WHOI Elects Members and Trustees at Spring Meeting of the Corporation
June 17, 2004
Nine new members and two new trustees were elected at the recent Joint Meeting of the Board of Trustees and Corporation at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. All Members will serve until 2007. Members are elected initially for a term of three years and are eligible for reelection to six-year terms. Trustees serve four-year terms and are eligible for reelection.
Among those elected members of the corporation were Robert M. Baylis of Darien, CT, retired Vice Chairman of First Boston Corporation, where his career spanned 33 years. He received a bachelor’s degree in economics from Princeton University and an MBA degree from Harvard University. He is a director of New York Life Insurance Company, Covance, Inc., Gildan Activewear, Inc., PartnerRe Ltd., the Independent Forum of The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania; and is an independent director of Credit Suisse First Boston USA. He also serves as an overseer of the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology at the University of Pennsylvania, is a Trustee of the Rubin Museum of Art, and a member of the Advisory Council at Princeton University, New York Society of Security Analysts, and the National Association of Business Economists. He and his wife travel frequently and spent time in Mongolia in 2000 at the Mongolian National History Museum, where they worked on a project called “Democracy in Mongolia.”
Barbara S. Beltz of Lexington, MA, is Professor and Chair of the Department of Biological Sciences and Director of the Neuroscience Program at Wellesley College. She also maintains an active research program on the development of the nervous system. She previously served as a postdoctoral fellow and instructor in the Neurobiology Department at Harvard Medical School, and is a member of the Society for Neuroscience and the Nominating Committee of the Section on Biological Science of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. She received a bachelor’s degree from Mount Holyoke College and both master’s and Ph.D. degrees from Princeton University.
Peter B. Dragone of Concord, MA, is cofounder of SeaTaste Chile, Inc. in Smithfield, RI, which distributes seafood from South America. He is also the founder of Keurig, Inc., a coffee systems firm, and a former president of Sulzer Metaplas US. He received a B.A. degree from Colby College, an M.A. degree from Middlebury Language School in Madrid, Spain, and an MBA degree from Harvard University.
Richard A. Goldsby of Leverett, MA, is the John Woodruff Lecturer and Professor of Biology at Amherst College. An expert in immunology, he produced the first bovine monoclonal antibodies. He and his wife, Barbara Osborne, co-founded the biotechnology company Hematech, LLC, and currently serves as a senior consultant and director. He is an adjunct professor of Veterinary and Animal Sciences at the University of Massachusetts and is course director of the National Science Foundation’s Chautauqua Short Course program. He also serves as a director of the Tuskegee Institute and the Carver Foundation. He received a B.A. degree from the University of Kansas and a Ph.D.degree from the University of California at Berkeley.
Alexander W. Hiam of Amherst, MA, is a private management consultant and a trustee of the Edwin S. Webster Foundation. He received a bachelor’s degree from Harvard College and an MBA degree from the University of California at Berkeley.
Pamela W. McNamara of South Dartmouth, MA, is Chief Executive Officer of CRF Inc., a leading provider of electronic patient diaries for the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. She previously served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Arthur D. Little, Inc., where she held a number of management positions. She received a B.S. degree from Tufts University and is a member of the board of GTC Biotherapeutics, Inc., HealthBanks, Inc. and the American Economic Development Council.
Nancy S. Newcomb of New York City is Senior Corporate Officer for Risk Management at Citigroup, Inc. and has held several management positions within the firm and its subsidiaries. She is chair of the New York Historical Society, Vice Chair of Young Concert Artists, Inc., and a board member of the New York Academy of Finance. She also serves as a trustee of Connecticut College and a trustee and primary facilitator of The Newcomb-Hargraves Foundation, and is a member of the Governing Council of the Van Leer Group Foundation and a the Council on Foreign Relations. She received a bachelor’s degree from Connecticut College, a master’s degree from Boston University, and attended the program for management development at Harvard Business School.
