Four New Members Join Board of Trustees

Ryan K. Roth Gallo (LAW’99) (top left), Sharon G. Ryan (SAR’70) (top right), Carol N. Fulp (bottom left), and William D. Bloom (CGS’82, Questrom’84) (bottom right).

The Boston University Board of Trustees adds to its expertise in the law, health, leadership development, and business with the addition of three women and one man to the board.

Newly elected are Ryan K. Roth Gallo (LAW’99), a lawyer who has been an ex officio member as chair of the BU Board of Overseers; Sharon G. Ryan (SAR’70), a retired occupational therapist and member of the Board of Overseers, who was a trustee from 2000 to 2014; and Carol N. Fulp, president and CEO of The Partnership, Inc.

Stepping up from vice chair to chair of the Board of Overseers is William D. Bloom (CGS’82, Questrom’84), former vice chairman of the Chelsea Property Group. Bloom assumes Gallo’s ex officio position on the Board of Trustees.

All four were elected in April and began their terms this month. At the same time, David F. D’Alessandro, Alan M. Leventhal (Hon.’09), and Jorge Morán completed their terms of service as trustees.

“The trustees of Boston University are grateful to these new members for sharing their outstanding leadership, generosity, and talent with the board and the University community,” says Robert A. Knox (CAS’74, Questrom’75), chair of the Board of Trustees. “We look forward to working with them for the enhancement of the University’s reputation as an international center for excellence in higher education.”

After graduating from the School of Law in 1999, Gallo worked as an attorney in the Los Angeles office of Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker LLP. She maintains a primarily pro-bono law practice, advising individual clients and nonprofit organizations on a wide variety of matters.

She is a member of the LAW Dean’s Advisory Board and the University’s International Advisory Board, and has pledged more than $300,000 to the University in support of the School of Law Building Fund, the school’s general fund, and the Newman House Fund for the Catholic Center at Boston University.

She is married to Ernest J. Gallo, vice president and general manager of the spirits business unit of the E. & J. Gallo Winery, the largest family-owned winery in the world. The company donated $600,000 to the Institute on Lifestyle and Health at the School of Medicine. The Gallo family lives in Modesto, Calif.

Ryan used her degree from the Sargent College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences in her career as an occupational therapist, and has long been active in University leadership and development. In her previous service as a trustee, she chaired the student affairs committee (2003–2009). She is currently a member of the Sargent College Dean’s Advisory Board.

With her husband, Robert, a retired CFO and senior vice president of Medtronic, Inc., she has been a major supporter of University building projects and other initiatives, including the Yawkey Center for Student Services, the Ryan Center for Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation, and the Marsh Plaza restoration project. The couple has also provided scholarship support for African American students at the School of Education.

Under Fulp’s direction, The Partnership provides leadership development and talent management solutions for professionals of color. Previously, she was senior vice president of corporate responsibility and brand initiatives at John Hancock Financial, director of community programming and human resources for WCVB-TV, and corporate employee relations manager for the Gillette Company.

Fulp is also on the Women’s Leadership Board of the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library Foundation Board of Directors, and the board of Citizen’s United for Research in Epilepsy. She is a founding cochair of the Massachusetts Conference for Women and is a graduate of the University of the State of New York at Albany. She is married to C. Bernard Fulp, chairman of Go-Biz Solutions and founder of Middlesex Bank & Trust Company.

Bloom is a founding member and former vice chairman (2000–2004) of the Chelsea Property Group, which owned and developed factory outlet centers in the United States and Asia. Bloom began his career in the company in 1986 and held several positions, including executive vice president (1993–1999).

In 2013, Bloom and his wife, Ruth, pledged $1 million to establish the Bloom Family Leadership Academy at Boston University, a leadership development program for student-athletes and coaching and administrative staff in the athletics department. Through the Campaign for Boston University, the Blooms have also supported the construction of New Balance Field, as well as the establishment of the William and Ruth Bloom Scholarship Fund for student-athletes enrolled in the Questrom School of Business and the College of General Studies.

Bloom and his wife currently are trustees of the Jamacha Bloom Family Foundation, which has provided support to educational institutions, BU among them. Bloom is also a vice chair and trustee of Newark Academy, one of the country’s oldest private independent day schools. He earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the Questrom School of Business in 1984. A former captain of the University’s rugby team, he serves on the Athletic Director’s Council of the athletics department.

This month also sees the addition of two new members to the Board of Overseers, Jay Roewe (COM’79) and Michael D. Fricklas (LAW’84).

Roewe is senior vice president of West Coast production for HBO Films, the movie production and distribution unit of the cable television network Home Box Office (HBO). Game of Thrones is one of many productions made under his supervision. He was a University overseer from 2004 to 2014, and with his wife, Elizabeth, is a former member of the Boston University Parents Leadership Council. He is currently a member of the COM Dean’s Advisory Board.

Fricklas is executive vice president, general counsel, and secretary of the media corporation Viacom Inc., whose affiliated media networks include MTV, VH1, BET, CMT, Nickelodeon, and Comedy Central, as well as Paramount Pictures. He has served on the LAW Dean’s Advisory Board since 1996 and has made major contributions in support of the School of Law Building Fund and the Sargent College Fund. His wife, Donna Astion (SAR’82), is a member of the SAR Dean’s Advisory Board.