Board of Directors Biographies
Roger O. Goldman -- Chairman
Roger O. Goldman, Chairman of Lighthouse International's Board of Directors, is an eminent financial industry consultant who has spent more than 30 years in the financial services sector. He joined the Lighthouse Board of Directors in 1999 and has spearheaded all fund-raising activities as Chairman of the Board Fund Development Leadership Committee, while also serving as a member of other Board committees.
Mr. Goldman is a consultant and currently serves on the Board of Directors of several companies in various stages of development. He is the Director and Audit Committee Chairman of American Express Bank, F.S.B., a principal, $10+ billion- asset US lending subsidiary of American Express Company. He also serves on the Advisory Boards of Apptera, Inc. and Minyanville, LLC.
Previously, Mr. Goldman was President of Global Sourcing Services LLC, a direct marketing start-up venture, and grew the company to over $700 million in sales before it was acquired in 2000. Earlier, he was Executive Vice President of National Westminster Bancorp and head of the Community Banking Group. Mr. Goldman has held a number of other senior banking positions, including President and CEO of Redwood Bank in San Francisco, and was with Citicorp/Citibank in New York for 15 years.
An active philanthropist, Mr. Goldman also serves as Advisor to the founder of Education for Employment Foundation, which was formed to promote world peace through youth education in Muslim countries. He has been honored with Humanitarian Awards from the Albert Einstein Medical Center and the Bronx Council of the American Jewish Congress. A graduate of New York University, Mr. Goldman earned his JD degree from American University, Washington College of Law.
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Tara A. Cortes, RN, PhD -- President and CEO
Tara A. Cortes, RN, PhD, is the President and CEO of Lighthouse International, headquartered in New York City. Lighthouse International has served people for more than 100 years with its goal to fight vision loss through prevention, treatment and empowerment.
Dr. Cortes has been a distinguished leader in health care for more than 40 years. She served as Senior Vice President and Chief Nursing Officer at Yale New Haven Health System's Bridgeport Hospital and has extensive clinical, administrative, research and academic experience, having worked for several of New York City's premier academic healthcare facilities throughout her career. These include The Mount Sinai Hospital, The Rockefeller University Hospital, Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center, Hunter College School of Nursing, and New York University Medical Center. Dr. Cortes currently serves as a Clinical Professor at Yale University's School of Nursing Doctoral Program.
A graduate of Villanova University and New York University, where she received her PhD in Nursing Science and Research, Dr. Cortes was named a Fellow in the highly competitive and prestigious Robert Wood Johnson Nurse Executive Fellow Program in 1999. She was Associate Professor (tenured) at Hunter College School of Nursing for over 20 years.
Dr. Cortes is the author of numerous peer reviewed publications and the recipient of numerous grants, as well as professional and academic honors, including the NYU Grace E. Davidson Award in Recognition of an Outstanding Administrator Contributing to Nursing Education. Dr. Cortes is also a member of the Villanova University Board of Trustees, the Governor's appointee to the Executive Board for New York State's Commission for the Bind and Visually Handicapped, and a member of the National Advisory Committee to the Robert Wood Johnson Executive Nurse Fellowship Program.
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Donald J. D'Amico, MD
Donald J. D'Amico, MD, Professor and Chairman of Ophthalmology at Weill Cornell Medical College and Ophthalmologist-in-Chief at New York Presbyterian Hospital, is an internationally recognized leader in the field of vitreoretinal surgery. He recently assumed the Chair at Weill Cornell after his longstanding positions at Harvard Medical School as Professor of Ophthalmology, and as Associate Chief of Ophthalmology and Director of the Diabetic Unit at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary.
A graduate of the University of Illionois College of Medicine, he completed his residency at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary. He completed his fellowship in vitreoretinal diseases at the University of Miami, Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, followed by selection as Chief Resident in Ophthalmology at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary prior to joining the Harvard faculty.
Dr. D'Amico has published over 175 articles in vitreoretinal diseases and has co-edited two books covering comprehensive retinal themes. He has participated as a principal investigator or co-investigator in many clinical trials and laboratory investigations. His major interests include: vitreoretinal surgery; diabetic retinopathy; experimental lasers and other technologies for the surgical treatment of vitreoretinal disorders such as retinal detachment; macular degeneration; and endophthalmitis and intravitreal drug therapy. As attending physician specializing in the care of patients with vitreoretinal disorders at the Weill Cornell Department of Ophthalmology, Dr. D'Amico also provides direct instruction of medical students, ophthalmology residents, and retina fellows. In this role he has twice received the Teacher of the Year Award given by the residents of the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary. Dr. D'Amico is a distinguished national and international lecturer, and is the recipient of many honors, including the Honor Award and the Senior Achievement Award from the American Academy of Ophthalmology. He serves on the board of four major journals, and is highly active in professional societies. He is currently also a member of the Executive Committee of the prestigious Club Jules Gonin, and is the President-elect of the Retina Society.
