The Alumni Council nominated Gail Koziara Boudreaux '82 and R. William Burgess '81 on Friday as its two nominees for the two open seats on the Board of Trustees, for which elections will occur on this Spring. Boudreaux and Burgess are being nominated for the seats that were vacated by Christine Bucklin '84 and Jose Fernandez '77, college officials announced atFriday's Council meeting.
Boudreaux and Burgess were nominated with 89 votes in favor and one abstention, according to a College press release.
Boudreaux, who is currently president of United Healthcare, received an MBA from Columbia University after graduating from the Dartmouth, according to a College press release. In 2009, Boudreaux was named no. 54 on Forbes' list of the world's 100 most powerful women and no. 38 on Fortune's list of the50 most powerful women in business, according to their respective websites.
Boudreaux has previously served as a representative on the Council, according to Council Chair Thomas Daniels '82, who presented the candidates to the Council.
Boudreaux is also one of the "premier athletes" to come out of Dartmouth, holding 12 College records, including a record for all-time scoring in women's basketball, Daniels said.
Boudreaux said her experience in health care would be beneficial as College President Jim Yong Kim works to launch Dartmouth's Center for Health Care Delivery Science. The effort provides an opportunity to "show real leadership" in figuring out issues to do with cost and quality of health care, she said during a press conference following the Council meeting.
Burgess, a managing partner at venture capital firm ABS Ventures, received an MBA from Harvard Business School, according to his company biography. He served in various capacities focusing on venture capital and corporatefinance at Deutsche Bank and Alex Brown and Sons.
Burgess said that, as a Trustee, it would be important to be a responsible steward of the College's assets and to be "willing to ask the tough questions" while also proposing innovative ideas.
He also noted that he intends to be "totally transparent" to alumni about his thoughts on the College, while also admitting what he has yet to learn. Burgess also expressed hope that he would be able to focus on meeting as many alumni as possible leading up to the election, rather than on campaigning.
"I'd rather not be in a position where I have to spend money campaigning against somebody else, because I'd rather give my resources to the College," he said during the press conference.
A member of Alpha Delta fraternity, Burgess served as Inter-Fraternity Council president while a student at the College, according to Daniels. He also played on the football, lacrosse and rugby teams, and served as chairof the reunion giving committee for the Class of 1981.
The Council's Nominating and Alumni Trustee Search Committee met 13 times to winnow down the group of 500 alumni under consideration as prospective nominees, Daniels said. The committee searched for alumni with anunderstanding of board governance who were accomplished in their fields and had a broad appeal among alumni, he said.
Extensive spending and negative campaigning that have occurred in past elections have made some prospective nominees less interested in running forthe Board, Daniels said.
The lack of success of negative campaigning in the most recent Board election, however, made prospective nominees moreconfident that they would not face the "ad hominem" attacks that characterized previous elections.
