Syracuse University has announced the appointment of three new members of the Board of Trustees, all distinguished leaders in their chosen professions who are also engaged alumni dedicated to serving their communities and the University in meaningful and impactful ways. The new trustees are Alonna Berry ’11, Jonathan Resnick ’89 and Frank Ryan IV ’90, L’94.
“We are so pleased to welcome these new members to the board and grateful for their commitment to strengthening their alma mater and enhancing the student experience,” says Board Chair Jeff Scruggs. “Their personal and professional experiences and vision will be critical to the work we do to ensure the University achieves its ambitious goals.”
Chancellor Kent Syverud says he is looking forward to working with the new trustees and eliciting their diverse viewpoints. “All of these individuals are outstanding in their fields, and they understand the persistence and passion required to bring about positive change in an organization,” says Chancellor Syverud. “They are role models and mentors and each, in their own way, has established a legacy of excellence and service. We will no doubt benefit from their insights.”
Alonna Berry ’11
Alonna Berry
Given her family history and undergraduate experiences at Syracuse University, Berry was destined for a career in leadership, education and service. Today, she is executive director of the Delaware Center for Justice, a statewide force for justice reform and community empowerment through programming and advocacy. Throughout her career, whether in politics and policy, or teaching and consulting, she has focused on using the power of education to create positive social change.
Berry comes from a long line of educational leaders in Delaware, including a great-aunt who was the first black female superintendent in the state.
At Syracuse University, where she was a 2011 graduate of the College of Arts and Sciences with a major in writing and rhetoric, she was offered an opportunity to help run a GED program for inmates. Since then, her life and work have reflected a commitment to education, policy reform and transformative leadership.
After teaching English and math in public schools, Berry gained experience in public policy working in the Delaware Department of Education and was the public face of Teach for America Delaware as manager of alumni and teacher impact. Berry served as the director of Community and Family Services and senior policy advisor for Health, Equity, and Education for the Office of Governor John Carney in Delaware and was the state’s first trauma-informed care coordinator. She also served as a senior director at Social Contract, which helps organizations achieve social impact goals.
Berry founded the Bryan Allen Stevenson School of Excellence, a public charter high school dedicated to service learning, matching the needs of students with the needs of community.
Her passion for service and community was evident as an undergraduate. She was a Remembrance Scholar and active in the Black Celestial Choral Ensemble, often performing at alumni events. An engaged member of the Syracuse University Alumni Association, she served as chair of the Diversity and Inclusion Committee and recently became association president.
She has held leadership roles on several boards, including The Delaware Center for Justice, The Milton Historical Society, Next Generation South, The Delaware Historical Society and Delaware Guidance Services and is active in the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority.
Berry is a doctoral candidate in organizational learning and innovation at Wilmington University, holds a post-graduate certificate in virtual online teaching and learning from the University of Pennsylvania, and a graduate degree in management and organizational leadership from Wilmington University.
She lives in Milton, Delaware, with her husband, Benjamin Spears, and son, Malkemus.
Jonathan Resnick ’89
Jonathan Resnick
As president of Jack Resnick & Sons, Resnick understands what it means to uphold and advance a legacy. For nearly a century, the company has been a major force in the dynamic Manhattan real estate market. Joining the company in 1996 and becoming its president in 2007, Resnick oversees the firm’s portfolio of more than five million square feet of commercial, office and retail space, and approximately 900 high-rise luxury rental apartments.
Resnick learned the business from his father, Burton, who learned it from his father and company founder, Jack, who learned from his father and Russian immigrant, Israel, who owned brownstones in Harlem.
The Resnick family firm is highly respected in the industry, from ground-up development, construction, leasing and management, earning awards for sustainability and energy efficiency, and credited with revitalizing urban landscapes.
Resnick helped to honor the legacy of a former Syracuse University fundraising executive by establishing a scholarship in 2021 in memory of Tom Walsh. Walsh had spent much of his career raising funds to position the University for growth. The creative writing scholarship strengthened the study of arts and literature in the creative writing undergraduate program in the College of Arts and Sciences. Resnick has actively supported other Syracuse fundraising efforts as well, including Hillel and the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, and was heavily involved in construction of the Fisher Center in New York City.
Resnick serves as chair of the Realty Advisory Board on Labor Relations in New York City, and sits on the Executive Committee of the Real Estate Board of New York. He is a director of the New York Building Congress, and a former chairman of the Greater New York Construction User Council. He is a board member of the Borough of Manhattan Community College Foundation, RiverSpring Health Plans (the managed care arm of RiverSpring Living) and the Masters School in Dobbs Ferry, New York.
Resnick graduated from Syracuse University in 1989 with a B.S. in producing for electronic media from the Newhouse School.
He lives in Harrison, New York, with his wife, Joelle, and two children.
Frank Ryan IV ’90, L’94
Frank Ryan
From undergraduate student-athlete who earned a four year varsity letter to magna cum laude Order of the Coif graduate from the College of Law, Ryan says Syracuse University prepared him for life. Today, Ryan is global co-chair, global co-CEO and Americas chair at DLA Piper, a global law firm with more than $4 billion in revenues and offices in more than 40 countries.
Known as a go-to strategist for some of the world’s most sophisticated media and sports companies, including Disney, ABC, the Pac-12 and ESPN, Ryan helped lead the firm through a period of unprecedented growth. He is also founding chair of the firm’s scholarship programs established to assist student athletes and veterans wishing to pursue a legal career.
Ryan joined the firm in 2010 as a partner, U.S. co-chair of the intellectual property and technology practice, and deputy chair of the media, sport and entertainment sector. He was instrumental in strengthening the firm’s growth in technology, life sciences and health care sectors and launching artificial intelligence, health care policy consulting and space exploration practices. Before DLA Piper, he spent nearly 16 years at Nixon Peabody LLP where he was partner and chair of the firm’s litigation practice.
He is a member of the Legal Service Corporation’s Leaders Council, the nation’s largest funder of civil legal aid programs for low-income people, and on the Board of Directors for Beat the Streets NYC. He is also a member of The Wall Street Journal CEO Council and Thomson Reuters’ Global Strategy Board.
Ryan graduated with a B.S. in finance from the Martin J. Whitman School of Management in 1990, though he often calls wrestling his major undergraduate pursuit and was a three-time team captain of the Syracuse University Wrestling Team.
Ryan has served on the College of Law’s Board of Advisors since 2004. He is a former member of the College Law Board of Visitors (1998-2003), the College of Law Associates Council (1998-2016), and in 2017, was awarded Syracuse University’s College of Law Distinguished Service Award.
He and his wife, Melissa M. Dunne-Ryan ’90, L’94, have three adult children, Zach, Sean and Will ’26 (Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs/College of Arts and Sciences).
