Cornell’s Board of Trustees has sweeping power over University affairs, from choosing the president to green-lighting the creation of new colleges.
Of the trustees, 28.8 percent work in the financial industry, according to a recent Sun analysis.
The Sun recently researched Kraig Kayser MBA ’84’s, the chairman of Cornell’s Board of Trustees, connection to Moog, a weapons manufacturing company where he serves on the Board of Directors and owns more than 30,000 stocks valued at over $6.5 million. Kayser serves as a non-executive chairman of the board of Seneca Foods Corporation, after having previously served as its president and CEO for nearly 30 years.
To learn more about the complete Board of Trustees, The Sun scanned articles, LinkedIn profiles and other publicly available sources to gather information on 59 of Cornell’s 60 full trustees, including their occupations, industries and financial contributions to the University.
The Board is made up of 43 board-elected trustees, eight alumni-elected trustees, two faculty members, one undergraduate trustee, one graduate trustee, one employee-elected trustee, seven ex-officio members and one life trustee who is a direct descendent of Ezra Cornell. Sun analysis excluded ex-officio members and the life trustee — who did not have a public job history.
Trustees serve for four-year terms, with the exception of student trustees whose terms last two years. The full board only meets four times a year, three times in Ithaca and once in New York City, with the majority of the Board’s work happening across its 12 committees centered on topics from academic affairs to student life.
The Board’s Makeup by Industry
17 board members hold jobs in the financial industry, including stock trading and venture capital. Of the remaining trustees, six work in consulting, five are in hospitality, five are in law and four are in medicine. Two or fewer trustees are employed in the remaining represented industries, which include agriculture, architecture, technology and government, among other disciplines.
While a substantial 28.8 percent of Cornell’s trustees work in the financial industry, this number is comparable to the other Ivies which average 30.13 percent. However, Brown and Harvard have lower percentages of 7.3 percent and 10 percent, respectively. Notably, 49 percent of the University of Pennsylvania’s trustees work in finance.
The Sun interviewed Prof. Risa Lieberwitz, industrial and labor relations, about the significance of the makeup of the board.
Lieberwitz said that a board dominated by executives from the finance and investment industries “skews the number of voices that will be heard, that represent different perspectives.”
One change proposed by Lieberwitz was the inclusion of more leaders from nonprofits, social justice and labor organizations to diversify representation on the board.
The Board’s Makeup by Position Level
Outside of careers in finance, three trustees are academics, two hold executive positions in nonprofits and two are students. Of the remaining two trustees, one works in government as Brooklyn’s district attorney and one is an attorney.
Eric Gonzalez ’92 is currently serving as the district attorney of Brooklyn, the first Latino to hold the position. He is the only non-ex-officio trustee who holds a government position.
While at least 14 trustees have made donations to the University of over $1 million according to press releases from Cornell, not all of the individual donation amounts are known. However, The Sun calculated at least $123.85 million was collectively donated publicly to the University by trustees by adding up information provided through University press releases.
Cornell Media Relations declined to provide a breakdown of trustee donations to the University.
Lieberwitz said that it was important to “reassess what the goals are in creating a board of trustees” regarding the substantial donations made by trustee members.
Evelyn Mullen Walsh ’27 is a Sun contributor and can be reached at [email protected].
Caroline Kelly ’28 is a Sun contributor and can be reached at [email protected].