The President's Cabinet

Read about:

• Gaetan Giannini- Dean of the School of Adult and Graduate Education (SAGE)
• Audra J. Kahr- Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer
• Elizabeth Meade - Acting Provost

Gaetan T. Giannini, Jr. - Dean of the School of Adult and Graduate Education (SAGE)

Giannini has served the College in positions of increasing responsibility since joining the faculty in 2005. In 2011, Giannini—chair of the department of business, management and economics at Cedar Crest since his arrival at the College—was promoted to associate professor and granted tenure. He has been a driving force behind the implementation of many new programs and has served on a host of boards and committees.

During his first year at Cedar Crest, Giannini proposed and implemented the B.S. in marketing program, and several courses have been added to the business program under his direction, including Applied Public Relations, Marketing Research, and the Marketing Practicum. He also was a key figure in development of the Cooperative Education Program: Four-Year Accounting and Marketing Experience—a major academic initiative in the College's strategic plan with a tentative launch in fall of 2013—and in the department's successful efforts to achieve ACBSP accreditation for several degrees, including accounting, business administration and management.

Prior to his work in academia, Giannini had more than 15 years of experience in sales and marketing, most recently as president/owner of Giannini O' Connor LLC public relations and marketing firm in Allentown. Much of his previous employment combined his knowledge of engineering and marketing.

Giannini earned his MBA with a marketing concentration from Seton Hall University, and his bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering technology from Temple University. He also earned a certificate in international business from the Institute of International Business at Seton Hall.

Audra J. Kahr- Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer

Audra J. Kahr has served as the chief financial officer and treasurer at Cedar Crest College since 2010. In her current role, Kahr has been a key figure in shaping the future direction of the College, co-chairing development of the campus master plan and creating the financial analysis model for strategic planning initiatives. In addition to following through on those efforts, her primary responsibilities include preparing yearly financial statements and working with the provost to implement academic program review.

Kahr joined Cedar Crest College as a budget analyst in 2005. Prior to her current position, she served as manager of financial and operational analysis and controller at Cedar Crest. Before joining the College, she served as senior auditor at Deloitte & Touche, LLP, and as senior financial analyst at Tyco International.

Kahr is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA), and a member of the Pennsylvania Institute of Certified Public Accountants (PICPA) and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA). She earned bachelor’s degrees in management and accounting from DeSales University.

She serves as an Emmaus High School girls volleyball coach and is a member of the Allentown Diocese Finance Council.

Elizabeth M. Meade, Ph.D.- Acting Provost

Elizabeth M. Meade, Ph.D., is serving as acting provost at Cedar Crest College. In this role, Meade is responsible for academic life at the college including hiring new faculty; providing development opportunities for faculty; overseeing the curriculum in conjunction with relevant faculty committees; the First-Year Experience; the honors program; oversight of academic services; and student success and retention.

She previously served as associate provost, where she helped to develop and implement the First-Year Experience, a program designed to prepare first-year students for successful college careers. Before that, she served as a full professor and department chair in the humanities department. She joined Cedar Crest in 1993 as an assistant professor of philosophy.

Meade has published articles on a host of issues including moral judgment, service-learning, civic engagement, ethics pedagogy, and reproductive technology in many national professional journals. She earned her bachelor’s degree in German languages and literature from Bryn Mawr College, and her M.A. and Ph.D. in philosophy from Boston College.

She serves as acquisitions librarian for St. Philip Neri Elementary School in East Greenville and as an assistant leader for a Brownie troop.