Presidential Search Committee
Composed of UToledo trustees, internal stakeholders and external community members, the Presidential Search Committee is responsible for reviewing candidates and selecting The University of Toledo’s 19th president.
Patrick J. Kenney, Co-Chair
Patrick J. Kenney is chair of the UToledo Board of Trustees. A partner for Premier Planning Group, Kenney has run his financial advisory practice for more than 30 years. As a Registered Investment Advisor, he has extensive experience assisting individuals and corporations in a variety of financial issues and has built a strong reputation in the industry specializing in tax-advantaged investment planning. Kenney also has entrepreneurial experience starting Health Care Solutions, a home healthcare business which grew to 35 offices in five states and sold in 2003 to a publicly traded industry leader, and as a co-founder of CareLink Nursing Services, which has been in business 35 years. He earned his accounting degree from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.
Stephen P. Ciucci, Co-Chair
Stephen P. Ciucci is a UToledo trustee and past chair of the UToledo Board of Trustees. Ciucci is the president of Stone Circle Group, a consulting and advisory firm focused on supporting small to middle market industrial firms. Prior to this role, Ciucci was president and CEO of Toledo Molding & Die, Inc., a Tier 1 automotive supplier of interior and air/fluid management systems. He began his employment with TMD in 1997 and held a variety of operational and staff positions including Plant Manager, Operations Manager, Director of Sales, Marketing and Product Development, Chief Operating Officer, and President, prior to becoming CEO in 2012. Ciucci graduated from Pennsylvania State University with an undergraduate degree in chemical engineering and received his M.B.A. from the University of Michigan.
Dr. Shaza Aouthmany
Dr. Shaza Aouthmany is a UToledo Health Emergency Medicine Physician and Associate Dean for Graduate Medical Education and Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine in the College of Medicine and Life Sciences. A graduate of UToledo, Aouthmany earned her Doctor of Medicine from UToledo and completed her emergency medicine residency at UToledo. Aouthmany is also co-chair of the Presidential Profile Committee.
Dr. Eleanore Awadalla
Dr. Eleanore Awadalla is a UToledo trustee. Awadalla has been a dentist serving the Toledo community since 1985. She served two five-year terms on the Ohio State Dental Board and served as president and secretary. During her tenure on the Dental Board advocating for public protection she became interested in Dental Licensure Limitations in the state of Ohio. She then became an active member of the Commission on Dental Competency and Assessment (CDCA) and the American Board of Dental Examiners (ADEX). Awadalla is a graduate of McGill University and The Ohio State University Dental School and received one year of training in Anesthesia at Case Western Reserve Hospitals.
Alfred A. Baker
Alfred A. Baker is a UToledo trustee. He previously served as a member of the Medical College of Ohio Board of Trustees where he was chair from 2004 to 2006. Baker retired in March 2006 from Owens-Illinois, where he served as vice president of human resources since 1992. He is a past member of the Fifth Third Bank Board of Directors (Northwest Ohio) and is a past member of the Toledo Employers Association Board. He also previously served on the Foundation Boards for UToledo and MCO. Baker is a UToledo graduate who was a member of the 1969-1971 undefeated football teams with a record of 35-0. He was elected to the UToledo Hall of Fame in 1998. He received the UToledo Outstanding Community Service Award in 2011. In 2017, he was selected to the UToledo All-Century Football Team (#23).
Kevin Bishop
A UToledo Student Trustee, Kevin Bishop is a senior studying finance in the Neff College of Business and Innovation. On campus he has served as the Co-Director for RockeTHON, President of the College Republicans, and as a member of the Levis Leadership program. A graduate of Central Catholic High School, he was his class president each year. Bishop works for the family company Bishop Landscape as a crew leader. Bishop also is a member of the Presidential Profile Committee.
Nate Boley
A UToledo Student Trustee, Nate Boley is a junior studying in the Edward Schmidt School of Professional Sales in the John B. and Lillian E. Neff College of Business and Innovation. On campus he serves as a member of the Presidential Ambassadors, Pi Sigma Epsilon Business Fraternity and the Levis Leadership Program. He served as an intern for Learfield’s Rocket Sports Properties, working closely with sponsorships for Toledo Athletics, and as an intern in the direct sales department for UnitedHealth Group in Indianapolis. A graduate of Celina High School where he served as senior class president, Boley grew up a Rocket fan and is the 11th family member to attend UToledo.
