Hudson Highlands Nature Museum adds five trustees, elects new officers

CORNWALL — The Hudson Highlands Nature Museum has added five new trustees to its board since February and elected a new slate of officers at its annual meeting.

The new trustees are Laura Hromadka, Bonnie Mangiaracina, Beth Noonan, Scott Sheehan and Jeff Sousa, all of whom are residents of the greater Cornwall area.

Hromadka is the president of Hromadka & Associates, a forensic engineering firm focusing on issues pertaining to water, such as water quality, flooding and landslides. Her husband is a part-time professor at West Point. Hromadka will serve on the museum’s human resources, marketing and education committees.

Mangiaracina returns to the museum board following a one-year hiatus due to term limits. A registered nurse, she will chair the buildings and grounds committee and serve on the executive committee. She is also a prime mover behind the annual wildflower sale.

Noonan spent most of her professional career in education, recently retiring as executive assistant to the president and secretary to the board of trustees of Fairleigh Dickinson University, New Jersey’s largest institution of higher education. She will serve on the museum s governance, education and scholarship committees.

Sheehan is president of 1031 Investment Services, an advisory group specializing in real estate co-ownership structures for tax-deferred 1031 exchange transactions. He has hiked, paddled, climbed and camped through most of the Hudson River Valley. He will serve on the museum s finance, marketing and development committees.

Sousa is a Vice President of Goldman Sachs, a leading investment bank, and Chief financial officer of its global securities technology organization. Both he and his wife grew up in the Newburgh/New Windsor area. He will serve on the Museum s finance and building and grounds committees.

New officers After six successful years during which the museum expanded its programs and service by roughly 40 percent and finished in the black every year, Board Chair David Redden has stepped down to become chair emeritus. He is succeeded by John Bliss, who has been treasurer of the board since 2007. Also elected were:

Fred Osborn, a trustee since May 2006 has been elected vice chair.

Susan Christensen (trustee since 2005), treasurer.

George Muser (trustee since 1997), secretary.

Howard Protter (trustee since 1995), general counsel.