Moravian College Names New Trustees Chairman

Alumnus and Trustee Kenneth J. Rampolla ’79, president and chief executive officer of Responsive Marketing, Inc., Hellertown, has been named chair-elect of the Moravian College Board of Trustees. 

Rampolla will succeed Lyn Trodahl Chynoweth ’68 as chairman of the Board during the Board’s meeting in April 2013. Chynoweth will step down after six years of leadership.

In becoming chair of the Board, Rampolla will relinquish his position as chair of the development committee of the board. However, he will remain as chair of the Campaign for Moravian, the first public comprehensive capital campaign in the history of .

“Private education is under tremendous scrutiny today and the high cost of education is a prime issue,” Rampolla said of accepting the position of Board chair-elect. “We must look to reconfigure educational institutions and adapt in order to support the future needs of our students. In addition, alumni must begin to think of support to their institution as one of the privileges of education and a responsibility of paying back those who gave before them. This is the only way to perpetuate the gift of a college education.”

During her tenure as College chair, Chynoweth led the strategic planning process, which saw many improvements to both the academic program and campus facilities.

She directed other campus improvements in response to student feedback, including renovations to the Haupert Union Building, the addition of the new state-of-the-art fitness facility, and improvements to residence halls.

Her leadership guided the introduction of Moravian Theological Seminary’s successful capital campaign and significant renovations to the Bahnson Center. More recently, she aided the College in launching its first comprehensive capital campaign, which is now underway.

Chynoweth is a retired management consultant for IBM, and has continuously committed her time and talents to benefit Moravian.

“I leave this post with a sense of accomplishment, despite the fact that my tenure has been colored largely by the economic downturn,” she said. “We are not immune from the challenges that all institutions have experienced in the last few years. My consulting experience has helped us put plans in place to help weather the storm, but the storm isn’t over.”

Rampolla, a first generation student who earned a B.A. in economics from Moravian, has been an active alumnus. He helped found the Blue & Grey Club, which supports all College athletic programs, and he received the Gillespie Award in 2006 for his contributions to the athletic program at the College.

During his time as a student at Moravian, Rampolla was a four-year letter-winner on the football team, starting all four years at linebacker and winning the NCAA Scholar-Athlete award in 1979.  He was inducted into the Moravian College Hall of Fame receiving the Robert M. Herbstman Award in 2010.

In addition to serving as a Trustee for four years, Rampolla is past president of Moravian’s Lehigh Valley Alumni Club. He and his wife Anne (McCandless) Rampolla ’79, also served as chairs of the Comenius Giving Society. The couple lives in Bethlehem, and has two grown children.