University Names Two Alumni to Board of Trustees

New members bring leadership, experience to their new positions

Sacred Heart University has named alumni Keith Hovan ’84, ’93 and Daniel Thomas ’08 to its Board of Trustees.

Hovan is president and chief executive officer of Southcoast Health System, Inc., and its subsidiary, Southcoast Hospitals Group, Inc. Hovan is president of the National Association of Safety Net Hospitals and serves on the American Hospital Association Regional Policy Board for Region 1. He was appointed by Charlie Baker, governor of Massachusetts, to the Board of Bristol Community College and the Massachusetts Digital Health Council. Hovan also co-chaired Baker’s healthcare transition team following the 2014 gubernatorial election. A resident of Rochester, MA, he has received numerous honors during his career to date, including the Margaret Cinchack Award for Excellence in Clinical Nursing, membership in the Alpha Sigma Lambda National Honor Society and the 1990 Emergency Nurses Association Nurse Manager of the Year Award. Hovan also has received SHU’s College of Health Professions Alumni Achievement Award.  

Thomas is a real estate broker and investor in Fairfield County for Keller Williams Realty. The Stratford resident is a Realtor Magazine 30 Under 30 honoree, a RE/MAX Hall of Fame inductee and recipient of the Alumni Association’s Emerging Leader Award. He also formed a company to acquire, renovate and resell distressed homes in Fairfield County. In 2009, he established the Daniel D. Thomas Scholarship Fund at SHU, which offers financial support to students from modest backgrounds.  

Pictured above are Keith Hovan, left and Daniel Thomas.