JAMES HAGAN
WESTFIELD – James C. Hagan, president and chief executive officer of Westfield Bank, has been appointed to Westfield State University’s Board of Trustees.
Hagan, a 1984 graduate of then-Westfield State College, previously served on the board from 1996 to 2006, during which time he served as Board Chair from 1999 to 2001.
“As a Westfield State graduate I am passionate about the university and its success,” he said in a statement. “I consider this an important opportunity for me to use my management and fiduciary skills, as well as my community relationships, to help the university achieve its goals.”
Having grown up in Westfield and attended city schools, and earned his bachelor’s degree from Westfield State, Hagan said he feels honored to have been selected by Governor Deval L. Patrick to serve his alma mater again.
Hagan will join the Board of Trustees at their June 26 meeting, which will mark the final meeting for current Chair John Flynn III and Student Trustee Stone Koury, and he believes he’s up to the task of joining a board in flux.
“It’s going to be interesting and a challenge,” he said. “I think one of the reasons the Governor selected me for this is because of my 10 years of past experience, so hopefully I can bring that to the table and make good decisions going forward.”
The past year has been a busy one for the board, as several members are currently embroiled in a legal battle with former University President Dr. Evan S. Dobelle, who the trustees placed on administrative leave October 16, 2013 and who retired on November 8.
The board is also currently searching for a new President. Trustees Steve Marcus and Tirrell Hill are currently leading a search committee to find the school’s next leader and Hagan knows what he is looking for in the next leader at his alma mater.
“I think someone that is focused on growing the university. We have many challenges ahead of us in terms of how do you move forward in an Internet society? How do you attract and retain students? How do you grow in the different majors you offer?” he said, referencing the new science facility being built at the university. “It’s really a combination of all of those factors.”
Current Westfield State President Dr. Elizabeth Preston is enthusiastic about Hagan’s return to the board.
“Jim Hagan has distinguished himself as an exceptional leader and proud alum whose professional accomplishments and personal civic engagements set a high bar,” said Preston. “There is no better advocate than Jim Hagan for higher education, community collaboration and Westfield State University.”
In 1998, Hagan received the school’s Alumnus of the Year award, and 2009 saw him receive the first James C. Hagan award.
Established by the Westfield State University Athletic Hall of Fame Committee, that award looks to “recognize sustained excellent service in support of university athletic programs.”
Hagan was also named a recipient of the university’s Horace Mann Award for Public Service, and received an honorary doctorate of public service in 2012.
The one honor Hagan holds dear is the one he shares with his father, Charles “Bud” Hagan.
In 2013, the university honored Jim and his father, a longtime coach, registrar and the university’s first athletic director who worked from 1956 until his retirement in 1990, by renaming it’s baseball diamond “Bud and Jim Hagan Field” as a tribute to the father-son duo.
“Westfield State is near and dear to my heart. My dad worked there for 35 years, so it’s close to my family,” Hagan said. “I consider it an honor and a privilege to serve.”
