Rider names new chairman of the Board of Trustees

The Board of Trustees of Rider University recently elected Robert S. Schimek ’87 Board chairman. Schimek, who just completed his third year of Board service, is executive vice president and chief executive officer, Commercial at AIG.

“Rob brings a level of energy and insight to the complex challenges facing higher education in general, and Rider in particular,” said Rider President Gregory G. Dell’Omo, Ph.D. “Through his professional accomplishments and generosity to his alma mater, he has earned the admiration of the entire University community, and I have faith that his leadership and counsel will help guide us toward a bright future.”

Schimek received a Bachelor of Science in Commerce with a major in business administration from Rider and a Master of Business Administration from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania. His current position at AIG is the culmination of a series of leadership roles at the global insurance firm. Prior to AIG, Schimek was a partner at Deloitte & Touche for 18 years and worked closely with several global financial institutions including MetLife, Prudential and Merrill Lynch.

In May, he received Rider’s Distinguished Alumni Award for exceptional life achievements. Schimek and his wife have three daughters. One of them, Samantha ’16, received her Bachelor of Arts in psychology from Rider.

Schimek succeeds Michael B. Kennedy ’72, ’75 as chairman. Kennedy, who is nearing completion of his second nine-year term on the Board, co-chaired Rider’s Sesquicentennial Executive Committee and led the University’s presidential search in 2015 that resulted in Dell’Omo’s appointment. He graduated from Rider in 1972 with a Bachelor of Science in Commerce with a major in economics and a Master of Business Administration in 1975.

Kennedy received a Life Achievement Award from the College of Business Administration in 1997 and a Sesquicentennial Medal of Honor in 2015. He enjoyed a successful career as a partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers until his retirement in 2009. His wife, Debra ’72, earned a Bachelor of Arts in English from Rider.

“The University has benefitted greatly from Mike’s wisdom and dedicated leadership,” Dell’Omo said. “He is truly an upstanding citizen who has served his alma mater with distinction."

In addition to a new chairman, the Board of Trustees recently elected two new members, Thomas J. Lynch ’75 and Gary Neubeck ’76, ’82.

Lynch is currently executive chairman of the Board of Directors of TE Connectivity, a world leader in connectivity and sensor solutions with 75,000 employees and $12 billion in sales. Lynch served as the company’s chief executive officer from January 2006 to March 2017. Before TE Connectivity, he was president of Tyco Engineered Products & Services. Prior to Tyco, he was executive vice president of Motorola and president and chief executive officer of the company’s personal communications sector. Lynch also serves on the boards of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. and Cummins Inc. and the boards of trustees for The Franklin Institute and Conwell-Egan Catholic High School.

Lynch is beginning his second term on the Board, having previously served as Trustee from 2005 to 2014. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Commerce with a major in accounting from Rider after only three years and received the Sesquicentennial Medal of Excellence in 2015 and an Alumni Recognition Award from the College of Business Administration in 2003.

Neubeck is the managing director of the Derivatives Products Group and president of Prudential Global Funding LLC at Prudential Financial. He previously served on Rider's Business Advisory Board and has been a non-Trustee member of the Investment Subcommittee of the Board of Trustees for the past five years. Neubeck graduated from Rider with a Bachelor of Science in Commerce with a major in finance and a Master of Business Administration. He and his wife, Joyce, have three children, Samantha ’10 and Meredith ’14, and son, Geoffrey ’15, all of whom graduated from Rider.   

“I am looking forward to working with our newest Trustees, Gary and Tom, and the entire Board in the year ahead,” Schimek said. “This is an exciting time at Rider as we work to advance the University in line with our newly adopted strategic plan, Our Path Forward.”