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About

  • Board of Trustees

    Worcester State University President
    Barry M. Maloney
    Ex Officio

    Liaison to the Board of Trustees
    Nikki Kapurch

  • Craig L. Blais
    Craig BlaisMr. Blais joined the Board of Trustees in September of 2010 and was reappointed to a second five-year term in November of 2015.

    He is a product of public higher education receiving both his bachelor’s and master’s degree from Framingham State College. He has held various positions throughout Worcester County including Assistant Town Manager of Arlington, a Member of the Board of Selectmen for the Town of Auburn, for the city of Worcester he served as Deputy Development Officer, the Acting Chief Development Officer and the Director of Economic Development. Mr. Blais is presently the President and CEO of Worcester Business Development Corporation.

    He was recently elected Chair of the Board of Trustees and will serve as an Ex-Officio voting member of all sub-committees.
    Lisa M. Colombo
    Lisa M. ColomboLisa M. Colombo is the gubernatorial alumni appointee to the Board. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Worcester Sate in 1987 following graduation from Framingham Union Hospital in 1985. She went on to receive a Master of Health Administration from Clark University and a Doctor of Nursing Practice from MGH Institute of Health Professionals in 2009. She is presently the Executive Vice Chancellor for Commonwealth Medicine at the UMass Medical School. Her career has been rooted in patient care, operational management and quality improvement at public and private academic health systems. She has also held high-level positions in health care management consulting. She is happy to be serving on the Board of her alma mater.
    Aleta M. Fazzone
    Aleta FazzoneAleta M. Fazzone is Director, Community & Customer Management, for National Grid based in Worcester, Massachusetts. In her position, Ms. Fazzone oversees customer and community relationships throughout her jurisdiction in central western Massachusetts.

    Prior to joining National Grid in 1998, she was employed by GE’s Transmission & Distribution Systems Sales Business where she held a variety of sales and marketing management positions focusing on the electric utility industry. She also has utility experience with both the Pacific Gas & Electric Company based in San Francisco, California, and the Pennsylvania Power Company, now part of First Energy.

    Ms. Fazzone earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Notre Dame and completed the Utility Executive Course at the University of Idaho. A native of Castle, Pennsylvania, she has lived in central Massachusetts for more than 15 years.

    She is a graduate of the Leadership Worcester Program and serves on several local boards including the Worcester Research Bureau, the Worcester Business Development Corporation and MassEcon. She is also involved with the Worcester Education Collaborative.

    Ms. Fazzone was appointed to the Board of Trustees in 2014 and serves on the Finance & Facilities
    Committee.
    Maryanne M. Hammond
    Maryanne HammondMs. Hammond was appointed to the Board of Trustees in October of 2012. She was elected by the Alumni Association’s Advisory Board as their representative.

    She earned her bachelor’s degree and two master’s degrees from Worcester State. As public educator, she served as a teacher, a Health Curriculum Coordinator, a Conflict Mediation Trainer and Program Coordinator, and Assistant Principal at Lake Street School and the Wire Village School in Spencer, Massachusetts.

    She was elected Vice Chair of the Board, representative to the Foundation Board, and serves as Chair of the Human Resources Committee and the Planning and Development Committee.
    Karen LaFond
    Karen LaFond HeadshotKaren LaFond is an Officer in the firm Fletcher Tilton and concentrates her practice in commercial lending. She also practices in business and corporate law, and commercial real estate law. She earned a J.D. from Suffolk University Law School and a B.S. from the University of New Hampshire. Karen is a resident of Worcester, Massachusetts and was appointed to the Board in November of 2015.

    Ms. LaFond serves on the Academic & Student Development Committee and the Human Resources Committee.
    Stephen F. Madaus
    Stephen MadausMr. Madaus is a Worcester resident and is a Partner in the law firm of Mirick O’Connell. A graduate of Worcester Polytechnic Institute and Suffolk University School of Law, he provides advice and counsel in various areas of municipal law, including public bidding and procurement.

    He represents both public and private owners and currently serves as the co-chair of the Worcester County Bar Association’s Municipal Law Section.

