Gerald Fels: Trustee Emeritus, Nichols College, Dudley

Fels

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A former CEO of Webster-based Commerce Insurance, Gerald Fels is using the considerable power and professional influence to give back to his alma mater, Nichols College. Besides his major donations, personal gifts and leadership to Nichols, he serves as trustee emeritus on the board.

Fels retired from Commerce Group in 2010 after 35 years and continues to serve on the board of directors of Commerce Group's parent, Mapfre/USA, Spain's largest insurer, which bought Commerce Group for $2.2 billion in 2008.

The 1966 Nichols graduate served as the college's interim president for a year, when Debra Townsley resigned in 2010.

“Nichols College “has earned its distinctive reputation for over a century by producing small-business and middle-business entrepreneurs,” according to a 2011 University Business article. The article quoted Fels, then interim president. “As a private college,” Fels stated, “Nichols recognizes that professional and career preparation, and its ability to realize a return on educational investment, is an essential service to our students [and to their parents] and an important learning outcome."

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