The Gallery of Success celebrates outstanding professional achievement, inspiring students toward their future.

Beasley School of Law

Susanna Lachs
JD ’78

Susanna Lachs is a member of the Board of Trustees of Temple University and a member of the Board of Visitors of Temple’s Beasley School of Law. She is a native Philadelphian, who attended Friends Select School, the University of Pennsylvania and Temple University Beasley School of Law. At Temple, she has served numerous search committees including for the Beasley School of Law Dean, the head of the Temple University Health System and the most recent Presidential Search Committee.

Lachs co-chaired Temple’s Blue Ribbon Commission to combat antisemitism.

Lachs was a partner in commercial litigation at Cohen, Shapiro, Polisher, Shiekman & Cohen and of counsel to Kaufman, Coren & Ress. After practicing law, she served in a variety of community leadership roles, including as a member of national Jewish Federation’s Young Women’s Cabinet, national Women’s Philanthropy Board, the Weitzman Museum of American Jewish History in Philadelphia, and the Philadelphia Holocaust Memorial Foundation. Lachs is currently a member of the Board of Directors of the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia (previously Chair), the Penn Hillel Board of Governors (previously Co-Chair), the national Board of Jewish Federations of North America and the Birthright Israel Regional Council. She is a member of the Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies Board of Advisors in the School of Arts & Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania, the Trustees’ Council of Penn Women (previously Chair) an emerita member of the Board of Trustees of the Shipley School in Bryn Mawr (previously Chair) and a recipient of Penn’s Alumni Award of Merit.

Lachs is married to Dean Adler, a real estate investor and founder of Lubert Adler Partners in Philadelphia. They have two married daughters, Anna and Sara, and four grandchildren who reside in New York City. Lachs and her husband live in Gladwyne, Pennsylvania.

College of Education and Human Development

Rhonda Lauer
BSEd ’69, MEd ’73

Rhonda Lauer has served as the president and chief executive officer of Foundations, Inc. since 1997. She has guided Foundations’ rapid growth from a regional program provider to an organization that has earned national recognition for its success in transforming the world of teaching and learning by strengthening the skills of educators. 

Lauer is a lifelong Philadelphian who has worn many hats for the School District of Philadelphia: teacher, principal, administrator, management negotiator and associate superintendent.

 
She has also served as superintendent of schools in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, and currently sits on several boards of directors, including the SELF, Inc. (Strengthening and Empowering Lives and Futures), and Say Yes to Education.

She earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Temple University and holds a Pennsylvania Principal’s Certification and Superintendent’s Letter of Eligibility from the University of Pennsylvania. 

Despite her many professional accomplishments and awards, Lauer remains proudest of the fact that every single one of her students left her classroom able to read, write and do math.  She believes that all children can learn, that relationships matter, that those who choose to be educators can be great teachers and afterschool professionals, and that strong, shared and mindful leadership is essential to a child’s success. 

Lauer is a proud mother to her children David, Rachel, Jessica and Seth, and is an adoring grandmother (known as “Rah-Rah”) to grandchildren Alexandra, Liam, Miles and Daniel, and grand-dogs Juno, Mutt and Jack.  In her free time, she loves to sing, dance, read and cook—some even say she makes the best mac and cheese this side of the Mississippi! 

College of Liberal Arts

Christopher M. Barnett
BA ’10

Christopher M. Barnett is an award-winning entrepreneur with more than 20 years of experience creating, buying, growing and selling companies that disrupt the status quo. His current holdings are healthcare-concentrated and include businesses in mental and behavioral health, revenue cycle management, artificial intelligence and concierge medicine that are all working to revolutionize the overall healthcare field. Barnett’s vision, passion and business acumen have been heralded across the healthcare industry and the business community at large, garnering him the 2024 EY Entrepreneur of the Year National Overall Award.

Believing that profitability and benevolence are not mutually exclusive, Barnett is forever eager to develop and foster opportunities that change lives.

He doubled down on that commitment with the founding of The Christopher M. Barnett Family Foundation, which is dedicated to addressing the critical needs of communities through strategic partnerships, grant-making initiatives and targeted interventions.

Barnett, along with the Barnett Family Foundation, bestowed Temple with a $55 million donation in October 2025, the largest gift in the university’s history. He previously gifted Temple with $1 million to establish the ABA Centers Autism Lab, a multidisciplinary hub that conducts research, trains students and offers diagnostic services to patients, regardless of their ability to pay. Barnett previously supported the university’s on-campus food pantry, now dubbed the Barnett Irvine Cherry Pantry, and, in partnership with the School of Social Work, established Maddy’s Room, a sensory-friendly respite for students and faculty alike.

