3 minute read
Board of Governors
from Advocate: Fall 2020
Mr. Lawrence J. Blanford Retired CEO, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc. Mr. Kevin Cieply President and Dean, Ave Maria School of Law Dr. C. William Colburn Emeritus Professor, University of Michigan His Excellency Frank J. Dewane Bishop of the Diocese of Venice in Florida Mr. John J. Ferguson, Esq. Senior Partner, Ferguson Cohen LLP, Greenwich, Connecticut and Naples, Florida Mrs. Mary Ann Gadziala Former Senior Executive/Attorney Securities Exchange Commission, U.S. Treasury, and Federal Reserve Board Mr. Thomas B. Garlick Managing Partner, Thomas B. Garlick, P.A. Mrs. Kathleen H. Kane Former Senior Executive/Employment Counsel, USG Corporation and Attorney, Winston & Strawn Mr. James J. Kelleher Managing Partner, The Kelleher Firm, P.A. Mr. Richard L. Klaas Partner, Klaas Capital Group His Eminence Adam Cardinal Maida Archbishop Emeritus of Detroit Mr. Thomas S. Monaghan Chairman of the Board, Ave Maria Foundation Mrs. Cathy Ruse Senior Fellow for Legal Studies at the Family Research Council Mr. Ronald J. Rychlak Distinguished Professor of Law, Jamie L. Whitten Chair of Law & Government, University of Mississippi School of Law Mr. Michel Saadeh CEO, Premier Homes of Naples Rear Admiral Henry F. White, Jr. USN (Ret.), Former Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer of the American Bar Association
WelcomeWe are blessed and honored to welcome Mr. John J. Ferguson and Mrs. Kathleen Kane to Ave Maria School of Law’s Board of Governors. These two individuals are not only highly accomplished in their fields of law, but also shine as exemplary pillars of our Catholic faith and community. We look forward to the great work this board aims to accomplish at Ave Maria Law in the coming years.
Mr. John J. Ferguson, Esq. is a managing Senior Partner at Ferguson Cohen LLP in Greenwich, Connecticut and also a resident of Naples, Florida. He has focused his legal practice for 50 years in the area of trusts. He carries an AV rating by Martindale Hubbell, the highest rating given to lawyers, and was admitted to the New York Bar in 1966, Connecticut Bar in 1979, and the U.S. Supreme Court in 1970. He is a member of the Greenwich, Westchester County, Connecticut and New York State Bar Associations in the Trusts and Estates Law Section. Mr. Ferguson received his JD from Fordham University School of Law, New York, New York and his Bachelor of Science in History from College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts. Mr. Ferguson has been director of Patriot National Bank in Stamford, Connecticut. He has also served as Associate Trustee of the College of the Holy Cross, as a member of the President’s Advisory Board of the College of New Rochelle, and has served as a Trustee of several institutions. Currently, he is a member of the Board of Directors of St. Thomas Aquinas College in Sparkill, NY, Guadalupe Center of Immokalee, FL, and sits on the board at Ave Maria University in addition to countless other boards. He is a Knight of Malta and also a member of the President’s Council of the College of Holy Cross. Mr. Ferguson and his wife, Karen, are founding members of the Ave Maria Law Veterans Memorial Law Library. Also joining the Board of Governors will be Mrs. Kathleen Hechinger Kane, an attorney and former Senior Executive/ Counsel who has practiced Employment, Labor and ERISA law over several decades at two national law firms (Winston & Strawn and Keck, Mahin & Cate) and a Fortune 500 Company (USG Corporation and several of its subsidiaries). Mrs. Kane also specializes in Negotiation, Mediation and Conflict Resolution, Executive and Professional Coaching, and the creation and management of Employee Diversity Programs. Mrs. Kane has over twenty years of Catholic education, including a BA (cum laude) from the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, MA, a JD from Loyola University of Chicago School of Law, and an MS (with Honors) from Creighton University School of Law in Negotiations and Alternative Dispute Resolution. She is an experienced speaker and has volunteered as a teaching assistant at Loyola School of Law and at her children’s schools, including over 15 years teaching Catholic Catechism through CCD. Mrs. Kane and her husband, Mike, have been involved with Ave Maria University for over 13 years and are Charter Members of the Atlanta Chapter of Legatus, as well as members of the San Francisco and Naples Chapters. Mr. and Mrs. Kane are founding members of the Ave Maria Law Veterans Memorial Law Library.
