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  • Board of Trustees

The International House Board of Trustees is a dedicated governing body comprised of distinguished members from the worlds of diplomacy, business, education, philanthropy and the arts. Trustees believe in the power of international understanding to promote peace across the world. By providing oversight and guidance, Trustees help shape policies supporting the long-term goals and mission of I-House.

Officers


Chair, Board of Trustees: Frank G. Wisner
International Affairs Advisor, Squire Patton Boggs

Ambassador Frank G. Wisner’s diplomatic career spans four decades and eight American presidents. He served as ambassador to Zambia, Egypt, the Philippines, and India during his extensive career in the State Department. Additionally, he served as Under Secretary of Defense for Policy and as Under Secretary of State for International Security Affairs.

After graduating from Princeton University in 1961, Ambassador Wisner joined the State Department as a Foreign Service officer. His first post was in Algiers immediately after it won independence from France. He then went to Vietnam, where he spent four years at the apex of the war. He worked as a senior diplomat in Tunisia and Bangladesh before returning to Washington as Director of Plans and Management in the Bureau of Public Affairs. He joined the President’s Interagency Task Force on Indochina, the entity responsible for evacuating and settling nearly one million refugees, and served as its Deputy Director. Later, as Director of the Office of Southern African Affairs, Ambassador Wisner worked closely with Secretary of State Henry Kissinger to launch negotiations with Zimbabwe and Namibia. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice appointed Ambassador Wisner as the nation’s special representative to the Kosovo Status Talks in 2005, where he played a crucial role in negotiating Kosovo’s independence.

In his current role, Ambassador Wisner leverages his vast experience in the Middle East, India, Europe and Asia to assist the firm’s domestic and international clients. He is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Squire Patton Boggs Foundation, which promotes the role of public service and pro bono work in the practice of law and the development of public policy.


Chair, Executive Committee: Peter M. O’Neill ’92

Peter M. O’Neill is active on the boards of a number of not-for-profit organizations and private companies. He is a current member of the investment committee and Chair of the audit committee of the Rockefeller Family Fund and was president of the Rockefeller Family Fund from 2001 to 2004. He is on the audit committee, investment committee and executive committee of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund. Mr. O’Neill presently chairs the Room 2500 LLC and is a director and a member of the audit and compliance committee of Rockefeller Capital Management as well as a director of Meriwether Capital LLC, a private equity firm. Mr. O’Neill has also held a number of Rockefeller Family-related positions, including Chair of the Family Council, Chair of the the Fifth/Sixth Generation Association and Chair of the Room 5600 operating committee.

At International House, Mr. O’Neill is a trustee and Chair of the Executive Committee, Co-Chair of the building design subcommittee and a member of the governance committee and personnel practices committee. He is a trustee of Winrock International at Arlington, VA, and serves as a member of its governance committee and audit committee.

Mr. O’Neill holds an MSW degree from Columbia University, and served as an adjunct associate professor at the Columbia University School of Social Work for 10 years. He also received a two-year postgraduate degree from the Ackerman Institute for the Family. Mr. O’Neill started his career as an individual and family therapist at the Boys and Girls Harbor in East Harlem, NY, where he held a variety of positions from 1993 to 2006, including director of the Clinic’s Training and Internship Program, and director of the Children’s Clinic (an Office of Mental Health-licensed clinic).


Secretary: John J. Cannon, III
Partner, Shearman & Sterling

John Cannon is a partner in the Compensation, Governance & ERISA practice of Shearman & Sterling LLP and co-Chair of the firm’s Corporate Governance Advisory Group. He joined the firm in 1985 after graduating from the New York University School of Law. Prior to law school, he graduated from Harvard College and spent two years teaching at The Browning School in New York City. In his practice, he focuses on all aspects of executive compensation and benefits, including advising companies and boards of directors on corporate, securities, bankruptcy, employment and tax laws and ERISA. He has extensive experience in management succession and other corporate governance matters, Dodd-Frank and Sarbanes-Oxley, and the employee issues implicated in the mergers and acquisitions context, both domestic and cross-border. He is a frequent lecturer to professional organizations and law schools on executive compensation, corporate governance and legal ethics. Among his professional affiliations, Mr. Cannon is an Inaugural Fellow of the American College of Corporate Governance Counsel; a member of the American Law Institute and an Adviser to the Institute’s Restatement of the Law, Corporate Governance project; a member of the Advisory Committee, Salzburg Global Forum on Corporate Governance; and a member of the National Finance Industry Employment Lawyers’ Committee. At International House, Mr. Cannon also chairs the People Practice Committee.


