4/27/2006
Contact: K.E. Schwab -- 724-738-2199;
e-mail: karl.schwab@sru.edu
SPECIAL NOTE: Ceremony
Moved Indoors: 11 a.m. Morrow Field House
SRU TO AWARD 1,050 DIPLOMAS; PITTSBURGH
BUSINESS LEADER MARY DEL BRADY TO SPEAK
SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa.
– Mary Del Brady, a 1972 Slippery Rock University graduate
and entrepreneur whose 30 years of professional experience include
the founding and ownership of several companies in the services and
biotechnology industries and recently honored by Pittsburgh’s
technology community, will be the speaker when the university
awards nearly 1,050 diplomas, including 42 doctor of physical
therapy degrees and 110 masters degrees at commencement ceremonies
set for May 13.
The 11 a.m.
ceremonies in N. Kerr Thompson Stadium, the university’s
117th, will be directed by SRU President Robert Smith. (In the
event of inclement weather, the ceremonies will be moved into
Morrow Field House with tickets required. Each graduate has
received three tickets for guest entrance to the field
house.)
The ceremony
will include a welcome from Dr. Dennis E. Murray, chair of the SRU
Council of Trustees, the delivery of the oath of office to four
Army ROTC second lieutenants and induction of the graduates to the
SRU Alumni Association by Eric L. Homes, president of the
association and a 1993 SRU graduate.
Brady has
held an executive role within an academic health system, was
president of a national association of business owners with
international responsibilities and has served as director/adviser
for numerous not-for-profit and for-profit boards. She earned her
SRU bachelor of arts degree in humanities and her master of
business administration degree from the University of Pittsburgh.
She is president and chief executive officer of RedPath Integrated
Pathology, Inc., a Pittsburgh-based biotechnology company providing
specialized cancer diagnostic testing.
She was named
a Pittsburgh Playmaker last December in TEQ magazine which quoted
her as saying, “I am a businesswoman, but I want to do more
than just operate a successful business, I want to help improve
people’s lives…I’m an entrepreneur who brings
the business discipline required to translate and commercialize
technologies.”
Prior to
RedPath, Brady was co-founder and president of TissueInformatics.
Inc., one of Pittsburgh’s first and highly regarded
biotechnology companies. TII underwent steady growth under her
leadership, where she recruited a first-class management and
technology team and led the acquisition of a software development
company.
She was a
leader in three rounds of private financing that raised $10 million
and secured a corporate partnership agreement with Motorola.
Preceding the founding of TII, Brady was a member of the senior
management team of Allegheny Health, Education and Research
Foundation. She was recruited from its board of directors to assist
in the organization’s growth into a $1 billion statewide,
academic health system.
As a small
business owner and advocate, Brady, a Pittsburgh resident, was
partner in her first start up at the age of 24, and launched her
second company six years later. She has served in numerous
leadership capacities, including president of the National
Association of Women Business Owners, vice-chair of the
Pennsylvania delegation to the 1986 White House Conference on Small
Business, member of the Governor’s Economic Development
Partnership Board, and committee member for the 1988
Governor’s Conference on Small Business.
In addition
to receiving the President’s Award of Achievement from SRU,
Brady is the recipient of numerous awards, including the E & Y
Entrepreneur of the Year award and the University of
Pittsburgh’s Katz Graduate School of Business Distinguished
Alumnus Award; She was named one of Pennsylvania’s Best 50
Women in Business, and holds the Pittsburgh YWCA Tribute to Women
Business and Leadership Award. She was named Women-in-Business
Advocate for Pennsylvania by the U.S. Small Business Administration
in 1983, and in 1992 she was inducted into the National
Women’s Hall of Fame. She serves on the board of directors
for Leadership Pittsburgh, the City Theatre and Penn State
University – McKeesport Campus.
PN, PGN, WPN, PR
CommencemtnSp06.kes.doc