Board Of Trustees

Daniel J. M. Cheely, Ph.D., Executive Director.

Matthew B. O’Brien, Ph.D., Chairman.  Dr. O’Brien is an equity research analyst with O’Brien Greene & Co., an investment management firm in suburban Philadelphia.  Before beginning his career in finance, he taught humanities at Villanova University, where he was a Veritas Post-Doctoral Fellow at the Ryan Center in the Department of Political Science, and philosophy at Rutgers University, where he was a lecturer in the Department of Philosophy.  Dr. O’Brien has served as a director on the boards of the Neumann Forum, the Princeton Club of Philadelphia, and Regina Luminis Academy.  He received his A.B. in philosophy cum laude at Princeton University and studied Greek and Latin in the post-baccalaureate program in classical studies at the University of Pennsylvania.  He received his M.A. and Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of Texas at Austin.

Kenneth V. Athaide, Secretary.  Mr. Athaide is an executive with Cox Communications in Atlanta, GA. He has spent his career in marketing and analytics consulting focusing in the technology, media and telecommunications industries. He received his BS Economics from Wharton in 1984.

Rev. Eric J. Banecker, Trustee. Fr. Banecker currently serves as Parochial Administrator at Saint Francis De Sales Parish in Philadelphia. He was ordained a priest by Most Rev. Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M. Cap. In 2018 and served as Parochial Vicar at Saint Pius X Parish in Broomall, PA for two years after ordination. He received M.Div. and M.A. degrees from Saint Charles Borromeo Seminary. A Philadelphia native, Fr. Banecker attended the University of Pennsylvania where he earned a B.A. in English and Classical Studies. His writing has been published on First Things, CatholicPhilly.com, and other publications. 

Sarah-Vaughan Brakman, PhD, HEC-C Trustee. Dr. Brakman is Professor of Philosophy and Founding Director of the Health Humanities and Medical Arts Program at Villanova University.  She was also the Inaugural Director of the Ethics Program at Villanova. She is a nationally certified healthcare ethics consultant and has served as such for health systems, non-profit behavioral healthcare providers, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. She has written scholarly articles and book chapters in the areas of bioethics, applied ethics, and social philosophy. Brakman is co-editor of The Ethics of Embryo Adoption and the Catholic Tradition: Moral Arguments, Economic Reality and Social Analysis (2007) and is currently writing a book to be titled Of Blood and Love and the Ties That Bind: An Ethical Analysis of Adoption Practices. Her teaching spans theoretical and clinical bioethics, social philosophy and ethics, and philosophy of medicine, and features a signature interdisciplinary course, Harmony of Healing.

Mark G. Brennan, Ph.D., Trustee.  Dr. Brennan is an Adjunct Associate Professor of Business Ethics NYU Stern School of Business.  He received his Ph.D. in history from the University of Pennsylvania under the guidance of Bruce Kuklick, Walter McDougall, and Jonathan Steinberg.  A graduate of the College of the Holy Cross (A.B.), Cornell University (M.B.A.), New York University (M.A.), and the University of Pennsylvania (MA), Dr. Brennan has lectured and taught at both the College of Arts and Sciences and the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, the Whitman School of Management at Syracuse University, Cornell University’s Johnson Graduate School of Management, and in Cuba, at the University of Havana.  Prior to joining the Stern School, Dr. Brennan worked as an equity analyst and portfolio manager covering the financial services industry for several asset management firms and hedge funds.  He began his career as a CPA at Price Waterhouse working for a variety of banking and financial services clients. He has served on the boards of the Bank and Financial Analyst Association, the Rude Mechanicals Theater Company, and policy think tanks. Dr. Brennan is also the American editor of the Quarterly Review, a British literary magazine founded in 1809.

Peter C. Ferry, Trustee. Peter Ferry received his B.A. in Classical Studies from the University of Pennsylvania and recently earned an M.A. in History at the University of Pennsylvania. After a career of 20 years in various investment banking and management positions in Asia, Mr. Ferry founded Ward Ferry Management, a Hong Kong based hedge fund in 1999. He has retired from this business. Mr. Ferry also serves on the Board of the Penn Museum.

Bernardo Aparicio García, Trustee. Bernardo Aparicio García is founder and publisher of the quarterly cultural journal Dappled Things, a partner of the Collegium Institute under its Ars Vivendi Arts Initiative. He received his B.A. in Economics and International Relations from the University of Pennsylvania, as well as an M.A.L.A. from the Great Books program at St. John's College in Annapolis. He met most of Dappled Things' founding editors during his time as an undergrad through the Penn Newman Center, and launched the journal shortly upon graduating. His writing has appeared in many other outlets including Touchstone, Vox, The Millions, and Salon.

