MCLA Appoints Two to Board of Trustees
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NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts has announced that Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker approved the appointment of Kathleen Therrien, Class of 97, as the alumni trustee and has appointed Dr. Robert Reilly as a trustee.
Therrien has served in this capacity since August 2016 when she was first elected to serve the remainder of the term of that vacant seat. Therrien is the director of trust and estate administration at Williams College.
Reilly is president emeritus of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Education Society and a school committee member of the Northern Berkshire Regional Vocational Technical High School (McCann Tech).
MCLA President James F. Birge said he is delighted to welcome Therrien and Reilly to the MCLA Board of Trustees.
"Along with her experience as the director of trust and administration at Williams, Kathleen Therrien brings to the Board valuable experience from working with the college's Foundation, and as chair of our Capital Campaign Planned Giving Committee," Birge said. "Robert Reilly has vast experience in higher education, including as a visiting scientist at MIT, and teaching at MCLA and UMASS-Amherst. In addition to speaking to numerous professional organizations throughout the world, Dr. Reilly was the director of EdNet@UMASS and a founding director of K12Net.
"I look forward to working with both of these Trustees as we continue to advance the work of MCLA," Birge said.
An alumna of the College who attended as a nontraditional student, Therrien earned a bachelor of science degree in 1997. In addition, while she was a student on campus, Therrien was a member of the Delta Mu Delta business honor society and the Alpha Chi honor society.
In addition to serving as clerk on MCLA's Foundation Board, Therrien was the alumni representative on MCLA's most recent Presidential Search Committee. In this capacity, she worked closely with MCLA's campus community, as well as those in the greater community and area business leaders, to identify the right candidate for MCLA.
Therrien belongs to the National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO), the Partnership for Philanthropic Planning (PPP), and the Planned Giving Group of New England (PGGNE) as a planned giving mentor and a presenter. She formerly served on the Board of Village Ambulance Service and as Vice President of the Board of Governors of the Williams College Faculty Club.
Reilly earned his doctor of education at UMASS-Amherst in 1997, his master of education at Springfield College in Springfield in 1976, and his bachelor of science degree at UMASS-Amherst in 1974.
His recent research includes work as a co-principal investigator of "Industry Continuing Education Development," as the principal investigator of "Mainstreaming Engineers in Africa and the Middle East," and as a co-principal investigator of "Monitoring Emotions while Student Learn with AutoTutor," a five-year, $1.3 million grant from the National Science Foundation.
Reilly is a prolific keynote speaker throughout the world, including in Europe, Latin America, Asia and the Middle East, as well as in the United States and Canada.
In addition, Reilly has held numerous leadership positions with the IEEE, the IEEE Education Society, the IEEE Computer Society, IEEE-Region 1 (Northeast USA), IEEE Region 9 (Latin American and the Caribbean), IEEE-Boston Section and the American Society for Engineering Education.
He is the author of numerous publications. His awards and honors include the Golden Core Award in 2014 from the IEEE Computer Society, the IEEE EDUCON Meritorious Service Award in 2014 from the IEEE EDUCON Steering Committee, and the Nikola Tesla Medal in 2012 from the International Society for Engineering Pedagogy (IGIP).
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