by Dee Knopp, Executive Director

We share some profoundly sad news with our community. We lost one of our shining members who was a part of the Diversity Alliance for Science family for the last 4 years, Linda Secola. Linda was not only a successful member, business and community leader, she was an incredible supporter of our organization and network who actively volunteered within our committees.

Linda Secola, tragically passed away on June 29, 2017, in a fatal accident. Linda was born in West Pennsylvania. She graduated from Newark High School, Newark, and continued her education, earning a bachelor’s degree at University of Central Florida and a master’s degree at University of Miami.

Linda’s successful career in the healthcare industry began with Pfizer where she spent more than a decade working as a District Manager in the Greater Chicago area, later becoming a National Account Manager for Parke-Davis (Pfizer). Following Pfizer, she was Vice President of Healthcare Systems at Ascend Therapeutics. In January 2008, she joined Encompass Healthcare Solutions as President where she remained until the time of her passing.

Linda was active in the supplier diversity network and within Diversity Alliance for Science . She became a member in 2015 and was an active volunteer on the 2017 Workshop Committee, helping to create and facilitate the well-received “Eight That Innovate” workshop. Linda made a lasting impression on those she came in contact with and had a unique ability to remember names and personal details about people after only briefly meeting them. She was kind and charismatic and many will remember her pitch: “the AH HAH moment”. She was also an active volunteer with the Jimmy V Foundation and other local charities, described by friends as someone who always wanted to give, nothing was too big for her. Linda was also an avid golfer, tennis player and water skier.

Linda will be dearly missed by those who knew her. The Diversity Alliance for Science community sends our condolences to Linda’s family. She is survived by her son, Pierce, and sisters, Elaine and Rhonda.