    Mr. Madaus has served as town counsel, special town counsel or deputy town counsel for four towns, two water districts and two school departments. He represented two Massachusetts public charter schools relative to significant school construction projects and represented a local college in obtaining zoning approvals and permits for the construction of a new residence hall and parking garage.

    He is active in the community serving on the Massachusetts Bar and Court Admissions, the City Solicitors and Town Counsel Association, the American Bar Association, the Massachusetts Bar Association and the Worcester County Bar Association.

    He was appointed in 2013 and serves as an elected representative to the Foundation Board, and a member of the Academic & Student Development Committee and the Finance & Facilities  Committee.

    Mr. Madaus was recently elected Vice Chair of the Board and continues to serve as an elected representative to the Foundation Board, a member of the Academic & Student Development Committee and the Finance & Facilities Committee.
    Dina Nichols
    Dina Nichols HeadshotDina Nichols is graduate of Lesley University and is a licensed MA Real Estate Salesperson with Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage. She was a Massachusetts Department of Public Welfare Social Worker for over six years and she has broad experience serving on many Boards. To name just a few, she serves on the Worcester Academy Board of Visitors, Family Services of Central MA Mediation Program, Shrewsbury Development Corporation, and was elected a Town Meeting Member in her home town of Shrewsbury.

    Ms. Nichols joined the Board in December of 2015 and serves on the Human Resources Committee.
    Manuel Reyes-Ponce
    Manasseh KonaduBiography coming soon.
    Shirley A. Steele
    Shirley SteeleMs. Steele retired from the U.S. Department of Education in Washington, D.C. after over three decades of federal service. She served in many senior-level management positions for national programs that promote excellence in K-12 and higher education. In particular, she was instrumental in developing and implementing initiatives to reform the education of teachers and children on our nation's schools. During this period, she represented the Department at many national, state, and local conferences to share information on these initiatives and successful practices. She also wrote or co-wrote educational publications, policy and budget materials for Congress and chaired review panels for educational research.

    Following her retirement, Ms. Steele was appointed by the Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to serve a five-year term to the Worcester State University Board of Trustees. The Governor reappointed her to a second term in 2014. She is Chair of the Academic and Student Development Committee, a member of the Finance and Facilities Committee, as well as a member of the Executive Committee of the Board. Most importantly, this appointment provides an opportunity for Ms. Steele to give back to WSU, her alma mater, where she received both bachelor's and master's degrees. Prior to this appointment, she received the WSU Outstanding Alumnus Award for her contributions to the field of education.

    Ms. Steele has a wide range of interests beyond her professional and community work as reflected by her current memberships. For example, she is an active member of the Harvard Institute for Learning in Retirement, the Society of Children's Book Publishers and Illustrators, the National Council of World Affairs/World Boston, and the Museum of Fine Arts on Boston. Formerly, she was a Founding Member of the John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.
    Marina Taylor
    Marina Taylor HeadshotMarina Taylor is Vice President for Commercial Lending for UniBank Savings in Whitinsville, Massachusetts. She is a graduate of Nassau Community College, Garden City, New York and earned a Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting from Dowling College in Oakdale, New York. Marina is a resident of Sutton, Massachusetts and was appointed in November of 2015.

    Ms. Taylor serves on the Finance & Facilities Committee and the Human Resources Committee.
    David H. Tuttle
    David Tuttle PhotoMr. Tuttle was appointed to the Board of Trustees in June of 2016.

    He is a graduate of WSU earning a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics. Presently, he is employed as the Superintendent/Special Sheriff at the Worcester County Sheriff’s Department in West Boylston, Massachusetts, previously serving as the Chief Deputy Sheriff, and has been employed there since 2011 to the present. He also served as the Executive Director of the Molly Bish Center & Government Relations at Anna Maria College; the State Director for Rural Development for the US Department of Agriculture in Amherst, MA; State Representative for the 5th Worcester District for the Massachusetts General Court from 1997-2001; and served from 1993 to 1996 as a Congressional Aide for the 3rd Congressional District of the United States House of Representatives. Mr. Tuttle also served from 2006 to 2016 as a Selectman for the town of Barre, serving on the finance committee as chair. A member of the United States Army eserves/Massachusetts Army National Guard, he served as an infantry medic and as a leader provided supervision and oversight of a six-person medical squad.