Seton Hall University Welcomes New Members to Board of Regents
Tuesday, November 22, 2022
Seton Hall University is pleased to welcome three new and one returning member to its Board of Regents. The new Regents and Regent Emerita jointly bring decades of experience and expertise in healthcare, management, investment banking, entrepreneurship, philanthropy, manufacturing, sales and marketing.
The new Board members join a dedicated group of Regents and Regents Emeriti at an exciting time in Seton Hall University’s history. Throughout the pandemic, the Board of Regents remained focused on advancing the University, which has helped Seton Hall to emerge with a clear Academic Vision and strategic plan, Harvest Our Treasures, as well as a comprehensive philanthropic campaign aligned with strategy that will lead the University to new heights as a pre-eminent Catholic university. Each new member of the Board of Regents will serve a three-year term.
“I am pleased to join the Board of Regents in welcoming our members into their roles at Seton Hall,” said President Joseph E. Nyre, Ph.D. “Seton Hall and its Catholic educational mission change destinations and transform lives, and we are grateful that our new Regents and Emerita will share their gifts and talents in this noble pursuit.”
The new Regents and Regent Emerita include:
Mary Pat Christie is the wife of former New Jersey Governor and 2016 presidential
candidate, Chris Christie, J.D. '87, and a partner of Christie 55 Solutions, which
provides strategic counsel, business and public policy consulting. She is also partner
in the Hampshire/Christie Opportunity Zone Fund, where she has been instrumental in
raising equity capital to invest in real estate projects along the Northeast corridor,
primarily in New Jersey. Prior to her current work, Christie had a 33-year career
in institutional sales of high yield and distressed debt, most recently as Managing
Director at Angelo, Gordon & Co. and Cantor Fitzgerald.
Christie founded the nonprofit foundation, New Jersey Heroes, which recognizes and promotes everyday New Jersey citizens active in community service. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Christie and her husband established the New Jersey 30 Day Fund, which raised $1 million for New Jersey small businesses devastated by the pandemic. Christie currently serves on the board of Hackensack Meridian Carrier Clinic, Restaurant Technologies and Accelerate 360.
Christie was the guest speaker for the Stillman School of Business' Spring 2021 Integrity and Professionalism Convocation. She received her undergraduate degree in Finance from the University of Delaware and her master’s degree in business administration from Seton Hall. Christie and her husband have four children.
Bonnie Evans recently retired as chief executive officer (CEO) of Kessler Institute
for Rehabilitation in West Orange, New Jersey, where she was responsible for the management
of the hospital with oversight of all administrative operations, including the delivery
of safe, quality patient care, employee engagement, regulatory compliance, facility
management, financial performance and overall governance.
Prior to her appointment as CEO of Kessler Institute, Evans held positions including Director of Physical Therapy, Vice President of Administration and Senior Vice President. She served as CEO since 2009. Evans has held positions on many nonprofit boards, including Friends' Health Connection, the West Orange Chamber of Commerce and the Executive Women of New Jersey. The University also recognized Evans as a Most Distinguished Alumna honoree during its 2017 Many Are One Alumni Awards Gala, the highest honor for a Seton Hall alumnus/a to achieve at the University.
Evans received her bachelor’s degree in physical therapy from Northeastern University and a master’s in health administration from Seton Hall University. She is also the president of Seton Hall’s Alumni Board of Directors. Evans is widowed and has an adult daughter.
Brian Fitzpatrick has more than 45 years of managerial experience, the last 30 of
which have been as CEO of companies requiring substantial restructuring and strategic
re-engineering. Fitzpatrick recently retired as President and CEO of Bentley Laboratories
and now serves as Chairman of Wychwood Holdings, a private family office that focuses
on investments in small to mid-market companies.
Fitzpatrick serves as co-chair of Seton Hall’s Comprehensive Philanthropic Campaign Cabinet and on Seton Hall’s Entrepreneurship Advisory Board. In 2009, he was inducted into Seton Hall’s Entrepreneur Hall of Fame. He has also served as an adjunct professor of management at the Stillman School of Business. Fitzpatrick earned a B.S.B. in Marketing from Seton Hall University and an M.B.A. from Adelphi University. He and his wife, Kathy, have four children, two of whom are Seton Hall alumni: Christine ′10, Brian Jr., M.B.A. ′03, Bridget and Michael.
Helen Lerner received her B.S.B. in Marketing from Seton Hall. She worked as a sales
account manager for R.T. French Company, and she has since held several sales and
marketing positions including Dorsey Laboratories, a division of Sandoz Pharmaceuticals.
In 2005, Lerner had the remarkable good fortune of winning the lottery. She is married
to Harold Lerner and has two stepchildren.
The Lerners have demonstrated significant philanthropy to Seton Hall including donating $1 million to Seton Hall’s Science and Technology Center and an additional $1 million for the renovation of the University Center. Demonstrating a commitment to many areas of the University, they also endowed the Helen and Harold Lerner Endowed Marketing Scholarship Fund and the Dr. Petra Chu Scholarship for Museum Professions.
Lerner retired from the Board of Regents in June 2021 after three terms and many years as the Chair of the Student Affairs Committee. She has now been elected as a Regent Emerita.
