Aqua America Appoints Rosemont's Wendell Holland to Board

, the Bryn Mawr based utilities company (and one of the 19 local institutions in the ), announced earlier this month that it had appointed Ardmore native Wendell Holland to its Board of Directors.

Holland, who presently lives in Rosemont, is a partner at Philadelphia law firm Saul Ewing and has practiced regulatory law for 30 years. The Lower Merion High School graduate also formerly served as chairman of the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission, vice president of the American Water Works Company, vice chairmen of the Association of Regulatory Commissioners, and spent some time as an administrative law judge.

"Though he's a national figure and well known in regulatory circles and legal circles, he's actually born and raised on Aqua America's Water," boasted Aqua America Chairman and CEO Nick DeBenedictis of his newest boardmate, who was announced Aug. 3.

While drinking Aqua America water, Holland had a Hall of Fame basketball career at Lower Merion before continuing to play at Fordham University. He later got his law degree from Fordham before devoting himself to the mastery of regulatory law.

"It's a complex set of law," said DeBenedictis, who added that in his capacity as a state commissioner and judge, Holland helped write some of it.

Holland will become the 10th member of the board, and will soon be named to one of its key committees—either governance, compensation, audit, pension, or the risk committee. He joins a board that has two African-American and two female members.

"Wendell brings more diversity to our board," said DeBenedictis. "We feel that our board has a diversity mix that is very healthy for a customer base that we have."

Though Aqua America uses Holland's firm, DeBenedictis said that Holland has no direct involvement in any of these cases and is thus categorized as a related independent director.