In the News: On the Wolf Transition Team

When Pennsylvania Gov.-elect Tom Wolf took the oath of office on Jan. 20, he was ready to roll up his sleeves and get down to business thanks in part to the work of John Fry ’82 and Mike Newsome ’75.

Fry, Drexel University president and Lafayette trustee, headed Wolf’s transition team of 250 volunteers. “I’m very involved in education, business, and civic life in Pennsylvania,” Fry says. “I bring an appreciation of how complicated the governor’s job is. It’s a giant talent hunt to meet the extraordinary challenges in education, finance, health, and the environment.”

Forming committees to research and recommend candidates to fill 24 cabinet positions was a priority. Fry participated in every interview, for departments as diverse as agriculture and corrections. “The perfect preparation to be chair of the Gov.-elect’s transition committee is to be a liberal arts graduate from Lafayette College,” says Fry, an American studies graduate who earned an MBA at NYU and was president of Franklin & Marshall College from 2002 to 2010 and executive vice president of University of Pennsylvania from 1995 to 2002.

Newsome, executive vice-president and CFO of The Wolf Organization Inc., served on the budget deficit and fiscal stabilization task force along with Robin Wiessmann ’75, the newly appointed secretary of banking and securities. The task force was charged with determining the amount of the deficit.

—Sharon Sanders