Packer Board Elects Officers, New Trustees for 2010-11
New Alumni
and Parent Leaders Join Board
June 7, 2010
At its annual meeting on
June 7, 2010 the Packer Board of Trustees elected four new trustees and
officers for 2010-11. The new trustees are Stacy Blain P'18, P'21, Paul Burke,
LisaMarie Casey P'16, P'17, and Ronan Harty P'15, P'17, P'20, each elected to a
three-year term. In addition,
Cynthia Gardstein ’66 IV Ac joins the board as the newly-elected President of
the Alumni Association, and Gwenn Cagann P’12, P’15 will serve as a trustee as
the President of the Parent Association.
New Trustees
Stacy Blain
P’18, P’21 has been a Packer parent since 2006. Stacy has a Ph.D. in
molecular and cellular biology and is a professor at the State University of
New York Downstate Medical Campus in Brooklyn where she teaches medical and
graduate students, and runs a research group studying cancer biology. Stacy has
brought her expertise in science into Lower School classrooms, including
swabbing the Packer campus to teach 2nd graders about bacterial contamination!
She also helped bring Girl Scouting to Packer in 2009, as the leader of
the Brownie troop here.
Paul Burke joined the Packer
community in 2000 as a college counselor and an American history teacher. After
working for three years in that capacity, he assumed the responsibilities of
dean of students for grades 9 and 10, a role he held until he left Packer in
June 2008. Paul was invited back to Packer as the Commencement Speaker for the
Class of 2009. Since 2008, Paul has been the Head of Upper School at the
Nightingale-Bamford School in Manhattan.
Gwenn Cagann P’12, P’15 joins the board
as President of the Packer Parent Association. She has been a Packer parent
since 2004 and has been an active PA volunteer - as a class representative, VP
for Operations, at-large PA board member, chair of the Enrichment Fund
Committee, a member of the PA Bylaws Committee, chair of the PA Nominating
Committee, and Finance Chair for two spring galas. Gwenn is a co-founder of New World Coffee, a chain of coffee
bars.
LisaMarie Casey P’16, P’17 is a part time
math teacher at St. Joseph’s High School in downtown Brooklyn. Previously
she was a founder of an angel investing group, Golden Seeds, and a Managing
Director at JP Morgan. LisaMarie is currently an advisory board member of St.
Joseph’s and a former advisory board member of Grace Church School in Brooklyn.
At Packer, she is a Pelican Society volunteer, inaugurated and led the
Middle School math club, and is a former PA class representative.
Cynthia Gardstein ’66 IV Ac is currently
the Director of the Washington, DC office of Steven Winter Associates, Inc., an
architecture/engineering consulting firm.
Cynthia holds a BA from Skidmore College, an MS from St. John’s
University, and a B Arch from Pratt Institute. During her tenure with
SWA, she has focused on energy efficiency, primarily in the residential
sector. She also has significant experience in architectural research,
project management, complex document editing, writing and formatting. Other
technical expertise includes specialties in passive solar design and energy
conservation, manufactured housing, modular housing, and conventional
residential design. She was a principal author of the Passive Solar
Construction Handbook, first published for the U.S. Department of Energy and
later published commercially by Rodale Press. This landmark document received a
“Progressive Architecture” Citation for Research in 1982. Cynthia
has served as the executive director of several building-related non-profits,
and she has been a member of the Alumni Board since 2007.
Ronan Harty P’15, P’17, P’20 is a partner in the law
firm of Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP, where he focuses on antitrust law.
He serves in leadership positions in national and international bar
associations. A Packer parent since 2003, his three daughters attend the
school. He has been active in Packer's fundraising activities, and for
the past two years has served as co-chair of the parent Pelican Society
volunteer group. In 2010-11, he will serve as chair of the Pelican
Society. His wife, Maggie, is also an active volunteer at the school.
“With close to
one-quarter of the board turning over, we feel especially fortunate to have
such a strong group of new trustees,” said Bruce Dennis, Head of School. “They each bring skills and
perspectives that will enhance the board’s depth and breadth. I look forward to working with each of
these new members of the board in the coming years.”
Officers for 2010-11
Board officers
for 2010-11 will be: Buzz Doherty P’05, P’07, P’13 , Chair; Lisa Ross P’04,
P’06, P’09 , Vice Chair; Michael Fleisher P’16, P’18 , Secretary; and Maura
Byrne P’07, P’10, Treasurer. In
addition, David Laufer P’13, P’16, Andrzej Rojek P’01, P’08, Deborah
Schwartz, and Lilla Smith ’78, P’19, P’19 were re-elected to the board of
trustees.
Retiring Trustees
Lucie Lapovsky ‘69 IV Ac,
David Reiss ’85 P’22, and Sam Seymour P’11 retire from the board at the end of
June after nine years of service to Packer. Dan Kurtz P’08 retires after five years as a trustee, Alumni
Association President Ainka Shackleford ’92 retires after four years, and
Parent Association President Polly Roston P’08, P’10 has served for two
years. The Board of Trustees
toasted and thanked these colleagues at a reception in the Pierson Room
following the June board meeting.
Bruce Dennis also thanked
Tony Bowe P’09, P’13, the outgoing board chair, for three years of strong
leadership. Tony will remain on
the board for one more year.