Pat Bowe
Pat Bowe is the chairman of the board of directors for The Andersons, Inc., a diversified company rooted in agriculture that conducts business in the commodity merchandising, renewables and plant nutrient sectors. Bowe previously served as president and CEO of The Andersons joining the firm in 2015. He has more than 40 years of experience to the agricultural sector. Bowe previously served as corporate vice president of Cargill Inc., and began his career as a cash grain merchant and a trader and analyst at the Chicago Board of Trade. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Stanford University and a master’s degree from the Stanford Food Research Institute.
Dr. Frank Calzonetti
Dr. Frank Calzonetti is the Vice President for Innovation and Economic Development. A professor of geography, Calzonetti has held several leadership roles at UToledo throughout his career including Vice President of Research, Vice President of Government Relations and Chief of Staff. Before joining UToledo in 2001 to lead the research office, he was Director of the West Virginia EPSCoR program and held numerous administrative positions at West Virginia University for more 20 years. He also held a faculty staff position at Argonne National Laboratory. Calzonetti earned a Ph.D. in geography from the University of Oklahoma, an Master of Arts degree in geography from Wayne State University, and a bachelor’s degree in history from Wayne State University. Calzonetti is also co-chair of the Presidential Profile Committee.
Dr. Rupali Chandar
Dr. Rupali Chandar is the Helen Luedtke Brooks Endowed Professor of Astronomy and Associate Chair of the UToledo Department of Physics and Astronomy. Chandar’s research focuses on star formation and galaxy evolution. She was among the first astronomers to earn competitive observing time on NASA’s newest James Webb Space Telescope launched in 2021 and has used data from several flagship NASA facilities to better understand our universe. She is a core member of the research program known as Physics at High Angular resolution in Nearby GalaxieS (PHANGS).
Lidia B. Ebersole
Lidia B. Ebersole is a UToledo trustee. Ebersole is an attorney and a shareholder in the Toledo office of Roetzel & Andress, an Akron-based law firm with 13 offices, including six in Ohio. Her legal practice focuses on litigating business disputes and liability defense matters in Ohio and Michigan. She also assists clients with business- and employment-related immigration and international transactions, especially with her home country of Poland where she previously taught English as a second language in a local public school. She received two undergraduate degrees in tourism and teaching English as a second language and a master’s degree in teaching English while in Poland. She moved to the United States in 2006 and received her law degree from UToledo shortly after gaining United States citizenship.
Randy Gardner
Randy Gardner served as the Chancellor of the Ohio Department of Higher Education Chancellor until his retirement in 2023 after a long career in public service. Before becoming Chancellor, Gardner served a total of 33 years in the Ohio Senate and House of Representatives earning a 100% voting record during his time in the General Assembly. Throughout his career he served in a number of elected leadership positions, including Senate President Pro Tem, House Speaker Pro Tem, and Senate Majority Leader during his final term in the Senate. He also served as chairman of both the House and Senate Higher Education committees. Bishop also is a member of the Presidential Profile Committee.
Zac Isaac
Zac Isaac is a UToledo trustee. Isaac is president of the Isaac Property Co. Prior to rejoining the real estate development company in 2022, he served as Executive Officer of State Bank and Trust Company for nine years. Isaac had previously spent 23 years at Isaac Property Co. as an Executive Vice President. His career also has included serving as Executive Vice President and General Counsel of the Isaac Corporation, Vice President and Assistant General Counsel of First Gibralter Bank in Dallas, Texas, Vice President of InterFirst Bank Dallas and an associate attorney with Keating, Muething and Klekamp in Cincinnati. He earned his J.D. from Ohio Northern University and was on the Law Review and his bachelor’s degree in accounting and economics from Duke University. Isaac also is a member of the Presidential Profile Committee.
Adam M. Levine
Adam M. Levine is a UToledo trustee. Levine is a scholar of ancient art and the Edward Drummond and Florence Scott Libbey director of the Toledo Museum of Art. Prior to rejoining TMA in 2020, he was the George W. and Kathleen I. Gibbs director and chief executive officer of the Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens in Jacksonville, Florida. Levine originally joined the Toledo Museum of Art in 2012 as an Andrew W. Mellon Fellow, a two-year post-doctoral program designed to prepare the next generation of museum leaders, and went on to increasingly senior management roles at the museum, ultimately serving as deputy director and curator of ancient art. Levine graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Dartmouth College, where he majored in anthropology, art history, and mathematics and social science. He continued his studies as a Rhodes Scholar at the University of Oxford, where he earned his master’s degree with distinction and Ph.D. in the history of art.
