Close Up Christopher Maher

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President and chief operating officer of OceanFirst Financial Corp. and OceanFirst Bank

Key Role: Responsible for leading the continuing success of OceanFirst Bank and bringing extraordinary community banking to new clients and new markets.

Goals: To support healthy growth and development in our core markets by providing credit, investment, and deposit services founded upon a real understanding of our customers and the markets.

Previous Jobs: I have spent my professional career in community banking, most recently as president and CEO of Patriot National Bancorp. I am proud to continue to serve as chairman of the board of trustees for Helen Keller Services for the Blind.

Key Strengths: Leading teams in a way that allows them to reach their highest potential.

Career High: Being given the responsibility to lead a team of highly professional bankers and work with the board members at Patriot National Bank as the company recovered from challenging economic circumstances.

Next: I am excited to be leading a team at OceanFirst Bank as we deliver banking services to more businesses and our neighbors throughout the central Jersey Shore region.

Challenges: OceanFirst Bank has a 111-year history of helping our customers through different types of challenges. Never were the challenges for our customers and communities greater than in October 2012 when Superstorm Sandy hit the Jersey Shore. OceanFirst Bank responded quickly to assist with the initial recovery efforts during the days and weeks that followed. Although Sandy is behind us, the courage and resolve of Jersey Shore residents and businesses has never been more evident, and we are working side by side with our neighbors to support the long-term rebuilding of our communities.

After Hours: Spending time with my family, sports and other outdoor activities.

EXECUTIVE MOVES

Architecture

Fletcher Thompson has announced the addition of Philip Toussaint as associate principal of the firm’s expanding health care practice group. Toussaint has served as a principal level manager responsible for client relations, project management, operations and marketing, specializing in health care architecture. Formerly with I.M. Pei & Partners and Hillier Architecture, Toussaint brings more than 30 years of health care project experience to the firm. He received a bachelor of architecture from the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.

Banking

Colonial American Bank announced that Deby Findley has joined its Small Business Administration loan department as vice president of SBA and commercial loan officer. She brings more than 30 years of successful SBA lending and banking industry experience to the growing institution.

Finance

CIT Group Inc. announced the appointment of Dan Infanti as senior vice president of marketing and advertising. He joined CIT in 2007 and prior to that Infanti held several senior level marketing positions. At Avaya, he served as global brand and advertising director. He also served as chief marketing officer at Sigma Group, CMO at Etrana Inc., and spent 19 years as vice president of marketing, brand management and communications at Sharp. He holds a B.S. in marketing/management from Montclair State University, and an MBA in marketing from Fairleigh Dickinson University.

Health Care

Hackensack University Medical Center welcomed Dr. Kevin R. Basralian to its urology department as part of Hackensack University Medical Group. Brasralian graduated from Albright College, in Reading, Pa., and Guadalajara Medical School, in Mexico. He received his medical degree from Rutgers Medical School. He completed two years of general surgery and three years of urology residency at Lenox Hill Hospital. He also completed a fellowship in reconstructive urology in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Higher Education

Princeton University has appointed as dean for research Pablo Debenedetti, a longtime Princeton engineering professor and vice dean of the school of engineering and applied science. Debenedetti joined the Princeton faculty in 1985 after receiving his Ph.D. in chemical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. From 1996 to 2004, Debenedetti served as chair of the chemical engineering department. In 2008, he was named vice dean of engineering.

Human Resources

Barbara Kimmich, an experienced human resources and staffing industry executive, has assumed leadership of the Lloyd Staffing office, in Parsippany. Kimmich has a strong background in recruitment, placement and client services. She has managed several staffing industry operations and also has been on the corporate side of hiring as a human resources and recruiting specialist for O’Connor Hospital in San Jose, Calif.

Law

Stark & Stark announced that John L. Laskey has joined the firm as a shareholder in the Marlton office. Laskey is a member of Stark & Stark’s bankruptcy & creditor’s rights and corporate litigation groups. Prior to joining Stark & Stark, Laskey was a partner at a South Jersey law firm, where he represented financial institutions and other creditors in foreclosure, other enforcement proceedings and bankruptcy cases.

Nonprofit

The New America Foundation’s board of directors announced the appointment of Anne-Marie Slaughter as the foundation’s next president. Slaughter is a Princeton professor, former dean of Princeton’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, and the former director of policy planning at the U.S. State Department. She received a B.A. from Princeton, a master’s and doctorate in international relations from Oxford and a J.D. from Harvard.

Oorah recently announced the appointment of Avi Gordon as its new chief operating officer. A native of South Africa who is a chartered accountant with multiple degrees in finance, economics and law, Gordon has spent most of his professional life with several large national and multi-national companies. Gordon served as the chief operating officer of Shamir Insight Inc. Prior to Shamir Insight, Gordon was the senior vice president of operations of Argen Corp., a dental alloy manufacturer.