People on the Move: Nov. 5

People on the Move is a rundown of recent hirings, promotions, appointments and other notable movements by professionals in the state. If you’re interested in submitting an entry, please contact news@delawarebusinesstimes.com.

President Joe Biden has nominated U.S. District Court Judge for the District of Delaware Leonard Stark for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, the second highest court in the country.

Stark has served as a federal District Court judge since 2010, and as chief judge for the District of Delaware from July 2014 to June 2021. Previously, he served as a U.S. magistrate judge for the District of Delaware from 2007 to 2010. Prior to his appointment to the bench, Stark served as an assistant U.S. attorney for the District of Delaware, where he worked in both the criminal and civil divisions. From 1997 to 2001, Judge Stark was an associate in the Wilmington, Delaware office of the law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP. A Rhodes Scholar, he also earned a master’s degree from the University of Delaware in 1991.

Fatimah Conley | PHOTO COURTESY OF UD

University of Delaware President Dennis Assanis recently named Fatimah Conley as the university’s new vice president of institutional equity and chief diversity officer. She will report directly to the president and work closely with the provost, the executive vice president and chief operating officer and other senior leaders. 

With dedicated focus on advancing UD’s commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), responsibilities will encompass strategic leadership, oversight and visionary activation of a range of services, programs, policies and procedures for faculty, staff and students. 

Conley, who has served as the university’s acting chief diversity officer since October 2020, was selected following a national search.

Claire Snyder-Hall | PHOTO COURTESY OF COMMON CAUSE DE

Prior to this role, Conley served in the Office of the General Counsel at UD since 2015. Before joining UD, she was an attorney at a law firm in New Orleans, handling all aspects of commercial transactions, and spent two years as a human resources consultant in higher education.

Common Cause Delaware has chosen Claire Snyder-Hall to be its new executive director. She previously led the state organization on a temporary basis, both between 2015-16 and also for the past 11 months. 

Common Cause is a nonpartisan, grassroots organization with a mission to create open, honest, and accountable government that serves the public interest; promote equal rights, opportunity, and representation for all; and empower all people to make their voices heard in the political process. Snyder-Hall will work with Common Cause Delaware members, the state advisory board, and a range of allied organizations to address key democracy reform issues in the First State.

She has worked in the “democracy space” for almost 30 years. She began her career as a political philosophy professor with a specialization in democratic theory, spending 12 years on the faculty of George Mason University in Fairfax, Va., before relocating to Rehoboth Beach in 2011. In addition to research and teaching, she also led civic engagement activities at George Mason University, as part of the American Democracy Project. Snyder-Hall has been an associate of the Kettering Foundation since 1992, an organization that researches “how to make democracy work as it should.” Her most recent work with the foundation focused on strengthening the connections between state legislators and public life.

Wilmington Trust announced that Sharon L. Klein, president of family wealth for the Eastern U.S. Region, has been inducted into the Estate Planning Hall of Fame by the National Association of Estate Planners & Councils (NAEPC). In addition, the NAEPC has awarded her the Accredited Estate Planner (Distinguished) designation.

Klein is one of only nine estate planning professionals to receive this prestigious award in 2021, which is given annually in recognition of  lifetime achievement and outstanding contributions to the practice and profession of estate planning within the professional disciplines of academia, accounting, insurance and financial planning, law, philanthropy, and trust services. Only 125 people across the U.S. have received this award since its inception in 2004.

As president of Family Wealth’s Eastern U.S. Region, Klein is responsible for overseeing the delivery of all wealth management services, leading teams of professionals across the areas of planning, trust, investment management, family office, and private banking. She also heads Wilmington Trust’s National Divorce Advisory Practice, overseeing teams who collaborate with advisors and their clients to offer a comprehensive set of solutions for those impacted by divorce.

WSFS Bank announced the promotion of seven associates from business lines across the organization to senior vice president. They include: James Boston, SVP, real estate services director; Robin Marandola, SVP, commercial loan operations director; Bernadette Powell, SVP, fair and responsible banking officer; Theodore Quillen, SVP, director of wealth investments; Lisa Shaw, SVP, director of business strategy; Norman Smith,  SVP, senior credit officer; and Drew Walls, SVP, business banking relationship manager.

Sallie Mae has appointed Samuel Ramsey to its board of directors

Ramsey joins the board bringing more than 30 years of experience in consumer and commercial banking, with expertise in risk management, finance, treasury, and the capital markets. He has served as chief risk officer for Chase, the consumer and small business organization within JP Morgan Chase & Co., and previously served as chief risk officer at Ally Financial. Ramsey also served as chief financial officer, global corporate and investment banking, at Bank of America where he also held various executive-level risk management roles and helped develop and lead the company’s Global Risk Management division.

After retiring in 2014, Ramsey served on the board of Ditech Holding Corporation as chairman of the Audit Committee and a member of the Compliance Committee as well as the Finance Committee.