Officers
Richard “Dick” Simione, C.P.A., is Chairperson of the Board of Trustees. He is a partner at Simione Macca & Larrow. Dick serves on the Executive and Finance Committees and previously served as the Treasurer of the Board of Trustees and chairperson of the Finance Committee. He was honored as an MS Corporate Achiever in 2007 and has Co-Chaired MS Corporate Achievers, New Haven since 2008.
John “Jack” W. Betkoski, III, is the Vice Chairperson elect of the Board of Trustees. He is Vice Chairman of the Connecticut Department of Public Utility Control. Jack has chaired MS Corporate Achievers Hartford since 2005 and previously chaired MS Taste of Hope. He also serves on the Executive Committee and has been a speaker at numerous chapter events sharing his family’s experiences with MS and urging others to join in the fight.
Peter R. Porrino is the Vice Chairperson of the Board of Trustees. He was the past Chair of the former Western Connecticut Chapter Board of Trustees and is a member of the National Advisory Council of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. Pete currently serves on the Executive, Finance and Audit Committees, and he is an MS Hope Award recipient. He is an active walk MS fundraiser and volunteer for other events. Pete is a Partner and Global Director of Insurance Industry Services at Ernst and Young.
James T. Birchall, C.P.A., C.F.A., is the Treasurer of the Board of Trustees. He is an Assistant Vice President at the Travelers. Jim serves as Chair of the Finance Committee and is a member of the Investment, Governance and Audit Committees. He serves as a key organizer for the Walk MS Travelers team, a top fundraising team in Connecticut.
Mary A. Rauscher is the Secretary of the Board of Trustees. She currently serves on the Executive and Personnel Committees and previously served as Co-Chair of the Governance Committee. For many years, Mary has served as Chair of the MS Dinner of Champions Committee. She served as Mistress of Ceremonies for the Inaugural Corporate Achievers event in Fairfield County, and she currently serves as Chairperson for this event. Mary is a recipient of the Chapter Chairman’s Award. She is a Human Resources Consultant and free-lance writer for Reuters Health.
Jennifer L. Cox, Esq., is the Immediate Past Chairperson of the Board and an attorney and partner at Cox & Osowiecki, LLC, a practice specializing in the health care field. Jennifer serves on the chapter’s Executive, Finance, Gala, Governance, Government Relations, Investment, Petit Endowment Fund Committee and Personnel Committees, as well as the Comprehensive Care Task Force. Jennifer previously served as Secretary of the Board of Trustees and as Chairperson Elect. In 2007 she was named Board Member of the Year.
Members
Diane Biegel, Ph.D., is a principal research scientist at the Northeastern University Center for Drug Discovery. She serves on the Research Advocacy Committee, as well as the Comprehensive Care Task Force. With her extensive experience in the field of biomedical research, Diane continues to serve as the chapter’s Research Advocate and previously was a pivotal member of the Research Night Committee. Diane has also been a member of WAMS North since it inception, and has served on the committee and as a table captain.
Michael Cummings is a past Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Connecticut Chapter. He previously served as Chairman from 1995 to 1998 and from 2004 to 2005. He was the recipient of the Norman Cohn Hope Award in 1999 for his outstanding, significant, and long-term commitment to the mission of the society. In recognition for his many years of chapter leadership and outstanding contributions, he was named an Honorary Life Member of the Board in 2003.
Daniel A. Doty is the domestic data center manager at The Hartford. He serves on the Audit, Finance, Governance and Investment Committees, as well as the Comprehensive Care Task Force. He previously served as Chairperson of the Board and as a member of the Executive and Personnel Committees. Since 1992, Dan has been one of the top fundraisers for walk MS and has captained The Hartford’s walk MS team.
John R. Formica, C.P.A., has been actively involved with the Connecticut Chapter for more than 20 years and currently serves on the chapter’s Development Committee, actively recruiting key sponsorships. He participates annually in the bike MS: bkm/Steelcase Ride and has since 1988. He consistently ranks as one of the event’s top fundraisers.
Charles T. Gebbia has been associated with the National MS Society for more than 25 years. He currently serves on the Audit and Dinner of Champion Committees. Prior to his retirement, Charlie was a partner with Ernst and Young for 39 years. He has also served on the Executive Committee of the former Western Connecticut Chapter and chaired the Audit Committee.
Carol Gilbride has been in Greenwich real estate sales for the past 25 years and currently is a Sales Associate for Sotheby’s International Realty. Carol has served on the MS Dinner of Champions and Development Committees. A former member of the Greenwich Junior League, she co-chaired several major fundraisers.
Jeffrey L. Gross, M.D., is a neurologist at Associated Neurologists of Southern Connecticut. Jeff is Co-Chair of the Clinical Advisory Committee. He has served on the Program Advisory, Care Management, Executive and Yale Task Force Committees. He also serves on the chapter’s Financial Assistance Committee and participates in clinical trails for MS treatments.
Karen Guarnaccia is the Chairperson of the Chapter Programs Committee after having served on the Committee since 2002. Karen has been an important chapter contributor as an MS Ambassador, giving talks about multiple sclerosis and her personal experiences with the disease at educational institutions, corporations, community organizations, and in the television, radio and print media. She is a former MS Mother of the Year award winner.
