Six new Harvard Overseers elected

Harvard Alumni Association President Susan Novick '85 at the Afternoon Program. The HAA holds its annual meeting following the University’s Commencement.

Jon Chase/Harvard Staff Photographer

Campus & Community
Six new Harvard Overseers elected

May 24, 2018 3 min read

Alumni Association also votes in six new directors

Six new officers have been elected to Harvard University’s Board of Overseers, and another half dozen as directors of the Harvard Alumni Association (HAA).

The HAA announced the election results Thursday at the group’s annual meeting following the University’s 367th Commencement.

The six new Overseers are:

Geraldine Acuña-Sunshine, Boston
A.B. ’92 cum laude, M.P.P. ’96
President, Sunshine Care Foundation for Neurological Care and Research

Philip Hart Cullom, Gaithersburg, Md.
M.B.A. ’88, with distinction
Vice admiral (retired), U.S. Navy

Meredith “Max” Hodges, Boston
A.B. ’03 cum laude, M.B.A. ’10 with distinction
Executive director, Boston Ballet

Marilyn Holifield, Miami
J.D. ’72
Partner, Holland & Knight LLP

Diego A. Rodriguez, Palo Alto, Calif.
M.B.A. ’01 with distinction
Executive vice president, chief product and design officer, Intuit Inc.

Yvette Roubideaux, Washington, D.C.
A.B. ’85 cum laude, M.D. ’89, M.P.H. ’97
Director, Policy Research Center, National Congress of American Indians

Five of the new Overseers were elected for six-year terms. The sixth-place finisher, Diego Rodriguez, will serve the final two years of the unexpired term of Jane Lubchenco, who has stepped down due to professional obligations. The new Overseers were elected from a slate of eight candidates who were nominated by an HAA committee as prescribed by the election rules. Harvard degree holders cast 26,765 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 election of members of the Harvard Corporation), and directs the visitation process by which a broad array of Harvard Schools and departments are periodically reviewed.

In addition, the six newly elected HAA directors are:

Collette Creppell, New Orleans
A.B. ’82 cum laude, M.Arch. ’90 with distinction
University architect, Brown University

Sid Espinosa, Palo Alto, Calif.
M.P.P. ’00
Director of philanthropy and civic engagement, Microsoft

Natosha Reid Rice, Atlanta
A.B. ’93 cum laude, J.D. ’97
Associate general counsel, real estate and finance, Habitat for Humanity International; Associate pastor, Historic Ebenezer Baptist Church

Krishnan Namboodiri Subrahmanian, Minneapolis
A.B. ’03 magna cum laude
Attending pediatrician, Hennepin County Medical Center and the University of Minnesota; Maternal child health specialist, Partners in Health (COPE Program)

Bella T. Wong, Weston, Mass.
A.B. ’82, Ed.M. ’91
Superintendent/Principal, Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School

Rashid Muhammed Yasin, Nashville, Tenn.
S.B. ’12 cum laude
Ph.D. student, Vanderbilt University

The new directors were each elected for three-year terms. They were chosen from a slate of nine candidates, who were nominated by an HAA committee as prescribed by the election rules. Harvard degree holders cast 27,537 ballots in the election.

The HAA board of directors is an advisory body that guides the fostering of alumni community-building and creating University citizens of alumni and alumni volunteers. The main work of the board of directors focuses on developing volunteer leadership, increasing and deepening alumni engagement through an array of programs that support alumni communities worldwide.