SXU welcomes new Board of Trustees members

Four new trustees begin terms

Chicago (June 3, 2008) Saint Xavier University welcomes John Benish, Jr., John T. Costello, Michael K. Forde and Edmund F. Opler to its Board of Trustees.

Benish is chief operating officer of the Cook-Illinois Corporation. He holds a bachelor of arts degree in advertising from Purdue University and a master’s degree in management from Saint Xavier University. He is director of the Illinois School Transportation Association, a member of the National Student Transportation Association and a former member of the Rotary Club of Oak Forest.

Costello is senior vice president of Operational Governance and Quality Assurance at Exelon. He holds a bachelor’s degree in marketing from the University of Illinois and a master’s degree in business administration from DePaul University. He serves on the board of directors of the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce and is a former chairman of Leadership Greater Chicago (formerly known as the Greater State Street Council). He is a member of the DePaul University College of Commerce Advisory Council, and represents the company at Chicago United, an organization devoted to racial unity. Additionally, he is a director of the Chicago Central Area Committee and Chicago Central Area Research and Study Committee, and is a fellow of the Leadership Greater Chicago Program.

Forde is a partner at Mayer Brown LLP, a global law firm. He holds an MBA from the University of Chicago and a Juris Doctorate from Georgetown University Law Center. He was listed in “The Best Lawyers in America” for commercial litigation in 2007 and 2008. He is a member of the Chicago Economic Club, chairman of Cristo Rey Jesuit High School’s Leadership Advisory Council and a member of St. Ignatius College Prep’s Development Committee.

Opler is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of World’s Finest Chocolate. He is a graduate of Middlebury College and the University of Chicago Graduate School Of Business. He is a trustee of the National Confectioner’s Association and Vice Chairman of the Chocolate Manufacturer’s Association. He also serves of the Boards of Trustees for the Chicago Zoological Society and the Chicago Board of Directors for Junior Achievement and is a member of the Union League Club and the Merit Club.

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FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Contact Rick Ducat:
773-298-3325 or ducat@sxu.edu