This article is part of a series of explainer pieces by the Voice on some of the most important topics on campus. Other articles in the series can be found here.
Georgetown’s Board of Directors (BOD) is composed of between 10 and 50 (currently 40) individuals who are tasked with approving all major changes made by the university, including educational programs, tuition, the budget, and university buildings and land.
Though most members are alumni or have a connection to the university, the Washington D.C. area, or the Jesuit order, those connections are not required to serve on the Board. The university president, chairman of the board of regents, president of the alumni association, and CEO of Medstar are all automatically granted seats on the Board.
Most members of the BOD are wealthy, and hold positions of power in the financial, technology, or other sectors. A majority are multimillionaires, nationally recognized for their influence in their industry, or both.
Georgetown’s BOD is 70 percent alumni, and seven of the 40 members have additional Jesuit connections. One quarter of the members have made publicly announced sizable donations to the university. Eleven members are women, and ten are people of color. Four of those are Black, but there are no Black women. There is one woman of color on the BOD.
Directors serve three-year terms and can serve up to two terms at a time and can be reelected for as many terms as they like as long as one year passes between each six-year period they serve on the Board.
Below is a short profile of each of the current members of the board, along with their connection to Georgetown.
Who: William Doyle (COL ’72)
Position: Chair
Location: Northbrook, Illinois
Employment: Former President and CEO, PotashCorp
Connection to university: Alumnus, parent, and donor
What else: Doyle served as the CEO of PotashCorp, then the world’s largest fertilizer component production company, for 15 years before his appointment as chair of the board in 2015. In 2007, he was the highest-paid CEO in Canada, earning over $320 million. In 2014, Harvard Business Review recognized Doyle as the 10th ranked CEO in the world. In 2009, Doyle and his wife helped establish the Doyle Engaging Difference Program, which they later made a $10 million contribution to Georgetown to permanently endow the program. The program is a collaboration between Georgetown College, the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace and World Affairs and the Center for New Designs in Learning and Scholarship, and is aimed to promote tolerance and global awareness.
Who: Peter Clare (MSB ’87)
Position: Vice Chair
Location: Washington, D.C.
Employment: Managing Director, Chief Investment Officer of Corporate Private Equity, The Carlyle Group
Connection to university: Alumnus
What else: Clare has been with the Carlyle Group, an American multinational private equity, asset management and financial services corporation that manages nearly $2 billion in investments, since 1999, and has worked in private equity the vast majority of his career. Clare is worth at least $4 million, and makes approximately $3,431,440 annually. He is also on the Board of Directors at Signode Industrial Group LLC and Booz Allen Hamilton, Inc. Clare was profiled by the Washington Post in 2018.
Who: Sr. Carol Keehan
Position: Vice Chair
Location: Washington, D.C.
Employment: Retired President and Chief Executive Officer, Catholic Health Association of the United States
Connection to university: Catholic thought leader. She’s also been featured by the Berkeley Center.
What else: Keehan served as the CEO at the Catholic Health Association of the United States, the largest group of non-profit health care providers in the nation, for 15 years, and worked in health care most of her career. She was awarded the Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice by Pope Benedict XVI and in 2010 was named one of Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in the World.
Who: Timothy O’Neill (LAW ’77)
Position: Vice Chair
Location: New York City, New York
Employment: Managing Director, Global Co-Head, Investment Management Division, Goldman Sachs & Co.
Connection to university: Alumnus and donor
What else: O’Neill joined Goldman Sachs in 1985 and became a partner in 1990. He currently serves on the Management Committee, Goldman’s most senior governing body. Together with his wife Linda, also a Georgetown alum, he founded the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law at Georgetown Law in 2007, which aims to respond to the “need for innovative solutions to the most pressing national and international health concerns.” They also made a gift for the O’Neill Law Alumni Center in the Eric E. Hotung International Law Center Building and donated the O’Neill Family Foundation Clinical Simulation Center in St. Mary’s Hall. Linda was formerly on the Board of Regents at Georgetown. The Regents are alumni who serve as ambassadors for the university among other professionals “advance the reputation of the university,” according to their site.