Treasurer: Shubh Saumya ’92
Partner and Managing Director, Boston Consulting Group

In his current role, Shubh Saumya focuses on Capital Markets, Risk Management, and Financial Regulation. He leads key relationships with capital markets institutions, wealth managers, and financial regulators; and is responsible for the development of firm intellectual capital in topics like client centricity, digital markets, and organizational complexity. Mr. Saumya is a member of the New York Office’s consultant development committee. He is a former VP in the Financial Services Practice at Booz Allen Hamilton and Managing VP President: Risk and Securities Industry Practices at First Manhattan Consulting Group, among other roles. He has authored and co-authored several capital markets and risk related perspectives. Mr. Saumya received his MBA in Finance and International Business from Columbia Business School and a degree in Electrical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology in New Delhi.


Trustees


Kathleen Burns
Philanthropist

Kathleen Burns is an International House Trustee Member who is a member of the the Executive Committee and Nominating Committee and a former co-chair of the Programs & Resident Life Committee. In addition to her extensive service to International House, Ms. Burns is a Golden Horseshoe Member of the Metropolitan Opera, a member of the Advisory Council of the Royal Society of Medicine Foundation, and a member of the New York Presbyterian Medical Center, having founded the Light Up a Life annual event benefiting the Pediatric Patient Care programs at New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center. She is a graduate of the Chapin School and Bennett College.


Sharda Cherwoo
Independent Board Member, Retired EY Senior Partner, Digital Transformation Leader

Sharda Cherwoo is a board member and senior C-suite executive with over 35 years of governance and professional services experience. Known as one of the hardest working collaborators and connectors, Ms. Cherwoo has a compelling executive track record of achieving significant market growth by pioneering and building billion-dollar businesses, leading go-to-market strategy and executing successful business transformations.

Ms. Cherwoo is a strategic global thinker with the proven ability to ask insightful questions that spark new ways of thinking and innovating. As a C-suite leader, Ms. Cherwoo is recognized for her collaborative style and is skilled at influencing people to expand innovative thinking and build relevance in a world of data and digital innovation. Ms. Cherwoo’s combination of financial acumen, global leadership, digital transformation, and governance experience has enabled her to contribute and engage with people with strategic, leading-edge insight.


Karl Connor ’95
Managing Member, The Connor Group, LLC

Karl J. Connor, JD, LL.M., is an accomplished attorney and entrepreneur. With over 15 years of senior-level leader experience at BP, he founded Cerveau, A Change Agency, advising businesses on strategy, efficiency, and leverage for optimized safety, reputation and profitability. Mr. Connor is also involved in the legal field as the Managing Member of The Connor Group, LLC, and co-owns C & S Textiles, Inc., a linen manufacturing and sales business.

Mr. Connor has served as a federal bankruptcy trustee panelist, assistant United States attorney, and law clerk to two United States Federal District Court judges. He is dedicated to education, having been a founding board member of KIPP New Orleans Charter Schools and Mentorship Academy Charter School in Baton Rouge, LA. Mr. Connor supports students through his family’s scholarship fund and is a life member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.

Mr. Connor is actively involved in his community. Following the global demand for systemic change in the wake of the George Floyd murder in Minnesota, Mr. Connor chaired the New Orleans Street Renaming Commission. He serves on the boards of International House New York World Council of Alumni and the Louisiana Civil Rights Museum. He has held leadership positions in various organizations, including the National Bar Association, Louisiana State Bar Association, the MidContinent Oil & Gas Association, the Louisiana Association of Business & Industry, and the Arkansas State Chamber of Commerce. He is a graduate of Xavier University of Louisiana, Loyola New Orleans College of Law, and Columbia Law School, where he earned distinction as a Harlem Fiske Stone Scholar. He is married to Monika McKay and has one son, Quinn.


