PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — At its regular Commencement Weekend business meeting Friday, May 22, 2009, the Corporation of Brown University elected three new fellows and nine new trustees, who will begin their service on July 1, 2009. The incoming president of the Brown Alumni Association and four other alumni trustees, nominated by the University’s alumni body, were among the new trustees elected by the Corporation.
The Corporation also established a new young alumnus trustee position. Young alumnus trustees would serve for three years, rather than the normal six-year trustee term, and would begin their terms no more than seven years after concluding their studies at Brown. The Corporation included the first young alumna trustee among the nine trustees it elected today.
The Corporation, governing body of Brown University, comprises a 12-member Board of Fellows and a 42-member Board of Trustees. It is responsible for establishing broad policies for the operation of the University, for selecting a president to carry out those policies, for approving senior administrative officers and tenure-track faculty members, and for approving annual operating funds and capital projects for the University.
Board of Fellows
Newly elected fellows include:
Matthew J. Mallow, a 1964 graduate of Brown, Mallow headed the Corporate Finance Department for 25 years at the international law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, where he has represented investment banks, global corporations, and governments in a variety of financing matters. Mallow is a former chair of the Committee on Securities Regulation of the New York City Bar Association. He earned an LL.B. and LL.M. from New York University School of Law. At Brown, Mallow served on the Board of Trustees for 17 years. He served as University treasurer from 1998 to 2008 and currently co-chairs “Boldly Brown: The Campaign for Academic Enrichment,” the largest fund-raising effort in University history. Mallow has served on 19 committees, including Student Life, Budget and Finance, Audit, Facilities and Design, and Presidential Selection. The University conferred an honorary doctorate on Mallow in May 2008. He will serve a four-year term through June 30, 2013.
Samuel M. Mencoff, a 1978 Brown graduate and parent of a Brown student, was elected to the Board of Trustees for a six-year term in 2003. An anthropology concentrator at Brown, he earned a Master of Business Administration degree from Harvard Business School in 1981. He is a founding partner and co-CEO of Madison Dearborn Partners, one of the nation’s leading private equity investment firms, with approximately $18 billion of capital under management. Mencoff is a trustee of the Art Institute of Chicago and serves on the boards of a number of public and private companies and nonprofit organizations, including Smurfit Kappa Group, Packaging Corporation of America, Boise Cascade LLC, and NorthShore University Health System. He will serve through June 30, 2020.
Maria T. Zuber, parent of a Brown student, earned graduate degrees at Brown (Sc.M., 1983, and Ph.D., 1986) in geophysics. She is the E. A. Griswold Professor of Geophysics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the first woman to lead its Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences. She has studied the structure and evolution of the terrestrial planets and has been an innovator in the application of spacecraft laser-ranging and radio-tracking systems to map the topography and gravity fields of the planets. Zuber has led spacecraft instrument investigations that have flown to the moon, Mars, and asteroids. The topographic map of Mars produced by her laser altimeter on the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft is the most accurate topographic model for any planet. She has been honored by NASA and many professional scientific organizations, and in 2002 Discover magazine named her one of the 50 most important women in science. Brown University conferred an honorary Doctor of Science degree on Zuber in May 2008. She will serve through June 30, 2020.
Board of Trustees
Members of the Board of Trustees customarily serve six-year terms, with young alumnus trustees serving for three years. Fourteen of the 42 trustees are nominated by the Brown Alumni Association; the remaining 28, including young alumnus trustees, are nominated by the Corporation’s Committee on Trustee Vacancies. All trustees are elected to office by the Corporation. Newly elected trustees include:
Kate Burton, a 1979 Brown graduate and Brown parent, was elected an alumna trustee to serve through June 30, 2015. An actress and labor activist, her work on Broadway includes Hedda Gabler, The Elephant Man, The Constant Wife (all Tony nominated), and Spring Awakening. On television, she played Ellis Grey on ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy (twice Emmy nominated) and Cindy Whiting in HBO’s Empire Falls. She appeared in the films Unfaithful, The Ice Storm, Celebrity, Big Trouble in Little China, Max Payne, Sherry Baby, Swimfan, and What Just Happened. Burton is serving her 12th year as a councilor at Actor’s Equity Association and is active at AFTRA and Screen Actor’s Guild. She is a trustee of Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, the Williamstown Theater Festival, and the American Theater Wing, and a member of the Leadership Council at the Yale School of Drama. At Brown, Burton serves on the Creative Arts Advisory Board and participates in many panels, forums, and seminars with alumni, undergraduates, and graduate students at the Brown/Trinity Consortium. The University conferred an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree on her in May 2007.
Craig M. Cogut, a 1975 Brown graduate, parent of a Brown student, and a University trustee emeritus, earned a Doctor of Jurisprudence from Harvard University Law School in 1978. He is founder and managing partner of the investment firm Pegasus Capital Advisors. Prior to founding Pegasus, Cogut was a senior partner of Apollo Advisors. He serves on the boards of several companies, private and public, and is a member of the boards of Human Rights First and the Gettysburg National Battlefield Museum Foundation. At Brown, Cogut is chair of the External Advisory Board of the Brown University-Veterans Administration Center for Restorative and Regenerative Medicine and chair of the Cogut Center for the Humanities. He will serve a six-year term as trustee through June 30, 2015.