Who: Thomas Reynolds III (MSB ’74)
Position: Vice Chair
Location: Chicago, Illinois
Employment: Partner, Winston and Strawn LLP
Connection to university: Alumnus and donor
What else: Reynolds has worked at Winston and Strawn, an international law firm and one of the oldest and largest firms in Chicago, since 1983. His father, Thomas Reynolds Jr., served as the firm’s managing chairman before his retirement. Reynolds has represented clients such as Carbon County Coal Company, Gannett Co., Philip Morris, and United Airlines. In 2016, he donated a sizable contribution (in the millions) to Georgetown Law to fund technological upgrades in classrooms in McDonough Hall.
Who: Fr. Daniel Villanueva, S.J. (GEMBA ’15)
Position: Vice Chair
Location: Madrid, Spain
Employment: Director General, Fundación Entreculturas
Connection to university: Alumnus, Jesuit
What else: Villanueva is a Jesuit who specializes in digital communication and coordination. He is the director of Entreculturas, a Jesuit organization that advocates for quality education around the world. He is also the head of the Cooperation Area of the Society of Jesus in Spain.
Who: Abdulla bin Ali Al-Thani
Location: Doha, Qatar
Employment: President of the new Hamad Bin Khalifa University in the State of Qatar, member of the ruling family
Connection to university: Prominent education advocate in Qatar, where Georgetown has a satellite campus
What else: Al Thani has served on the boards of many educational institutions, including Qatar University and the World Innovation Summit for Education. He’s also the managing director of the Qatar Leadership Centre, which is in partnership with McDonough School of Business. He was named a young global leader by the World Economic Forum and one of the world’s most influential Muslims by the Muslim 500.
Who: Joseph Baratta (MSB ’93)
Location: New York City, New York
Employment: Global Head of Private Equity, Blackstone Group
Connection to university: Alumnus
What else: Barratta has been at Blackstone, an investment management firm, since 1998, and is on their Board of Directors. His name has been included in discussions about Blackstone’s next CEO. Barratta is worth at least $90 million.
Who: Rosemary Berkery
Location: New York City, New York
Employment: Retired, most recently vice chairman of UBS Wealth Management Americas and chairman/CEO of UBS Bank USA
Connection to university: Parent, donor
What else: Berkery has held various leadership positions in the wealth management industry, working for 25 years at Merrill Lynch before she joined UBS to build a wealth management bank for high net worth clients. She’s been identified as one of the leading women in the industry, and was named by the American Banker as one of the “Top 25 Most Powerful Women in Finance” in and by Fortune as one of “5 Women to Watch.” She’s also been spotlighted by Irish America. She’s listed as a “sustainer level” donor to the Maria and Alberto de la Cruz Gallery on campus, and is also a member of the Board of Regents.
Who: W. Robert Berkley. Jr. (MSB ‘95)
Location: Greenwich, Connecticut
Employment: President and CEO, W.R. Berkley Corporation
Connection to university: Alumnus, had family on board who were donors
What else: Berkley has worked at Berkley, an insurance holding company his father founded (and number 402 on the Fortune 500), for over 20 years, after he left his job as an investment banker at Merrill Lynch. He made just over $11 million in compensation in 2019. He also serves on the Board of Advisors of the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown. His father, William Berkley, also served on the Board of Directors and in 2006 made a donation to Georgetown creating the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs, which is named after him.
Who: Afsaneh Mashayekhi Beschloss
Location: Washington, D.C.
Employment: Founder and CEO, RockCreek
Connection to university: Unclear, but is a D.C. resident
What else: Mashayekhi Beschloss is the founder and CEO of RockCreek, a leading global investment firm that manages $14 billion. Before founding the firm, she worked at J.P. Morgan and the World Bank, and held a management position at the Carlyle Group. Mashayekhi Beschloss was born in Iran, and in 2020 Carnegie gave her the “Great Immigrants” award. Also in 2020, Beschloss was named by Barron’s as one of the “100 Most Influential Women in U.S. Finance.”