Andrew H. Darrell
Chief of Strategy, Global Energy & Finance, and NY Regional Director, Environmental Defense Fund (EDF)

In his dual roles at EDF, Andy Darrell develops solutions that combine policy change and private investment to deliver clean energy and minimize pollution in large cities in the US, Europe and internationally. Mr. Darrell also serves on New York City’s Sustainability Advisory Board. Before joining EDF, Mr. Darrell was an associate at Davis Polk and Wardwell and founding executive director of two organizations mobilizing political and financial support for waterfront redevelopment for public space. In 2010, he was recognized by the Environmental Advocates of New York as Advocate of the Year. He is President and Board Chair of the Stiftung ProEvolution, based in Switzerland, which expands access to clean energy in developing countries and helps innovative projects in climate and education scale up through networks and marketing. Mr. Darrell holds a JD from the University of Virginia, an MA in Law and Diplomacy from the Fletcher School, and a BS (magna cum laude) from Georgetown University.


Kathleen A. Dill
Senior Vice President and Head of Communications, Advance

Kathleen Dill is an executive with over 25 years of experience managing employee, client and crisis communications, primarily in financial services. In her current role, she is responsible for communications for a private, family-owned business that owns and invests in assets spanning media, entertainment, communications, technology, education and other promising growth sectors. Ms. Dill has held leadership positions at J.P. Morgan, where she was Executive Director of Corporate & Investment Bank Sales & Marketing in New York, and Lehman Brothers, where she managed communications for 6,000 employees in 17 offices across EMEA. Ms. Dill also held roles as Head of Internal Communications for Lehman Brothers Mortgage Capital, responsible for nine companies and 12 brands globally with significant focus on crisis communications. A former high school English teacher, Ms. Dill received her BA in English from Colgate University. She serves on the boards of Millbrook School and Impact 100 NYC, is Trustee Emerita at Colgate University, and is a member of MoMA’s Black Arts Council (fka Friends of Education) and the Skowhegan Council at the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture.


Paul D. Downs

Paul Downs practiced international law for more than four decades, most recently as a partner at Hogan Lovells in New York, where he co-founded the Sovereign Investor Practice and initiated its annual Sovereign Investor Conference. Mr. Downs also founded the United States’ presence of Italy’s Studio Carnelutti, which subsequently combined with California’s Heller Ehrman, where he headed the international practice. Mr. Downs is co-author of The Hunt for Unicorns: How Sovereign Funds are Reshaping Investment in the Digital Economy. He has represented sovereign investors transacting in assets globally, has spoken and published on the topic and guest lectured at Columbia and New York University law schools. He served as President of the American Foreign Law Association, is a member of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, the International Bar Association and the American Bar Association. He is a current or past director of international companies and not-for-profit organizations, including International House, The Council for the United States and Italy, and the China US Business Alliance. Mr. Downs is a graduate of Princeton University and Harvard Law School.


Joan R. Gregory ’87
Managing Director, Parkview International

Joan Gregory holds a Master’s degree in International Economics from Columbia University and a Bachelor’s degree in French and Spanish Literature and Language from University College Dublin, Ireland.


Barbara G. Heyman

Born and based in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Barbara Heyman is a partner in an independent oil and gas company which has operations in seven states. She oversees a small team of investors in the energy and non-energy related spaces. Additionally, she is a college advisor and counselor at Booker T. Washington High School, a magnet school in Tulsa, Oklahoma. For the past several years, she has also maintained a private educational consulting business where she has helped students from New York, Italy, London, and Hong Kong. Ms. Heyman graduated from The University of Michigan with a Master’s Degree in Supervision and Administration, and completed graduate work at Columbia University. She has been recognized as a “Best College Counselor” by Yale University and serves on the Boards of several arts and culture organizations.


