Bay Path University Names Four New Trustees

Delcie D. Bean IV, Kathleen A. Devlin, John F. Heaps, Jr., and Hamline C. Wilson will each serve a three-year term beginning June 2015.

Delcie D. Bean IV

Delcie Bean is the Founder and CEO of Paragus Strategic, IT (www.paragusit.com), and a born entrepreneur whose mission is to use business and technological innovation as a positive force to impact the lives of clients, employees, colleagues and the community as a whole. Inc. Magazine has acknowledged Paragus as one of the 5,000 fastest-growing privately held companies in America four years in a row. In 2013, CRN Global ranked Paragus the 30th fastest-growing IT Company in the United States. In 2014, they were awarded the coveted Employer’s Choice Award by the Employers Association of the Northeast and The Massachusetts Chamber of Commerce. And in 2014, Bean was recognized with the Top Entrepreneur award by BusinessWest. In addition to Paragus, he is founder and CEO of Waterdog Technologies, a technology distribution company based in Springfield, MA, which follows an innovative and disruptive business model.

Bean also channeled his passion and creativity into Tech Foundry, a nonprofit technology institute. Working with groups that include inner city high school students, underemployed college graduates, veterans returning from duty, and even employed individuals whose employers need them to improve their technical skills, Tech Foundry seeks to solve the shortage of computer science professionals in not just Western Massachusetts, but the entire region.

Most recently, Bean has been working with Valley Venture Mentors and Develop Springfield to launch the Springfield Innovation Center that will include his Innovation Café concept—providing a place where people can share ideas, energy, and great coffee.

Bean resides in New Hampshire with his wife and two children.

Kathleen A. Devlin

Kathleen Devlin is a recently retired executive director from Johnson and Johnson. She spent several years in the healthcare industry where she was responsible for sales, training, hiring, and strategic alliances. In her role as executive director, she managed the interface with the Fortune 40 employers and the major insurers for the 250 operating companies under the Johnson and and Johnson umbrella in the Northeast. Prior to her advancement to executive director, Devlin was responsible for negotiating large contracts for Johnson and Johnson, and earlier consulted to nine bioscience, pharmaceutical, and device companies, as well as negotiating mega contracts for Roche and Syntex Laboratories.

Devlin is a member of the Board of Selectmen for the Town of Somers, Connecticut, chairman of the Pastoral Council for All Saints Church, and member of the Somers Education Foundation, as well as the Somers Plan of Conservation and Development.

She has been an elected official for over 40 years in some capacity for the Town of Somers.

She earned a bachelor of science degree in bioscience and a master of science in education from Central Connecticut State University, in addition to completing advanced courses in communications and negotiations from Northwestern University Devlin and her husband are residents of Somers, Connecticut, and have three children and seven grandchildren.

John F. Heaps, Jr.

John F. Heaps, Jr., is President and CEO of Florence Savings Bank. Heaps joined Florence Savings Bank (FSB) in May of 1995 as president and chief executive officer, following a distinguished 24-year banking career in Western Massachusetts that began in 1971 at Valley Bank in Springfield. Prior to joining FSB, Heaps was president and chief executive officer of Bank of Boston – Western Massachusetts.

When Heaps joined FSB as its president in 1995, the bank was a 122-year-old financial institution with $272 million in assets. During his 18-year presidency, the bank has enjoyed outstanding success as it has grown to be a $1.1 billion dollar institution with a dominant market position in Hampshire County.

Heaps is currently a board member of the Hampshire County Regional Chamber, the Economic Development Council of Western Mass (E.D.C.), the Depositors Insurance Fund, and the Savings Bank Life Insurance. Heaps has recently been named chairman of the Western Mass Sports Commission.

In addition to his participation on local boards, John has been a fundraiser leader for many local charitable organizations, including the chair for the VNA Campaign in 1988 that resulted in the formation of Hospice in Hampden County. He has also chaired very successful fund-raising campaigns for the Hampshire County United Way in 2001, the Lilly Library Building Fund in 2004, and the Association for Community Living in 2009.

Heaps earned a bachelor of arts degree from Norwich University, an MBA from Suffolk University, and attended the Tuck School - Graduate School of Credit and Finance at Dartmouth College. He is a resident of Longmeadow, Massachusetts.

Hamline C. Wilson

Hamline Wilson is a retired insurance executive with a career that spanned more than 30 years with the Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company. In his last position, he was the senior vice president and managing director of investments for the Springfield-based Fortune 500 listed company.

Among his many professional memberships, he was an avid supporter of the Rotary and Jaycees, and he served as a trustee for Johnson Memorial Hospital. Wilson is currently on the Pension Board for the Town of Somers, Connecticut.

Wilson is a graduate of Dartmouth College, where he earned a bachelor of arts in economics. He currently resides in Somers, Connecticut.