College Leadership & Governance
President: Brennan O’Donnell, Ph.D.
Brennan O’Donnell, Ph.D., is the 19th president of Manhattan College, having assumed the responsibilities of the position July 1, 2009.
O’Donnell came to Manhattan after five years of service as the dean of Fordham College at Rose Hill, Fordham University. Before coming to New York, O’Donnell spent 17 years at Loyola College in Maryland (now Loyola University Maryland), where he served as a professor of English and, from 1999-2004, as director of the university-wide honors program. An active scholar, his teaching and research interests focus mainly upon poetry, especially of the British Romantic period, and on religion and literature, particularly contemporary American Catholic writers. He has authored two books on the poetry of William Wordsworth and co-edited The Work of Andre Dubus, a collection of essays published as a double issue of Religion and the Arts. In addition, O’Donnell has published articles, essays and reviews in some of the leading journals in his field. At Manhattan, he continues to hold a faculty appointment, as he did at Fordham and Loyola, as professor of English.
As the first president of the College not to be a member of the Brothers of the Christian Schools, O’Donnell is treading new ground at Manhattan College. He has experience in such transitions, however, as he was also the first layperson to serve as dean of Fordham College at Rose Hill. His publications and lectures demonstrate a keen engagement in issues of faith and education, specifically Catholic higher education. From 1994–2000, he served as editor of the national magazine Conversations on Jesuit Higher Education, and he was a member of the National Seminar on Jesuit Higher Education from 1993–2000. In addition, he is currently on the board of trustees at La Salle University and the Commission on Independent Colleges and Universities (cIcu), and has served as a board member for the Lilly Fellows Program and for Collegium, a consortium of Catholic universities that strives to strengthen faculty understanding of and participation in the mission of Catholic higher education.
A native of Pennsylvania’s Wyoming Valley, Dr. O’Donnell earned his B.A. with highest distinction and honors in English at The Pennsylvania State University in 1981, where he was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa. He earned an M.A. and a Ph.D. at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in English and American literature and language. He is the recipient of numerous fellowships, grants, awards and honors.
O’Donnell is married to Angela O’Donnell (formerly Alaimo), a poet and writer who teaches at Fordham, where she serves as associate director of the Francis and Ann Curran Center for American Catholic Studies. The couple has three sons: Charles (a graduate of Saint John’s University, Minnesota, and a teacher in the St. Paul, Minnesota, public schools), Patrick (a 2009 graduate of Columbia University, currently pursuing graduate studies), and Will (a graduate of Fordham).
Provost: William Clyde, Ph.D.
William Clyde, Ph.D. joined Manhattan College as provost and executive vice president for academic affairs in July 2010. In this role, he coordinates the work of the academic deans, institutional research and assessment, all academic support services, the library and information technology. Since joining Manhattan College, Clyde has joined the Board of Union Community Health Center in the Bronx as part of the College’s outreach to the community.
Deans
Richard Emmerson, Ph.D. | School of Arts
Salwa Ammar, Ph.D. | School of Business
William Merriman, Ph.D. | School of Education and Health
Tim J. Ward, Ph.D. | School of Engineering
Constantine Theodosiou, Ph.D., | School of Science
Vice Presidents
William Bisset, VP for Enrollment Management
William Bisset has held the office of vice president for enrollment management at Manhattan College since 2004, and was formerly assistant vice president for enrollment management. As the chief enrollment officer at the College, he has helped lead recruitment and retention and has played a vital role in developing and implementing the annual strategic plan. In doing so, he has helped increase the applicant pool by 94 percent, increase undergraduate enrollment by 35 percent and improve the quality of entering classes by an average of 180 SAT points.
Bisset also worked as dean of admissions and financial aid at Manhattan for four years, and prior to that, served as director of admissions at Assumption College in Massachusetts.
Bisset earned a B.A. from Saint Anselm College in New Hampshire and an M.Ed. from the University of Massachusetts with a focus on educational administration, policy and planning. He is currently a Ph.D. candidate at Seton Hall University studying higher education leadership, management and policy.
Barbara Fabe, VP of Human Resources
Barbara Fabe is vice president of human resources, overseeing all employment and recruitment, compensation, benefits, employee and labor relations, training, affirmative action and performance appraisals for the College. She is a key player in promoting the mission of the College as a Lasallian institution to all faculty and staff.
Fabe started at Manhattan College 23 years ago. In addition to her role as VP of human resources, she also serves as secretary of the board of trustees. Prior to working higher education, Fabe spent 21 years serving New York City’s hospitals, first as employment manager at St. Barnabas Hospital in the Bronx and then as assistant director of personnel at the former Beekman Downtown Hospital. There, she became the youngest person in any New York City hospital promoted to director of personnel. Shortly after, Fabe moved on to Doctors Hospital in Manhattan as vice president for human resources, taking on administrative on-call responsibilities.