John W. Kooyman ’87
Chief of Staff, Colgate-Palmolive Company

In July 2020 John Kooyman assumed the role of Chief of Staff at Colgate. He helps drive the company’s key strategic initiatives across a wide range of areas and acts as the principal executive liaison with the Board of Directors, helping support the Board’s governance responsibilities. Prior to his current role, Mr. Kooyman served as the Chief Marketing Officer at Colgate, where he was responsible for overseeing the planning, development and execution of the organization’s Global marketing and advertising initiatives. Kooyman joined Colgate in 1993 and progressed through roles of increasing responsibility in U.S. Marketing before being promoted to Marketing Director, Toothpaste for the U.S. Company in 1998, where he led his team during a period of rapid share growth. In 2001, Kooyman was promoted to Marketing Director for the Nordic Group. In 2004, he returned to the U.S. as General Manager for Personal Care Marketing and was later promoted to Vice President. Kooyman moved to C-P Benelux in 2008 as Vice President and General Manager and became Vice President and General Manager, C-P Iberia in 2009. In 2012, he was promoted to Vice President, Marketing for the Africa/Eurasia Division and then progressed to hold Vice President for Marketing roles in Latin America and in North America. Prior to joining Colgate, Kooyman worked for Nestle SA and Cadbury Schweppes Ltd. He holds an MBA from Harvard Business School.


Jodi Leblanc
Vice President of Global Sales, The Americas, The Taj Group

Jodi Dell Leblanc is a 25+ year veteran of the luxury hospitality industry. Ms. Leblanc joined The Indian Hotels Company Limited (IHCL) as Director of Sales and currently serves as Vice President Global Sales -The Americas, representing 180 properties across 4 continents and 12 countries around the globe. She opened Taj’s North American sales and marketing office in January 1999 and led the brand’s growth across multiple segments–corporate, government and leisure markets–throughout North America. Ms. Leblanc launched Taj’s key relationships with partners such as Virtuoso, American Express Platinum’s Fine Hotels, and Resorts and Signature Hotels & Resorts. Prior to joining Taj, Ms. Leblanc worked in Paris for several years holding positions at Sofitel International, where she represented properties in France and Africa. She is a longstanding member of the Canada India Business Council, the US India Business Council, CII’s India Business Forum and the US India Strategic Partnership Forum and is a former Associate Advisory Board Member to the United States Tour Operator Association. She was born in Savannah and raised in New England. She holds a BS in Marketing from the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York.


Bei Ling
Head of Human Resources, Wells Fargo & Company

Bei Ling is Head of Human Resources at Wells Fargo, serving on the company’s Operating Committee. Her previous role was Managing Director & Global Head of Talent, Development, and Total Rewards at JPMorgan Chase, where she was accountable for driving strategy and implementation across multiple global functions including talent, succession planning, learning, career development, compensation, benefits, and workforce data and analytics. Prior to that, she was Head of Human Resources at Commercial Bank, responsible for the company’s end-to-end human capital strategy and programs. An honoree recipient of the “Outstanding 50 Asians in Business” in 2015, Ms. Ling was one of the two executive sponsors of JPMorgan’s Asian Executive Forum, which was formed in 2017 with over 200 senior managing directors to help further advance progress in diversity and inclusion.

Ms. Ling graduated from Beijing University in China with a degree in Indian Civilization. After graduating, she spent two years teaching at Beijing University and came to the US in 1996. She completed the MBA program at Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California in 2000 and joined Merrill Lynch, holding various positions in Human Resources and Global Finance. She left Merrill Lynch in 2008 to join PNC Financial Services, where she led various large-scale HR transformative initiatives, including the merger of PNC and National City and a complete redesign of the bank’s talent programs. Ms. Ling has served on the I-House Board since 2015 and is a past Chair of the People Practice committee. She lives in Manhattan with her husband and daughter.


J. Kevin McCarthy
Senior Executive Vice President and General Counsel, Bank of New York Mellon

Appointed to his current position in 2014, Kevin McCarthy heads BNY Mellon’s global Legal Department, and also has overall responsibility for Government Affairs, the Corporate Secretarial function and Global Corporate Security. Prior to joining BNY Mellon, Mr. McCarthy was General Counsel of Cowen Group, Inc., a diversified investment bank and financial services firm. From 2004 to 2007, he was a partner at Wilmer Hale, focused on securities and litigation matters. From 1996 to 2004, Mr. McCarthy was at Credit Suisse First Boston in a variety of roles, most recently as Managing Director and Global Head of Litigation. He began his legal career as an associate at Willkie Farr & Gallagher. In addition to his service, Mr. McCarthy is a member of the Board of Trustees of the National September 11 Memorial & Museum, The Legal Aid Society, Albany Law School of Union University, and the Cameron Kravitt Foundation. He is also the Chair of The Clearing House Association Board of Directors. Mr. McCarthy received a JD from Albany Law School of Union University and a BA from Siena College.


