Two University of Dayton alumni with decades of leadership in banking and human resources, along with a Marianist leader with a legacy of service in Catholic education, were elected to three-year terms on the UD board of trustees.

Susan G. Griffith, Brother Jesse O’Neill, S.M., and Lawrence Woerner joined the board July 1.  

“These new board colleagues are both experienced professionals and people of integrity,” said UD Board Chairperson Richard J. (Rick) Omlor. “Their respective skills and talents will add to what is already an effective and committed board.”

University President Eric F. Spina affirmed Omlor’s characterization of the incoming class. 

“Sue, Larry and Brother Jesse care deeply about UD and its students,” he said. “That was very apparent to Rick, to me and to the trustees who interacted with them throughout the board’s lengthy and careful trustee vetting process.”

Griffith earned a bachelor’s degree in finance in 1980 and an MBA in 1986 from the University of Dayton. She was chief financial officer for a multi-billion-dollar division of Bank One, which later merged with JPMorgan Chase. In addition, she held the position of integration director supporting bank acquisitions and corporate-wide initiatives at both JPMorgan Chase and Bank One.

Griffith’s legacy of philanthropic support for UD includes a major gift to help launch the UD School of Business Administration Female Aspiring Business Scholars program for high school students, which began in summer 2022. She continues to work with the University on developing other initiatives to support and advance women business students.

O’Neill entered the Marianist novitiate in 1990, and professed final vows in 1996. After that, he assumed responsibility as the vocation director of the Marianists’ New York province. From 2000-18, he returned to Catholic schools in Philadelphia and Baltimore for teaching and leadership roles, including classroom teacher, director of afterschool programs and director of campus ministry. He currently serves as assistant for education for the Marianist Province of the United States.

O’Neill serves on the boards of two other Marianist institutions — Chaminade University in Hawaii and St. Mary’s University in Texas — and has chaired UD’s Marianist Foundation that supports community-engaged projects at UD.

Woerner earned a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from UD in 1976, and was a pitcher on the UD baseball team. He spent more than 30 years as an actuary, first working as a consulting actuary for an international consulting firm in the U.S. and Brazil, and in 1982, co-founding a consulting firm in São Paulo. Mercer, the world's largest human resources consulting firm, acquired Woerner’s company in 1993 after it had grown to become the largest actuarial, benefits and compensation consulting firm in Brazil. Woerner became Mercer’s global head of regions with responsibility for business development and client management in 30 global markets before retiring from the organization in 2011.

This is Woerner’s second term on the board of trustees, with his previous term running from 2011-20. Among other support for UD and its students, he provided the lead gift to begin construction of UD’s baseball stadium, and the University named the facility Woerner Field at AES Ohio Stadium in his honor.