Five alumni elected to the Board of Overseers

Five alumni have been elected as new members of Harvard University’s Board of Overseers and six as directors of the Harvard Alumni Association (HAA).

New members of the Board of Overseers

Sylvia Mathews Burwell ’87
B.A. ’90, University of Oxford
President of American University and former secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Washington, D.C.

 Jeffrey D. Dunn ’77, M.B.A. ’81
Interim president and CEO of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and former executive chair, president, and CEO of Sesame Workshop
Boston

 Fiona Hill A.M. ’91, Ph.D. ’98
M.A. ’89, University of St. Andrews
Former National Security Council senior director for European and Russian Affairs, currently chancellor of Durham University (U.K.) and senior fellow at the Brookings Institution
Bethesda, Maryland

 Vanessa W. Liu ’96, J.D. ’03
Founder and CEO of Sugarwork and a past president of the Harvard Alumni Association
New York, New York

Robert L. Satcher Jr., M.D. ’94
S.B. ’86, Ph.D. ’93, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Former NASA astronaut, now associate professor of orthopedic oncology at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center
Houston

 The new Overseers were elected for six-year terms and were elected from a slate of eight candidates nominated by an alumni nominating committee whose 13 voting members are appointed by the Harvard Alumni Association executive committee. Harvard degree holders cast a total of 32,440 ballots in the election.

“This will be an exciting year ahead, as all of us on the Board of Overseers look forward to welcoming President [Claudine] Gay and supporting her in her new role,” said Max Hodges ’03, M.B.A. ’10, the incoming president of the board for 2023-24. “We warmly welcome our five newest Overseers, and I know we will benefit from their perspectives and experiences in the coming years.”

The Board of Overseers is one of Harvard’s two governing boards, along with the President and Fellows, also known as the Corporation. As a central part of their work, the Overseers direct the visitation process, the primary means for periodic external assessment of Harvard’s Schools and departments. Through its array of standing committees, and the roughly 50 visiting committees that report to them, the board probes the quality of Harvard’s programs and assures that the University remains true to its charter as a place of learning. More generally, drawing on its members’ diverse experience and expertise, the board provides counsel to the University’s leadership on priorities, plans, and strategic initiatives. It also has the power of consent to certain actions, such as the election of Corporation members.

Additional information about the board, its members, and its work can be found on its webpage.

Newly elected HAA directors

Barbara R. Barreno-Paschall ’07
J.D. ’11, Vanderbilt University; M.P.P. ’17, University of Chicago
Vice chair and commissioner, Human Rights Commission, State of Illinois
Chicago

Judith L. Norsigian ’70
Retired executive director, Our Bodies Ourselves
Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts

 Yvonne O. Osirim ’01, J.D. ’07
M.A. ’03, University of Cape Town
Executive director, human health ethics and compliance, Merck
Philadelphia

 Theodora Skeadas ’12, M.P.P. ’16
Public policy associate, Twitter
Cambridge, Massachusetts

 Angela A. Sun ’96, J.D. ’01
Venture capital and board director, Western Union, Cushman & Wakefield, and Apollo Strategic Growth Capital
New York, New York

 Jason W. Young ’04
Managing partner, Totally Human
Atlanta

The new directors were elected for three-year terms. They were chosen from a slate of nine candidates, nominated by the same HAA committee that puts forward candidates for Overseers. Harvard degree holders cast 33,565 ballots in the directors election.

The HAA Board of Directors is an advisory group that actively works to support Harvard alumni volunteers working on behalf of the HAA. The board’s main work focuses on developing volunteer leadership and increasing and deepening alumni engagement through an array of programs that support alumni communities worldwide. In recent years, the board’s priorities have included strengthening outreach to recent graduates and graduate school alumni; supporting anti-racism work in alumni communities; and continuing to build and promote inclusive communities.

“I am thrilled to welcome these six newly elected alumni to the HAA board,” said Ty Moore ’06, the association’s incoming president. “I know they all share a deep commitment to ensuring our dedicated, passionate alumni around the world forge new connections and are part of Harvard’s efforts to create positive change for our community and society at large.”