Brian H. Polovoy

Brian Polovoy served as Interim President of International House from October 2020 through April 2021. On the I-House Board, he has served on the Programs & Resident Life Committee and Personnel Practices Committee. Prior to his appointment as Interim President, he was a partner in the international law firm of Shearman & Sterling LLP, where he practiced for 28 years. His practice involved a variety of complex commercial litigation for US and foreign clients, with particular emphasis on securities class actions and matters involving financial institutions, fraud allegations, and cross-border issues. Mr. Polovoy has been recognized in leading client publications, including The Legal 500, Benchmark Litigation, and Law360. He was a member of his law firm’s Conflicts & Ethics Committee and served on the firm’s Practice Management Committee. Mr. Polovoy also served on the Board of Directors of The Legal Aid Society and had an active pro bono practice. Mr. Polovoy earned his JD at Georgetown University Law Center and his AB at Duke University.


William D. Rueckert
President, Oyster Management Group

William Dodge Rueckert has been a trustee of International House since 1984 and is the former Chair of the Executive Committee. He is a descendant of Cleveland H. Dodge, an original founder of International House, and is the president of the Cleveland H. Dodge Foundation. Mr. Rueckert also serves as president of Oyster Management Group, LLC, an investment partnership specializing in community banking in Southport, Connecticut and is active in a number of finance, real estate, and biotechnology enterprises. His Board affiliations include Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Teachers College, Columbia University, the American University of Beirut (AUB) and Chairman of the YMCA Retirement Fund. Mr. Rueckert is a graduate of the University of New Hampshire.


Leah Rush Cann
Research Analyst

Leah Rush Cann is the Founder and CEO of Leah Rush Cann Consulting, LLC, an oncology and cancer research consulting organization. Previously she was a Managing Director and Senior Biotechnology Analyst at Oppenheimer & Co. in the Life Sciences practice. She began her career as a research scientist with Memtec Corporation and moved to Wall Street in 1992, where she was a research analyst with Oppenheimer for nearly nine years. Ms. Cann was a healthcare analyst and portfolio manager for the Boston-based asset manager, Cadence Capital, and later the senior biotechnology analyst for Wachovia Securities. Twice recognized as an All-Star analyst by the Wall Street Journal. Ms. Cann received a BA in Art History and Chemistry and an MBA from Stetson University. She was a post-baccalaureate at the College of William and Mary and a post-graduate at Columbia University. She has served on the Board of Directors of MEI Pharma, Inc. and currently serves on the Advisory Board of the RNA Institute at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center’s Cancer Center.


Julia Shannon

Julia Shannonis a New York-based professional with over a decade of experience working in art and luxury sales, most recently with Christie’s. She has worked with Megan Fox Kelly Art Advisory, researching artwork for appraisals, and for the womenswear brand Elizabeth McKay, managing wholesale and retail sales and marketing. Ms. Shannon brings to her work a passion for delivering exceptional customer service and has a track record of successfully achieving individual and team sales targets, identifying customer needs, and nurturing meaningful long-term relationships with a variety of clients. She graduated with a BA from Hamilton College with a focus on studio art and studied abroad in London through NYU.


Lauren C. States
Technology Executive, Independent Director

Lauren States is an experienced technology executive, widely recognized for the development, growth and mentoring of leaders within IBM and across the business and academic communities. Prior to her retirement, she was VP, Strategy and Transformation for IBM Software Group, responsible for the sales force strategy for the company’s multibillion-dollar software business. Previously, she was a leader in IBM’s transformation to cloud computing, serving as CTO in corporate strategy. Currently, Ms. States serves as an independent director on the publicly held corporation boards of Clean Harbors, Inc. (NYSE:CLH), Diebold Nixdorf (NYSE:DBD) and Webster Financial Corporation (NYSE:WBS). Across these boards, she serves as a member of the Audit, Risk, Nominating and Corporate Governance, Technology and Environmental, Health and Safety committees. She also serves as a Director for Code Nation.