Laurence W. Cohen, a 1978 graduate and parent of a Brown student and a Brown graduate, joined Ehrenkranz & Ehrenkranz LLP in 1990 and has been a partner of the firm since 1993. Cohen earned a J.D. degree at Harvard Law School (1981) and served as law clerk for the Hon. John Garrett Penn of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia (1981-83). He is a member of the Board of Trustees and the former board chairman of Blythedale Children’s Hospital, a member of the Board of Trustees of VH1 Save the Music Foundation, The Harlem Day Charter School and The Jewish Communal Fund. Cohen is also chair of the Brown Corporation’s Investment Committee. He will serve a six-year term as trustee through June 30, 2015.
Joe Fernandez, of the Brown Class of 1985, will serve as an alumnus trustee through June 30, 2015, and will become president of the Brown Alumni Association on July 1, 2009. Fernandez is the city solicitor of the City of Providence, R.I., overseeing all civil and criminal litigation, labor and employment matters, and corporate and regulatory affairs affecting the city. He joined city government from private practice as a commercial litigator in Providence and New York City. He is a trustee of Trinity Repertory Company and a director of Crossroads Rhode Island and the Community College of Rhode Island (CCRI) Foundation. At Brown, Fernandez has served as a Brown Alumni Schools Committees interviewer since 1993 and as a member of the Brown Corporation Committee on Minority Affairs (1995 to 2003). He joined the Brown Alumni Association Board of Governors in 2002 and chaired its Multicultural Alumni Committee. He has been a director of the Brown Club of Rhode Island since 2001 and a regular panel moderator and participant at Brown’s Career Week. In 2006, Fernandez received the Brown Alumni Association’s Alumni Service Award, honoring distinguished, continuing volunteer service to Brown.
Dorsey James, a 1983 Brown graduate, is president of Skor Entertainment, a holding company that invests and takes an active management role in media assets primarily related to the music business. Skor’s portfolio includes High Revolution Music Publishing, an entity that acquires music copyrights; Richcraft Records, a traditional recorded-music label; Musicwerks.com, an online virtual label; and Skor Management, an advisory business providing career management for artists and consulting services for organizations using performing talent to improve brand awareness within specific demographic segments. His company has provided summer internships for Brown students seeking careers in media. At Brown, James was president of the Inman Page Black Alumni Council and regional director and area chair for Brown Alumni Schools Committees. James will serve as an alumnus trustee through June 30, 2015.
Peige Katz, a 1991 Brown graduate, is associate general counsel of Ritchie Capital Management L.L.C., a privately owned hedge fund. Katz joined Ritchie to provide strategic analysis of and compliance with a rapidly changing legal and regulatory environment. Previously, she structured and developed equity financial products at banks such as Morgan Stanley, Societe Generale, and Bank of America. Katz serves as an advisor to the Asia Society, a leading policy, business, and arts organization chaired by Brown alumnus Richard Holbrooke, and on the board of the nonprofit Marquis Studios, providing arts-in-education services to New York City public schools. For Brown, Katz was co-president of the Brown Club of Great Britain and co-founder of the Brown International Young Alumni Council. Currently, she is a member of the executive council for the Women’s Leadership Council and co-chairs the Women’s Launch Pad. Katz will serve as an alumna trustee through June 30, 2015.
Lauren Kolodny, a 2008 Brown graduate, will serve a three-year term through June 30, 2012, as the Corporation’s first young alumna trustee. Kolodny concentrated in International Relations at Brown and spearheaded Project Assida, an incorporated nonprofit organization that brings alternative stove fuels to developing countries in place of firewood. Project Assida partners with several non-governmental organizations to aid with the promotion and maintenance of the project in the field. A number of Brown students and faculty have been involved with Project Assida both in developing the technologies and in the implementation of the project in Tanzania. At Brown, Kolodny was also one of the organizers of “Brown is Green: Strategies for a Sustainable Future,” a two-day colloquium on environmental sustainability. She served as student body vice president and Corporation liaison, demonstrating an ability to work with the University’s top decision-makers in promoting students’ concerns. Currently, Kolodny works for the Clinton Foundation’s Climate Initiative on solar energy projects in New Delhi.
Thomas E. Rothman, a 1976 graduate and parent of two Brown students, serves as chairman (2000-present) and chief executive officer (2006-present) of Fox Filmed Entertainment. Fox Filmed Entertainment is the parent company of four film and video divisions: 20th Century Fox, Fox Searchlight, Fox 2000, and Fox Animation. He was recently given oversight of 20th Century Fox Television studios as well. Rothman is among the longest tenured studio heads in Hollywood. Prior to joining Fox, he served as president of worldwide production at the Samuel Goldwyn Company. He previously served as executive vice president of production for Columbia Pictures and as a partner of the entertainment law firm Frankfurt Garbus Klein & Selz. Rothman will serve a six-year term through June 30, 2015.
Jonathan M. Rozoff, a 1985 Brown graduate, will serve as an alumnus trustee through June 30, 2015. He is a vice president of Cornerstone Research, a financial and economics consulting firm he helped build from its earliest days to a staff today of more than 400. During this time, he has hired a number of Brown alumni and students as staff and interns. Elected treasurer of the Brown Alumni Association in 2007, Rozoff serves on its Board of Governors and Strategic Planning Committee and chairs its Finance Committee. He has guided the development of alumni services, enhancing financing, communications, career support, and campus and regional events. Rozoff serves on Brown’s Campaign Steering Committee and the Brown Annual Fund Leadership Council. In 2006, he received the Ittleson Award for outstanding Brown volunteer leadership.