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www.wbjournal.com • Worcester Business Journal 13 25 YEARS: IMPACTFUL PEOPLE MCPHS University & President Charles F. Monahan Jr. Salute Worcester's Colleges and Universities and Look Forward to 25 More Years of Partnerships and Innovation 19 Foster Street, Worcester | 508.373.5890 www.mcphs.edu/campuses/worcester n GERALD GAUDETTE T he late Gerald "Gerry" Gaudette owned and operated Gaudette Insurance Agency for many years. But he is better known as "the father of the Blackstone Valley." Under his leadership, valley communities began to put aside their parochial differences to collaborate on revitaliz- ing the region's business and economic bases. Gaudette, who died in 2003, co-founded and once served as president of the Blackstone Valley Chamber of Commerce and was a director of the then-named Worcester Area Chamber of Commerce. He was a driving force in the linkage of the two organizations. In addition, he co-founded the Blackstone Valley Regional Development Corp. Gaudette's impact extended beyond busi- ness and economic development. He once chaired the Central Massachusetts chapter of the American Red Cross as well as the Building Committee for the chapter's new head- quarters in Worcester. He was also active in Alternatives Unlimited, a Whitinsville-based voca- tional and residential program for people with psychiatric or develop- mental disabilities. A s president and CEO of Seven Hills Foundation and its affiliates since 1995, David Jordan is responsible for the overall management of the largest human-services and cultural nonprofit in Central Massachusetts. Seven Hills' health and human-services programs include more than 160 locations and 4,000 professional and support staff. He has spent the last 25 years serving in rehabilitation, education and health- care management. Today, with an operating budget of $150 million, Seven Hills continues to thrive under Jordan's guidance. He has become a global ambassador as founder and president of Seven Hills Global Outreach, leveraging the voices of Seven Hills Foundation's 4,000 staff members from more than 43 countries. n DAVID JORDAN n GORDON LANKTON T hanks in large part to its founder, Gordon Lankton, Nypro is a $1.2-billion business with operations around the world. Before it was acquired by Jabil Circuit in 2013, the company ran an employee-stock-own- ership plan that allowed many of its 12,000 employees to benefit from Nypro's success. Lankton, who joined Nypro in 1962, ran it for decades, and still serves as its chairman, remains an impactful busi- ness, cultural and community leader. He has kept much of his money where he made it: in downtown Clinton. In 2006, he founded the Museum of Russian Icons, located near Nypro's headquarters. The museum bills its collection of more than 500 Russian icons and artifacts, spanning six centu- ries, as "the largest of its kind in North America, and one of the largest private collections outside Russia." More recently, in 2011, Lankton founded the Gallery of African Art, also located close to Nypro's headquar- ters. The Lankton Family Foundation has, since 1994, been another way he has shared his wealth. P eter Levine, M.D., the respect- ed former head of Memorial Hospital, and then UMass Memorial Health Care (UMMHC), died of a heart attack in 2009 at the age of 71. His multifaceted career spanned decades as a physi- cian, teacher, medical researcher and health-care executive. Levine was a pivotal player in the 1998 merger of Memorial and UMass Medical Center to create UMMHC. His efforts kept numer- ous important health-care jobs in Central Massachusetts, and laid the groundwork for one of the region's main economic drivers. Levine served as the first CEO of UMMHC, where he oversaw an operating budget of more than $1 billion. During his 13-year tenure, he built UMass Memorial into the state's second-largest acute-care facility. n PETER LEVINE >> Continued on Page 14