Point Park University Announces New Board of Trustees Appointments Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Point Park University has announced the election of four candidates for membership on the Board of Trustees: Antoine G. Chammas, Robin Connolly, Cynthia D. Shapira and Darryl Ford Williams. The elections were confirmed at the October 23 meeting of the board.

Antoine G. Chammas is a partner in Trinity Commercial Development, a real estate development firm he co-founded in 1998. During his development career, Chammas has been responsible for the development of over 1.5 million square feet of shopping centers, office buildings, and other commercial real estate developments. Chammas is a registered professional engineer and began his career as a civil and geotechnical engineer with Solar Testing Laboratories, Inc., in Cleveland, Ohio. He holds a Bachelor of Science in civil engineering technology from Point Park University.

Robin Connolly is chief learning officer and director of recruiting operations for The PNC Financial Services Group. She is responsible for overseeing the creation and execution of workforce development strategies that increase individual and organizational productivity. Under Connolly's leadership, PNC was ranked fifth overall and the highest-rated bank in training and development in 2011 by Training Magazine.

Connolly holds a Doctor of Education in instructional leadership from Duquesne University. She also has a Master of Education in training and development from the University of Pittsburgh in addition to a Bachelor of Arts in communications and media production from Duquesne University.

Cynthia D. Shapira is senior policy advisor to Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald. She is a member of the Board of the Allegheny County Airport Authority and was appointed by Governor Tom Corbett to the PA Commission on Women. She currently chairs a major initiative with the United Way of Allegheny County to address the needs of youth with disabilities "aging out" of the system through a county pilot project and state/federal public policy solutions.

Shapira serves as corporate secretary of the Jewish Federations of North America. Other community leadership roles include co-chair of the Pittsburgh Promise Campaign and Honorary Co-Chair of Allegheny 365, an initiative to ensure access to individuals of varying abilities in Allegheny County. She is on the boards of Vibrant Pittsburgh, the United Way of Allegheny County, U.S. Global Leadership Commission PA Advisory Council, WQED and the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh. She is on the international board of directors of The Jewish Agency for Israel.
Shapira has a master's in public administration from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government and a Bachelor of Arts degree summa cum laude in political science from Wellesley College.

Darryl Ford Williams is the vice president of content for WQED Multimedia in Pittsburgh. In her current role, Ford Williams oversees the creation, development, production and delivery of all new and existing local, national, international and syndicated television, radio, interactive and educational programming for WQED Multimedia. Under her leadership, productions have taken WQED documentary teams across the country and abroad to Kenya, Poland, Vietnam and Austria.

Ford Williams' work has earned her Emmy Awards for The Combat Zone, part of a series of news documentaries developed and produced for WJLA-TV in Washington, DC and for WQED's "On Q Special Report: RX For A Healthier Community." She has served on such boards and committees as the Mayor's Commission on Families, Urban Youth Action, the Pittsburgh Film Office, Pittsburgh Ballet Theater, Winchester Thurston School, Shady Side Academy, Program to Aid Citizen Enterprise and ASSET, Inc.

Ford Williams is a graduate of Boston College.