Who: Bruce Blume (LAW ’80)
Location: Seattle, Washington
Employment: Founder and Chairman, Blume Company Real Estate
Connection to university: Alumnus, parent, and donor
What else: Blume founded his real estate business out of law school, which primarily operates in Seattle. He has hosted former President Barack Obama at his home twice, and with his wife operates the Bruce and Ann Blume Fund, which supports public health, educational and environmental endeavors. In 2018, the Blumes donated $10 million to Georgetown Law, the largest single gift the school had ever received, to establish the Blume Public Leadership Institute.
Who: Frank Ciatto (MSB ’88, LAW ’94)
Location: Washington, D.C.
Employment: Partner at Venable, LLP
Connection to university: Alumnus, parent, president of the Georgetown University Alumni Association (GUAA)
What else: As the president of the Alumni Association, Ciatto is guaranteed a seat on the board. Ciatto has remained involved with the alumni network since graduation, serving in fundraising and mentorship positions. He was elected to the GUAA Board of Governors in 2003 and has as the GUAA Treasurer as well as Chair of the Audit and Finance, Awards, and Class Advancement Committees. Ciatto practices corporate law at Venable, a nationally recognized law firm founded in Baltimore.
Who: Anthony Coscia (SFS ’81)
Location: New Brunswick, New Jersey
Employment: Partner, Windels Marx Lane & Mittendorf, LLP
Connection to university: Alumnus
What else: In addition to working as a corporate lawyer, Coscia is on the Executive Committee at Windels Marx, which is regularly ranked as one of the nation’s top law firms. Since 2013, he has also served as the chairman of the Board of Directors for Amtrak, where he is responsible for oversight and a $7 billion budget.
Who: Peter Croncota (MSB ’83)
Location: New York City, New York
Employment: Director of school and program partnerships at a KIPP Academy Charter School
Connection to university: Alumnus, chair of Georgetown University Board of Regents
What else: Before joining Kipp, the nation’s largest network of public charter schools, Croncota worked at Bear Stearns until 2004. He currently serves as the chair of the Board of Regents, which guarantees him membership on the Board of Directors.
Who: John DeGioia (COL ’79, GRAD ’95)
Location: Washington, D.C.
Employment: President, Georgetown University
Connection to university: Alumnus and president
What else: As president, DeGioia is guaranteed a seat on the Board. He’s held that position since 2001, and worked in university leadership before his appointment. He’s the first lay president of the school, and made $1.1 million in 2019.
Who: Marijn Dekkers
Location: London, United Kingdom
Employment: Chairman, Novalis Life Sciences, LLC
Connection to university: Unclear
What else: Dekkers is a Dutch-American who spent most of his career as a pharmaceutical businessman, serving as the head of three companies before founding Novalis, a life science investment and advisory firm. His estimated net worth is $3.5 million.
Who: Suzanne Donohoe (COL ’92)
Location: New York City, New York
Employment: Global head of Strategic Growth, KKR
Connection to university: Alumnus, member of the Board of Advisors for the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, co-chair of Georgetown’s Wall Street Alliance Board of Directors
What else: Donohoe has worked at KKR, a global investment firm, since 2009 and serves on a variety of internal boards for the firm. In August, she was named as the first global head of strategic growth for the company. Before joining KKR, she was the head of Goldman Sachs Asset Management International.
Who: Mary Callahan Erdoes (COL ’89)
Location: New York City, New York
Employment: CEO, Asset & Wealth Management, J.P. Morgan
Connection to university: Alumnus
What else: Erdoes is a global leader in investment management, responsible for nearly $3 billion in client assets. She sits on J.P. Morgan’s operating committee, and was cited as one of the main advocates forJ.P. Morgan to keep Jeffry Epstein as a client following his convictions for sex crimes in 2008. She’s been at J.P. Morgan for two decades. In 2019, Forbes ranked her as the 31st most powerful woman in the world.
