Contact: Bill Caldwell, Office of Public Information, Pace University, 212-346-1597, wcaldwell@pace.edu

PHOTO AVAILABLE ON REQUEST

Philip F. Bleser, CEO of J.P. Morgan Mid-Corporate Banking, elected to Pace University Board of Trustees

NEW YORK, NY, March 25, 2009 – Pace University has announced the election of Philip F. Bleser, a leading US banker who is the CEO of J.P. Morgan’s Mid-Corporate Banking Group, to the University’s Board of Trustees, effective immediately.

Bleser, 54, is a triple alumnus of Pace University’s Lubin School of Business, where he earned an Associate in Applied Science (1981), a Bachelor of Business Administration (1984), and a Master of Business Administration (1994).

“We are very pleased that Phil Bleser is joining our team as we keep our eye on the impact of events in the financial markets and in the global economy,” said Aniello A. Bianco '61, Chair of the Pace Board of Trustees. “His extensive experience as a Pace student and his leadership in management and finance will help us prepare our students superbly for the challenges that lie ahead.”

J.P. Morgan’s Mid-Corporate Banking Group provides traditional banking services, investment banking products, and international capabilities to companies in the U.S. and Canada with annual sales over $500 million.

Bleser joined Manufacturers Hanover Trust Company – a predecessor bank of JPMorgan Chase & Co. – in 1974 and shortly thereafter began night school at Pace. He worked in several branch and operations groups before joining the Commercial Banking group in 1985. Bleser went on to hold a variety of client-facing management positions in the Commercial Bank, including running the banking group in Manhattan’s Garment Center. He developed an expertise in the energy, technology, sports and entertainment industries, as well as international financing. When J.P. Morgan formed the Mid-Corporate Banking group in 2003, Bleser was chosen to organize and run it.

Bleser is a member of JPMorgan Chase’s Executive Committee and its Commercial Banking Management Committee.

In addition to volunteer service on the Advisory Board of the Lubin School of Business at Pace, Bleser is a Trustee of Big Brothers Big Sisters of New York City and was an honoree of the organization’s 1998 Accountants and Bankers reception; he is a Trustee of the National Jewish Medical and Research Center and received the Humanitarian Award at the 2006 Financial Industries Dinner benefiting the Center. He also was a 2000 honoree for American ORT, an honoree for the 2004 American Jewish Congress 40th Anniversary Financial Services Awards Luncheon, and an honoree for the 2001 “HUG Award” for the benefit of the Rusk Institute at New York University Medical Center.

“Pace has always provided a rigorous professional education for the business world in a flexible way that allows people like me to learn while they work, and apply the knowledge to their careers,” Bleser said. “The University is well positioned to help people prepare for the economic opportunities ahead. I am looking forward to being part of its future.”

Bleser’s election follows the elections since December of three other new trustees: David J. Pecker (BBA,‘73), Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of American Media, Inc., the leading publisher of celebrity and health & fitness magazines including Star, National Enquirer, Shape and Men's Fitness; Marie J. Toulantis (BBA, 1981), the former Chief Executive Officer of Barnes & Noble.com, who oversaw the firm’s $500 million initial public offering; and Richard F. Zannino (MBA ‘84), a global media and retail executive who is the former Chief Executive Officer of Dow Jones & Company.

About Pace. For 103 years Pace University has produced thinking professionals by providing high quality professional education resting on a firm base of liberal learning, amid the advantages of the New York metropolitan area. A private university, Pace has campuses in New York City and Westchester County, New York, enrolling nearly 13,000 students in bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral programs in its Lubin School of Business, Dyson College of Arts and Sciences, Lienhard School of Nursing, School of Education, School of Law, and Seidenberg School of Computer Science and Information Systems. www.pace.edu

###