Following merger, WSFS welcomes 3 new board members

Michael J. Donahue

Following WSFS Financial Corporation’s acquisition of Beneficial Bank, Gerard P. Cuddy, Karen Dougherty Buchholz and Michael J. Donahue have joined the WSFS Board.

The three executives join the WSFS board in accordance with the acquisition agreement between WSFS and Beneficial that was completed on Friday, March 1.

“One of the many advantages we immediately gain from combining WSFS and Beneficial is the wealth of banking, leadership, operations and administrative experience of our new Board members from Beneficial,” said Mark A. Turner, executive chairman of the boards of directors for WSFS and WSFS Bank. “I join our Board and all of our WSFS Associates in welcoming Gerry, Karen and Mike to the WSFS family. Their leadership and long-time experience in our market will be resources upon which our Board will rely as we create the largest, premier, longest-standing community bank for the Greater Delaware Valley.”

Here’s some background on the new board members:

Karen Dougherty Buchholz

• Cuddy was president and CEO of Beneficial Bank from 2006 to 2019. He has more than 30 years of experience and local market knowledge. During his tenure, he led Beneficial’s conversion from a mutual savings fund to a public-traded company, and he engineered several successful mergers and acquisitions.
• Buchholz is senior vice president of administration for the Comcast Corporation. She has a wide array of corporate development responsibilities, including corporate real estate, facilities, aviation, diversity, political affairs, corporate services, business continuity, travel, security and sustainability.
• Donahue is a business advisor, board director, and investor with technology, media, and industrial companies. He presently serves as an independent director of the privately held firms Mobiquity and SiteSpect. He spent 21 years in leadership roles at KPMG LLP, most recently as chief operating officer of the firm’s KPMG Consulting business unit.