Who: Thomas Farley (COL ’97)
Location: New York City, New York
Employment: Chairman and CEO, Far Point LLC
Connection to university: Alumnus
What else: Farley was formerly president of the New York Stock Exchange from 2014 to 2018. Since then, he has served as the CEO of Far Point, a blank check company. His net worth is at least $17 million.
Who: Fr. John Fitzgibbons, S.J.
Location: Denver, Colorado
Employment: President, Regis University
Connection to university: President of fellow Jesuit university
What else: Fitzgibbons has been the president of Regis since 2012, and has been in collegiate education since 1993. He entered the Society of Jesus in 1973 and was ordained a priest in 1985. The two universities work together, and DeGioia gave Regis’ commencement speech in 2018.
Who: Antoine Garibaldi
Location: Detroit, Michigan
Employment: President, University of Detroit Mercy
Connection to university: President of fellow Jesuit university, previously worked at Howard
What else: Garibaldi is the first lay president and the first Black president at Detroit Mercy, another Jesuit school. He attended Howard University and taught school in D.C. out of college before returning to his alma mater, Detroit Mercy, as provost. Nearly all of his career has been in higher education.
Who: Amy Goldman (SFS ’86)
Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota
Employment: CEO and Chair, GHR Foundation
Connection to university: Alumnus
What else: Goldman is the CEO of GHR Foundation, a philanthropic organization that provides grants in the areas of global development, education and Alzheimer’s prevention. Before she joined GHR in 2009, Goldman served on the board for Opus Holding, a real estate company in Minnesota, and studied the intersection of global politics and economics. Goldman also serves on the board of advisors for the Walsh School of Foreign Service and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
Who: Bonnie Gwin (SFS ’82, MSFS ’83)
Where: New York City, New York
Employment: Vice Chairman & Co-Managing Partner of the Global CEO & Board Practice Heidrick & Struggles
Connection to university: Alumnus
What else: Gwin has been at Heidrick & Struggles, an executive search firm, since 1997, after leaving a 12-year stint at IBM. According to Heidrick & Struggles’ site, she focuses on CEO searches and board makeup and diversity. Her base salary in 2003, as the managing partner of North American operations, was $350,000 annually. She was previously a member of the Georgetown Board of Regents.
Who: Fr. Daniel Patrick Huang, S.J.
Where: Rome, Italy
Employment: Professor at Pontifical Gregorian University
Connection to university: Jesuit educator, D.C.-educated
What else: Huang was ordained in 1988, and has worked in theological education at several schools. From 2000 to 2008, he lived in the Philippines, working in the seminary and later as the Provincial Superior of the Jesuits in the Philippines. Before beginning at Gregorian in 2019, he spent 11 years in the central office of the Society of Jesus in Rome. He was educated at the Catholic University of America in D.C.
Who: Kathleen Hugin (COL ’82)
Where: Summit, New Jersey
Employment: Former bond trader
Connection to university: Alumnus and donor
What else: Hugin worked as a bond trader in the 1980s, serving as an assistant vice president in the Eurobond trading department of Dean Witter Reynolds Inc. In 1987, she married Robert Hugin, the former executive chairman of a biopharmaceutical company who unsuccessfully challenged New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez for his seat in 2018. Robert Hugin was criticized for drastically raising the prices of several drugs his company produced. The couple made $34 million between 2015 and 2016, and another $47 million in 2017 and the first half of 2018. They donated $3.6 million to Georgetown in 2014 to expand Georgetown’s Ethics Lab.
Who: Tyree Jones, Jr. (LAW ’86)
Where: Washington, D.C.
