Join us in the OceanFirst Bank Center at 3:00 p.m.
View the Founders’ Day Program
Founders’ Day is a campus-wide event that celebrates Monmouth University’s founding in 1933. The first Founders’ Day was held in 1983 as a part of the University’s 50th anniversary celebration and has since become a University tradition. On Wednesday, October 11, 2017, the Monmouth community will hold the Founders’ Day Convocation which will begin with the investiture of Grey J. Dimenna, Esq., as Monmouth University’s ninth president.
At the ceremony, Henry D. Mercer, III ’87, immediate past chair of the board, will be awarded an honorary doctorate to recognize his dedication to Monmouth University. William Elliott ’95M, chairman and founder of the John R. Elliott HERO Campaign for Designated Drivers will receive the 2017 Distinguished Alumni Award in recognition of his tireless activism and efforts to reduce alcohol-related fatalities; and John K. Lloyd, co-chief executive officer of Hackensack Meridian Health, will receive the Maurice Pollak Award for Distinguished Community Service for enriching the quality and scope of healthcare throughout our region during his career.
The Convocation is open to the public and will take place in the OceanFirst Bank Center at 3:00 p.m. Following the ceremony, a reception for all guests will be held on the second floor.
About the Honorees
Grey J. Dimenna, Esq., is the ninth president of Monmouth University. Since assuming office on Feb. 28, 2017, he has embraced a student-centric approach to the presidency while working to advance the goals and objectives set forth in the comprehensive strategic plan endorsed by the Board of Trustees in 2014.
Dimenna took the helm at Monmouth in the midst of a time of rapid growth, which included the establishment of the Bruce Springsteen Archives and Center for American Music, the introduction of new graduate and undergraduate academic programs, and significant renovation and construction projects including the recently completed Henni Kantor Kessler & John H. Kessler Stadium and the university’s largest capital investment in academic facilities at the School of Science.
Prior to his appointment as president, Dimenna served as vice president and general counsel at Monmouth University from 1995 to 2015.
Henry D. Mercer, III ’87 is president and chief investment strategist of Mercer Capital Advisers Inc., which he founded in 1999. Mercer began his investment career in 1979 at Tucker, Anthony & R.L. Day Inc. in New York. Prior to the formation of Mercer Capital, he was president of Mercer, Bokert, Buckman, and Reid Inc., where he managed the firm’s investment advisory division and authored an investment strategy newsletter, The Mercer Report. He currently writes Mercer Capital’s quarterly investment strategy commentary and has been quoted in trade publications such as Barron’s, Forbes, and Fortune.
Mercer is an active participant in distance running both as competitor and coach. From 2005 to 2016, he along with Tim McLoone coached the Rumson-Fair Haven High School cross country team. During this period, the RFH girls team achieved great success—winning six Central Jersey Group 2 championships, three New Jersey State Group 2 championships, and in 2011 the overall state title at the NJSIAA’s Meet of Champions. At the conclusion of the 2011 season, Mercer and McLoone were named “Coaches of the Year” by the Asbury Park Press and The Star Ledger. Mercer also learned to sail at a young age, and his devotion to the sport continues today. (He likes to say that he could sail before he could ride a bike.)
Mercer attended Tulane University, in New Orleans, for three years before going on to receive his Bachelor of Arts in History from Monmouth University. He received the History Department’s award for academic excellence. Mercer is also a member of Monmouth University’s Board of Trustees, and he served as chair from 2014 to 2017. He and his wife, Joan, live in Locust, New Jersey, and have two married children and a grandson.
William “Bill” Elliott ’95M is the chairman and chief executive officer of the John R. Elliott HERO Campaign for Designated Drivers, which seeks to end drunk driving tragedies nationwide by promoting the use of safe and sober designated drivers. The campaign is named for Elliott’s son, who was killed by a drunken driver. The HERO Campaign has won state and national awards for its positive and practical approach to preventing drinking and driving, and since its inception 17 years ago, more than 100,000 designated drivers have signed up by taking the HERO pledge. Elliott, who retired as vice president of development at Shore Medical Center in 2012 to devote his time to the HERO Campaign, holds a Master of Business Administration from Monmouth University and a Bachelor of Arts in Geology from The College of William and Mary. He lives in Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey, with his wife, Muriel.
John K. Lloyd is co-CEO of Hackensack Meridian Health, one of the largest and most comprehensive health networks in New Jersey, which includes 13 hospitals, 28,000 team members, more than 6,000 physicians, and over 200 facilities across the state. As co-CEO, Lloyd oversees all the non-hospital businesses, including health ventures, population health, and the foundations.
Prior to his current position as co-CEO of Hackensack Meridian Health, Lloyd served as president and CEO of Meridian Health, a $1.8 billion, New Jersey-based, not-for-profit integrated health system, encompassing Jersey Shore University Medical Center, K. Hovnanian Children’s Hospital, Ocean Medical Center, Riverview Medical Center, Southern Ocean Medical Center, Bayshore Community Hospital, Raritan Bay Medical Center–Old Bridge, Raritan Bay Medical Center–Perth Amboy, and Meridian Partner Companies, which include home health services; skilled nursing, inpatient and outpatient rehabilitation facilities, fitness, and wellness centers, ambulance services, physician practice management and support services, urgent care facilities, and ambulatory care and services located throughout central New Jersey.
Lloyd received his undergraduate education at Princeton University, and proudly served his country in the United States Marine Corps, before attaining a Masters of Business Administration in Health Administration at Temple University. Starting as an administrative resident at Episcopal Hospital in Philadelphia, Lloyd entered the health care industry in 1972 with a keen business sense, high energy, and affable style that would serve him well throughout his career.
Lloyd has served as chairman of New Jersey Hospital Association and has held local, state, and national board positions at organizations such as the NJ Council of Teaching Hospitals, American Hospital Association, American College of Healthcare Executives, Georgian Court University, QualCare, Commerce Bank, and Lifetime Fitness. Lloyd is a past recipient of the Medical Executive Award from the Academy of Medicine of NJ and the Distinguished Business Leader Award from Monmouth University. In 2009, Lloyd was recognized by the NJHA as its Healthcare Professional of the Year. He is currently ranked among the most powerful health care leaders by NJBIZ and has been listed as one of the “130 Nonprofit Hospital and Health System CEOs to Know.”