Lewis A. Hurwitz, Esq., is Partner and Founding Member of Hurwitz, Sagarin, Slossberg & Knuff, LLC. He serves on the chapter’s Development Committee, is a member of the Comprehensive Care Task Force and was former Chair of the Governance Committee. Lew has been instrumental in identifying and securing donor support of the chapter’s Promise: 2010 fundraising commitment. Lew was recognized in 2004 as Board Member of the Year.
Michael Lech is the President of Readco, LLC. He serves on the chapter’s Audit and Gala Committees, and is a member of the Comprehensive Care Task Force. He was named Board Member of the Year in 2005 and received the MS Citizen of the Year Award in 2007. Mike has served as the Co-Chair of the MS Connecticut Citizen of the Year Gala for many years. He is also a supporter of MS Golf Classic.
Steven J. Malkiewicz is the Director of Communications for IBM Research Technology and Intellectual Property. He currently serves on the Public Relations Committee and MS Dinner of Champions Committee. Steven also serves on the Government Relations Committee.
Shelley Marcus, Esq., is an attorney at the Marcus Law Firm. She has served as a Co-Chair of the Greater New Haven Women Against MS “WAMS” luncheon for many years. Shelley also serves as a member of the MS Corporate Achievers New Haven Advisory Council and is a past MS Corporate Achiever and past chair of the Government Relations Committee.
Ira Millman, CFP, CIMA, AIFA serves as Managing Director and Senior Portfolio Manager of The Morse-Millman Group at UBS. Ira is the Chair of the Investment Committee and serves on the Comprehensive Care, Development, Promise: 2010 and MS Dinner of Champions Committees. He also serves on the board of the American Committee of the Weizmann Institute of Science.
Gene Monte of Crystal Rock Water Company has been actively involved in various fund raising activities including the MS Dinner of Champions. He has also been an in-kind sponsor of walk MS for many years, bike MS and MS Dinner of Champions. He has also served on the Promise: 2010 Committee.
Mark E. Ojakian is the Deputy Comptroller for the State of Connecticut. Mark hosted a volunteer-organized event in 2004 and 2009 that each raised more than $100,000 for the Society. Mark has served as Co-Chair of MS Gala every year since 2004, except 2007 when he was recipient of the MS Hope Award. Mark speaks frequently at chapter events, where he shares his family’s personal experiences with multiple sclerosis and talks about the effects of the disease on families.
Janet M. Pierpont served as Chairperson of the Western Connecticut Chapter’s (WCT) Board of Trustees at the time of the merger between the two Connecticut chapters. She joined the WCT chapter in 1998 and served on its Executive, Finance, Promise 2010 and Dinner of Champions (DOC) committees. Prior to becoming the WCT Chair, she served as Vice Chair and Treasurer. She currently serves on the Connecticut chapter’s Finance and DOC committees. She retired from Olin Corporation at the end of 2004 having served as its Vice President and Treasurer since 1990.
Mark H. Powers is a partner at Levin, Powers, Brennan & Shea, LLC., and serves on the Government Relations Committee. Mark has served as Co-Chairman of the chapter’s MS Golf Classic since its inception in 2005 and continues to serve on this committee. Powers also served in the State House for six years and served in the State Senate for four years.
David S. Rosenblum, M.D., is currently the Medical Director Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at Gaylord Hospital. David is Co-Chair of the chapter’s Clinical Advisory Committee, acts as a delegate-at-large for the New Haven County Medical Association, and is a member of the Rehabilitation Committee of the Medical Board at Yale-New Haven Hospital. He speaks at numerous client and professional educational programs and has contributed award-winning articles to the chapter’s newsletter, MS Connection.
Selma Cagatay-Searfoss, M.S.W., is a social worker and has been active with the Connecticut Chapter since 1993. In her private practice, Selma facilitates support groups for her patients and their families. She serves as Chair of the Financial Assistance Committee. Selma was named the 2003 Chapter Programs Committee Member of the Year and speaks on emotional health issues at various client education programs.
Lawrence Smith, CPA, joined the Connecticut Chapter Board of Trustees in 2008. Larry is a Board Member with Norwalk-based Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB). He currently serves as the chair of the Audit Committee and previously served with the Board of Trustees for the former Western Connecticut Chapter.
Peter B. Wade, M.D., serves on the chapter’s Clinical Advisory Committee. A member of the Department of Neurology at Saint Francis Hospital and Medical Center., Dr. Wade, board certified in neurology and vascular neurology, has been in private practice at Healy, Macinski, Rao, Wade & Gordon since 1990. He is also board certified in internal medicine. Dr. Wade is the Medical Director of the Joyce D. and Andrew J. Mandell Center for Comprehensive Multiple Sclerosis Care and Neuroscience Research at Mount Sinai Rehabilitation Hospital. He also serves on the chapter’s MS Golf Classic Committee.
Terrance Walsh has volunteered with the CT Chapter of the National MS Society since 1988 when he was asked to join the MS Dinner of Champions (DOC) Committee to produce the event opening video that year. Terry has since served on the MS DOC committee from 1988 to 1998 and re-joined the DOC committee in 2004 to present – becoming the committee/event chair in 2006. He has served on the Promise: 2010 Committee and is also a supporter of the MS Golf Classic event. Terry has served on the MS chapter’s Board of Trustees (BOT) from 1992-1998 and was re-elected to the Board of Trustees in 2004 to present.