College of Science and Technology

Mark D. Dash
BA ’84

Mark D. Dash champions the use of technology to transform businesses with an emphasis on talent management. Dash earned his bachelor’s degree in computer science from Temple University, a master’s in computer science from the New Jersey Institute of Technology and a certificate in corporate innovation from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business.

He has extensive experience in technological advancement across several industries, including computer engineering, financial services, publishing and insurance. He began his career at Burroughs Corporation, later renamed Unisys Corp., where he developed software and firmware. He joined The Vanguard Group in 1992 as part of its Advanced Technology group. In 1997, Dash joined Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a medical publisher, as VP of electronic strategy for Wolters Kluwer Health.

After 16 years of service, Dash recently retired as chief technology officer for The Penn Mutual Life Insurance Company.

While at Penn Mutual, Dash fostered a research funding partnership between Penn Mutual and CST’s Center for Cognitive Computing.

He is the past president of the College of Science and Technology Alumni Board and currently serves as the board’s treasurer.

Lewis Katz School of Medicine

Dr. Joseph F. Rappold
BA ’82, MD ’91

Dr. Joseph F. Rappold is a highly respected critical-care and acute care surgeon currently based in Portland, Maine. His research interests are in the extremes of trauma and hemorrhagic shock and their impact on hemostasis (i.e., the body’s ability to stop bleeding) and potential recovery. 

On his initial commissioning in the United States Navy, Captain Rappold completed nuclear submarine training and served on three submarines in the Atlantic Fleet. Initially based in Holy Loch, Scotland, he was subsequently transferred to Groton, Connecticut—home of the nuclear submarine force. He subsequently transferred to the Medical Corps and completed medical school at Temple University. His surgical residency was completed at Naval Medical Center San Diego. His fellowship in Trauma/Surgical Critical Care was completed at the University of California, San Diego. Between his internship and residency, Captain Rappold served as the USS Kitty Hawk Battle Group Medical Officer, completing a combat deployment to Somalia and Iraq. After residency, he served as the surgeon aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln.

After 30 years of active duty, Dr. Rappold retired as a Captain from the U.S. Navy.

Between 2001 and 2010, he was deployed as a medical corps officer and surgeon six times to Afghanistan and Iraq. In 2008, he served as the medical director of the Joint Trauma Theater, responsible for all surgical care in Iraq and Afghanistan and, in 2009, he was deployed for the last time to serve as the commander of the British field hospital at Camp Bastion in Afghanistan’s Helmand province.

Between his combat deployments, Dr. Rappold served as the chairman of the Department of Surgery and director of the Surgical Intensive Care Unit at the Naval Medical Center in San Diego—the largest DoD hospital. He is the recipient of a variety of unit and personal awards including the Bronze Star for valor in combat and the Defense Meritorious Service Medal.  A Fellow of the American College of Surgeons, Dr. Rappold most recently served as the chief of Acute Care Surgery and the trauma medical director at Maine Medical Center. 

Kornberg School of Dentistry

Jennifer Unis Sullivan
DMD ’86

Jennifer Unis Sullivan, DMD, JD, FCLM, has been a practicing dentist for almost 40 years. She received a BS from the University of Pittsburgh, her DMD from Temple University Kornberg School of Dentistry, and her JD from the Thomas Kline School of Law at Duquesne University.

Dr. Sullivan has the distinction of being the first female dentist in Pennsylvania to earn a law degree.

Dr. Sullivan received a gubernatorial appointment to the Pennsylvania State Board of Dentistry and was unanimously elected to serve as chair of the State Dental Board during 2024 and 2025. Dr. Sullivan is president of the American College of Legal Medicine (ACLM), the most prominent professional society in the United States concerned with addressing issues that arise at the interface of law and medicine. She is the first female dentist elected president of the ACLM and to receive the ACLM Gold Medal, the highest award bestowed to a member.

Dr. Sullivan serves on the Journal of Legal Medicine Editorial Board, an interdisciplinary, peer-reviewed, internationally circulated journal that focuses on the intersection of health, law, science and policy. She has served as an adjunct assistant professor at the Kornberg School of Dentistry and was the recipient of the Kornberg Alumni Association’s leadership award in 2024. Dr. Sullivan was a former president of the Beaver Valley Dental Society and is routinely named a top dentist in Pittsburgh Magazine. She co-founded Unis Dental Associates in Aliquippa, Pennsylvania, with her brother, Nicholas Unis, DMD, himself a Temple University Kornberg School of Dentistry alum.

