Jeffrey L. Nash, longtime ally of Camden County Democratic boss George Norcross, will take over the $275,000-a-year position as president and chief executive officer of the Rowan University/Rutgers-Camden Joint Board of Governors in January, the board announced on Tuesday.
Nash, a Camden lawyer who has been a Camden County commissioner since 1992 and now is vice chairman of the county's governing body, will stay in that role, according to county spokesman Dan Keashen, who noted the county position is part time.
Since 2004, Nash also has served as head of the New Jersey delegation of commissioners that governs the Delaware River Port Authority, which operates the PATCO Speedline and four Delaware River bridges, including the Ben Franklin and Walt Whitman. He currently is vice chair of the DRPA board.
The Rowan/Rutgers-Camden board was created by the state in 2012 and "leverages the educational and research assets to support growth in the region's health care capacity," the announcement stated.
Board members voted unanimously to hire Nash.
The previous CEO was former Camden Mayor Dana L. Redd, who now is president and CEO of the nonprofit Camden Community Partnership Inc. She was paid the same $275,000 annual salary when at the Joint Board of Governors as Nash will be paid, according to Keashen. Â
Redd had been temporarily replaced as CEO by Dean D’Astuto, who will return to his previous job as chief operating officer.
When Keashen was asked if there was a national recruiting effort to put together a pool of qualified applicants, he responded in an email that "the job was posted."
Nash formed his own law firm, The Nash Law Group LLC, in Camden in 2015 when he left the Cherry Hill firm of Cozen O'Connor, where he had worked since 1986.
He served on Cherry Hill Township Council from 1990 to 1993 and now lives in Winslow with his wife, Krista Nash, who works full time as one of five members of the New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission in Trenton.
"I'm honored to accept the position. It will be a privilege to work with the board and the three institutions of higher learning operating under one roof for the betterment of our community," Nash said in a statement. "This new position gives me the opportunity to roll up my sleeves and improve the quality of life of the residents of the region and the city."
Members of the Joint Board of Governors are: chairman, David R. Mayer, director of government affairs for New Jersey American Water and Gloucester Township mayor; vice chairman, Louis S. Bezich, senior vice president and chief administrative officer of Cooper University Hospital; Chad Michael Bruner, Gloucester County Administrator and a member of the Rowan Board of Trustees; Michellene Davis, president and CEO of National Medical Fellowships in New York City and former chief policy counsel to ex-Gov. Jon S. Corzine; James Dougherty, a veterinarian and and co-owner of Metropolitan Veterinary Associates, chair of the Rutgers University-Camden Board of Directors and member of the Rutgers Board of Governors; George S. Loesch, vice president of corporate services and marketing for Norcross' insurance brokerage of Conner Strong & Buckelew and a member of Rowan's Board of Trustees and William M. Tambussi, partner in the Brown & Connery LLP law firm and a member of the Rutgers Board of Governors and the Rutgers-Camden Board of Directors.
"If you look at Jeff Nash’s accomplishments over the last 30 years for the city and the region, we believe he will be a tremendous fit and addition to our team," Board Chairman Mayer said in a statement.
"This is a man who has eliminated a state prison from the Camden waterfront while preserving more than 2,000 acres of greenspace in the city and the county. Nevertheless, while his portfolio is long on achievements his most important quality is his passion for the city of Camden and making it a better place by enhancing the social determinants of health for the residents."
