Gov.-elect Tom Corbett announced Chris Abruzzo, 44, of Hershey, Luke Bernstein, 31, of Mechanicsburg, Kathleen Duffy Bruder, 42, of Camp Hill and Todd Shamash, 38, of Mechanicsburg, as his Deputy Chiefs of Staff.
Corbett also announced Guy Ciarrocchi, 46, of Tredyffrin, Chester County, as the Lt. Governor's Chief of Staff.
"I am excited and honored to have this group of high-caliber professionals joining the Corbett/Cawley administration," Corbett said. "These individuals have a great amount of experience, knowledge and devotion to public service, and to the people of Pennsylvania."
Chris Abruzzo
Corbett said that Abruzzo currently serves as a Chief Deputy Attorney General in the Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office, supervisor of the Drug Strike Force Section. Abruzzo oversees all drug-related prosecutions conducted by the Attorney General's Drug Strike Force Section in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, including grand jury and wiretap investigations conducted by the Attorney General's Bureau of Narcotics Investigations as well as by the Pennsylvania State Police.
Abruzzo served as the Attorney General's principal legal adviser on electronic surveillance matters and wiretap applications made pursuant to Pennsylvania's Wiretapping and Electronic Surveillance Control Act.
Abruzzo joined the Office of Attorney General in 1996 and was assigned to the Criminal Prosecutions Section and the Medicaid Fraud Control Section before being appointed to his current position with the Drug Strike Force by Attorney General Tom Corbett in 2005.
Prior to joining the Attorney General's office, Abruzzo served as a senior deputy district attorney in the Dauphin County District Attorney's Office from 1992 thru 1996 where he prosecuted a wide variety of criminal offenses, but specialized in drug prosecutions.
Abruzzo is Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Dauphin County Victim Witness Assistance Program and has been a member of its board of directors since 1993.
Abruzzo received his bachelor's degree in marketing from St. Joseph's University and his J.D. from the Widener University School of Law.
Abruzzo has been married for 18 years and has three children.
Luke Bernstein
Corbett said that most recently, Bernstein served as the Executive Director of the Republican Party of Pennsylvania. In this role, Bernstein manages the PAGOP's staff and its daily operations.
Prior to this position, Bernstein served as the Deputy Campaign Manager for U.S. Senator Rick Santorum's reelection effort where he helped oversee all campaign departments and was instrumental in developing and implementing the overall election strategy.
Previously, Bernstein was appointed by President George W. Bush to serve as an advisor in the area of Domestic Finance at the U.S. Department of the Treasury. During his time at Treasury, Bernstein was instrumental in creating and developing a National Strategy for Financial Literacy.
Bernstein also served as the Coalitions Director for President Bush's reelection effort in Pennsylvania where he managed and directed the coalitions operation throughout the Commonwealth. From 2002 to 2004, Bernstein worked in Senator Santorum's Washington, D.C. office serving as a key member of the Senator's communications team. Prior to working in the governmental and political arena, Luke worked in finance in New York City.
Bernstein received his bachelor's degree from Dickinson College.
Bernstein and his wife have been married for three years.
Kathleen Duffy Bruder
Corbett said that Bruder is currently a partner at the Rhoads & Sinon law firm where she is a member of their Employment & Labor and Business Litigation practice groups and represents management clients in both public and private sectors, ranging from counseling to litigation and labor negotiations.
Bruder regularly assists human resources personnel by advising them on their day-to-day issues, including the hiring and discharge of employees and compliance with various local, state, and federal laws, as well as labor and employment laws in other states such as New York and New Jersey where she is also licensed to practice.
In addition to concentrating in labor and employment law, Bruder also regularly counsels and practices in the area of higher education law.
Before joining Rhoads & Sinon, Bruder worked as associate counsel with a national company where she was responsible for in-house labor and employment law-related matters; an in-house labor attorney and human resources director for the City of Harrisburg and as Deputy City Solicitor for the City of Harrisburg.
Bruder received her bachelor's degree in economic finance from the University of Scranton and her J.D. from University of Dayton School of Law.
Bruder has been married for 13 years and has two daughters.
Todd Shamash
Corbett said that Shamash most recently served as Senior Counsel and Director of Government Affairs for the Jefferson Health System headquartered in Radnor, Pennsylvania.
Shamash has formerly held positions as a senior consultant with Capital BlueCross; as Department Counsel for the Pennsylvania Insurance Department, and as Legislative Assistant to U.S. Congressman Michael Ward.
Shamash received his bachelor's degree in political science from the University of Kentucky and his J.D. from the Dickinson School of Law of the Pennsylvania State University.
Shamash has been married for four years and has a son and a daughter.
Guy Ciarrocchi
Corbett said that Ciarrocchi currently serves as Executive Director of PA Coalition of Public Charter School where he manages a statewide coalition of 111 charter schools educating 75,000 students in both Cyber and Brick & Mortar charter schools. As part of his position, Ciarrocchi also advocates on behalf of charter schools and our students before legislators; educators and the media.
Ciarrocchi previously served as Chief of Staff to Congressman Jim Gerlach in 2007 and 2008; as a Mid-Atlantic regional director at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in 2005 and 2006 where he managed a staff of 700 employees working in five states and Washington, DC; and as Executive Director for Pennsylvania for the Bush-Cheney campaign in 2004.
Ciarrocchi received his bachelor's degree in international relations from Saint Joseph's University and his J.D. from Villanova University School of Law.
Ciarrocchi and his wife have been married for 19 years and have three children.
