Ann's Choice Board of Directors

Bill Kennedy - Chairman, Ann’s Choice, Inc., Board of Directors

Mr. Kennedy is a litigation partner in White and Williams, LLP, a large, civil law firm with offices throughout the Mid-Atlantic.  Mr. Kennedy represents insurers, manufacturers and health care providers.  He has taught at both graduate and professional levels on many aspects of the integration of law and business.  He has served as Special Counsel to institutions investigating abuse.  Mr. Kennedy received his B.A. from Bucknell University and his Juris Doctor from The Dickinson School of Law, where he was on the Law Review.  Mr. Kennedy also serves on the Board of Directors of National Senior Campuses, Inc. and other organizations supported by National Senior Campuses, Inc.

Barbara C. Bisgaier

Ms. Bisgaier recently retired from her position of Managing Director of Public Financial Management, Inc. with more than 37 years of experience with government and public finance. She continues to consult with PFM with regard to certain long-term clients. In addition to her NSC-related board memberships, she is currently a member of the boards of WHYY, the Philadelphia public radio and television stations and the Lower Merion Library System. Ms. Bisgaier is a graduate of Mount Holyoke College and received a Master of City and Regional Planning degree from Rutgers University.

Mary Digiacomo Colins

For sixteen years, Judge Colins has served on the Court of Common Pleas in Philadelphia as a Trial Judge. She returned to the bench in October 2010 after having been appointed as a member of the newly formed Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board by Governor Edward G. Rendell in 2005. She also served as Board Chairman. Her teaching and lecturing credits include Rutgers University Law School, Drexel University School of Hospitality and Management, and University of Virginia School of Law. She has published numerous articles on state regulated gaming and she has taught numerous continuing legal education and trial practice courses. She has served as a director on numerous nonprofit boards.

Stan Elwell

Mr. Elwell is the former President, C.E.O. and Trustee of Episcopal Hospital in Philadelphia, having served this major teaching hospital for 25 years.  He was a member of the Board of Directors of the Delaware Valley Healthcare Council and the Hospital Association of Pennsylvania where he served a term as the Chairman of the Board.  His other activities included service in the Regional Advisory Board of the American Hospital Association and member of the Philadelphia Bar Foundation Committee on awards.  He is now a director and officer of the Presbyterian Children’s Village located in Rosemont and Philadelphia.  His career in health care management began on the staff of Duke University Medical Center and he earned a Masters in Hospital Administration from Duke.  He has a Bachelors of Science degree from Iowa State University.  Mr. Elwell also serves on the Board of Directors of National Senior Campuses, Inc. and other organizations supported by National Senior Campuses, Inc.

Fred Gruel

Mr. Gruel is a graduate of Fordham University in New York and holds a Masters in Business Administration from Florida State.  Currently he is President/CEO of AAA New Jersey and its subsidiaries and a member of AAA’s Foundation for Traffic Safety and Research and Development Advisory Board.  Mr. Gruel is the former Chairman of the Morris County Chamber of Commerce and the current Treasurer of the Board of The Employees Association of New Jersey.  He also serves on the boards of The Jersey Battered Women’s Service and The William Paterson University of New Jersey.

Fred Haas

Mr. Haas received his B.S. degree in accounting from Penn State University in 1966.  After joining the Air Force, he was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in 1967, where he served as an aircraft maintenance officer until 1971. In 1971, Fred joined the Philadelphia office of Coopers & Lybrand, passed the CPA exam in 1973, and became partner in the Firm in 1978. He transferred to the Baltimore office in 1983, where he managed the tax practice until he retired in 2001.  During his career, Mr. Haas developed expertise in real estate, financial services, personal financial planning and closely held businesses. After retirement, Mr. Hass and his family relocated to Philadelphia.

Ken Longman

Mr. Longman worked for over 20 years in a partnership in a marketing modeling firm in Greenwich, CT and Princeton, NJ.  He has served as adjunct professor of Marketing at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.  He has held top positions with Young and Rubicam, NW Ayer & Son, and J. Walter Thompson Company.  Mr. Longman has published articles in various Marketing trade journals, and published a text book on advertising.  He has been active with Canine Companions for Independence in both New Jersey and Philadelphia.  Mr. Longman has lived at Ann’s Choice since 2003 and has served as Chair of the Ann’s Choice Resident Advisory Council.

Arnold Speert

Dr. Speert served as the sixth president of William Paterson University from 1985 until his retirement in July 2010.  He earned his Ph.D. in Chemistry from Princeton University where he was a National Institutes of Health Fellow.   He has served on the boards of seven non-profit institutions, two of which he chaired.  In addition he has served on the boards of the State Farm Indemnity Company, The Ramapo Bank and the Broadway Bank and Trust Company.  Dr. Speert also was a founding commissioner of the Passaic County (NJ) Improvement Authority.  His areas of expertise include institutional governance, institutional community building, diversity and the mutual dependence of the three.