New Board Chair, Nursing Dean
Bach elected chair of Board of Trustees
Photo by Lee Ferris
The Board of Trustees of Mount Saint Mary College recently elected alumnus Lou Bach ’82, founder and President of Spectrum Pension and Compensation, Inc., as board chair of the college.
Bach brings with him extensive institutional knowledge, excellent business leadership skills, and a strong commitment to the college’s success. In 1982, he graduated Summa Cum Laude from the Mount with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Management and Administration. He went on to serve on the Mount board from 2003 to 2012, and returned as a trustee earlier this year.
As founder and President of Spectrum Pension and Compensation, Inc. Bach brings an array of expertise and experience that will serve him well in this role. Among other achievements, he was awarded the Joseph A. Bonura Award for Leadership Excellence at the Mount’s Annual Gala in 2022.
As the new chair of the board, Bach is dedicated to honoring the heritage of the college’s founders – the Dominican Sisters – while improving the Mount’s rigorous academic programs.
“The Mount has always held a special place in my heart,” said Bach. “I’m honored to have been named chair of the Mount’s board, and I look forward to carrying on the Dominican educational tradition that has been alive and well on campus from the start. Mount students have always made such a positive impact on our community, and I look forward to helping to provide a learning environment that builds our students into community leaders, service-minded businesspeople, and experts in their chosen professions. I also look forward to collaborating with Interim President Fr. Greg Fluet, incoming president Dr. Robert Gervasi, and all of the hard-working members of the board and the Mount community.”
Fr. Gregoire Fluet, Interim President of the Mount, thanked Michael Horodyski, the former chair, for all he has done over the last four years as chair of the board. The president and CEO of Wallkill Valley Federal Savings and Loan, Horodyski has been a Mount board member since 2017 and chaired the board since 2020. He helped to lead the Mount through the COVID-19 pandemic, appoint Fr. Fluet as Interim President of the Mount, and helm the search for the college’s eighth president, Dr. Robert Gervasi, who began his tenure at the college on Monday, June 17.
“Michael has given us the best of himself no matter the circumstances – from weekends and holidays to meetings that have gone late into the evening – and his devotion to the Mount has not gone unnoticed,” said Fr. Fluet. “Put simply, what a wonderful job he has done. As I look forward to seeing the fantastic things Lou Bach will accomplish as board chair, I’m also extremely grateful to Michael for the dedication and care he’s brought to the role.”
Horodyski noted that he has enjoyed his time as board chair: “It has been an honor to serve as chair of the Mount Saint Mary College Board of Trustees for these past four years,” Horodyski said. “I have seen the transformative education that the Mount provides, the impact that our graduates have in their communities, and the tremendous dedication of our staff and faculty that makes all this possible. The Dominican pillars of community, study, service, and spirituality are alive and well at the Mount.”
Brooks named Interim Nursing Dean at the Mount
Photo provided
Ann Marie Brooks, PhD, MBA, RN, FAAN, FACHE, FNAP, was named the Interim Dean of the School of Nursing and began her tenure at the college on Monday, June 10.
“I’m very excited to be taking this role at Mount Saint Mary College,” Brooks said. “I love the college’s legacy with the Dominican Sisters, I love nursing, and I love to prepare nurses for the future.”
As Interim Nursing Dean, Brooks will provide vision and oversight for the School of Nursing, working with faculty to ensure that the curriculum provides students with opportunities to begin or enhance their Nursing career. In addition, she will help faculty, staff, and students to innovate and grow the college’s nursing program, as well as “to make the Mount the best place for learning and work.”
Brooks comes to the Mount with a wealth of experience, including serving as President of Mount Carmel College of Nursing in Columbus, Ohio; Dean of The Catholic University of America School of Nursing in Washington, D.C.; and Vice President of Patient Care Services (Chief Nursing Officer) at Riddle Memorial Hospital – Main Line Health System in Media, Pa. In addition, she is a veteran of the United States Army – attaining the rank of Captain of the US Army Reserve – and she also served as a staff nurse at the United States Military Academy at West Point, N.Y.
A dedicated educator, Brooks has been a professor of Clinical Nursing at the School of Nursing in University of Rochester in New York; a clinical professor of Nursing at Villanova University in Pennsylvania; and a faculty associate at the School of Population Health at Jefferson University in Philadelphia, among other academic appointments.
In 2020, Brooks received the American Organization of Nurse Leaders Lifetime Achievement Award.
“I have been blessed to have a career that has given me spectacular opportunities,” said Brooks. “I want to share both my experience and expertise to see what we can do from an innovative point of view to position the School of Nursing and the Mount in the best way possible.”
Brooks has published extensively, including clinical articles in The Journal of Nursing Administration, The Journal of the American Psychiatric Nurses, and The Journal of Professional Nursing, among many others. She is also a prolific speaker, having given more than 200 presentations about the nursing field.
Brooks earned a Doctor of Philosophy in Nursing; a Master of Science in Nursing, Psychiatric/Mental Health; and a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. She also received a Master of Business Administration from Loyola College of Maryland in Baltimore and a certificate – J&J Wharton Nurse Fellows Program from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.
