Rockland Economic Development Corp. appoints Dr. McNelis as director emeritus

At a Rockland Economic Development Corp. (REDC) board of directors meeting, the board approved the appointment of Dr. Donald McNelis as a director emeritus, joining Dr. Karim Abood, Burt Steinberg and Alan Yassky. For a quarter century, Dr. McNelis was synonymous with St. Thomas Aquinas College. In 1970, he was appointed Academic dean and in 1974 was elected president, serving in that capacity for 21 years. During his stewardship the college doubled in size, both in enrollment and its physical space. One of his most notable accomplishments was achieving 21 consecutive balanced budgets. Since his retirement, Dr. McNelis' leadership, educational philosophy and business acumen have played a vital and important role as he has remained active in Rockland County. As chair of REDC's task force on economic growth, he commissioned Fantus Consulting, a division of Deloitte & Touche, to prepare Rockland County's Economic Development Strategy and Action Plan, 1998-2008, and for a number of years co-chaired the REDC Forty Under 40 Program. In addition, Dr. McNelis served as a higher education consultant at more than fifty colleges and universities, and served as director on a number of boards including Provident Bank and the Rockland Country Club foundation, and several charitable, cultural and professional organizations both locally and regionally. Sandra Grannum, chair of the board, said "Over the past 18 years, Dr. McNelis has contributed his leadership, intelligence and analytical skills to the REDC Board. We are honored to have a man of his caliber with a litany of accomplishments continue his involvement with the REDC board of directors." "Dr. McNelis has the leadership talents to achieve success in whatever is set before him," said Michael DiTullo, REDC president & CEO. "His purpose, integrity and generosity are the very characteristics we seek in our Directors. His insights and guidance have been an inspiration to us all and we look forward to a continued relationship with him." A Director Emeritus is a person who has contributed extraordinary service to REDC while serving as an active Director of the Board but no longer actively participates in Board affairs. The current four Directors Emeriti are non-voting directors who serve at the pleasure of the Board of Directors and while they do not hold any board officer role their consult is highly valued and greatly appreciated.