Board of Directors

Christopher D. Maher has served as Chairman of the Company and the Bank since January 2017 and as CEO of the Company and the Bank since 2015. He previously served as President of the Bank from January 2015 to January 2021, at which time he was succeeded by Mr. Lebel. He joined the Company and the Bank in 2013 as President and Chief Operating Officer and was appointed to the Board of Directors in 2014. 

Mr. Maher is active in the non-profit community, serving as a Chairman of the Board of the OceanFirst Foundation, a Trustee of Helen Keller Services for the Blind, a Trustee and the Treasurer of Monmouth University, and as a Trustee and Treasurer of Hackensack Meridian Ambulatory Care. He is also active within the banking industry, as a director of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia since 2020 and as a member of the Board of the New Jersey Bankers Association, where he serves as Chairman. 

Anthony R. Coscia was the Chairman of the Boards of Sun Bancorp, Inc. and Sun National Bank from 2016 until those entities were acquired by the Company in 2018.  Mr. Coscia served as a Director of Sun Bancorp, Inc. since 2010 and Sun National Bank since 2011 and was a member of the ALCO Committee and Chair of the Executive Committee. Mr. Coscia is admitted to the state bars of New Jersey and New York and is a Partner of Windels Marx, having been with the firm for over 35 years.  Mr. Coscia serves as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak), having been appointed to the Board of Amtrak by President Obama in 2010 and reappointed in 2015.  Mr. Coscia previously served as Chairman of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey for over eight years, stepping down in 2011. Mr. Coscia is a graduate of Georgetown University School of Foreign Service and received his law degree from Rutgers University School of Law.

Mr. Coscia serves as Trustee of the New Jersey Community Development Corporation, a director of Neighborhood Property Group, LLC, Vice Chairman of the Gateway Development Commission, Senior Advisor to the Oaktree Transportation Infrastructure Fund, LP, and is a member of the Partnership for New York City. 

Mr. Coscia’s extensive background and reputation as a well-respected business leader actively involved in both the private and government sectors brings significant management and leadership skills to the Board.

John F. Barros was appointed to the Board of Directors on September 18, 2023, and is the Managing Principal at Civitas Builder, a business focused on improving communities through the development of responsive real estate.  Mr. Barros previously served as Managing Principal at Cushman and Wakefield from 2021 through 2023 and as the Chief of Economic Development for the City of Boston from 2014 through 2021. 

Mr. Barros has a bachelor's degree from Dartmouth College and a master's degree in public policy from Tufts University.  Mr. Barros serves on the Board of Advisors for Commodore Builders and as Chair of the Trustees of Charitable Donations for the City of Boston.  

Mr. Barros provides the Board with significant managerial and leadership experience in the construction and commercial real estate sector and particularly with respect to the Boston market. 

Michael D. Devlin has served as a Director since 2016 when the Company acquired Cape Bancorp, Inc. and Cape Bank, of which Mr. Devlin was a Director since 2008, and President and Chief Executive Officer since 2009. 

Mr. Devlin brings extensive banking and management expertise to the Board of Directors, particularly as to the southern New Jersey markets and communities served by the Company.

Jack M. Farris was the Vice President and Deputy General Counsel, InfoSec & Cybersecurity for Verizon Communications, Inc., one of the world’s leading wireline, wireless and business communications companies, until his retirement in 2018.  Prior to that role, Mr. Farris had served as a Vice President and Deputy General Counsel for Verizon, supporting a variety of company functions, including systems and technology procurement, global operations security, information technology and information security matters, finance operations, regulatory compliance, business continuity and pandemic planning, as well as significant M&A transactions.  During his 30-year tenure with Verizon, Mr. Farris participated in an number of pro bono activities including leading that company's NJ Street Law effort for several years, where Verizon attorneys served as guest teachers of basic legal skills in local high schools.  After his retirement, Mr. Farris formed Practical RM Associates, a company established to provide cyber and risk management services. In addition to his undergraduate and law degrees, Mr. Farris holds a Master of Science in computer engineering and is a Certified Information Systems Security Professional under (ISC)2.

