Four new trustees join board

by JOSEPH BONNER

The Board of Trustees elected four new members at its fall meeting on November 17: Holly S. Andersen, H. Rodgin Cohen, Surya N. Mohapatra and John M. Shapiro. The Board now numbers 40.

Dr. Andersen is associate professor of medicine, attending cardiologist and director of education and outreach for The Ronald O. Perelman Heart Institute at The NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital and Weill Cornell Medical College. A graduate of Dartmouth College, she graduated with honors from the University of Rochester School of Medicine, where she was elected to the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Society and awarded the Janet M. Glasgow Memorial Achievement Award from the American Medical Women’s Association. Dr. Andersen completed her internship, residency and fellowship at the NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital and Cornell Medical College where she additionally served as the chief medical resident. She founded and chairs the David E. Rogers Memorial Research Award competition for the medical house staff at Weill Cornell, and a visiting professorship for integrative medicine is endowed in her name there. Castle Connolly and New York Magazinehave selected Dr. Andersen as one of New York’s best doctors.

“I am extraordinarily excited to join Rockefeller’s Board,” says Dr. Andersen. “The university is one of the pre-eminent academic medical institutions in the world and I am optimistic about its future. I am looking forward to strengthening the tri-institutional partnership.” Andersen’s early scientific training was in neuroscience, and she is particularly interested in working with president-elect Marc Tessier-Lavigne.

Mr. Cohen is a partner at Sullivan & Cromwell LLP. He was chairman of the firm from July 1, 2000 through December 31, 2009 and has served as its senior chairman since January 1, 2010. The law practice focuses primarily on regulatory, acquisition, corporate governance and securities matters for major U.S. and international banking and financial institutions.

Mr. Cohen has acted in most of the major U.S. bank acquisitions and recent government-sponsored and capital-raising efforts and provides corporate governance advice to a large number of financial and non-financial institutions. He has played a singular role in the market events that have changed the face of the financial services industry and economy, for which The American Lawyer ranked Mr. Cohen number one among its 25 “Dealmakers of the Year” in 2009, noting that “he was Wall Street’s go-to lawyer during the most important months for the American banking industry since the Great Depression.” In March 2010, Mr. Cohen was recognized as one of the “Decade’s Most Influential Lawyers” by The National Law Journal.

“I know of no other organization that does more good for more people,” Mr. Cohen says of Rockefeller.

Dr. Mohapatra has over 25 years of broad experience in the healthcare industry, including cardiovascular research, design, manufacturing and marketing diagnostic imaging equipment and managing diagnostic testing. He is currently chief executive officer and chairman of Quest Diagnostics, an organization he joined in 1999. Prior to joining Quest, Dr. Mohapatra served as senior vice president and member of the executive committee of Picker International, a manufacturer of advanced medical imaging technologies which is now part of Philips Medical Systems. Dr. Mohapatra received a B.S. in electrical engineering from Sambalpur University, India; an M.S. in medical electronics from The University of Salford, England; and a Ph.D. in medical physics from the University of London. He is the author of several publications and patents and is also a board member of ITT Corporation.

“I am very honored and consider it a great privilege to be asked to get involved in this preeminent research institution as a trustee,” says Dr. Mohapatra. “Few institutions are as celebrated as Rockefeller University in the biomedical sciences, and I look forward to working with its distinguished scientists, leaders and fellow trustees.”

Mr. Shapiro is managing director of Chieftain Capital Management, Inc., an investment firm which he cofounded in 1984. Previously, he worked at Central National Corporation and Merrill Lynch & Co. Mr. Shapiro serves as chairman of the board of Lawyers for Children, is a member of the board and executive committee of The American Jewish Committee and The American Academy in Rome, a trustee of The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, a member of The Committee on Prints and Illustrated Books for The Museum of Modern Art, and a member of the Campaign Council for Wesleyan University. He previously served as president of the UJA-Federation of New York, and as president of The Dalton School in New York City. Also, he has been a board member of The Classic Sports Network and The Children’s Museum of New York. Mr. Shapiro received a B.A. from Wesleyan University and an M.B.A. from Columbia.

“I am excited for the opportunity to have a front row seat at one of the great research institutions in the world,” says Mr. Shapiro. “I am looking forward to working with a high caliber board.”