Amidst proposals to broaden the perspective of the Board of Trustees by increasing the diversity of its members, the Board elected charter trustees Trevor Rees-Jones '73 and Peggy Epstein Tanner '79 at its June meeting. Their addition has increased the number of trustees coming from business backgrounds to 13 of the 22 total members, but is also purported to strengthen the Board's regional diversity and relationship with the student body.
At the time of Rees-Jones' appointment, College President Jim Yong Kim and former Board Chairman Ed Haldeman '70 said that as the founder of Chief Oil and Gas and the only trustee from Texas, Rees-Jones will add geographic diversity to the Board, which is largely composed of individuals from the East Coast.
Rees-Jones and his wife also donated $10 million to the College in 2008, requesting the money be used for need-based scholarships, preferably for students from their home state of Texas. Rees-Jones has also served as a member of the President's Leadership Council, a group of alumni involved in discussions of the College's strategic priorities.
Rees-Jones graduated from Dartmouth with a degree in history and went on to earn a JD from Southern Methodist University's Dedman School of Law, making him one of three sitting trustees with professional legal training.
"I think that the Board has many members who have excelled in their particular field, and there are many different fields represented," Rees-Jones told The Dartmouth. "I don't know that the fact I'm from the energy or the oil and gas business is as important as the exposure to a number of different businesses that the Board would benefit from."
Tanner, who also received a history degree from the College, spent over 10 years working for Morgan Stanley and Chemical Bank, The Dartmouth previously reported.
Tanner's membership on the Board may also generate closer ties between the student body and the Board, as her son, Eric Tanner '11, is the current Student Body president.
The attention to variety when choosing new trustees has become more evident in recent elections, and continues to grow in importance.
In an April meeting, the Board confirmed Morton Kondracke '60 and John Replogle '88 following their election by alumni, The Dartmouth previously reported.
Kondracke, who ran uncontested, brought experience as a journalist, having spent over 40 years covering news at such media entities as Newsweek, National Public Radio and Fox News, according to a College press release.
Replogle, the CEO of Burt's Bees and a pioneer in sustainable business practices, defeated petition candidate Joe Asch '79. Following the election, Replogle stressed the need for accessibility and cooperation within College governance.
The formal structure of the Board has been a similarly contentious issue in elections, with candidates like Asch pushing to maintain broad alumni representation on the board.
When the controversial decision to increase the size of the Board was made in 2003, then-chair Susan Dentzer '77 stressed the College's attempts "to have a balanced Board in terms of the different professions of our members, as well as their gender, age, race, ethnicity and state or country of residence," the Dartmouth previously reported. The Board was ultimately increased by six seats, split between charter and alumni-elected trustees.
In 2007, the Board expanded again, this time to add eight charter trustees. Parity between the two types of seats has since been a campaign talking point, following two lawsuits filed by alumni against the College in an attempt to restore parity.
One of the recent charter appointments was made to fill one of the seats added during the expansion.
The other appointment was made to replace Pamela Joyner '79, who founded investment consulting firm Avid Partners, LLC, following stints at several other finance companies, according to her College biography.
The Board's appointments over the years have largely been comprised of successful figures in the business and investment spheres.
In April 2000, the Board elected Michael Chu '68, who brought a background in consulting, general management, investment and merchant banking.
Christine Burnely Bucklin '84, who was elected in 2001, spent over a decade working for McKinsey and Company as a management consultant and partner before starting a career at CarsDirect.com.
Leon Black '73, who was elected in May 2002, was the founder of Apollo Management equity investment firm in New York.
Rees-Jones is also one of four trustees who have been named to Forbes' list of the 400 richest people in America, tying at 236th with Board Chairman Stephen Mandel '78 in 2009.
Black ranked 160th, while Steven Roth '62 placed 320th in the 2005 ranking, according to Forbes' website.
As the group of individuals responsible for a university's budget, administration and academic operations, a board of trustees should demonstrate diversity, ranging from academic to regional and ethnic diversity, according to Stanford University Associate Secretary of the Board Marty Higgins.
Even where individuals' experiences are focused in business, however, diversity may come by including a variety of academic majors and exposure to a wide range of corporations.
"It's important to get the best mix overall of people to make an organic whole," Higgins said in an interview. "Even if many [Stanford trustees] come from business backgrounds, they didn't all start out that way."
Commitment to philanthropy and active involvement in the college or university's community must also be taken into consideration when electing trustees, Higgins said.
Both Rees-Jones and Tanner have played prominent roles within the Dartmouth community over the years and have served on the boards of various humanitarian organizations.
Rees-Jones and his wife established the Rees-Jones Foundation to provide basic services such as housing and medical care to the impoverished in northern Texas, according to a College press release.
After a decade of working in a business environment, Tanner became involved in various nonprofit organizations, such as Seeds of Peace, FoodPatch, and the United Way of Harrison/Purchase, according to Dartmouth Now.
Tanner also served as chair of the Tucker Foundation's Board of Visitors, as the Class of 1979's head agent and as a member of the Alumni Council and chair of the Council's Nominating Committee.
Recent additions of trustee seats will also allow the Board to incorporate members from academia and other fields, according to Kim.
"I think we do need more people from academic backgrounds," Kim said in an interview. "We need to go out and find them, and there are some that we're looking at right now."
