Worcester Art Museum Announces New Board Members

New Trustees were welcomed to the Museum’s board at the Annual meeting on November 21

Worcester, MA—December 28, 2023—The Worcester Art Museum welcomed five new members to its Board of Trustees at its 127th annual Corporators meeting, held virtually on Tuesday, November 21. The newly elected trustees include Ambassador Mary Beth Leonard, Senior Advisor for African Affairs at the United States Mission to the United Nations; John Herron, co-founder and partner of Tidepool Press and a co-managing partner of Herron Farms in southern Ohio; John McCabe, President of the Board of The Icon Museum and Study Center in Clinton; Barry M. Maloney, President of Worcester State College; and Carl D. Rapp, President of Philadelphia Gear and Group VP, at The Timken Company.

Ambassador Mary Beth Leonard is a native of Worcester and is currently serving as the Senior Advisor for African Affairs at the United States Mission to the United Nations during the 78th Session of the United Nations General Assembly. Ambassador Leonard concluded nearly 35 years in the U.S. Foreign Service in March 2023 as Ambassador to the Federal Republic of Nigeria. She was previously the U.S. Permanent Representative to the African Union and the UN Economic Commission for Africa (2016-19) and Ambassador to the Republic of Mali (2011-2014). She also served in Cameroon, Namibia, Togo, and South Africa, and had also been Deputy Chief of Mission in Bamako. She was the Department of State’s Director for the Office of West African Affairs from 2009-2011. She served in academia both as the State Department’s recruiter for New England, and as faculty at the U.S. Naval War College.  Leonard always looked forward to revisiting the museum while home from postings overseas. She is honored to bring skills honed during her career in senior executive management, connecting people and interests, U.S. Government programs, and African expertise to new roles in her hometown.

John Herron is a Worcester native with a long-time family and personal connections to WAM. He previously served as a WAM Trustee from 1994-2003 and looks forward to serving again. Since 2016, Herron has taught core courses in Harvard’s design engineering program, a joint initiative of the Graduate School of Design and the School of Engineering and Applied Science. He is a co-founder and partner of Tidepool Press and a co-managing partner of Herron Farms in southern Ohio. He recently stepped down as chair of the American Antiquarian Society and previously chaired the Cambridge Center for Adult Education and the Worcester Foundation for Biomedical Research.

John McCabe grew up in Middletown, CT, he and his wife now reside in Worcester. He initially worked for IBM but then moved to Nypro in Clinton as VP of M&A until 2012 when he was transferred to Jabil as the Global VP of M&A until his retirement in 2020. McCabe has served at many Worcester-based organizations most notably as Treasurer and then Chairman of the Worcester Redevelopment Authority during the construction and development of Union Station and Medical City. He is currently the President of the Board of The Icon Museum and Study Center in Clinton.

Barry M. Maloney resides in Worcester with his wife and children and serves on the governing boards of the Worcester Business Development Corporation, the Worcester Regional Research Bureau, the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce, St. Vincent Hospital, and the American Antiquarian Society. He is a Corporator at the Greater Worcester Community Foundation. Maloney has served as the chair of both HECCMA (the consortium of 11 Central Massachusetts colleges) and the State University Council of Presidents. He is currently serving as the 11th President of Worcester State College which he became president of in 2011.

Carl D. Rapp is a Worcester native whose family has been involved at WAM for over 50 years. He has been a Corporator at WAM since 2013. Rapp is currently a Trustee at the Maine Maritime Museum in Bath, ME, and a Governor at the American Swedish Historical Museum in Philadelphia, PA. He previously served on the Board of Trustees at Saint John’s High School (chair), and Germantown Academy. Professionally, Carl serves as President of Philadelphia Gear and Group VP, at The Timken Company. Before that, he spent 15 years at Norton/St. Gobain in various management roles in the US and Europe.

New Corporators Elected

In addition, the Museum elected 13 new Corporators: Nicole Agois Hurel of Cambridge; Leonardo Angiulo, Esq. of Holden; Dr. Nicolas Bruno of Providence, RI; Bettina Burr of Boston; Amanda Costello of Shrewsbury; Dr. Lewis Dubroff of Syracuse, NY; John Herron of Cambridge, MA; Susan B. Kaplan of Brookline; Barry M. Maloney of Worcester; John McCabe of Worcester; Mark D. Nevins of Concord; Dr. Sara Shields of Northborough; Kristina Wilson, Ph.D. of Worcester.