Mercy University names two new trustees from health care and public service

Mercy University has appointed Dr. DaMia Harris-Madden and Dr. John A. Chabot to its Board of Trustees, adding leaders with backgrounds in child welfare, state government, surgery and medical innovation. The move is meant to strengthen the university’s strategic direction and support its mission across academics, health care and community service.

Why it matters: - Mercy University is adding trustees with deep experience in public service, youth and family advocacy, health care leadership and medical innovation. - The appointments are designed to broaden the board’s perspective as Mercy focuses on academic excellence, innovation and service. - The new trustees also bring direct ties to areas that matter to Mercy’s students and region, including child welfare, health care delivery and workforce development.

What happened: - Mercy University announced on July 22, 2026, that Dr. DaMia Harris-Madden and Dr. John A. Chabot have joined its Board of Trustees. - Harris-Madden is commissioner of the New York State Office of Children and Family Services and an appointee in Gov. Kathy Hochul’s administration. - Chabot is chief of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery and David V. Habif professor of Surgery at Columbia University Irving Medical Center. - Mercy framed both appointments as an expansion of the board’s expertise.

The details: - Harris-Madden leads a state agency with more than 3,500 employees and a budget of nearly $8 billion. - OCFS is responsible for children, families and community well-being across New York. - Harris-Madden earned both a Master of Science in Human Resource Management and a Master of Business Administration from Mercy University. - Mercy described her board seat as a homecoming for an alumna. - Harris-Madden has more than 20 years of executive leadership experience across state government, local government, education and the nonprofit sector. - Before joining Hochul’s administration, Harris-Madden worked in the cabinets of the Westchester County executive and four mayors in Mount Vernon, New York. - Her background also includes a B.A. in English and African American Studies, an MBA, a master’s degree in human resources management, a doctorate in executive leadership and an honorary doctorate in humane letters. - Under her leadership, OCFS is advancing reforms in childcare, child welfare, juvenile justice and other human services. - Harris-Madden has also helped carry out Hochul’s plan to expand access to childcare across New York. - Chabot founded and directs the Pancreas Center at Columbia/NewYork-Presbyterian, established in 2006. - Mercy said the center is one of the world’s largest and most effective clinical cancer programs. - The center also serves as a research hub focused on new pancreatic cancer therapies. - Chabot has performed more than 2,500 complex pancreatic procedures. - His career has been entirely at Columbia/NewYork-Presbyterian, where he started as an intern in 1983 and later became chief of hepato-pancreato-biliary surgery and vice president of ColumbiaDoctors. - Chabot earned a Bachelor of Science in Engineering Science from Tufts University and a Doctor of Medicine from Dartmouth Medical School. - He is a member of the American Medical Association and the American Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary Association. - Mercy said the appointments reflect a commitment to diverse perspectives on the board. - The university said the trustees’ experience will support its mission of academic excellence, innovation and service. - Mercy serves more than 9,000 students each year across campuses in Westchester, the Bronx and Manhattan, as well as online. - Mercy is a minority-serving institution and the largest private Hispanic Serving Institution in New York state. - The university offers more than 100 undergraduate and graduate degree programs and certificate programs across six schools.

Between the lines: - Mercy is signaling that it wants trustees who can connect academic strategy with public policy, health care systems and community needs. - Harris-Madden’s state government background and Chabot’s medical leadership suggest the board is prioritizing both social impact and professional expertise. - The appointments also reinforce Mercy’s identity as a mission-driven institution with strong ties to New York communities.

What's next: - Harris-Madden and Chabot will help guide Mercy’s strategic direction as the university continues to serve a broad student population. - Their influence is likely to show up in discussions about mission, partnerships, student opportunity and community impact. - Mercy said their contributions will support its work to empower students to transform their lives and communities.

The bottom line: - Mercy University is betting that trustees with high-level experience in government and medicine will strengthen the board and help steer the school’s next phase.