Dr. James Linksz To Serve As Interim Montgomery County Community College President

April 27, 2015, Blue Bell/Pottstown/Lansdale, Pa.— Montgomery County Community College’s Board of Trustees is pleased to announce that Dr. James J. Linksz has agreed to serve as interim president for Montgomery County Community College (MCCC).

Dr. Linksz had a successful career at Bucks County Community College, where he served for more than 20 years as the institution’s president from 1992-2012. Following his retirement in 2012, Dr. Linksz briefly served as interim CEO of the Pennsylvania Commission for Community Colleges.

“It is a tremendous accomplishment that the College was able to secure a former community college president to serve during our nationwide search for a new college president,” said Board of Trustees Chairman Michael J. D’Aniello.

Current MCCC President Dr. Karen A. Stout was tapped to serve as the President and CEO of Achieving the Dream, Inc., which works to increase access and improve success at more than 200 member community colleges that serve more than four million community college students nationally.

Board Personnel Committee Chair Richard Montalbano was extremely pleased to secure a highly-respected and experienced community college president from Pennsylvania.

“This will allow the College to advance its goals and mission of increased access and improved student success,” said Montalbano. “We expect Dr. Linksz to be proactive in continuing the goals established by Dr. Stout. He will certainly not be a placeholder.”

Dr. Linksz will spend June in transition with Dr. Stout and will take the helm of MCCC on July 1, 2015.

“Dr. Linksz is an excellent choice. I have a high degree of respect for his work at Bucks. He was a terrific colleague. His understanding of Pennsylvania community colleges is also a significant asset for the College,” said Dr. Stout.

Dr. Linksz earned an A.B. in Art and Architecture from Dartmouth College and a master’s and doctorate in higher and adult education administration from Columbia University. He was also a W.K. Kellogg Doctoral Fellow in Community College Administration.

Hoover Financial Advisors’ Philip Gagliardi Earns Prestigious Destination

Philip A. Gagliardi

Malvern, PA – Philip A. Gagliardi, a planner with Hoover Financial Advisors HFA), recently became one of only 350 individuals in the U.S. to earn the Certified Portfolio Manager® designation. This prestigious program is presented by the Academy of Certified Portfolio Managers and was completed at Columbia University in New York.

The designation, which was created five years ago, is the first of its kind for portfolio managers. To qualify, Gagliardi successfully fulfilled course studies in advanced concepts of Fundamental Analysis, Option Valuation, Foreign Currency Exchange, Credit Default Swap Strategy and Valuation Analytics. He and other designees explored cutting-edge issues in finance and investing with internationally recognized Columbia professors. The program was developed to meet a missing need among money managers enabling them to achieve the highest level of expertise in all facets in an ever-changing global economy.

Gagliardi joined HFA in 2011. Prior to that, he was a trust officer with Charles Schwab Bank in Wilmington, Delaware. Before that he held a similar position with Wachovia Bank in Wilmington. He holds a master’s degree in taxation and financial planning from Widener University, Chester. His Bachelor of Science degree from Cabrini College is in accounting.

“I am now better able to enhance portfolio models for our clients,” says Gagliardi. “The CPM program expanded my practical and pragmatic skills through in-depth theory and insight.” “We are very proud of Phil,” adds Peter K. Hoover, CFP, founder of HFA. “Achieving such a high-level designation is an excellent asset to the firm. Phil’s dedication to serving our clients is evident and testament to his commitment to the industry, as well.”

HFA, which is headquartered on Moores Road in Malvern, was launched in 2005 by Hoover, who has been an independent financial advisor for more than 30 years.  Since its inception, HFA has more than tripled in size. Employees include client relationship managers, financial planners, insurance and tax specialists, investment analyst and an information services manager.  HFA selected as 2012 Small Business of the Year by Chester County Chamber of Business & Industry. For more information, visit its website at http://www.petehoover.com or call 610.651.2777.

Mayans Themselves May Have Aided Collapse Of Empire

Editor’s note:  Sounds like history is repeating itself in the Amazon!

The city states of the ancient Mayan empire flourished in southern Mexico and northern Central America for about six centuries.  Then, around A.D. 900, Mayan civilization disintegrated.

Two new studies examine the reasons for the collapse of the Mayan culture, finding the Mayans themselves contributed to the downfall of the empire.

Scientists have found that drought played a key role, but the Mayans appear to have exacerbated the problem by cutting down the jungle canopy to make way for cities and crops, according to researchers who used climate-model simulations to see how much deforestation aggravated the drought.

“We’re not saying deforestation explains the entire drought, but it does explain a substantial portion of the overall drying that is thought to have occurred,” said the study’s lead author, Benjamin Cook, a climate modeler at Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory and the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, in a statement.

Read more: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/48752012/ns/technology_and_science-science/?ocid=ansmsnbc11#.UDeyksFlQkI