Employment: Partner, Reed Smith LLP
Connection to university: Alumnus and D.C. resident, parent
What else: Jones is a trial lawyer focusing on class action cases who currently serves as the chair of the global Labor and Employment Group and a member of the Executive Committee at Reed Smith, a global law firm. He previously served as their firmwide director of diversity. Jones is also the chair of the Georgetown University African American Advisory Board, and sits on the Georgetown University Law Center Strategic Planning Council. He received the highest honor bestowed by the Law Center, the Paul R. Dean Alumni Award, in 2006 and received the John Carroll Award in 2019.
Who: Sonny Kalsi (MSB ’90)
Where: New York City, New York
Employment: CEO, BentallGreenOak
Connection to university: Alumnus
What else: Kalsi was the founder and partner at Green Oak Real Estate, a real estate investment management firm, which recently merged to form BentallGreenOak. Before that, he served as the Global Co-Head of Morgan Stanley’s Real Estate Investing business, where he worked for 18 years.. He currently teaches at Columbia University in the Real Estate Development Program and sits on the executive committee at Georgetown’s Steers Center for Global Real Estate.
Who: Susan Karches (COL ’74)
Location: Locust Valley, New York
Employment: Philanthropist
Connection to university: Alumnus, donor
What else: Karches is the widow of Peter Karches, the former president of Morgan Stanley’s investment-banking division, and was nicknamed one of the “real housewives of Wall Street.” In 2011, she was the subject of controversy when she received a multi-million dollar loan from the Fed as part of the Wall Street bailout. Karches, already wealthy, used this money to purchase securities. She and her husband, also a Georgetown alum, have been involved in the university’s governance for a extended time. While he was still alive, Peter served on the board of the McDonough School of Business, the Board of Regents, and the university’s Board of Directors. The Karches Scholars program was established in his honor through donations by Susan and other alumni.
Who: Hon. Bonnie McElveen-Hunter
Location: Greensboro, North Carolina
Employment: CEO/Owner, Pace Communications
Connection to university: Owns home in D.C., diplomat
What else: McElveen-Hunter is the first female chair of the Board of Governors of the American Red Cross. She founded and runs Pace Communications, the largest independently-owned U.S. marketing agency, and served as the U.S. ambassador to Finland from 2001 until 2003. In these positions, she has united female business leaders and supported women in leadership. McElveen-Hunter owns a townhouse in Georgetown, which was featured in Washington Life.
Who: Dikembe Mutombo (COL ’91)
Location: Atlanta, Georgia
Employment: President & CEO, Dikembe Mutombo Foundation, Inc.
Connection to university: Alumnus, parent
What else: Mutombo is one of Georgetown’s most famous former basketball players. After leaving Georgetown, he went on to play 18 seasons with the NBA on six teams, winning NBA Defensive Player of the Year four times, and was an All-Star 8 times. In 2015, he was inducted into the Hall of Fame. Since 1997, Mutombo has run his foundation, which aims to improve living conditions in his home country of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The foundation partnered with Georgetown in 2012 to provide vision-care for low-income children in the District. In October of 2020, his son, Ryan, who also plays basketball, announced he was committing to play at Georgetown.
Who: James O’Hara (COL ’88, LAW ’92)
Location: San Francisco, California
Employment: President, TSG Consumer Partners
Connection to university: Alumnus
What else: O’Hara is the president of TSG Consumer, a private equity company that invests in consumer product companies. He previously worked as a corporate attorney and a consultant at Bain.
Who: Fr. Agbonkhianmeghe Orobator, S.J. (GEMBA ’16)
Location: Nairobi, Kenya
Employment: Reverend, Jesuit Conference of Africa and Madagascar
Connection to university: Alumnus, Jesuit
What else: Orobater served as the Provincial Superior of the Eastern Africa Province of the Society of Jesus for five years, until 2014. He is currently the President of the Jesuit Conference of Africa and Madagascar (JCAM) and teaches at Hekima University in Kenya. He worked on the GEMBA Legacy project in 2016, Project Kenya, which raised money for a music program at a high school for AIDS orphans in the country.