Francis J. Hager, Trustee. Mr. Hager is Managing Partner of OppCAP Group LLC, which he cofounded in 2011. Prior to this venture, Mr. Hager was a Partner at Stone Tower Capital (“STC”) responsible for marketing, investor relations, and business development; he was co-head of the Credit Suisse “cash” CLO/CDO group; and he was Managing Director at Morgan Stanley where he began his career in leveraged finance. Mr. Hager holds a B.S. in Economics from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, where he graduated Summa Cum Laude in 1979. He received an M.Phil. in Economics from Oriel College, University of Oxford in 1981. In addition to being on the board for Collegium he is also currently a member of the IESE (Barcelona) Business School US Advisory Council and the Board of Regents of the Delbarton School (Morristown, New Jersey). In addition, Mr. Hager recently completed a number of consecutive 3 year terms  on the Seton Hall University Board of Regents, Board of Trustees, Seminary Board, and the Hackensack Meridien School of Medicine.

Margaret Hogan, Ph.D., Trustee. Dr. Margaret Monahan Hogan is the founding executive director of the University of Portland’s Garaventa Center for Catholic Intellectual Life and American Culture. She is a former faculty member in the University of Portland’s Philosophy Department, and the inaugural McNerney-Hanson Endowed Chair in Ethics. Her scholarship engages topics at the intersection of moral philosophy and the Catholic tradition, including war and resistance, medical ethics, marriage and economic relationships. Dr. Hogan is past president of the Center for Academic Integrity at the Keenan Institute of Duke University and a Fellow at the Notre Dame Center for Ethics and Culture. Along with directing Collegium’s Medical Humanities Program, she is also a Senior Affiliate of the Program for Research on Religion and Urban Civil Society.

Michael T. Kane, Ph.D., Trustee. Dr. Mike Kane is the founder and president of Kestrel Investments, a single family office in suburban Philadelphia focused on private investments.  Prior to founding Kestrel, he worked in a finance role for a family business and also founded a technology start up.  Dr. Kane has twelve years teaching experience at the undergraduate level, including six years at Boston College where he was twice honored with excellence in teaching awards.  He received an A.B. degree in classics and philosophy from Georgetown University, summa cum laude.  On graduating from Georgetown, he received a Mellon Fellowship in the Humanities for graduate studies and completed an M.A. and Ph.D. in philosophy from Boston College.  He has also studied at Oxford University and Freiburg University, Germany.

William M. Klimon, Trustee. William M. Klimon is senior counsel at Compass Legal Group in Washington, D.C., where he advises nonprofit organizations on tax, governance, and transactional matters. Prior to helping found Compass, for more than 20 years, Mr. Klimon was a member of the tax-exempt-organizations group at the Washington-based law firm Caplin & Drysdale. He also chaired the American Bar Association’s Nonprofit Organizations Committee (2018-20). Mr. Klimon served in the U.S. Army from 1987-90, during which time he was assigned to the U.S. Army Field Station in Berlin. Later, he was a Claude R. Lambe Fellow and a Philip Merrill Fellow in the history department of the graduate school at Cornell University. He has degrees from the University of Pennsylvania (B.A. in history), the University of Maryland School of Law (J.D. with honor), and the Georgetown University Law Center (LL.M. in Taxation). He serves on the board of the National Federation for Catholic Youth Ministry and on the library and fellowship committee of the National Sporting Library & Museum.

Francis X. Maier, Trustee.  Francis X. Maier is a senior fellow in Catholic studies at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, and senior research associate in Constitutional studies at the University of Notre Dame. Previously, he served as senior advisor and special assistant to the Archbishop of Philadelphia, Most Rev. Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M. Cap.  Before coming to Philadelphia, Mr. Maier was chancellor of the Archdiocese of Denver.  He began his career in screenwriting and journalism, serving as editor-in-chief of the National Catholic Register and as a story analyst and screenwriter for United Artists, Warner Bros., and various independent producers and agencies.

Anne Marie McCarthy, Ph.D., Trustee. Dr. McCarthy is an Assistant Professor of Epidemiology at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. Dr. McCarthy received her undergraduate degree in Biology at the University of Pennsylvania, and was president of the Penn Newman Council her senior year. She received her PhD in Cancer Epidemiology at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School. Dr. McCarthy’s research focuses on improving cancer prevention and screening and reducing cancer health disparities.

Mark Mulholland, Trustee. Mark Mulholland is the President of the Matthew 25 Fund, which he started in 1995.  Mr. Mulholland and the Matthew 25 Fund have been featured in various publications such as The Wall Street Journal, Barron’s, Bloomberg and The New York Times.  Mr. Mulholland has a BA in Economics from Lafayette College. He has worked as a stockbroker continuously since February 14, 1983. Presently, he is a stockbroker and Senior Vice President with Boenning & Scattergood.

Robert Tomilson, Trustee. Robert Tomilson is an attorney at Clark Hill, an international law firm, where he advises clients on insurance and technology matters.  Mr. Tomilson sits on the Board of Trustees for Eastern University and is a member of the Thomas R. Kline School of Law at Drexel University Advisory Board.  Robert holds a B.A. in History from the University of New Hampshire, an M.A. in European History from the University of Illinois, and a Juris Doctorate from Washington University School of Law in St. Louis.