School of Podiatric Medicine

Dr. William S. Long
DPM ’09

Dr. William S. Long, FACFAS, holds the distinction of being the first podiatrist to perform ankle surgery in South Carolina and played an instrumental role in expanding the state’s scope of practice to include ankle surgery in 2018. He is double board-certified by both the American Board of Podiatric Medicine and the American Board of Foot and Ankle Surgery.

Dr. Long began his service career as a medical specialist in the United States Army Reserve. He is a proud graduate of South Carolina State University. During his sophomore year there, he was awarded a full-tuition scholarship from the United States Coast Guard. Upon graduation, he honorably served eight years on active duty as a marine safety officer. He went on to earn a master of arts degree in biology education from the Citadel, the Military College of South Carolina, and later earned his doctor of podiatric medicine from the Temple University School of Podiatric Medicine in 2009.

He served two years as South Carolina’s delegate to the American Podiatric Medical Association (APMA) and was elected to the APMA board of trustees in 2019.

Dr. Long is the past chair of both the legislative committee and the diversity, equity and inclusion committee. He currently serves as chair of the development committee and is an active member of the education committee.

Dr. Long is in private practice. He serves on the board of directors for the Pelham Surgical Center and the South Carolina Quality Radiation Standards Association. Additionally, he is a Board of Visitors member at the Temple University School of Podiatric Medicine, serves on the executive board of the South Carolina Podiatric Medical Association and is the APMA liaison to the American Board of Foot and Ankle Surgery.

School of Sport, Tourism and Hospitality Management

Maisha R. Kelly
MEd ’05

A Saint Joseph’s graduate and former track captain, Maisha R. Kelly holds a master’s degree in sport and recreation administration from Temple University. Kelly became Drexel’s director of athletics in 2021 and was promoted to vice president, director of athletics and recreation in 2024. A Philadelphia native, she returned home after serving as Bucknell University’s senior associate director of athletics and senior woman administrator.

Kelly has led major facility and program enhancements at Drexel, including multimillion-dollar upgrades to the Daskalakis Athletic Center, which The Philadelphia Inquirer named one of the city’s premier sports venues.

She also helped secure Drexel’s inclusion in the Philadelphia Big 5, highlighted by the men’s basketball team’s 2023 win over nationally ranked Villanova.

Under Kelly, Drexel has earned NCAA appearances in each of her first three seasons. In 2023–24, women’s basketball won the CAA Championship, women’s lacrosse earned a fourth straight NCAA bid and women’s rowing qualified for the Island Challenge Cup at the Henley Royal Regatta. The Dragons have also achieved strong academic success, including Academic All-Americans, a nation-leading wrestling GPA and multiple perfect academic progress rate and graduate success rate scores.

Kelly expanded departmental infrastructure by hiring a chief of staff and an assistant athletic director for student-athlete development. She has advanced fundraising, secured endowed positions and naming gifts, renewed an expanded Nike partnership and helped Drexel host major NCAA Championships. Previously, Kelly spent a decade at Bucknell leading planning, DEI efforts, fundraising and serving on NCAA committees.

Tyler School of Art and Architecture

John E. Dowell Jr.
BFA ’63

Born in Philadelphia in 1941, John E. Dowell Jr. is an artist and master printer who has explored various mediums in his practice, including printmaking, painting, drawing, musical performance, sculpture and photography. Dowell received his BFA from the Tyler School of Art and Architecture at Temple University in Philadelphia and went on to receive his MFA from Washington State University in Seattle. Dowell also trained as a master printer at the Tamarind Workshop. Within Dowell’s six decades of making work, he spent five decades as a professor, including 42 years at the Tyler School of Art, where he holds the title of Professor Emeritus in Printmaking.

Dowell’s work has been featured in more than 50 solo exhibitions as well as the 35th Venice Biennale, the 1975 Whitney Biennial and the 15th Gwangju Biennial.

He is represented in the permanent collections of over 70 museum and public collections, including that of the Museum of Modern Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris.

Dowell continues to make work in North Philadelphia, most recently with the support of the PEW Arts & Heritage Foundation as one of their 2025 Artist Fellows. As part of his current artistic practice, Dowell explores humanity, ancestry and African spiritualism through performance, music, photography and painting.