Joyce Koh named to Salus Board of Trustees

As a new Salus University Board of Trustees member, Joyce Koh was invited to the September 2019 meeting for an advance look at what might be store for her when she officially joined the board in January 2020. And, what she saw impressed her.

“It’s like being on a train that is turning a corner and I can see the front of the train - where the corner is being turned,” said Koh, who owns her own law firm, Joyce Koh, LLC, in Bala Cynwyd, Pa. “And, I can also see the back of the train - where it used to be. This thing is moving at a high velocity and it feels just so exciting, where this train is going.”

A seasoned corporate transactional attorney with solid experience and training as a large-firm associate as well as in-house senior legal counsel, Koh has been aware of Salus University for quite some time now through her relationship with Jo Surpin, MA, current chair of the Board of Trustees.

Koh said she and Surpin have been able to connect on more than just a simple attorney-client relationship. “We’ve come to know each other through working together and I respect her greatly. Anyone who knows Jo can’t know her without hearing the Salus name again and again. She’s a great beacon for the school.”

Another aspect that attracted Koh to a position on the board is the Salus University leadership.

“I think Dr. Mittelman is such an impressive leader,” she said. “I feel like that was a huge selling point for me to dedicate and invest time into this. I do feel like there is so much that’s going to get accomplished at Salus.”

Koh will serve on the board’s Finance Committee and be involved in the Academic Leadership Mentorship Group as well.

“I was fortunate enough to see the fundraising efforts going on at the University at the end of last year, specifically Looking Out for Kids,” she said. “It really impresses me when I see education going hand-in-hand with social justice and community initiatives. I imagine there will be no end of things that surprise me in the sense that I never had thought about before. How exciting that Salus is at the forefront of that?”

A native Philadelphian, Koh graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a degree in English and Economics and earned her law degree from the Beasley School of Law at Temple University. She was admitted to each of the Pennsylvania and New Jersey bar associations and maintains her practice in Pennsylvania.

In June 2005, she was recognized by the Pennsylvania Super Lawyers Magazine as a “Rising Star” for her work as a corporate transactional lawyer. In 2007, she served as senior vice president and senior counsel at Capmark Finance Inc., working with varied structured products.

Her representations have included clients ranging from blue-chip companies, major national and local community banks, quasi-governmental agencies and small privately held corporations. Her practice has included deal structuring, drafting transactions of various complexity and size, including but not limited to commercial credit transactions, private equity transactions, structured products and divestitures.

The Board of Trustees chair is happy to have Koh on board and ready to work to advance the goals of Salus.

“It’s always exciting to bring on a new board member. It’s an opportunity to continue to diversify and meet the changing needs of Salus,” said Surpin. “Joyce will be a great addition to the Salus board. Her corporate law experience and commitment to the community will prove to be great assets.”

Koh is also active in the entertainment arts in the Philadelphia area, has served on the inaugural board of the Philadelphia Asian Film Festival and continues to actively support the film arts. She is also conversationally fluent in Korean.

“What my initial introductory board meeting really showed me was that there are so many things out there that the education of healthcare is on the cutting edge of,” she said. “Who knows where it’s going to go? It’s promising and exciting and there are such huge possibilities. Being on the board at Salus is an immense privilege.”