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William M. Duncan
William M. Duncan retired from JPMorgan Chase in 2004 after a 40 year career in the finance industry. Mr. Duncan was an executive at JPMorgan Chase where he held a variety of management positions over a thirty-five year period including: Executive responsible for expanding the traditional tri-state Middle Market business to a National platform; President of the New Jersey subsidiary bank, Head of European and Canadian international activities; and Head of the bank's Petroleum and Mining Division.
In the late 1980s Mr. Duncan served as Chairman and CEO of First American Bank of New York, a traditional community bank with a specialty in international trade finance.
A graduate of Trinity College, Mr. Duncan completed graduate business courses at New York University and attended the Harvard Executive Program.
Mr. Duncan currently serves as director of International Studies at Stony Brook University. He was elected as Treasurer of the Board of Directors for Lighthouse International in 2001 and has been a Board member since 2000.
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Richard E. Feinbloom
Richard and his wife Toni have lived in New York City most of their lives and have two grown children, Abraham and Samantha. Richard was educated at the Institute of Optics in Rochester, New York and Baruch College in New York City. Richard, the son of William Feinbloom, OD, Ph.D., has spent his entire working life in Research and Development of aids for the Partially Sighted and in speaking to various professional and public groups to further the interest of the Low Vision patient.
Richard holds over 75 patents in the medical industry. Included among these is the introduction of the first customized head-borne optics for microsurgery. Through a contributive effort with many leading Medical Institutions in the United States, Richard has engineered the surgical product offerings to the point that Designs for Vision, Inc Surgical Telescopes are considered essential tools in the armamentarium of many surgical specialties. Richard also introduced the first fiberoptic headlight system to provide cool illumination onto the surgical field. Advancements in L.E.D. applications allowed Richard to introduce portable illumination devices for the Dental Industry.
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Thomas S. T. Gimbel
Thomas S.T. Gimbel is the Executive Managing Director of Optima Fund Management LLC. Mr. Gimbel joined Optima from Credit Suisse Asset Management where he was Managing Director for Hedge Fund Investments responsible for product and business development in the U.S. He represented the firm on CSFB's Asset Allocation Committee for private clients and on CSFB's Hedge Fund Roundtable. He originated various hedge fund investments and structured several fund-of-funds offerings.
Mr. Gimbel was previously a Managing Director and head of the Hedge Fund Department at DLJAM and joined CSAM in 2000 when DLJAM was acquired by CSAM. Prior to DLJAM, Mr. Gimbel was Managing Director in Investment Banking at PaineWebber and Chairman of PaineWebber Futures Management Corporation. Prior to that, for more than five years, he was Managing Director of the Financial Products Group at Kidder, Peabody, which PaineWebber acquired in 1995. Mr. Gimbel began his career in investment banking in 1978.
Mr. Gimbel has a B.A. in economics from Bowdoin College and an MBA in finance from Columbia University Graduate School of Business. He has passed his Series 3, 7, 24. He is a member of the Board of Overseers of Children's Hospital in Boston, Director of Lighthouse International, a Director of Prime Energy Corporation and a Trustee of Portledge School.
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Arlene R. Gordon
Arlene R. Gordon, for whom the Arlene R. Gordon Research Institute is named, started at Lighthouse International as a Senior Social Worker in 1965 and retired in 1990 after serving as Associate Executive Director in differing leadership roles for seventeen years. Ms. Gordon has served on the Board since 1992 and served on the Board of Directors until 2000 and was then re-elected in 2001 after a one-year hiatus.
Ms Gordon graduated from Hunter College and received a M.A. from the University Of Chicago School Of Social Service Administration. In 1988 she was awarded the Edith Abbott Award by the Alumni Association as well as receiving other honors in the field of vision rehabilitation. She co-authored "Accounting: A Social Institution, A Unified Theory for the Measurement of the Profit and Non-Profit Sectors", published in 1992.
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Frances Hesselbein
Frances Hesselbein is the Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Leader to Leader Institute, was the Founding President of the Peter F. Drucker Foundation, 1990-2000 and was CEO of the Girl Scouts of the USA, 1976-1990. Mrs. Hesselbein was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the United States of America's highest civilian honor, in 1998 by President Clinton. In 2002 Mrs. Hesselbein was the first recipient of the Dwight D. Eisenhower National Security Series Award for her service "to national security and the nation." In 2007 she received the Fulbright John F. Kennedy Fellowship Award in New Zealand -- an honor bestowed on Thurgood Marshall in the 1960s.
