Gov. Deval Patrick appointed five new members to the UMass Board of Trustees on Sept. 18. The five-year term of three of former Gov. Mitt Romney’s appointees, Robert McCarthy, Robert Sheridan and Karl White, expired, and five people chosen by Patrick filled voids in the board.
Patrick’s new appointees are Ed Collins, a member of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers AFL-CIO; Phillip Johnson, a health and human services consultant, former chairman of the Mass. Democratic Party and UMass Amherst alumnus; Henry Thomas, president and CEO of Urban League of Springfield and Dr. Kerri Osterhaus, an obstetrician/gynecologist and UMass Medical School alumna.
Patrick also named James Karam, a UMass Dartmouth alumnus former chairman of the Board of Trustees who was ousted by Romney in favor of Stephen Tocco, to the board.
“While we mark the departure of these dedicated volunteers [McCarthy, Sheridan and White], we welcome the new Trustees who have been appointed by the Governor,” UMass system President Jack Wilson said in a press release. “[…] And we look forward to the wisdom and enthusiasm they will provide during their years of service.”
Although four of the five new appointees tried to push off a vote on replacing the chairman of the Board of Trustees for a month at their Sept. 19 meeting, Tocco had nothing but positive things to say.
“I have worked hard with the Governor to advance his higher education agenda,” Tocco said in a press release on the new trustees, “and look forward to working with the Governor and his appointees in the future.”