Richard Santagati

Santagati attended Merrimack College, a private college in North Andover, Massachusetts. After graduating from Merrimack, he attended the MIT Sloan School of Management. His first major executive position was as the Vice President of Marketing for NYNEX. He later became the President of NYNEX Business Information Systems Company, a company formed as part of NYNEX to explore entry into the non-regulated enterprise information systems business and also to open the first NYNEX retail stores. Under Santagati's leadership of NYNEX Business Information Systems the company opened its first retail stores, in an exploratory major shift of strategy. ==Gaston & Snow==

In 1986 Santagati moved from NYNEX to Gaston & Snow, which was then Boston's fifth largest law firm. He initially became the Chief Operating Officer. Though it was then an unusual step for a law firm to put a non-lawyer in a high-profile executive role, he later became the CEO of the company. During his tenure at Gaston & Snow the legal fees, overhead, and lawyer salaries skyrocketed, as was the case at many of their competitors. In the early 1990s Gaston & Snow's finances rapidly deteriorated and they were forced to lay off employees. Gaston & Snow filed for bankruptcy in October 1991. Some of the factors that caused the bankruptcy include heavy debt, the loss of partners, and conflict between executives. The Boston Globe referred to it as "worst implosion of a Boston law firm in history". Some blamed Santagati for Gaston & Snow's failure. One of the bankruptcy trustees accused him of "fraud, negligence and breach of fiduciary duty". The allegations also included charges that he "manipulated the firm's internal systems to boost his own compensation, standing and business reputation". Many Boston lawyers argued, however, that the bankruptcy was the fault of senior lawyers at Gaston & Snow. Santagati's defenders contend that some lawyers who were already the highest paid employees of the firm insisted on higher pay and blocked plans to rescue the company. After leaving Gaston & Snow in 1991 Santagati served as a partner in the Boston-based venture capital firm Lighthouse Capital Management for a year before becoming the CEO of Artel Communications from 1992 to 1994. ==Merrimack College==

In 1995 Santagati became the president of his alma mater, Merrimack College. Merrimack's campus newspaper also published an article quoting students that were critical of his compensation. He is now the chairman of the board of trustees of Lawrence General Hospital in Lawrence, Massachusetts. Santagati also serves on the board of directors of Revlon, Celerity Solutions, and CTC Communications. ==References==