Board adds Three Trustees

An alumna, the vice president of a real estate services firm, and a former trustee chairperson returning after a 12-year hiatus were recently sworn in as the newest members of TCNJ’s Board of Trustees.

Words by TCNJ's editorial staff

An alumna, the vice president of a real estate services firm, and a former trustee chairperson returning after a 12-year hiatus were recently sworn in as the newest members of TCNJ’s Board of Trustees.

Rosedale “Rosie” Hymerling ’67, a retired teacher, credits the College with making her lifelong goal of teaching kindergarten a reality. “The education I received at TCNJ was incredible, and I thank my lucky stars I could go here,” she said.

After graduating from the College, Hymerling taught in both Princeton and Cherry Hill before moving to Haddonfield Public Schools in 1971. She spent the next 35 years teaching kindergarten in the district, and her energy, enthusiasm, and dedication helped establish her as a “legend” according to a Philadelphia Inquirer article written at the time of her retirement. So beloved was she by past and present students and coworkers that her retirement brought about a number of tributes—including a proclamation from Cherry Hill Township Mayor Bernie Platt naming May 17, 2007, “Rosie Hymerling Day.”

Retirement has not slowed the spry Hymerling down. She teaches professional development workshops for Garden State Discovery Museum and also serves on the museum’s Subaru Teacher Center Advisory Board. She is on the Maestro Committee for the Philadelphia Orchestra. She serves on the board and presents professional development seminars for the New Jersey Association of Kindergarten Educators. She has been on the Board of Directors of the Markeim Art Center for over 20 years, and also serves as the center’s educational liaison to the Haddonfield School District. She has also been heavily involved with fundraising efforts for a number of organizations, including New Visions Shelter in Camden, Caring Hearts Ministry, and Interfaith Caregivers.

Hymerling, who will serve on the board’s Academic Affairs and Student Life and Enrollment Management committees, lives in Haddonfield with her husband Lee. For the past three years, the couple has hosted alumni gatherings at their residence. Rosie, an avid cook, handles all of the food preparation.

Gayle Matthei-Meredith, a resident of nearby Hopewell for more than 23 years, is a vice-president at Grubb & Ellis Company, a commercial real estate services and investment company. She joined the company as a member of the New York Tri-State management team in 2006. In her current role, she provides strategic business planning and assists with corporate account management for the New Jersey and New York offices.

Matthei-Meredith began her career in Lawrenceville with regional developer DKM Properties Corp., a predecessor firm of The Gale Company. She later served as director of marketing for the Princeton-based law firm Pellettieri, Rabstein and Altman and the Somerset-based architectural practice Rothe-Johnson Associates, now Fletcher-Thompson. She has been based primarily in New York City since 1993 focusing on commercial real estate, but continues to serve New Jersey assignments for clients, including The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

She served for two years as managing principal of Meredith Realty Partners, a NJ-based commercial real estate brokerage and consulting firm that was a certified woman-owned business and registered small business enterprise. Prior to that, she served over 10 years in Manhattan and New Jersey for CB Richard Ellis and its predecessor firms, Insignia/ESG and The Edward S. Gordon Company.

Matthei-Meredith holds a bachelor’s degree from the The Johns Hopkins University. She is active in industry organizations, including CoreNet Global and Commercial Real Estate Women’s Network, and is a frequent speaker regarding supplier and recruitment diversity. CoreNet named her a permanent adjunct faculty member in 2008. In 2007, New York Real Estate magazine named her among the top 20 “Women of Influence” in commercial real estate.

She will serve on the board’s College Advancement and Buildings and Grounds committees.

Eleanor Horne returns to TCNJ’s board, where she served as trustee from 1985 to 1997, including two years (1993–95) as chair. Horne will serve on the Academic Life and Student Affairs and Enrollment Management committees.

Horne has been employed by Educational Test Services (ETS) since 1969, holding a number of progressively responsible positions. Since 2006, she has served as vice president of the company’s Social Investment Fund, which provides financial support to charitable activities in communities in which ETS has offices. Horne seeks and obtains grants to augment ETS’ own internal funding, and allocates the funds in a manner consistent with the company’s mission. At the same time, Horne is responsible for ETS’ community outreach, service, and volunteer activities.

A resident of nearby Lawrenceville, Horne graduated cum laude from Howard University in 1968 with a bachelor’s degree in sociology, and has completed course work for a doctorate in educational anthropology at Rutgers University. She is the recipient of many honors, including the Grace Azzolina Scaduto Award from the New Jersey Chapter of the March of Dimes, the Princeton YWCA’s Tribute to Women in Industry Achievement Award, and the Trenton YWCA’s Meta Griffith Community Service Award. The National Urban League presented her with its highest honor, the Donald H. McGannon Award, and she was named a Woman of Distinction by the Delaware-Raritan Girl Scout Council.

Horne is also a trustee of the Lawrence Township Community Foundation, the Lawrence Township Education Foundation, the Lawrence Neighborhood Service Center, and the National Council for Research on Women. Additionally, she chairs the Wachovia Regional Foundation Board of Trustees, co-chairs the Lawrence Hopewell Trail Corporation, and is vice chair of the Princeton Area Community Foundation and the D&R Greenway Land Trust.