HAA announces new Overseers

Harvard Alumni Association President Catherine A. "Kate" Gellert '93 announced the results of the annual Board of Overseers election at Harvard's Afternoon Exercises on Commencement Day.

Kris Snibbe/Harvard Staff Photographer

Campus & Community
HAA announces new Overseers

June 2, 2014 3 min read

HAA elected directors also named at Commencement

The president of the Harvard Alumni Association announced the results of the annual election of new members of the Harvard Board of Overseers. The results were released at the annual meeting of the association following the University’s 363rd Commencement. The five newly elected Overseers are:

Michael Brown, Boston

Co-founder and CEO, City Year. He is a graduate of Harvard College (A.B. 1983) and Harvard Law School (J.D. 1988).

James Hildreth, Davis, Calif.

Dean of the College of Biological Sciences, University of California at Davis. He is a graduate of Harvard College (A.B. 1979). He also holds a Ph.D. from the University of Oxford (1982) and an M.D. from Johns Hopkins University (1987).

Jane Lubchenco, Corvallis, Ore.

Valley Professor of Marine Biology and Distinguished Professor of Zoology at Oregon State University. From 2009 to 2013 she served under President Obama as Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere. She received her Ph.D. from Harvard in 1975. She also holds degrees from Colorado College (B.A. 1969) and the University of Washington (M.S. 1971).

Michael M. Lynton, Los Angeles

CEO Sony Entertainment. He is a graduate of Harvard College (A.B. 1982) and Harvard Business School (M.B.A. 1987).

Lesley Friedman Rosenthal, New York, N.Y.

Vice president, general counsel, and secretary, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. She is a graduate of Harvard College (A.B. 1986) and Harvard Law School (J.D. 1989).

The five Overseers were elected for six-year terms. Lynton was elected in 2012 to fill a two-year vacancy on the Board; he has now been elected to a full six-year term.They were chosen from a slate of eight candidates nominated by a Harvard Alumni Association committee in accordance with the election rules. Harvard degree holders cast 27,171 ballots in the election.

The primary function of the Board of Overseers is to encourage the University to maintain the highest attainable standards as a place of learning. Drawing on the diverse experience and expertise of its members, the Board exerts broad influence over the University’s strategic direction, provides essential counsel to the University’s leadership on priorities and plans, has the power of consent to certain actions such as the election of Corporation members, and directs the visitation process by which a broad array of Harvard schools and departments are periodically reviewed.

HAA elected directors announced

The following six alumni have been elected as directors of the Harvard Alumni Association, to serve for three years each:

• Henry Parkman Biggs ’86 cum laude, associate director, McDonnell International Academy, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis.

• Raphael W. Bostic ’87 magna cum laude, Judith and John Bedrosian Chair in Governance and the Public Enterprise and director, Bedrosian Center on Governance, Price School of Public Policy, University of Southern California, Los Angeles.

• Margaret Jay Braatz, Ed.M. ’93, Ed.D. ’99, vice president for planning and presidential administration, DePaul University, Chicago.

• Leea Nash Bridgeman ’00 cum laude; M.B.A. ’05, executive director and trustee, Bridgeman Family Foundation Louisville, Ky.

• Jessica Gelman ’97 cum laude; M.B.A. ’02, vice president of customer marketing & strategy, The Kraft Sports Group (New England Patriots); co-founder, MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference Wellesley, Mass.

• Vanessa W. Liu ’96 magna cum laude; J.D. ’03 cum laude, COO, Trigger Media Group New York, N.Y.