Mr. Farris’s experience as a senior manager of a large corporation and his expertise in information technology and information security brings to the Board extensive knowledge and capability relating to communications, information technology, and cybersecurity, as well as significant experience in litigation, transactional matters and regulatory compliance.

Kim M. Guadagno is the President and Executive Director of Mercy Center, a non-profit that works to end generational poverty in the greater Asbury Park, New Jersey area by providing emergency and wrap-around services to strengthen families through the operation of an independent, tuition-free school for 4th through 8th grade girls. She is also a partner with the law firm Connell Foley LLP and previously was the first Lieutenant Governor of New Jersey, serving from 2010 to 2018. She has also served eight years as New Jersey’s 33rd Secretary of State and in 2007 was elected the first woman sheriff of the Office of the Sheriff in Monmouth County. Ms. Guadagno founded the New Jersey Partnership for Action, a public-private partnership that promotes New Jersey businesses and job creation and chaired the Red Tape Review Commission, a bipartisan group charged with streamlining government services, cutting red tape, and proposing policy recommendations to further reduce the regulatory burdens on businesses. Ms. Guadagno has served 13 years in public service and has been an attorney for more than three decades.

Ms. Guadagno is a well-regarded leader in both the private and government sectors and brings significant managerial and legal skills to the Board.

Mr. Katsoulis is the former Executive Vice President/Commercial Real Estate of OceanFirst Bank, N.A., having retired in November 2018. Mr. Katsoulis joined the Bank upon the Bank’s acquisition of Sun National Bank in January 2018. At Sun, Mr. Katsoulis was Executive Vice President and Chief Lending Officer, overseeing all lending activities including commercial and industrial and commercial real estate lending. During his banking career, Mr. Katsoulis served as a director of State Bancorp., Inc. and as Executive Vice President and Chief Lending Officer of Atlantic Bank of New York. Mr. Katsoulis is a graduate of the London School of Economics and Columbia University’s graduate school of business.

Mr. Katsoulis brings extensive banking and managerial experience to the Board, particularly with the commercial lending environment within the Bank’s current footprint and potential areas for expansion. He has been an active investor in commercial real estate, dry bulk shipping, and renewable energy.

Joseph J. Lebel III was appointed President and Chief Operating Officer of OceanFirst Bank on January 1, 2021 and Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of OceanFirst Financial Corp. in June 2020.  Prior to that, he served as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of the Bank since January 2019 and has previously served as Chief Banking Officer and Chief Lending Officer.  Prior to joining the Bank, Mr. Lebel was employed with Wachovia Bank N.A. as a Senior Vice President in various leadership and revenue generating roles.

Mr. Lebel serves as a Trustee on various non-profits, including Community Medical Center, part of the St. Barnabas Health System, and is also a Board member of St. Joseph and Donovan Catholic schools.  He recently completed nine years of service as a Trustee to Fulfill, a food bank based in Ocean and Monmouth Counties.  He also is a Director for the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce. He serves on the boards of two for-profit companies in which the Bank has a minority ownership interest, Auxilior Capital Partners, a national equipment leasing company, and Nest Investments LLC, a hybrid robo-advisor. 

Mr. Lebel provides significant leadership skills and in-depth experience in all facets of commercial and real estate lending to the Board as well as extensive knowledge of the Bank's markets and strategic outlook.  

Joseph M. Murphy, Jr. had served on the Board of Directors of Country Bank Holding Company since 2003 and on the Board of Country Bank since 1995 before being acquired by the Company in January 2020.  Country Bank specialized in real estate lending to small businesses and commercial real estate investors and was ranked in the “Top 200 Community Banks” nationwide by US Banker magazine five of the past ten years before its acquisition.

Prior to joining Country Bank, Mr. Murphy co-founded a commercial mortgage conduit, ValuExpress LLC, which had originated over $2.0 billion in loans for the real estate capital markets. For over 30 years he has owned and managed family real estate investments in various commercial properties throughout the United States. He currently serves as EVP of ValuExpress LLC and as President of Value Investors, Inc., his family’s investment office.

