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and Thomas Giles, former owner of Hadley Garden Center. Dizek and Giles join the society’s board, con- sisting of 21 other members who make up the fair’s agricultural leadership. Dizek is the fifth generation on her family’s farm. Mapleline Farm milks about 125 Jerseys and bottles their milk on the farm prem- ises, while running a distribution business, wholesal- ing fluid milk products to the local area and Boston market. Prior to her taking over operating the farm full-time in 2018, Dizek held full-time employment off the farm for 20 years, most recently at UMass Amherst. She started at the university working for cooperative extension programs and eventually working in alumni major gifts. During this time,
she also earned her MBA from the Isenberg School
of Management at UMass Amherst. She currently serves as treasurer for the New England Jersey Breed- ers Assoc. and as a director for the Massachusetts Dairy Promotion Board, and is a member of the Mas- sachusetts Dairy Advisory Board for the Northeast Dairy Business Innovation Center. Giles is a gradu- ate of the Stockbridge School of Agriculture, having majored in landscape operations, and first worked for the Hadley Garden Center in the spring of 1973. In January 1988, Giles and his wife, Janine, purchased the center and ran it for 33 years until selling it to Gardeners Supply Co. of Vermont in January 2020. Giles is an active member of the First Congregational Church of Hadley and is on the board of directors
for Easthampton Savings Bank and has also served on the horticulture/forestry advisory committee at Smith Vocational High School.
•••••
The Springfield Symphony Orchestra (SSO)
announced it has hired Development and Grants Associate Heather Gawron and Audience Develop- ment Manager Annie Celdran. Gawron has focused the past 10 years of her career on fundraising for
community nonprofits in West- ern Mass. Most recently, she served as senior director of Development at New England Public Media (NEPM), where she focused on overseeing the nonprofit media organization’s fundraising efforts, including grants, on-air fundraising cam- paigns, and its planned and major giving programs, con- tributing to the organization’s overall budget of $10 million. Prior to NEPM, Gawron spent years at American International College as executive director
of Institutional Advancement. During her tenure at AIC, Gaw- ron was an engine for growth,
strengthening and expanding the college’s alumni- engagement program on a national scale. Her stew- ardship work with alumni yielded remarkable growth in engagement of the alumni base and landed one of the largest-ever single donations made to AIC. She also worked closely in supporting the grant director to secure Title III funding and developed scholarship funds to help AIC students continue their educa- tion. Before AIC, Gawron worked for Alstom Univer- sity, headquartered in Paris, and helped launch five international corporate university campuses across Europe and Asia. Prior to joining SSO, Celdran most recently worked for New England Public Media as the New Voices Campaign manager. She communi- cated regularly with donors, visitors, and volunteers and worked closely with the president, chief operat- ing officer, and Marketing and Development person- nel on ambitious fundraising campaigns. A Western Mass. native, Celdran spent some of her career in San
Francisco, utilizing her client-services skills at Han- sonBridgett,LLP,aBayArealawfirmwithareputa- tion for community engagement. At the firm, she managed the Client Concierge and Office Services departments, also bringing her creativity to various fundraising campaigns such as the firm’s annual Food From the Bar campaign in support of the SF- Marin Food Bank.
•••••
Beth Cohen, professor in Western New England Uni- versity (WNE) School of Law and former WNE Asso-
ciate Dean for Academic Affairs, has been named interim dean of the School of Law by Vice President of Academic Affairs and Provost Maria Toyoda. Cohen will provide interim leadership following the departure of current Dean Sudha Setty, who will begin her new role as dean of the City University
of New York School of Law on July 1. A School of
Law professor since 1990, Cohen has also served as director of the Legal Research and Writing Program since 1999. She was the associate dean for Academic Affairs from 2009 to 2020 and the director of the Academic Support Program from 1994 to 2008. She teaches Lawyering Skills, Externship Seminar, Profes- sional Responsibility, and Mindfulness in Law Prac- tice, and has written a number of articles in the areas of legal education, legal writing, civic education, and name-change law. Cohen graduated cum laude from Suffolk University Law School and earned a diploma in Advanced International Legal Studies in Salzburg, Austria, from the University of the Pacific, McGeorge Law School. She also co-founded and co-directed the popular civic-education Mini-Law School Program at WNE. A search committee will be appointed to con- duct a national search for a new School of Law dean.
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Continued on page 54
  HEATHER GAWRON
  ANNIE CELDRAN
   52 APRIL 18, 2022
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