Henry (Hank) F. D’Alessandro ′85, New Chair of the Board of Regents

The Board of Regents elected Henry (Hank) F. D’Alessandro ′85 to serve as its next Chair. He officially began his term at the start of the new fiscal year, succeeding Chair Kevin H. Marino, Esq. ′84.

Mr. D’Alessandro is managing director of Morgan Stanley and is vice chairman of Morgan Stanley’s North America Private Credit business, where he serves on the Investment Committee and is a senior advisor of the Credit Partners opportunistic credit strategy. He serves on several other Investment Committees spanning global corporate and real estate investment strategies. He is a member of Morgan Stanley’s Private Credit and Equity Executive Committee.

Mr. D’Alessandro has more than 31 years of private credit investing and leveraged finance experience. Prior to his current role, Mr. D’Alessandro was vice chairman of North American Leveraged and Acquisition Finance and head of U.S. Financial Sponsor Leveraged Finance at Morgan Stanley. Before joining Morgan Stanley, he was a vice president at Chase Securities, Inc. and an audit manager at KPMG Peat Marwick.

Mr. D’Alessandro earned a B.S., magna cum laude, in accounting from Seton Hall and an M.B.A. from Cornell University’s S.C. Johnson School of Graduate Management. He has served on the Board of Regents in various capacities since 2008, most recently as vice chair since 2020. Mr. D’Alessandro is a member of the Board of Trustees of Seton Hall University and Oak Knoll School of the Holy Child. He is a member of the Board of Directors of Strata Worldwide and the New York Men’s Leadership Forum.

"I am honored to serve Seton Hall as Chair of the Board of Regents," Mr. D’Alessandro said. "I know firsthand the power of a Seton Hall education and the value of Seton Hall’s Catholic educational mission – a power and a value that has risen dramatically under the University’s consummate leadership over the last decade and, in particular, through the leadership of Kevin H. Marino, who preceded me in this role." 

He continued, "Amidst a national decline in collegiate enrollment of more than 15 percent over the last 10 years, Seton Hall’s enrollment has grown by 19 percent while increasing its academic profile and substantially growing its scholarship budget to ensure its identity as a university of opportunity that fosters the next generation of great minds." 

He concluded, "Our graduates’ employment rate is 98.5 percent and independent research shows we rank in the top 10 percent nationally for return on investment. Last year, in U.S. News and World Report, our Law School achieved its highest rank ever; our endowment is the strongest it’s ever been and we just hit a six-year high for retention. Seton Hall is rising, and I look forward to helping shepherd my alma mater into an even brighter future."   

Mr. D’Alessandro succeeds Kevin H. Marino, Esq. ′84, who served as Chair since December 2019, providing distinguished leadership to the University throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. He previously served on Seton Hall Law School’s Board of Visitors and was honored by the Board of Regents with an honorary degree from Seton Hall Law in 2021. Mr. Marino and his wife, Rita Marino, M.A.E. ′94, are also generous benefactors who donated $1 million to establish an endowed professorship at the Seton Hall University School of Law. 

"We were blessed to have the stewardship of Kevin H. Marino, and are blessed again to now have Hank D’Alessandro at the helm as we navigate this critical time in the history of our University," said Interim President Katia Passerini. "We stand at the successful culmination of our strategic plan; on the verge of Middle States reaccreditation; at the beginning of our quest to further invigorate our endowment so we may provide an even greater bounty of student scholarships and faculty opportunities; and at the onset of our search for the next president of Seton Hall. Hank D’Alessandro will lead us as Chair of the Board of Regents through it all – and I greatly look forward to having the counsel of his vast experience and expertise."

A resident of Maplewood, New Jersey, Mr. D’Alessandro and his wife, Colleen, have four children: Henry ′21, Nicholas ′21/M.S. ′22, Catherine, and Grace.

Categories: Alumni