She is the author of Hesselbein on Leadership, published in August 2002. Be, Know, Do: Leadership the Army Way, introduced by General Eric K. Shinseki and Frances Hesselbein was published in February of 2004. She is the co-editor of 25 books in 28 languages, and is Editor-In-Chief of the award winning Leader to Leader Journal. She holds 20 honorary doctoral degrees.
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Jordan Kassalow, OD, MPH
Dr. Kassalow currently serves as Chairman of Scojo Foundation, providing leadership and expertise to its global operations. He was a co-founder of Scojo Foundation and Scojo Vision, LLC. He was also the founder of the Global Health Policy Program at the Council on Foreign Relations, where he served as an Adjunct Senior Fellow from 1999-2004. Prior to his position at the Council, he served as Director of the Onchocerciasis Division at Helen Keller International. He currently serves on the Board of Directors for Lighthouse International and on the Medical Advisory Board of Helen Keller International. The recipient of numerous awards, including the Social Innovator of the Year award from BYU's Marriott School of Management, The Aspen Institute's Henry Crown Fellowship, and a Draper Richards Foundation Fellowship, Dr. Kassalow received his Doctorate of Optometry from the New England College of Optometry and his Masters in Public Health from Johns Hopkins University. In addition to his position at Scojo Foundation, he is currently a partner at the practice of Drs. Farkas, Kassalow, Resnick, and Associates.
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William P. Miller
William P. Miller was elected to serve on the Board in 2005. Mr. Miller is an investor in Broadway and off-Broadway theater and the Director of Theatreworks USA. He is active on several other non-profit boards, including the New York Eye & Ear Infirmary. He has also practiced law and accounting.
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William J. Moran, CPA
William J. Moran retired from J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. in 2005 as Executive Vice President and General Auditor.
Mr. Moran was appointed Executive Vice President and General Auditor of J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. on January 1, 2001. Prior to the merger with J.P. Morgan Incorporated, he was General Auditor of the Chase Manhattan Corporation, a position he held since 1992. He was named Executive Vice President in 1997. Prior to becoming General Auditor, Mr. Moran held various positions in Auditing, including Director of Electronic Data Processing (EDP) Audit and Systems Review; Director of Corporate, Subsidiary and MIS Audit and Director of the Western Hemisphere Audit Group.
Mr. Moran is a Certified Public Accountant and a Certified Bank Auditor. Prior to joining the Chase Manhattan Bank in 1975, he was with the accounting firm of Peat, Marwick, Mitchell & Co. (KPMG) for nine years and was responsible for audits of major companies in several industries.
Mr. Moran is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the New York Society of Certified Public Accountants, the Bank Administration Institute (BAI) and the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA). He served on the Audit Commission of the BAI, the International Relations Committee of the IIA and as a member of the Board of Trustees of the IIA Research Foundation.
Mr. Moran is on the Boards of Directors of: Sovereign Bancorp, where he serves on the Audit Committee as Financial Expert, the Compensation Committee, and the Governance Committee; The Citizens Crime Commission of New York City; the Marist College School of Management's Business Advisory Board; he has served on the Board of eSpeed, Inc. where he chaired the Audit Committee and served on the Compensation Committee.
Mr. Moran was awarded a Bachelor of Arts degree, cum laude, from Marist College in 1963 and a Master of Business Administration degree from Columbia University in 1966. He is also a graduate of the Stonier Graduate School of Banking at Rutgers University.
Mr. Moran is the Chair of the Lighthouse International Audit Committee and sits as a member of the Development Committee; Executive Committee; and Board Membership, Nominating, and Governance Committee.
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Joel B. Mounty -- Vice-Chair
Mr. Mounty is the President of Mountco Construction and Development Corp., a real estate development and general construction company with a specialty in building and developing affordable and special needs housing, which he founded in 1988. Mr. Mounty is also on the Board of the Municipal Assistance Corporation (MAC), a New York State authority that was established in the 1970's during New York City's fiscal emergency to finance NYC during financial crisis. He has been a Director of MAC since 1995 and Chair's MAC's Finance Committee.
Mr. Joel Mounty serves on the Executive Committee of Lighthouse International and is Chairman of the Westchester Lighthouse Advisory Board and Chair's the Lighthouse golf event. Mr. Mounty has been actively involved with the Lighthouse for 25 years.