Fabe earned her B.A. in history from Hofstra University before beginning her career in human relations — a field she says she has enjoyed since day one!
Michael Masch, VP of Finance & CFO
Michael Masch was appointed vice president for finance and chief financial officer of Manhattan College in January 2013. He is responsible for the financial and administrative functions of the College.
Prior to assuming his current position, Masch served as chief financial officer for the School District of Philadelphia, the nation’s eighth largest public school system. Prior to that Masch served as secretary of the budget for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, where he was a member of the governor’s senior staff. At the University of Pennsylvania (Penn), he served for eight years as vice president for budget and management, and also served as an adjunct faculty member in the School of Arts and Sciences.
He holds a master’s degree in public administration from the Fels Institute of Goverment at the University of Pennsylvania.
Thomas Mauriello, VP of College Advancement
Thomas Mauriello joined Manhattan College in 2006 as vice president of college advancement. An accomplished and progressive business leader, he has overseen much restructuring and integration in Alumni Relations, the Campaign office, Development, and Marketing and Communication. He has continually recruited, cultivated and solicited board leadership and in 2008-2009, he served as a member of the presidential search committee for the College’s 19th president. Mauriello has led consistent growth in the College’s fundraising activities and has designed and directed a wide range of special events, including a record-breaking De La Salle Dinner in 2011 that yielded $1.5 million.
Prior to his position at Manhattan College, he served as vice president and chief development officer at the New York Institute of Technology. He has also held the roles of senior vice president at White Plains Hospital and vice president at Mercy College.
Mauriello began his career in alumni giving at Fordham University, where he received a bachelor’s degree in English and a master’s degree in administration and supervision.
Andrew Ryan, VP of Facilities
Andrew Ryan joined Manhattan College as vice president of facilities in August, 2011. Throughout much of his career, Ryan has worked at medical and higher education institutions. He spent the first decade at the New York Power Authority in White Plains. In the early 1990s, he became the director of plant operations at Hackensack University Medical Center, and then served at Helen Hayes Hospital in West Haverstraw and St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center in Paterson, N.J., before joining Weill Cornell Medical College in 1998.
In his current role at Manhattan, Ryan is responsible for all of the College’s facilities, infrastructure systems and grounds, as well as all capital construction and renovation projects.
A resident of Nanuet, N.Y., Ryan graduated from Manhattan College with a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering and also holds an M.B.A. from Iona College. He is also a licensed professional engineer in New York and New Jersey.
Richard Satterlee, VP for Student Life
Richard Satterlee, Ph.D., joined Manhattan in July of 2010 as vice president for student life. In this role, Satterlee has broad responsibilities for Division I athletics, Campus Ministry and Social Action, Career Development, Public Safety, Counseling and Health Services, Multicultural Programming and Diversity, Student Activities, Orientation, Residence Life and the Dean of Students office. Since joining Manhattan, Satterlee has played a major role in launching a pilot for learning-living communities called the Arches.
Prior to his appointment at Manhattan, Satterlee held progressive levels of leadership in student affairs at Loyola University Maryland. In his most recent position at Loyola, as assistant vice president of student development, he was responsible for integrated learning communities, first-year programs and oversaw the areas of student activities, recreational sports, and academic advising for student athletes.
Satterlee holds a Ph.D. in education policy, planning and administration from the University of Maryland, a M.Ed. in college student services administration from Oregon State University and a B.A. in English from Occidental College.
Brother James Wallace, FSC, VP for Mission
Brother James Wallace, FSC, became vice president for mission in July 2011. In this capacity, he assists the president and Manhattan community in its understanding of the College’s mission as a Lasallian Catholic institution. Previously, Br. Wallace held the office of assistant vice president for mission and before that, spent a four-year tenure as the auxiliary provincial of the Lwanga District of the De La Salle Brothers in Africa. In this role, he visited 19 schools in Kenya, South Africa, Nigeria, Ethiopia and Eritrea to provide assistance through workshops, evaluation and encouragement.
For decades, Br. Wallace has mentored high school and college students across the world. After teaching in the school of education at Manhattan College from 1990-1996, he served as dean of studies at Christ the Teacher College in Kenya and headmaster of La Salle College in South Africa.
Br. Wallace holds a B.A. in American history from Catholic University, an M.S. in guidance and counseling from Canisius College and an Ed.D. in teaching and curriculum from Syracuse University.