Xavier University welcomes seven new members to Board of Trustees

May 17, 2023

Xavier University has elected seven new members to its Board of Trustees, Xavier President Colleen Hanycz, PhD, announced on Wednesday. The new trustee class includes four local Cincinnati business and civic leaders, as well as three new Jesuit trustees from the Midwest Province of the Society of Jesus.

“I am so pleased to welcome Xavier’s newest class of trustees for 2023,” Hanycz said. “Our university benefits profoundly from our board’s breadth of expertise and commitment to our Jesuit Catholic mission, both of which are further bolstered by these additions. Xavier is blessed to gain these new colleagues, their wealth of knowledge and their unique perspectives.”

The new trustees will begin renewable three-year terms on July 1, 2023.

“New board members bring new perspectives that allow for richer engagement. We are confident that these trustees will support our Jesuit mission of transforming the lives of our students intellectually, morally, and spiritually,” said Vincent C. Caponi, chairman of Xavier’s Board of Trustees.

Meet the seven newest members of the Xavier University Board of Trustees:

• Dr. David De Marco, S.J., is an assistant professor of medicine at Loyola University Chicago’s Stritch School of Medicine. De Marco serves as a clinician-educator mentoring first-year and second-year medical students in clinical skills and clinical reasoning. As a faculty preceptor for internal medicine residents, De Marco mentors internal medicine residents in a clinic that cares for uninsured women and men, most of whom are recent immigrants. As a chaplain in university ministry at Loyola Chicago’s Health Sciences Campus, De Marco encourages faculty, staff and students to cultivate a habit of reflective practice as a lifelong path to growth.
  
  
• John Dovich, a 1987 Xavier graduate, is regional president and senior managing director of MAI Capital Management, working in the firm’s Cincinnati office. Dovich, also the founder of John D. Dovich & Associates LLC, focuses a significant amount of time and expertise to the practical implementation of client solutions. He is a frequent speaker and author on various wealth management concepts. He currently sits on the board of the Cincinnati Eye Institute Foundation and Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden Foundation. Dovich has been a member of the Xavier President’s Advisory Council since 2002.
  
  
• Peter Klekamp, a 1994 Xavier graduate, founded PLK Communities in 2001 as a real estate management company with a focus on multi-family and industrial properties. Through the years, the company expanded into ownership and management of retail, office, and self-storage facilities. Today, its main focus is acquisition, development and redevelopment, and proactive management of multi-family properties with the goal of providing service, innovation, and value. Klekamp is a current board member at Cincinnati Country Day School and ProKids, a nonprofit that helps foster children in Hamilton County. He is also a member of the Young Presidents Organization, previously chaired the Talbert House Fatherhood Luncheon and was president of Indian Hill Swim Club and the Indian Hill Boosters Association. Klekamp has served on the Xavier University Entrepreneurial Advisory Committee, and the Klekamp family has been working with Xavier Athletics to complete the Klekamp Family Training Center, a $10 million project that extends the back of the Cintas Center for additional workout and training spaces.
  
  
• Patrick Lafley is the managing partner and co-founder of Constellation Wealth Advisors. Lafley has three decades of experience in the financial services, banking, telecommunications, and media industries. His extensive business background, which includes local, national, and international assignments, provides a comprehensive perspective for overseeing a wealth management business as well as a focus on executing on a client-centered approach. Lafley is a board member at Christ Hospital, Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber, and the Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Cincinnati. Lafley has served as a member of the Xavier President’s Advisory Council.
  
  
• Thomas McClain, S.J., entered the Society of Jesus in 1967. Most recently, McClain served as general treasurer of the Society of Jesus at the General Curia of the Society of Jesus in Rome from 2010 to 2023. Prior to that, he served as pastor of St. Mary Student Parish (Ann Arbor) and the Director of its Catholic Campus Ministry Program at the University of Michigan. McClain has served at a number of Jesuit high schools, including St. John’s High School (Toledo), Walsh Jesuit (Cuyahoga Falls), University of Detroit Jesuit, and Regis High School (New York City), at which he served as the school’s president. He has served on a wide variety of Jesuit-connected boards, including a current appointment at the University of Detroit Mercy.
  
  
• James Prehn, S.J., will serve as the new UMI Socius for the Jesuit Midwest Province. Prehn has been serving as chief of staff and vice president and as special advisor on Jesuit mission at Loyola University Chicago. He has held a wide variety of roles, including principal of Walsh Jesuit High School (Cuyahoga Falls), dean of Student Development at John Carroll University, Chicago-Detroit Province vocation director, and rector of the Loyola University Jesuit Community.
  
  
• Jennifer Ragland, a 1996 Xavier graduate, is a co-owner of Alligator Purse, a women’s clothing boutique in Cincinnati’s Hyde Park Square. Ragland has worked in marketing at Riverbend Music Center and in pharmaceutical sales for Abbott Laboratories. She is a member of the Xavier President’s Advisory Council and previously served on the board of ProKids, in addition to having co-chaired the Cincinnati Art Museum’s annual gala in November.
  
  

The Xavier University Office of the President would like to thank three outgoing members of the Board of Trustees for their dedicated service to the mission of Xavier University: Justin Daffron, S.J., Eric Sundrup, S.J., and Katherine Napier Zanotti.

The addition of the seven new trustees will increase the board’s membership to more than 40 members. View a list of current members.