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Barbara Munder
Barbara Munder is Executive Director, Institutional Investor Memberships. As such she has operational responsibility for the Institutional Investor Institute and the Hedge Fund Institutional Forum which serve the asset management industry.
Previously Ms. Munder was COO of wf360, a distance learning company. Prior to that she was a twenty-year veteran of The McGraw-Hill Companies where she was ultimately SVP for corporate-wide marketing and e-business initiatives. She served on the company's investment committee, which oversees the company's defined benefit ($900m) and defined contributions ($900m) plans and was Secretary for The McGraw-Hill Companies Board of Directors' Corporate Governance Committee. Previously, she was Vice President and General Manager, Business Week Services with oversight for the media unit's newsletter, conference and electronic products group.
Ms. Munder serves as a member of the Board of Directors of Petsmart, Inc. and Lighthouse International and was on the Advisory Board of DOAR Communications Inc.
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Enid Nemy
Enid Nemy was elected in 2003 to serve as a Board member of Lighthouse International. Ms. Nemy is a member of the New York Press Club and the Lotos Club. She served as reporter, columnist and a feature writer for The New York Times,for 40 years, and has authored and co-authored books. Enid has been a supporter of the Lighthouse for many years, and she is the President of The Dorothy Strelsin Foundation, which has been a major donor to the Lighthouse since 1990.
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Dorothy M. Philips, PhD
Dorothy Philips is chairman and chief executive officer of Philips Healthcare Communications, Inc. (PHC), a communications agency in the healthcare industry. PHC offers consulting services, strategic planning and execution of marketing communications and educational programs for manufacturers of pharmaceuticals, devices, healthcare products, and institutional clients such as health related trade associations, hospitals/HMOs and organizations that deliver healthcare services.
She was president and chief operating officer of Barnum Communications, a healthcare advertising agency, where she also served as board member, executive vice president, and senior vice president of the Health Industries Group with responsibilities for development of client services and company administration. Prior to this position, Dr. Philips was senior vice president of Deltakos, the healthcare agency of J. Walter Thompson.
Dr. Philips has a BA in economics from Wellesley College and MBA and PhD degrees from New York University Graduate School of Business, with majors in marketing and economics. She has been an adjunct professor of marketing at Pace University and associate professor of marketing at Iona College. At the Lighthouse, she is the chair of the Membership, Nominating, and Governance Committee and she is the secretary of the Wellesley College Business Leadership Council.
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Ellen Ratner
Ellen Ratner is the White House Correspondent and Bureau Chief for The Talk Radio News Service, covering the White House and providing exclusive reports to talk radio stations from the Congress and government agencies. Ms. Ratner is a news analyst on The Fox News Channel where she has a weekly segment entitled "The Long and Short of It" with Jim Pinkerton. She is heard on over 500 stations across the United States representing individual stations as well as syndicated shows on both commercial and public radio venues. In addition she writes a weekly column "Liberal and Proud" for World Net Daily. She developed the podcasting site, www.newstalkcast.com, which is currently in beta testing. She is also the only talk show host granted two in-person interviews with President Clinton.
Ratner is the political editor and Washington bureau chief for Talkers Magazine, the "bible" of the talk industry. In addition, she has developed College Media News, a broadcast service for college and university radio stations, served by students interning in Washington, DC. In the capacity as Political Editor of Talkers Magazine, she developed the concept of combining radio rows with immediate Internet access via the site, www.radiorow.net. In addition, she has trained many groups in use of radio, television and Internet media. Her latest book, Getting On! Talk Radio, Talk Television, Talk Internet, published in November, 2005.
A native of Cleveland, Ohio, Ratner graduated from Goddard College in Plainfield, Vermont. She earned a Masters Degree in Education from Harvard University.
From 1973 to 1986, Ratner served as co-director and co-founder of Boundaries Therapy Center, in Acton, MA. Also, from 1974 to 1981, Ratner was the Director of the Psychiatric Day Treatment Program at South Shore Mental Center in Quincy, MA. In 1984, Ratner joined the Addiction Recovery Corporation as a Consultant on Program Development. From 1986 to 1990, Ratner served as Vice-President of Research, Development, and Service at the Addiction Recovery Corporation and as Director of its ARC Research Foundation. She served as Principal Investigator for an outcome research study, determining treatment outcome factors in alcoholism and chemical dependency treatment.
Ratner is the author of The Other Side of the Family: A Book for Recovery from Abuse, Incest and Neglect (Health Communications, Inc.), published in 1990. In February 1997, Ratner published 101 Ways to Get Your Progressive Ideas on Talk Radio, published by National Press Books and Talkers Magazine.
