council of Life Insurers. Before joining Penn Mutual, Ms. McDonnell founded
ExecMPower, a strategic planning and executive coaching consultancy.
Previously, she was president of New England Financial, a wholly owned
subsidiary of MetLife, and senior vice president of the Guardian Life Insurance
Company.

 



For more information or for
tickets, please contact Christine Spina, assistant director of special events,
at (516) 877-3155 or cspina@adelphi.edu, or visit adelphi.edu.



About Adelphi University: Adelphi is a world-class, modern university with
excellent and highly relevant programs where students prepare for lives of
active citizenship and professional careers. Through its schools and
programs—The College of Arts and Sciences, Derner Institute of Advanced
Psychological Studies, Honors College, Robert B. Willumstad School of Business,
Ruth S. Ammon School of Education, University College, and the Schools of
Nursing and Social Work—the coeducational university offers undergraduate and
graduate degrees as well as professional and educational programs for adults.
Adelphi University currently enrolls nearly 8,000 students from 43 states and
45 foreign countries. With its main campus in Garden City and its centers in
Manhattan, Hauppauge, and Poughkeepsie, the University, chartered in 1896,
maintains a commitment to liberal studies, in tandem with rigorous professional
preparation and active citizenship.