Board of trustees welcomes nine new members

Sheila Wilson Allen
Allen
John Ceriale
Ceriale

Cohen
Linda M. Gadsby
Gadsby
Dustin Liu
Liu
Dale S. Rosenthal
Rosenthal
George A. Scangos
Scangos
Anne Meinig Smalling
Smalling
J. Allen Smith
Smith

At its May 27 meeting, the Cornell University Board of Trustees elected six new trustees to four-year terms: John Ceriale, David S. Cohen ’85, Dale S. Rosenthal ’78, George A. Scangos ’70, Anne Meinig Smalling ’87 and J. Allen Smith ’80, M.P.S. ’86.

They join recent alumni-elected trustees Sheila Wilson Allen ’76, DVM ’81, and Linda M. Gadsby ’88, who will serve four-year terms, and undergraduate student-elected trustee Dustin Liu ’19, who was elected to a two-year term.

The new trustees’ terms begin July 1.

Also at the May 27 meeting, six current trustees were re-elected to additional four-year terms: Jessica M. Bibliowicz ’81, Nicole Bisagni DelToro ’91, Kraig Kayser, MBA ’84, Ronald D. McCray ’79, Laura A. Wilkinson, MBA ’85, J.D. ’86, and Craig Yunker ’73.

Profiles of the newly elected trustees:

Allen is senior accreditation adviser for the Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges. She served as dean of the University of Georgia’s College of Veterinary Medicine (2005-16), and during her tenure the college advanced considerably in its research enterprise and in private fundraising. As associate dean for academic affairs, Allen was extensively involved in curriculum development and admissions. She served as chair of the Council on Education of the American Veterinary Medical Association, the accrediting body for veterinary medical education. At Cornell, she is a member of the President’s Council of Cornell Women, the Cornell University Council and the Cornell Alumni Admissions Ambassador Network.

Ceriale is founder and president of Prospect Advisors, established in 1998, the exclusive adviser on hospitality investments to the Blackstone Group, the largest owner of hospitality assets in the world. Ceriale has played a leading role in some of the biggest hotel deals of the past 20 years. He serves on the School of Hotel Administration’s Dean’s Advisory Board, and in 2011 endowed the John and Melissa Ceriale Professorship of Hospitality Human Resources at the Hotel School.

Cohen served as deputy director of the Central Intelligence Agency from 2015 to 2017, where he helped manage the agency’s domestic and worldwide operations. Before joining the agency in 2015, he served in two senior roles in the Department of the Treasury, first as assistant secretary for terrorist financing (2009-11) and as undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence (2011-15). He was one of the architects of the sanctions programs against Iran and Russia. Before joining the Treasury Department in 2009, he practiced law for close to 20 years, mostly in private practice.

Gadsby is vice president and deputy general counsel at Scholastic Inc., the largest publisher and distributor of children’s books. She serves on the company’s Administrative Committee, is responsible for handling all labor, employment and immigration law, and serves as the primary attorney for the company’s Education, Book Fairs and National Service Organization divisions. At Cornell, she has held leadership positions in many alumni organizations, including the Cornell Alumni Admissions Ambassador Network, the Cornell Alumni Federation’s Cornell Alumni Magazine Governing Committee, the Cornell Black Alumni Association and the President’s Council of Cornell Women.

Liu is the son of Taiwanese immigrants and was raised in Manhasset Hills, New York. He is pursuing a Bachelor of Science degree in industrial and labor relations with minors in education and information science. He serves as a resident adviser in Clara Dickson Hall and as a facilitator for the Intergroup Dialogue Project. Liu is a panelist of the Peer Educators for Gender and Sexuality program and participates in a variety of mentorship programs. He served two terms on the Student Assembly as freshman-at-large representative and LGBTQ+ representative. Among other university service, he is policy chair for the Ivy Council and human resources manager for The Cornell Daily Sun.

Rosenthal is former president of Clark Financial Services Group, established in 2008 to provide an opportunity to enhance the risk management services and products of the Clark Construction Group, a $5 billion general contractor, for which she served in a number of leadership positions. Prior to joining Clark, she was founder and president of Rosedale Enterprises, a residential real estate development firm specializing in low- and moderate-income apartment housing. She serves on the College of Arts and Sciences Advisory Council, the Baker Program in Real Estate Advisory Board and the President’s Council of Cornell Women.

Scangos is CEO of startup biotechnology company Vir Bio. Until January of 2017, he was CEO of Biogen, a biopharmaceutical company. From 1996 to 2010, he was president and chief executive officer of Exelixis, a drug discovery and development company, and before that held several management positions at Bayer Pharmaceuticals. He was Cornell’s Robert S. Hatfield Fellow in Economic Education in 2016 and has served on the Cornell University Council, the Cornell Silicon Valley Advisory Council and the Life Sciences Advisory Board.

Smalling is president and managing partner of HM International, a business providing management services to the joint interests of the Hojel and Meinig families. HMI is the majority owner of businesses including Quality Sausage Co., American Innovations and Lucerno Dynamics. Prior to joining HMI in 1995, Smalling worked for FMC Corp. in Philadelphia and as manager of business development for the Far East and China for SmithKline Beecham. She is serving her second term on the Cornell University Council and as chair of the Class of 1987 30th Reunion Campaign.

Smith is president and CEO of Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts. He was previously CEO of Prudential Real Estate Investors. He is a long-serving member of Cornell’s Baker Program in Real Estate Advisory Board and an industry fellow for the Center for Real Estate and Finance. He has served on the Real Estate Subcommittee of the Investment Committee and has spoken at the School of Hotel Administration’s Conversations with Entrepreneurs program. He was a featured lecturer in the Dean’s Distinguished Lecture Series in 2014.

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