Ms. States holds a BS in Economics from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and a Certificate in Business Excellence from Columbia University Business School Executive Education. She has a CERT Certificate in Cybersecurity Oversight, issued by the NACD and Carnegie Mellon University. She also served as a Commissioner on the NACD Blue Ribbon Commission report on “Culture as a Corporate Asset.” Ms. States was inducted into the Women in Technology International, Women in Science and Technology Hall of Fame in 2014 and completed a Fellowship with Harvard University’s Advanced Leadership Initiative in 2015. In 2018, she received the Grace Hoadley Dodge Community Leadership Award from the YWCA of New York City. Women Inc. magazine named her one of 2019’s Most Influential Corporate Board Directors.


Susan L. Stupin
Co-founder & Managing Director, The Prescott Group

As Co-Founder and Managing Director of The Prescott Group LLC, a NY-based real estate investment and asset management firm and operating partner active in the US and internationally, Susan Stupin serves on Prescott’s Management, Operating, and Investment Committees. The firm invests in a variety of product sectors as well as real estate enterprises. Ms. Stupin has specialized expertise in the strategic planning and recapitalization of corporate net leased real estate as well as in the retail sector. She also structures and raises capital for real estate investments and entities formed or acquired by the firm. The firm also selectively provides advisory and investment banking services. Prior to co-founding Prescott, Ms. Stupin was an executive at Goldman Sachs in the firm’s real estate investment banking group.

Ms. Stupin received an AB degree from Princeton University and an MBA from Harvard University. She is a longstanding member and leader of the global real estate industry organization, the Urban Land Institute (“ULI”), where she is a member of the Urban Development/Mixed Use Council, Blue Flight; chaired the UD/MUC Silver Flight; and also served as Vice Chair of ULI’s Program Committee. She is a member of WX New York Women Executives in Real Estate as well as the Women’s Forum New York, and the International Women’s Forum. She serves on various non-profit boards, including International House, where she chairs the Investment Committee and is a member of the Finance Committee. She is a former Board member of the American Farm School in Thessaloniki, Greece as well as the Museum of American Finance in New York City.


Karen E. Sutton
Chief Administrative Officer | Business Process Improvement | Executive Project Management, Sotheby’s

Karen Sutton is a senior executive with 25+ years leading operations departments with $33M-$1.5B budgets and $45-$150M capital construction projects. She has designed and driven complex, multi-team, enterprise initiatives, rejuvenated HR, IT, marketing and sales systems to instill discipline and efficiency, and ensured no disruptions to client service—even while organizations were undergoing seismic shifts.

As CAO at Sotheby’s, Ms. Sutton led the completion of the construction renovation project at corporate headquarters at 1334 York Avenue. The project included rebuilding floors and consolidating the majority of public and client spaces within the building with no interruption of day-to-day business operations. Prior to this, Ms. Sutton was responsible for the operations division of Sotheby’s as Chief Operating Officer and held leadership roles in Operations, Worldwide Marketing and Global Client Development. In addition to division management responsibilities, Ms. Sutton has been involved in several major initiatives and projects. Beginning in 1998, she was responsible for the expansion of the New York offices and oversaw all elements of the $150 million, 400,000 square foot renovation and new construction from the planning, phased construction, financial reporting and community relations. In 2011, she was instrumental in managing contract negotiations with Sotheby’s Union art handlers. In 2013-2014, Karen led the 1334 York Building valuation, financial modeling, re-stack and program design to present to the Board. She successfully defended the valuation of the building and the consulting team and additionally worked with the Americas Executive team to identify and deliver savings in operational areas, which was implemented by the facilities, operations and catalogue production teams.  In March 2015, Ms. Sutton assumed the role of Interim Managing Director, Americas and was promoted to Chief Administrative Officer in March 2016 with responsibility for critical strategic projects such as the global real estate strategy.