John W. Peirce of Calgary, Alberta, Canada is co-founder and managing partner of GEDCO, a consulting company based in Alberta with worldwide operations in software sales and geophysical and geological consulting, primarily in the oil industry. He received a bachelor’s degree from Dartmouth College and a Ph.D. degree from the MIT/WHOI Joint Program in Oceanography and Applied Ocean Science and Engineering. He is treasurer of The Gabriola Conservancy in British Columbia, a member of the Council of the Association of Professional Engineers, Geologists and Geophysicists of Alberta, and is a former nuclear submarine officer in the US Navy.
Carl E. Peterson of Falmouth, MA, is a retired merchant banker and former executive vice president of Gerald Metals, Inc. He previously served as senior vice president of Englehard Corporation and held positions in the precious metals division of Rhode Island Hospital Trust National Bank. A graduate of Brown University, he received a master’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania and attended Naval Officers Candidate School, the University of Colorado School for International Banking, and Rutgers University Stonier Graduate School of Banking. He previously served as a Member of the Corporation from 1981 to 1994 and with his wife have been WHOI Associates since 1982.
Two current members, Robert Ducommun and Anthony Ryan, were elected trustees. Robert C. Ducommun is director of Ducommun Incorporated and The American Metal Bearing Company, and serves as an advisory director of the Winged Keel Group. A graduate of Stanford University, he received an MBA degree from Harvard University. He previously served as executive vice president and chief financial officer of Aviva Sports, Inc., as chief financial officer of Microsource, Inc., and as an associate of McKinsey & Company. He is a trustee of St. George’s School in Middletown, RI.
Anthony W. Ryan of Winchester, MA, is a partner in Grantham, Mayo, Van Otterloo & Co. in Boston. A graduate of the University of Rochester, he received a master’s degree from the London School of Economics and Political Science and is a certified financial analyst. He previously worked at State Street Global Advisors, PanAgro Asset Management, and The Boston Company. He is a member of the Boston Security Analysts Society and the Arbitration Committee of the Boston Stock Exchange, and serves on the Town of Winchester’s retirement system board.
Two individuals were elected to honorary positions. James H. Orr, Jr. of Dover, MA, was elected an Honorary Member of the Corporation and Admiral James D. Watkins was elected an Honorary Trustee and Honorary Member.
James Orr is retired head of The Colonial Group, founded by his father and now one of the nation’s leading mutual funds. A graduate of Northeastern University, he is president of the Boston Securities Analysts Society, co-manager of Colonial Advanced Strategies Gold Trust Fund, and a director of BBN Systems and Technologies.
Admiral James D. Watkins, USN (Ret) of St. Leonard, MD, is Chair of the US Commission on Ocean Policy and former president of the Consortium for Oceanographic Research and Education and the Joint Oceanographic Institutions, Inc. He previously served as chair of the Presidential Commission on Human Immunodeficiency Virus Epidemic, as Chief of Naval Operations, and as Secretary of Energy under President George H. Bush. A graduate of the US Naval Academy, he received a master’s degree from the Naval Postgraduate School.
In addition to business meetings at the Institution, members and trustees attended groundbreaking ceremonies for two new laboratories on the Quissett Campus, a marine research facility and a biogeochemistry building, and toured the new 60-foot coastal research vessel Tioga. Susan Humphris, Senior Scientist and Director of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution’s Deep Ocean Exploration Institute, gave an overview of work done since its inception. Associate Scientist Jian Lin of the Geology and Geophysics Department spoke about earthquake dynamics, and Senior Scientist Daniel Fornari, of the Geology and Geophysics Department, discussed plans for a replacement for the deep-diving submersible Alvin .
The Institution’s 82 Trustees and Honorary Trustees meet three times a year, in January, May and October. The full board and corporation, currently 218, meet in Woods Hole in May and October.
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) is a private, independent marine research and engineering and higher education organization located in Falmouth, MA. Its primary mission is to understand the oceans and their interaction with the Earth as a whole, and to communicate a basic understanding of the ocean’s role in the changing global environment. Established in 1930 on a recommendation from the National Academy of Sciences, the Institution operates the US National Deep Submergence Facility that includes the deep-diving submersible ALVIN, a fleet of global ranging ships and smaller coastal vessels, and a variety of other tethered and autonomous underwater vehicles. WHOI is organized into five departments, interdisciplinary institutes and a marine policy center, and conducts a joint graduate education program with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.