Michael R. Miller
Michael R. Miller is a UToledo trustee. Miller is Chairman and CEO of Waterford Bank, N.A. He is one of the Directors and Founders of the Bank. Waterford Bank was started in August 2007 and to date has grown to over $1 billion in total assets with over 100 employees. Miller is also the Chairman of the Board of the Toledo Mud Hens Baseball Club, Inc. and Toledo Arena Sports, Inc. and serves on the Board of Treu House of Munch. He has also served as Past President of the Inverness Club in 2003 and 2004. Miller is a graduate of UToledo where he played four years of varsity golf serving two of those years as captain of the team. More recently, Miller has served as Past President of The Toledo Junior Golf Association, Past Co-Chair of the 2009 NCAA Golf Championship hosted by UToledo at Inverness Club and the 2019 US Junior Amateur hosted by the Inverness Club
Dr. Ngalula Sandrine Mubenga
Dr. Ngalula Sandrine Mubenga is an electrical engineer and associate professor in the Department of Engineering Technology with research interests in battery energy storage, renewable energy systems, electric vehicles, hydrogen economy and energy efficiency. A UToledo employee for 12 years, prior to her role as a faculty member she served as the University’s manager of electrical engineering for five years. Mubenga also is the founder of SMIN Power Group, a company that developed and installed solar panel systems in communities throughout the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and of STEM DRC Initiative, a nonprofit organization that awards scholarships for STEM. She served a term on the state of Ohio’s New African Immigrant Commission and is a board member at Imagination Station. Mubenga is a graduate of UToledo earning her Ph.D., master’s degree and bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering as a Rocket.
Joe Napoli
Joe Napoli is President and CEO of the Toledo Mud Hens baseball club, Toledo Walleye hockey club and Hensville. According to Nielsen Research, the Hens and Walleye continue to rank amongst the Top 10 most popular teams in minor and major league sports. Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, he graduated from St. John’s University in New York and then joined Manufacturer’s Hanover Trust in New York City. Napoli’s more than 30-year career in sports began with the Canton Indians and Toledo Mud Hens before spending several years working for the Chicago Bulls and Detroit Tigers. He has been involved with the development of downtown Toledo since 1998 with the opening of Fifth Third Field and then later the Huntington Center, Hensville and the Metroparks. Downtown Toledo has since realized more than $1 billion in investment. Napoli is a board member of the Toledo Museum of Art, ConnecToledo, Toledo Local Initaitives Support Corproration (LISC), Metroparks Toledo Foundation, Major League Baseball Business Affairs and the East Coast Hockey League (ECHL). Napoli also is a member of the Presidential Profile Committee.
Dr. Jerry Van Hoy
Dr. Jerry Van Hoy is the President of the UToledo Faculty Senate. An Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology in the UToledo College of Arts and Letters, his research interests include the political economy of law and legal change. He has published two books on changes to the U.S. legal profession and several articles on movements for legal change and their consequences. Van Hoy directs the Master of Interdisciplinary Studies Program and co-directs the Program in Law and Social Thought. Van Hoy also is a member of the Presidential Profile Committee.
Dr. Thomas Wakefield
Dr. Thomas Wakefield a National Trustee on the UToledo Board of Trustees. An accomplished clinical vascular surgeon with a focus on venous disorders until his retirement in 2023, Dr. Wakefield is Emeritus Professor of Surgery at the University of Michigan where he was the head of vascular surgery for 16 years and director of the Samuel and Jean Frankel Cardiovascular Center for eight years. A UToledo alumnus, he earned his bachelor’s degree in biology from UToledo and Doctor of Medicine from the former Medical College of Ohio. He completed a general surgery residency and a vascular surgery fellowship at the University of Michigan. Wakefield previously served as the President of the American Venous Forum, Michigan Vascular Society, and the Frederick A Coller Surgical Society. He also serves as a trustee on the UToledo Foundation Board. Wakefield also is a member of the Presidential Profile Committee.