Marianne Tesler
Fashion and Art Consultant

Throughout her career, Marianne Tesler has led major companies in the USA and Europe. In the USA, she was the CEO of Art Partner, the leading fashion agency in photography, style, hair and makeup. Prior to that role, she served as CEO and President for American fashion designer Rachel Roy. In France, she was the CEO and President of the luxury brand Givenchy and then of Nike France. She was also the Controller of Whirlpool US and the VP of Logistics of Whirlpool Europe. A native of France, Ms. Tesler currently sits on several fashion and nonprofit Boards.


Ross C. Youngman ’91
Former CEO, Ausbil Investment Management

In 2023, Ross Youngman retired as CEO of Ausbil Investment Management, a leading Australian equities specialist with over A$12 billion assets under management. Established in 1997, Ausbil’s core business is the management of Australian and global equities for major pension funds, institutional and individual investors. Ausbil is owned by its employees and New York Life Investment Management, which has more than US $500 billion in assets under management and a number of boutique affiliates including Mackay Shields, Candriam Investors Group and New York Life Real Estate. Prior to his time with Ausbil, Mr. Youngman was CEO of Five Oceans Management, an international funds management business he founded in 2005. He also held positions at Deutsche Asset Management and Bankers Trust, both in Australia and in New York. Mr. Youngman lived at International House while obtaining an MBA from Columbia Business School. He has a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Tasmania, is also a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, and has sat on several Australian Stock Exchange Listed company boards.


Fareed Zakaria
Author | Columnist | Host, CNN

Fareed Zakaria hosts Fareed Zakaria GPS, an international and domestic affairs program on that airs Sundays on CNN/U.S. and around the world on CNN International. The forum is a television destination for global newsmakers, U.S. politicians, CEOs, and thought-leading authors and journalists. He is a columnist for The Washington Post and is the author of several books. Mr. Zakaria was editor of Newsweek International from 2000 to 2010 and a columnist for Newsweek. Prior to his tenure at Newsweek, Zakaria was managing editor of Foreign Affairs, a leading journal of international politics and economics from 1992 to 2010. He has served as an analyst for ABC News, a roundtable member of the ABC News political affairs program This Week with George Stephanopoulos, and as the host of Foreign Exchange with Fareed Zakaria on PBS. Mr. Zakaria has won numerous awards and been named to various lists, including Foreign Policy magazine’s list of “Top 100 Global Thinkers” and Newsweek‘s “Power 50” list of the most influential political figures of 2010. In 1999, Esquire magazine named Zakaria “One of the 21 Most Important People of the 21st Century.”


Jianyu Zhang
Chair of ICBC US Region, General Manager of ICBC NY, Chair of the Board of Directors of ICBC (USA) NA and ICBC FS

Jianyu Zhang holds multiple leadership roles at ICBC (Industrial and Commercial Bank of China). Prior to her current roles in the US, Dr. Zhang had served as Deputy General Manager of the Personal Banking Department of ICBC, as well as Deputy General Manager of the Private Banking Department. She contributed to the growth of ICBC’s personal banking and wealth management business, which both maintained dominant market share in the Chinese market. During that period, ICBC’s Personal Banking and Private Banking business was ranked as “Best Consumer Bank” and “Best Private Bank” in China by Global FinanceAsian BankerThe Asset, and Euromoney more than once.


HONORARY TRUSTEES
Henry A. Kissinger *
Daisy M. Soros ’51

LIFE TRUSTEES
John R.H. Blum
Gordon W. Evans
Thomas P. Hirschfeld
Kenneth M. Kramer
William S. Moody
Russell S. Reynolds, Jr.

PAST CHAIRS
George W. Ball
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Gerald R. Ford
George C. Marshall
John J. McCloy
David Rockefeller
Henry L. Stimson
Paul A. Volcker
George W. Wickersham
Charles W. Yost

* Former Chair

INTERNATIONAL TRUSTEES
Mark Eyskens ’57 – Belgium
Patricia Hamzahee ’83 – United Kingdom
Phillip W. Henderson – Hong Kong
Nand Khemka ’56 – India
Klaus P. Moessle ’85- Germany
John Bing Sing Pek ’68 – At Large
Timothy C. Purcell – At Large
Bien Kiat Tan ’79 – Singapore
Yuqiang Xiao – Hong Kong
Kashif Zafar – United Kingdom
Karin Zinkann ’57 – Germany