McMurty

Vanda Bruce McMurtry has been named vice president for government and community relations at Cornell University by President Jeffrey S. Lehman, subject to approval of the Board of Trustees. McMurtry will report to the president and work closely with the rest of the academic and administrative leadership of the university. His responsibilities will include directing Cornell's legislative efforts, coordinating the university's associations with local, state, and federal governments, and providing leadership for interactions with community organizations.

A lawyer who has held significant positions with the U.S. Congress and has worked with many federal regulatory agencies, McMurtry will join Cornell at the end of March. He is an alumnus of Cornell, with a master's degree (1975) and doctorate in philosophy (1979).

"Van McMurtry will be an outstanding addition to the Cornell administrative team," said Lehman. "He has an exceptional mind, and he is highly respected for his judgment and integrity in the highest circles of government. He appreciates how important it is for Cornell to have strong collaborative relationships with the larger society in which we live."

"My experiences as a graduate student at Cornell were outstanding, and I am delighted to return there," McMurtry said.

McMurtry has served since 1992 as senior vice president for federal government relations for Aetna Inc., where he worked with federal government officials and congressional committees on issues related to insurance, financial services, and the administration of employee benefit plans.

Before that, he served from 1989 to 1992 as staff director and chief counsel for the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance, then headed by Sen. Lloyd Bentsen of Texas. He had been Bentsen's legislative director for three years before assuming that post.

McMurtry also served for five years on the staff of the Joint Economic Committee, instituted by Congress to produce studies on the U.S. economy and important economic issues facing the country. He began his Washington career in 1977 when he became a legislative assistant for U.S. Rep. Lee Hamilton of Indiana. While a graduate student at Cornell, McMurtry was a teaching assistant in the Sage School of Philosophy.

A native of St. Cloud, Minn., he earned his bachelor's degree in philosophy from the University of California at Irvine in 1972. He also has a master's degree in public administration from Johns Hopkins University and a law degree from Georgetown University.