At its annual board of trustees meeting, Carnegie Corporation of New York elected Helene L. Kaplan as chair of the board of trustees, her second term in this post. Kaplan succeeds Governor Thomas Kean whose term was completed after five years of committed leadership. At the meeting, the board also elected a new trustee, William McDonough, president and chief executive officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, and bid farewell to Vincent Mai, who completed his eight-year term as trustee this year.
Helene Kaplan has served on the board of Carnegie Corporation for two ten-year terms. She began her service in 1980 and held the title of chair from 1985-1990. She also was elected vice-chair twice, serving in that capacity from from 1981-1984 and from 1998 until the present. "We are extremely pleased Helene has accepted this appointment, said Vartan Gregorian, president of Carnegie Corporation. "She had the honor of being the first woman to chair our board and we look forward to her leadership again. She will undoubtedly help us to be even more effective in our programs and policies. Besides, we will benefit greatly from Helene's vast knowledge of social issues and her sage counsel."
"I have greatly enjoyed my involvement with Carnegie Corporation as a trustee. I am honored by, and look forward to, an opportunity to deepen and broaden my services to the Corporation as chair of the Board for a second term," said Kaplan.
Kaplan is Of Counsel to Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP and a director of serveral major corporations. She has served in the nonprofit sector as counsel or trustee of numerous scientific, arts, charitable and educational institutions and foundations. She was a member of the Carnegie Commission on Science, Technology and Government, and chaired its Task Force on Judicial and Regulatory Decision Making. From 1985 to 1987, Kaplan was a member of the U.S. Secretary of State's Advisory Committee on South Africa, and from 1986 to 1990, she served as a member of New York governor Mario Cuomo's Task Force on Life and the Law, concerned with the legal and ethical implications of advances in medical technology.
Columbia University awarded Kaplan an honorary doctorate of laws in 1990. In May 2001, Kaplan received an honorary doctorate of humane letters from Mount Sinai School of Medicine. She is a fellow of the American Philosophical Society and member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Commenting on Kean's leadership, Gregorian said, "Governor Kean's visionary leadership steered the foundation through a presidential transition and into a new century. His insight, judgment and intelligence have inspired the other trustees and foundation staff to aspire to achieve excellence."
William McDonough, currently the eighth president and chief executive officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, was elected unanimously to the board at the meeting. At the Federal Reserve Bank, he serves as the vice-chairman and a permanent member of the Federal Open Market Committee (FMOC), the group responsible for formulating the nation's monetary policy. McDonough also serves as a member of the Board of Directors of the Bank for International Settlements and the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision.
Prior to joining the New York Fed, McDonough served as an advisor to a variety of domestic and international organizations. He retired from East Chicago Corp. and its bank, First National Bank of Chicago, in 1989 after a twenty-two year career there. Before that, McDonough was with the U.S. State Department from 1961 to 1967 and the U.S. Navy from 1956 to 1961.
McDonough earned a master's degree in economics from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., and a bachelor's degree, also in economics, from Holy Cross College in Worcester, Massachusetts.
Gregorian said of McDonough's election, "McDonough is a brilliant and visionary leader and team builder who will bring all the instruments of his extraordinary career to bear on the foundation's development in the coming years. We welcome him to the Corporation's board and look forward to our years of collaboration."
Vincent Mai was thanked for his eight-year service as a member of the board of trustees by the president, fellow trustees and staff. "Your social conscience, your high aspirations for this foundation, your energetic commitment to excellence and your wisdom in our deliberations will be missed," said Gregorian. Mai has agreed to serve the Corporation as an advisor to the investment management committee of the board.
The board meeting also marked the retirement of Gloria Primm Brown, a senior program officer in the International Development program, after thirty-three years of service to the Corporation. Most recently she has lead the development of the Corporation's public library program in Africa, and also managed special initiatives on libraries that commemorated Andrew Carnegie's gift to American public libraries. For many years, she was a key member of the Corporation's education division and is credited with designing and shepherding its innovative and pathbreaking work on after-school and teen pregnancy programs. "Gloria's thoughtful and strategic leadership and superb organizational skills provided vital contributions to the development and guidance of important Corporation initiatives. She will be missed by all of us at the foundation," said Gregorian.
Carnegie Corporation of New York was created by Andrew Carnegie in 1911 to promote "the advancement and diffusion of knowledge and understanding." As a grantmaking foundation, the Corporation seeks to carry out Carnegie's vision of philanthropy, which he said should aim "to do real and permanent good in the world." The Corporation's capital fund, originally donated at a value of about $135 million, had a market value of $1.7 billion on September 30, 2001. The Corporation awards grants totaling approximately $75 million a year in the areas of education, international peace and security, international development and strengthening U.S. democracy.