Mr. Murphy is a Trustee of Iona University, a private Roman Catholic university located in New Rochelle, New York.  He has served on the Board of Directors for the New York Chapter of Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, the Finance Advisory Committee of the Congregation of Christian Brothers, and the Board of Trustees for the Greater New York Chapter of the American Red Cross. He also served on the Community Bankers Council of the American Bankers Association and is a Knight of St. Patrick, which both support the New York City St. Patrick’s Day Parade

Mr. Murphy is a graduate of the University of Denver with a BSBA and holds a Masters of Science in Real Estate Finance from New York University.

Mr. Murphy provides the Company with extensive banking knowledge and particularly with respect to the New York markets.

Steven M. Scopellite was appointed to the Board of Directors in June 2019. Mr. Scopellite retired from Goldman Sachs in 2013, having served as Global Chief Information Officer. Among his accomplishments during his distinguished career of nearly 30 years were leading Goldman Sachs' penetration into new markets, pioneering the bank’s expansion into electronic trading, and developing the global funding platform. Mr. Scopellite currently serves as a Director of Soltage, LLC, a leading renewable energy provider and is Co-Founder and Advisor to Aspec Scire, a groundbreaking drone-data analytics company.

Mr. Scopellite serves as Chairman to the Riverview Medical Center Foundation Board of Trustees. Mr. Scopellite provides the Board with significant management and risk management experience, particularly as they relate to information technology.

Grace C. Torres has been a Trustee of Prudential Retail Mutual Funds, a retail mutual funds complex of more than 90 mutual funds, since 2014. Prior to that, Ms. Torres was Chief Financial Officer, Treasurer and Principal Financial Officer of Prudential Mutual Funds and Senior Vice President of Prudential Investments LLC from 1994 through 2014. Ms. Torres also previously served as Vice President, Mutual Funds Administration at Bankers Trust and as a Senior Manager, Audit Practice with Ernst & Young. Ms. Torres is a CPA in the State of New York and received a BS in Accounting and Management from New York University. Ms. Torres served as a Director of Sun Bancorp, Inc. and Sun National Bank since 2015, serving on the Audit, Nominating & Corporate Governance and Risk Committees and Chair of the ALCO Committee, until their acquisition by the Company in January 2018, at which time Ms. Torres joined the Board.

Ms. Torres brings to the Board additional financial reporting and audit experience, particularly with respect to large complex financial services organizations. Ms. Torres has been recognized as one the Top 50 business executives by Hispanic Business magazine and LATINA Style Magazine and brings in-depth experience and expertise regarding the financial industry.

Patricia L. Turner was appointed to the Board of Directors in September 2020 and is the executive director and CEO of the American College of Surgeons and a clinical professor at the University of Chicago Medicine. Prior to joining the American College of Surgeons, Dr. Turner spent eight years in full-time academic practice on the faculty of the University of Maryland School of Medicine, serving as the surgery residency program director. She is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and the Bowman Gray School of Medicine at Wake Forest University and received her MBA from the University of Maryland Robert H. Smith School of Business.

Dr. Turner currently serves as a member of the Board of Directors of the Council of Medical Specialty Societies. Dr. Tuner provides the Board with significant leadership and managerial experience related to medical, business, and higher education.

John E. Walsh is a licensed engineer who retired from full time employment with T&M Associates in July 2020. He currently remains as a Senior Vice President at the firm in a consulting capacity. He joined T&M Associates in 2010 and served as a Senior Executive Partner and then a member of the Board of Directors until his retirement. T&M Associates is a privately owned engineering, planning and environmental consulting company with sixteen offices in seven states. Before joining T&M Associates, he served in various management capacities with CMX Engineering, Inc., a privately owned engineering company, from 2001 to 2010. At CMX, Mr. Walsh was responsible for all operational aspects of the business, including operational profitability and oversight of 380 professional engineers and technical staff. Prior to joining CMX Engineering, he was President and CEO of Bay Pointe Engineering Associates, Inc., a firm he founded in 1987.

Mr. Walsh’s experience with T&M and CMX provides the Board with management and leadership skills, as well as extensive knowledge of business and marketing plans, annual budgets, personnel/resource management, sales initiatives, financial reporting and client management.