Who: Michael Psaros (MSB ’89)
Location: New York City, New York
Employment: Co-Founder and Co-Managing Director, KPS Capital Partners, LP
Connection to university: Alumnus, donor, and parent
What else: Psaros is a co-founder and managing partner of KPS Capital Partners, a family of private equity funds managing about $12 billion in assets. Before founding the firm, he was an investment banker with Bear Sternes. He is one of the wealthiest Greek-Americans. Psaros serves as the vice chairman of the Executive Board of Advisors of Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business and is on the Board of Advisors of the Georgetown University Center for Financial Markets and Policy. In 2013, he made a donation to the university endowing The Michael and Robin Psaros Endowed Chair in Business Administration.
Who: Thomas Purcell (SFS ’93)
Location: New York City, New York
Employment: President and CEO, Lake Trail Capital
Connection to university: Alumnus, parent, and donor
What else: Purcell has worked in investment and wealth management since 1998, founding his own office, Lake Trail Capital, in 2015. At Lake Trail, he has invested his own personal fortune. While at Georgetown, he played on the baseball team. Purcell and his wife Marina run a foundation, which currently has $13 million in assets. Through that foundation, they have given $500,000 to Georgetown.
Who: Kenneth Samet
Location: Columbia, Maryland
Employment: President and Chief Executive Officer, MedStar Health Inc.
Connection to university: Medstar CEO
What else: Samet has worked for MedStar since its inception in 1998, and has served as the president since 2008. He has held a variety of leadership positions in healthcare organizations, and he serves on the Greater Washington board of Trade. He sits on the board of Luminex, a biotechnology company, and is estimated to be worth at least $1.3 million. In 2010, he made $2,647,227, the second highest salary of a CEO of a Baltimore-area hospital.
Who: Ann Sarnoff (MSB ’83)
Location: Los Angeles, California
Employment: Chair and CEO, Warner Bros.
Connection to university: Alumnus, donor
What else: Sarnoff became the CEO of Warner Bros in 2019, the first woman to hold the position. Before that, she held various executive positions in television and communications, working at Viacom, BBC, and Dow Jones Ventures. She also sits on the board of Paypal and is the vice chair of the advisory board of the McDonough School of Business. In 2019, she made a three-part donation to the MSB to fund the McDonough Dean’s Leadership Fund, to establish the Ann Misiaszek Sarnoff and Richard Sarnoff Endowed Scholarship for first-generation students, and to establish Ann Misiaszek Sarnoff and Richard Sarnoff Capital Fund, which will help pay expenses for a new Venture Lab on the ground floor of Harbin Hall.
Who: Fr. Antonio Spadaro, S.J
Location: Rome, Italy
Employment: Editor in Chief, La Civiltà Cattolica
Connection to university: Jesuit
What else: Spadaro is an Italian journalist and priest. Since 2011, he has served as the editor-in-chief of La Civiltà Cattolica, a Jesuit journal. He has published a number of articles critiquing the Trump administration and American Catholics who support the conservative movement. He helps run the China Forum for Civilizational Dialogue in collaboration with Georgetown.
Who: Kevin Warren (MSB ’84)
Location: Atlanta, Georgia
Employment: Chief Marketing Officer, UPS
Connection to university: Alumnus, D.C. Native
What else: Warren has been the chief marketing officer at UPS since 2018, and has previously worked in similar positions for Xerox. Savoy Magazine named Warren one of the 100 most influential Black executives in corporate America. His net worth is at least $8.55 million, and he makes $4.5 million annually. Warren grew up in the Petworth neighborhood of D.C.
Who: Fernando Zobel de Ayala
Location: Makati City, Philippines
Employment: President and COO, Ayala Corporation
Connection to university: Unclear
What else: Zobel de Ayala is a member of one of the Phillppine’s most prominent families and 43rd richest family in Asia, with a net worth of over $6 billion. In April of 2021, he will take over for his brother as head of the Ayala corporation, which primarily develops real estate properties. Ayala is the country’s oldest business house. Zobel de Ayala is also a chairman or co-chairman at over 15 finance, energy, communications, and other assorted companies.
