Rev. J. Christian Beretta, OSFS of Wilmington Named to DeSales University Board of Trustees

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CENTER VALLEY, PA (10/06/2010)(readMedia)-- Rev. J. Christian Beretta, OSFS of Wilmington, Del.; Frank Ford of Coopersburg, Pa.; Peter Gray of Easton, Pa.; John Stanley of Allentown, Pa.; and Denise Von Funk of Schnecksville, Pa., were recently named to the Board of Trustees of DeSales University.

Rev. J. Christian Beretta is the principal of Salesianum School in Wilmington, Del. His job duties include serving as the chief operating officer responsible for the daily implementation of the school's spiritual and educational mission. Beretta previously served as the principal of Bishop Verot Catholic High School in Fort Myers, Fla., from 2003-2010. He was also Bishop Verot's director of campus ministry from 1999-2003. Beretta has worked as a varsity and junior varsity basketball coach at both Bishop Verot and Salesanium, and has also worked as a varsity and junior varsity baseball coach at Salesanium.

Beretta holds a bachelor of arts degree in theology from DeSales University, and has a master of arts in educational administration from the University of Notre Dame; a master of arts in kinesiology from the University of Maryland; and a master of divinity from the DeSales School of Theology.

Frank Ford is the president of St. Luke's Hospital and Health Network, Allentown Campus, a position he has held since 2005. He is responsible for the strategic direction and daily operation of the home care, hospice, and durable medical equipment businesses of the Network. Prior to becoming president of the Allentown Campus, Ford was the president of St. Luke's Visiting Nurse Association from 2001-2005.

Ford was the chief financial officer of St. Luke's Miners Memorial Hospital from 1997-2001. Under his direction, the hospital went through a major financial and operational turnaround. He has also worked as the president of Service 145 in Bath, Pa,, and as the manager of cost accounting at Mack Trucks, Inc.

Ford holds a bachelor of arts degree in economics from DeSales University and a master of business administration in finance from Lehigh University. He and his wife, Tina, have three grown children and five grandchildren.

Peter Gray is the president of KNBT, a Division of National Penn Bank in Bethlehem, Pa. He oversees a bank comprised of 450 employees, $2.4 billion in deposits, $1.7 billion in assets and a $125 million operating budget that covers five counties. Gray was previously the senior vice president and commercial banking director of KNBT, and has also worked as the vice president and group manager of Keystone Nazareth Bank and Trust Company.

From 1993-2004, Gray served as the vice president and relationship manager of commercial banking at Wachovia Bancorp in Allentown, Pa., and Newark, N.J. He was in charge of the delivery of financial products and services to a portfolio comprised of numerous commercial and middle market relationships. Gray also holds Series 7 & Series 63 Licenses, and was commissioned as an Officer in the United States Army in 1986.

Gray obtained a Bachelor of Sciences degree in business management from Kutztown University and holds a masters of business administration degree in corporate finance from Fairleigh Dickinson University. He is currently also on the board of directors for the Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corporation and the board of directors for the Northampton County Industrial Development Authority & Northampton County General Purpose Authority.

John Stanley is the senior vice president and general counsel of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. He is in charge of the company's Law Group, Corporate Secretary's Office and Corporate Relations department, and is also a member of the company's Corporate Executive Committee. Stanley has worked for Air Products since 1988, and has held numerous positions in the company, including that of assistant general counsel, Americas and Europe; assistant general counsel, corporate and commercial; and as an attorney in the Law Group, during which time he represented numerous commercial and functional organizations. He has also practiced employment law at Drinker, Biddle and Reath in Philadelphia.

Stanley holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in history from Lafayette College and a law degree from the University of Pennsylvania. He is a member of the board of trustees of ArtsQuest and is a trustee for the Community Music School Endowment Fund.

Denise Von Funk is the vice president of credit risk management at Sovereign Bank in Bethlehem, PA. She works with credit officers and line management to evaluate risks and maintain the commercial lending portfolio while also implementing a corporate risk management system. Von Funk's other duties include overseeing the process to identify problem loans.

Von Funk has also held numerous positions at Corestates Bank (formerly Meridian Bank) in Allentown. She served as the bank's vice president of credit policy administration, during which time she created and established a more efficient loan documentation system. Von Funk has also worked in the Small Business Development Center at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pa., and as the firm manager of Fitzpatrick Lentz & Bubba, P.C., in Center Valley, Pa.

Von Funk has a Bachelor of Sciences degree in accounting from DeSales University and a masters of business administration from Lehigh University. She is the former president of the Rising Tide Community Loan Fund Board and was previously a member of DeSales University's President's Council.

DeSales University, in Center Valley, Pa., is a private, coeducational, four-year liberal arts university affiliated with the Roman Catholic Church. Founded by the Oblates of Saint Francis de Sales in 1965, the 450-acre suburban campus is located 50 miles north of Philadelphia and about 90 miles south of New York City. A total enrollment of nearly 3,000 includes undergraduate day and evening students and graduate students. DeSales has approximately full-time faculty members and offers 37 bachelor's degrees and six graduate programs in a wide range of disciplines. The university also offers the ACCESS Program, the region's leading accelerated degree program for adults

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