President Rozanski recently announced that three prominent business leaders have been elected to serve three-year terms on Rider University’s Board of Trustees.

All three trustees are Rider alumni. They are Ernestine “Mickey” Gast ’68, an associate buyer agent for Prudential, Fox & Roach Realtors in West Chester, Pa; Karen Licitra ’81, a group chairman for Johnson & Johnson in New Brunswick, N.J.; and Eli Mordechai ’90, chief executive officer of Medical Diagnostic Laboratory in Mount Laurel, N.J.

“I am delighted that these three outstanding individuals have agreed to serve their alma mater,” Rozanski said. “Their extensive experience, keen insight and breadth of knowledge will provide us invaluable counsel as we continue Rider University’s progress toward the next level of excellence.”

Mickey Gast, who received a B.M. in voice performance from Westminster Choir College of Rider University, is a member of The Mercer Real Estate Team in West Chester. She serves on the selection committee for the U.S. Naval Academy of the Seventh Congressional District of Pennsylvania and is vice president of the women’s committee for the Women’s Golf Association of the Castine (Maine) Golf Club. Previously, she served as a training consultant for Learning International and AchieveGlobal.

Gast is a past recipient of the Westminster Alumni Service Award and served as a Rider University Trustee from 1997 to 2006. During her tenure, she chaired the Student Affairs and Human Resources committees and was a member of the Strategic Planning and Westminster Choir College Planning committees. She also served as a Board officer in 2006. In addition, Gast has been a member of Westminster’s Alumni and National Leadership Councils and has hosted a variety of Westminster alumni and donor events over the years. She and her husband, Aaron, reside in West Chester.

Karen Licitra is one of 18 company group chairmen for Johnson & Johnson in New Brunswick, N.J. She is also worldwide franchise chairman for Ethicon Endo-Surgery, Inc. Advanced Sterilization Products (a division of Ethicon), and Johnson & Johnson Medical, Canada.

Licitra earned her B.S. in commerce from Rider in 1981 and launched her career at Johnson & Johnson in 1984, advancing through sales and marketing positions. In 1996, she was promoted to vice president of product management and became president of Ethicon Endo-Surgery, Inc. in December 2000, the position she held until being named worldwide franchise chairman.

Licitra serves as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Wellness Community and is a member of the Strategic Direction Committee for the United Way. She received the Career Woman of Achievement Award from the YWCA of Greater Cincinnati in 2001, the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation/LPGA Partnership award in 2000, and the Honorary Member Award by the Association of Women Surgeons Foundation in 2002. Licitra and her husband, Richard Dakers, live in Skillman, N.J.

Eli Mordechai earned a B.S. in biochemistry from Rider in 1990, and a Ph.D. in biochemistry from Temple University in 1995. Dr. Mordechai is the chief executive officer of Medical Diagnostic Laboratories, LLC (MDL) in Mount Laurel, a company he founded in 1997. The company, beginning with a staff of four and housed in a garage, now has more than 240 employees and a branch office in Houston. MDL serves mainly as a reference laboratory for Polymerase Chain Reaction-based testing for physicians, laboratories, hospitals, and private accounts nationwide. In 2005, Dr. Mordechai also established Worldwide Medical Products, Inc. of Hamilton, N.J., a technologically advanced, quality-driven provider of laboratory products and services for the scientific community. And, just this year, Dr. Mordechai and his staff of scientists founded the Genesis Biotechnology Campus, a 412,800 square-foot, state-of-the-art “scientific center of excellence” that will provide all of the scientific and non-scientific infrastructure needed for potential start up companies and scientists.

Dr. Mordechai is a member of Rider’s Science Advisory Board, the Mercer Regional Chamber of Commerce and several medical science associations, including the American Association of Bioanalysts, American Association for the Advancement of Medicine, and the International Society for Infectious Diseases. He has four patents.

Dr. Mordechai received the Biochemistry Award from Rider in 1991, the Florence Gloria Freedman Cancer Research Award from Temple University in 1994, the Distinguished Achievement Entrepreneur Award from Hamilton Township in 2006, and was recently inducted into Rider’s Science Stairway of Fame. He resides in Robbinsville, N.J.

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