For immediate release
Contact: Joey Lee, Media Relations, 215-574-3840
Philadelphia, PA — The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia announces the appointments of John Fry, president of Drexel University, as a Class B director, and Christopher D. Maher, chairman, president, and CEO of OceanFirst Financial Corp. and OceanFirst Bank, as Class A director. Both three-year terms begin in January 2020.
Phoebe Haddon, chancellor of Rutgers University–Camden, and Madeline Bell, president and CEO of the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, were reappointed as Class C directors as chair and deputy chair, respectively. In addition, Anthony Ibargüen, CEO and president of AquaVenture Holdings, Ltd., and Quench USA, Inc., was reappointed to a three-year term as a Class C director.
As the 14th president of Drexel University, Fry has served higher education for his entire professional life. Under his leadership, Drexel set a national example for the successful execution of public-private partnerships, and became a powerful force for economic development in the Greater Philadelphia region. He has championed major neighborhood revitalization initiatives, including the creation of a multifaceted university extension center in Mantua — the Dornsife Center for Neighborhood Partnerships — extensive economic development efforts, and significant partnerships to support local neighborhood schools. Prior to this position, Fry was president of Franklin & Marshall College and executive vice president of the University of Pennsylvania.
Fry is currently on the board of the Kresge Foundation, which invests more than $160 million annually to foster economic and social change. He is also on the boards of Tower Health, the Wistar Institute, Advanced Functional Fabrics of America, and Lafayette College. He was the founding chairman of the University City District and was chairman of the Chamber of Commerce for Greater Philadelphia for two years. Fry has a master’s degree in business administration from the NYU Stern School of Business and is a graduate of Lafayette College.
Maher is chairman, president, and CEO of of OceanFirst Financial Corp. and OceanFirst Bank. He is chairman of the board of directors of OceanFirst Foundation and a director of Hackensack Meridian Health and Hackensack Meridian Residential Care. Maher serves on the board of trustees of Helen Keller Services for the Blind, a national nonprofit agency helping people with hearing and visual disabilities, where he has been actively involved since 1998. He is on the board of trustees, and serves as treasurer, of Monmouth University in West Long Branch, NJ. Maher is also on the board of directors of the New Jersey Bankers Association.
Maher has a graduate certificate in banking from the Consumer Bankers Association and the University of Virginia Darden School of Business and a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Upsala College.
The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia’s nine-member board of directors oversees Bank operations, offers observations on economic conditions, establishes the Bank’s discount rate, and is a link between the Federal Reserve and the communities in the Third District, which includes eastern Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey, and Delaware. In keeping with the Federal Reserve Act, District member banks elect three Class A directors to represent banking and three Class B directors to represent the public, while the Board of Governors appoints three Class C directors, including the chair and deputy chair of the board, to represent the public. Neither Class B nor Class C directors may be directors or officers of a bank or bank holding company, and Class C directors may not have any financial interests in such organizations.
The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia helps formulate and implement monetary policy, supervises banks and bank savings and loan holding companies, and provides financial services to depository institutions and the federal government. It is one of the 12 regional Reserve Banks that, together with the Board of Governors in Washington, D.C., make up the Federal Reserve System. The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia serves eastern Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey, and Delaware.