Mark Belnick, Maria Grant, Paul Griffin III Named to Board
of Governors; Bowie Kuhn, to Board of Visitors
(Fall 1999 Newsletter)
The Thomas Aquinas College Board of Governors has added three
members over the past year: Mark A. Belnick, Maria O. Grant,
and Paul E. Griffin, III. The Board also added Bowie Kuhn
to its Board of Visitors. "I am extremely pleased with
these appointments," said President Thomas Dillon. "Each
of these individuals will profoundly affect the advancement
of the College in the years to come."
Mark A. Belnick is Executive Vice President and Chief
Corporate Counsel of Tyco International Ltd., which he joined
in September 1998 after nineteen years as a partner of Paul,
Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison. A Fellow of the American
College of Trial Lawyers, Mr. Belnick has extensive litigation
and counseling experience in a wide range of commercial matters.
His clients at Paul, Weiss included Merrill Lynch, the National
Association of Security Dealers (NASD), Woolworth Corporation,
American Express Company, The Coca-Cola Company, Pennzoil,
and H.J. Heinz.
In 1985, Mr. Belnick served as Chief Counsel to the NASD
Select Committee on Structure and Governance leading a review
which produced a major reorganization of the NASD and the
Nasdaq Stock Market. He was one of Pennzoil's principal lawyers
in its successful litigation with Texaco arising from Texaco's
acquisition of Getty Oil. He led the defense of Salomon Smith
Barney in the largest nationwide class action ever brought
under the Civil Rights Laws, involving claims of sexual harassment
and discrimination.
He was chief defense counsel for Michael Milken in the mammoth
civil litigations relating to Mr. Milken's tenure at Drexel
Burnham and was principal negotiator of the complex settlement
that resolved some 180 securities and antitrust suits. In
1987, he served as Deputy Chief Counsel to the U.S. Senate
Iran-Contra Committee.
Mr. Belnick received his A.B. degree, cum laude, from Cornell
University in 1968 and his J.D. in 1971 from Columbia Law
School, where he was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar. He has
lectured in the Continuing Legal Education program at Columbia
Law School, where he is a member of the Board of Visitors.
Maria O. Grant is an Overseer at the Huntington Library,
Gardens and Art Collections and a tour guide at the Huntington
Library and the Norton Simon Museum. She has been affiliated
with the Huntington Library since 1985, having served as a
Docent, and as Chairman of the Overseers' Marketing Committee,
Chairman of the Overseers' Education Committee, and research
assistant in American Art and 19th Century Photography.
She obtained her B.A. in history from Stanford University
in 1966 and a Masters in education there the following year.
After continuing graduate work in African History, she married
Richard Grant and settled down to raise two daughters. During
that time, she remained involved in parish and community affairs,
serving as a confirmation teacher and CCD teacher, and from
1972 to 1981 was a Board Member, Treasurer, and President
of the Pasadena Mental Health Association. From 1981 to 1984,
she worked in Training, Sales Support, and Data Base management
for Computerland of Pasadena.
She and Richard have long been active in charitable and philanthropic
efforts. They are both active members of St. Andrew's Parish
in Pasadena, where she serves as a lector. Maria has also
been on the board of Mayfield Senior School, a private school
in Pasadena, and the Don Bosco Technical Institute, which
helps disadvantaged youths acquire trade skills. She also
has chaired the Technical Support Committee for Las Madrinas
(Children's Hospital Los Angeles Guild).
Paul E. Griffin, III, is a fifth generation home-builder,
and as President of Griffin Industries, is responsible for
all areas of the company's operations from strategic planning
to daily operations. He joined the company upon graduating
from UCLA in 1979 and has been involved in all aspects of
the development business, including market analysis, site
selection, entitlement processing, marketing and finance.
In 1985, he was responsible for the development of over 5,000
houses. One of his projects then was a 324-unit condominium
project in Pacoima, which won the Gold Nugget Award as the
best affordable housing project in the Western United States
at the 1990 Pacific Coast Builder's Conference. Another of
his projects was an office building that houses the regional
headquarters for Carl's Jr. restaurants.
He has been recognized by his peers with several awards at
the National Association of Home Builders and the Pacific
Coast Builders Conference as a leader in customer service
and quality assurance. He received the 1995 Gold Nugget Award
for architecture with his development of the Lang Ranch, a
369-lot, $100 million joint venture in Southern California,
and his development of a 415-unit project in Simi Valley was
named project of the year by local and regional marketing
associations.
Mr. Griffin was named the Building Industry Association's
Builder of the Year in 1997, and has served on the boards
of the LA/Ventura Building Industry Association, the Sales
and Marketing Council, Habitat for Humanity, and the Urban
Land Institute Affordable Housing Committee. He has also been
active with the Christian Coalition, UCLA Chancellor's Associates,
Catholic Big Brothers, the Heritage Foundation, the Lord Acton
Institute, and Legatus.
Bowie Kuhn was Commissioner of Major League Baseball
from 1969-1984, having been named Sporting News "Man
of the Year" in 1983. Currently, he is the president
of two different sports consulting firms.
He obtained his B.A. from Princeton University cum laude
in 1947, and his law degree from the University of Virginia
in 1950. For the next nineteen years he practiced law and
became partner in the New York firm of Willkie Farr &
Gallagher. In 1969, he went on to become the second longest-standing
Commissioner in professional baseball history.
His educational and community service interests are many.
He is or has been a trustee of the New York Medical College,
Franklin & Marshall College, Jacksonville University,
and Franciscan University of Steubenville; he is an advisory
board member to the newly-founded Ave Maria Institute in Ann
Arbor, Michigan. He has also been a director of the Jackie
Robinson Foundation, the Baseball Hall of Fame & Museum,
and the International Tennis Hall of Fame.
He has received honorary degrees from St. John,s University
and Greenville College. His book, Hardball, The Education
Of A Baseball Commissioner, was republished in 1997.
-- Qtrly Newsletter, Fall 1999
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