After one four-year term, Trevor Rees-Jones '73 retired from the Board of Trustees following Commencement, the College announced Sunday. He was replaced by Gregory Maffei '82. The Board's termly meeting was Friday.
Including Rees-Jones, nine trustees elected before 2012 are expected to leave the 26-member Board in the next three years. Trustees typically sit two four-year terms.
Maffei, of Colorado, and his family donated the Maffei Arts Plaza that sits between Ellsworth Kelly's "Dartmouth Panels" and the Black Family Visual Arts Center. Maffei, a charter trustee, is president and CEO of Liberty Media Corporation, including subsidiaries Sirius XM Radio and the Atlanta Braves,and Liberty Interactive Corporation, which owns stake in TripAdvisor.com and other commercial websites.
College spokesperson Justin Anderson said Rees-Jones'sdecision to retirewas not unexpected, given the demands of Rees-Jones'scareer as well as Hanover's distance from his family home in Dallas.
"I think he just decided that it was going to be very difficult to be involved to the extent he would like to be, so it just made the most sense that he was going to end after one term," Anderson said.
At the end of their first term, charter trusteestypically declare their candidacy for a second term, which the other trustees then approve, Anderson said. Rees-Jones decided to end his involvement with the Board after his first term.
Trustees occasionally choose to leave the Board early for personal reasons, Anderson said.
Most recently, Marye Anne Fox Ph.D. '74, of California, left the Board after a two-year term due to travel and family issues.
Rees-Jones often hosted gatherings for newly admitted students in Texas, and during his time on the Board, student enrollment from Texas increased from 40 incoming members of the Class of 2014 to 57 for the Class of 2018, Anderson said.
Rees-Jones,president and CEO of Chief Oil and Gas LLC, has a net worth of approximately $4.6 billion, according to Forbes.He was one of three Board members to sit on the 2013 Forbes 400, which lists the richest men and women in America. The other two trustees are James Coulter ’82 and Steve Mandel ’78.
In 2008, Rees-Jones and his wife, Jan Rees-Jones, donated $10 million to the College that was earmarked for need-based financial aid, with preference given to students from Texas.
On Monday, Bill Helman '80 will take the reins as Board chair, succeeding Steve Mandel '78, who will remain a trustee.Maffei's first term will also begin tomorrow.
The next Board of Trustees meeting will take place in September.
This story will be updated as more information becomes available.
The article has been revised to reflect the following correction:
Correction appended (June 9, 2014):
Liberty Interactive Corporation owns stake in TripAdvisor.com, but it does not own the website itself, as was originally reported.
