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On the Boards

Al Ponessa has been appointed president of the Philadelphia Ship Preservation Guild, the nonprofit responsible for the care, maintenance and operations of Philadelphia's tall sailing ship, the Gazela Primiero, a 117-foot Barkentine acquired from Portugal in 1971, and the tug Jupiter. Ponessa served on nuclear submarines during his 28-year naval career, retiring as a captain. He is corporate improvement manager at Exelon Generation.

Al Ponessa
Al PonessaRead more

Al Ponessa has been appointed president of the Philadelphia Ship Preservation Guild, the nonprofit responsible for the care, maintenance and operations of Philadelphia's tall sailing ship, the Gazela Primiero, a 117-foot Barkentine acquired from Portugal in 1971, and the tug Jupiter. Ponessa served on nuclear submarines during his 28-year naval career, retiring as a captain. He is corporate improvement manager at Exelon Generation.

The following have been named board members: Michael Matulewicz, a deckhand for Moran Towing; Melissa Black-Simmons, assistant manager, agency community relations, Philabundance, and Robert D. Wombwell, a Realtor with Re/Max Access in Philadelphia.

Blair Rush, Eastern Region president at National Penn Bancshares Inc., Allentown, has been appointed to the Direct Contact Banker and Grassroots Advocacy Committees of the Pennsylvania Bankers Association.

Axalta Coating Systems, Philadelphia, a global supplier of liquid and powder coatings, has elected Andreas Kramvis to its board and named him to the Audit Committee. Kramvis is vice chairman of Honeywell Inc.

The Sisters of St. Joseph Welcome Center, Philadelphia, has appointed David M. Bontempo a member of its advisory board. He is managing partner of the Bontempo Group, a firm specializing in human resources and consulting services.

Einstein Healthcare Network, Philadelphia, has appointed Steven Berk chair of its board of trustees and the board of overseers, which serves in an advisory and fund-raising capacity. He is a partner in the law firm Segal, Berk, Gaines & Liss in Philadelphia.

Bruce W. Koch was elected chairman of the board of trustees of Einstein Healthcare Services. Koch is chief financial officer of the Starr Restaurant Organization.

Montgomery County Community College vice president for information technology and college services, Celeste Schwartz, has been elected to serve as treasurer for the Keystone Initiative for Network Based Education and Research.

Hangley Aronchick Segal Pudlin & Schiller shareholder Steven T. Miano will serve as chair of the American Bar Association Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources. Before entering private practice, Miano was an assistant regional counsel for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region III.

Ronald J. Patterson, partner in the real estate and finance department of Klehr Harrison Harvey Branzburg, has been appointed to the board of Philadelphia-based ALS Hope Foundation, dedicated to the care and cure of people with Lou Gehrig's and other neuromuscular diseases. Patterson is co-chair of the firm's zoning and land use practice group.

Thomas R. Tritton has been elected chair of the board of trustees at Ohio Wesleyan University. He is former president of Haverford College and former president and CEO of the Chemical Heritage Foundation.

Jeremy Sunkett, director of business services at Rowan University, has been named to the board of Hopeworks 'N Camden.

The Chester County Fund for Women and Girls, a West Chester grant-making and education foundation, has named the following board members: Toni Moore, a senior consultant for Lee Hecht Harrison Talent Management Solutions; Dana Rissley, controller of IONX L.L.C. in West Chester; Maia Tolsdorf, a board member at Fairville Friends School and Unite for HER, and fund supporter Jane MacElree.

The Philadelphia Chapter of the Society of Industrial and Office Realtors named the following officers: Cathryn Coate, senior vice president at Colliers International, president; William Boben III, associate broker at High Associates Ltd., vice president; Michael Hess, senior associate at CB Richard Ellis Inc., treasurer, and Adam Campbell, director of the industrial brokerage group at Cushman & Wakefield, secretary.

Steven Scott Bradley, president and CEO of Bradley & Bradley Associates Inc., a Philadelphia-based specialty insurance broker of commercial property, casualty and risk-management services, has been elected to the board of public-media provider WHYY.

Karen Parenti, vice president of quality and clinical operations at Bancroft, was named to the board of Gaudenzia, which operates 135 drug- and alcohol-treatment programs for men and women in Pennsylvania, Maryland and Delaware.

Bernadine Hawes, a senior research analyst for Community Marketing Concepts, was appointed to the Manufacturing Extension Partnership Advisory Board of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, a U.S. Department of Commerce initiative.

Ronald M. Fairman has been elected vice president of the Society for Vascular Surgery, an international medical society. He is vice chairman for clinical affairs, Department of Surgery, and chief, Division of Vascular Surgery and Endovascular Therapy, at the Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania. He also is Clyde F. Barker-William Maul Measey professor of surgery.

- Mike Zebe