on
campus
New Leadership at Wilkes
Kevin P. Boyle, Vice President of Advancement
Boyle comes to Wilkes from Caldwell University, N.J., where he has served as the vice president for development and alumni affairs since 2010. Boyle led a 13-member advancement team that helped Caldwell to raise $24 million for their five-year campaign; $9 million more than the goal and achieved in only three years. During his nearly 30-year career, he also worked as the director of major and planned gifts at Drew University, N.J., as the director of gift planning at Saint Peter’s University, N.J., and as director of institutional advancement at St. John’s University, N.Y. He served as an Officer in the United States Army Reserve for 12 years and earned a bachelor’s degree in finance from Seton Hall University and an MBA in accounting from St. John’s University. He joined Wilkes in June 2022.
Ellen Gallagher, Vice President of Finance and Chief Operating Officer
Gallagher has nearly 30 years of experience as a financial leader in the nonprofit sector. Since 2011, she has served as the senior vice president and chief financial officer of the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. Throughout her career, she has held positions at The Public Theater and New York Shakespeare Festival, the Lincoln Center Redevelopment Corporation, the Tucker Music Foundation and the Pennsylvania Ballet. Gallagher is a native of northeast Pennsylvania and has earned degrees from Wyoming Seminary, King’s College, Villanova University and the University of Notre Dame. She joined Wilkes in February 2022.
Elizabeth Leo, General Counsel and Title IX Coordinator
Leo has been an attorney for over 25 years and started her legal career working for a federal judge in southern New York. She spent nearly 10 years as the chief human resources officer for Commonwealth Health and has held positions at Mercy Health Partners and Rosenn, Jenkins & Greenwald, LLP. She comes to Wilkes from Ufberg and Associates in Scranton, Pa., where she served as an employment attorney. Leo earned her bachelor’s degree from Hobart and William Smith Colleges in Geneva, N.Y., and her Juris Doctor in Law from St. John’s University School of Law in Queens, N.Y. She joined Wilkes in Nov. 2021.
Help Solve Professor Ken Klemow’s Plant Mystery
This summer, Wilkes professor of biology Kenneth Klemow was digitizing biological plant specimens with his research assistant in the Cohen Science Center, when he discovered a cache of exquisitely pressed plants in a plain brown bag labeled “Mother’s Biology Work” dating from May, 1907.
Klemow, a certified botanist, was thrilled and intrigued by the discovery. “This is a real find,” he said, “I’d love to know the collector.” The only hint is that the specimens were collected in Trucksville, Pennsylvania. “The plants have historical importance and show how life was lived over a century ago,” said Klemow.
Klemow is in the process of digitizing the vast inventory of pressed plant samples stored within the Rosenthal Herbarium’s cabinets. These specimens will then be added to a global database that can be accessed by scientists researching global crises, including global warming.
Those with information or questions should email kenneth.klemow@wilkes.edu.