Eden Autism is pleased to announce four new members to its Board of Trustees, effective July 1, 2020. These individuals were nominated and elected based on their extraordinary commitment to advancing Eden’s mission.
Jeffrey Gary, Claude George, Tara Palamarik Murphy, and Frank Piazza join seventeen other board members to provide Eden with guidance, leadership, and strategic counsel.
“We are thrilled to welcome these accomplished individuals to our Board of Trustees,” said Board Chair Mark Berkowsky. “Representing both parents and community members, they not only bring a diverse set of expertise, but a passion for philanthropy that will help further our mission to improve the lives of individuals with autism.”
Jeffrey J. Gary, CPA, has worked in the financial services industry for over 30 years. He currently serves on the Board of the National Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ: NHLD) as Chair of the Audit Committee, and he is on the Board of Arca US Treasury Mutual Fund. Gary also sits on the advisory boards for Monroe Capital and DealBox.
Previously, Gary was a Portfolio Manager at Third Avenue Management, LLC and Co-Head of the High Yield and Distressed investment team at BlackRock, Inc. where he was responsible for managing over $30 billion in mutual fund and hedge fund assets. His career includes senior management positions with American General/AIG Investment Group, Koch Industries, Inc., Mesirow Financial Holdings, Inc., Citigroup, Inc., and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP.
Gary earned a Bachelor of Science in accounting from Penn State University in 1984 and a Master of Business Administration in Finance and International Business from Northwestern University (Kellogg) in 1991. The father of an adult participant, Jeff serves on Eden’s Finance and Facilities Committee and was a co-chair of Eden’s capital campaign.
Claude George, MD, MSc is President of Global Development Associates, Inc., a network of European and American pharmaceutical consultants/experts that provides consulting services in all aspects of drug development. Prior to founding Global Development Associates, George was Vice President of Global Development at Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS) where he led the global development of a new oral targeted agent in colorectal and liver cancer. His career at BMS included the development of treatments for bladder, breast and gastric cancers.
His career in drug development, teaching, and bedside care—in the US and France—spans four decades. George’s volunteer work includes Member of the Oncology Nursing Society Foundation and Chair of the Finance Committee and member of Eden’s Development Committee. George is the grandfather of an Eden student.
Tara Palamarik Murphy is a graduate of Columbia University’s School of Engineering and Applied Science, and was the Lead Mission Analyst for the Mars Observer and NASA’s ACTS. She was lead author and presenter of Mission Design for an Areosynchronous Orbiter at the GSFC/AAS International Symposium for Mission Design and Orbit Mechanics.
As the mother of a child with autism, Tara has spent much of the last several years volunteering for Eden Autism Services, Autism New Jersey, the Association for Science in Autism Treatment (ASAT), Parents of Edison’s Awesome Children (PEACH), and several other advocacy and outreach organizations. She is a graduate of The Boggs Center’s New Jersey Partners in Policymaking, a training program for advocacy in support of the disability community. ASAT recently published an article she co-authored about the importance of families seeking sound scientific research when using social media platforms for advice. Tara’s son graduated from the Eden School this June and entered Eden’s Adult Day program.
Frank Piazza, the founder and President of Piazza & Associates, has been dedicated to the administration and compliance of affordable housing for municipalities, nonprofits and for-profit developers for more than 25 years. Piazza entered the affordable housing arena in 1991 by directing a successful effort to develop 126 low- and moderate-income apartments in Plainsboro for a local non-profit corporation. In 1994, he established Piazza & Associates, Inc., which has since become one of the largest and most experienced firms in New Jersey, specializing in the independent monitoring of affordable housing.
Piazza is an Instructor for Rutgers University Center for Government Services, he holds a C9P Certification for Low Income Tax Credit Compliance and is approved by the Council on Affordable Housing to provide compliance monitoring services. He currently serves on Eden’s Finance and Facilities Committee.
In addition to welcoming the new members, Eden would also like to thank Helen Hoens and Linda Scharfman for their service on Eden’s board as their terms have ended.