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Stephanie Goldman-Pittel
Stephanie Goldman-Pittel was elected to serve on the Board in 2006; she is a graduate of Syracuse University with a degree in Communications.
Mrs. Goldman-Pittel is actively involved with the community serving as, Chair of Contributory Membership -- JCC on The Palisades; a member of the Board of Directors at JCC on The Palisades; Chair of Young Women's Division -- UJA; a member of the Women's Division Board of Directors-UJA-NNJ; Treasurer of Dwight-Englewood Lower School; National Young Leadership Cabinet for UJA; and Berrie Fellows Leadership Program.
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Barbara Saltzman
Barbara Saltzman is the former president and CEO of the largest contract selling company for pharmaceuticals in the world, MMD, Inc. (now Inventiv). She has also worked closely and in depth in the Japanese marketplace developing a corporate partnership with Nippon Pharma Promotion and has given seminars and provided training in Japan to senior executives of NPP and Japanese manufacturers.
Mrs. Saltzman has also consulted in the Netherlands, Germany, and Belgium. In 1997, Snyder Communications, a NYSE company acquired MMD, Inc. and Barbara continued to serve as president until June of 1998. Clients had come to include: Abbott, Bayer, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Burroughs Wellcome, Eli Lily, Merck Human Health, Novartis, Pfizer Consumer Schering Plough and Unilever. Currently she consults to a variety of companies in the U.S.
Mrs. Saltzman serves on the Board of Directors of Lighthouse International, is on the Executive Committee, on the Fund Raising Committee and has served as the Chair of Winternight Gala.
Barbara Saltzman holds a Bachelor of Science Degree from the College of New Rochelle.
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Laine Siklos
Laine Siklos is Vice President, Digital Marketing and Advertising at Warner Premiere - a division of Warner Bros focused on short-form, movie-quality content created for emerging technologies including broadband, mobile, VOD, and electronic sell through (downloading). Prior to Warner Bros, Mrs. Siklos was Associate Publisher at The Knot Inc where she was responsible for the print and online editions of The Knot, WeddingChannel, The Nest, and The Nest Baby/Lila Guide. She also worked in strategy and marketing positions at Time Inc and Heart Magazines International. In addition to serving as the Chair of Lighthouse International's School and Music Committee, Mrs. Siklos was the co-founder and co-chair of the Young Leadership Committee developed to introduce a new generation of volunteers and donors to the organization.
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Sarah E. Smith
Sarah is the controller and chief accounting officer of Goldman Sachs, with responsibility for the 1,200 members of the global controllers department. She serves on the Firmwide Risk Committee, the Commitments Committee, the Partnership Committee and the PIA Investment Committee. She is cochair of the Structured Products Committee and has oversight of Operational Risk. Sarah joined Goldman Sachs in 1996 as a vice president in Finance and held various positions prior to becoming controller in 2002. She was named managing director in 1998 and partner in 2002.
Prior to joining the firm, Sarah worked in the national and audit practices of KPMG in both London and New York, and held several finance positions at Bristol-Myers Squibb.
Sarah attended City of London University and is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales. She is former chair of the Securities Industries Association Accounting Policy Committee and a member of the Washington-based Committee for Economic Development.
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Ann D. Thivierge
Ann is lead portfolio manager of the Active International Allocation Equity strategy and a member of the Global Asset Allocation Committee. She joined Morgan Stanley in 1986 and has 16 years of investment experience. Prior to her current role, Ann was a senior professional in the firm's Fiduciary group, advising large pension plans and family trusts on asset allocation and manager selection. Previously, she was co-head of the firm's Active International Allocation Equity strategy and a managing director. Ann received a B.A. in international relations from James Madison College at Michigan State University and an M.B.A. in finance from New York University, Stern Business School. She serves as the chair of the Investment Committee and as a board member at Lighthouse International. Ann is also on the board of Highbridge Voices, an after school choir program serving over 200 children in the Bronx.
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Phyllis White Thorne
Phyllis White-Thorne is Manager of Public Information in Con Edison's Brooklyn Public Affairs Department where she is a company liaison to community and government leaders and not-for-profit organizations in Brooklyn. Prior to coming to Brooklyn she was Manager of Strategic Partnerships at Con Edison's Corporate Headquarters where she created and implemented the strategy for the Company's support to education, and managed the Corporate Volunteer Program.
She has worked for Con Edison for 36 years, during which time she created and organized many programs and partnerships to enhance and support the education of children and adults, especially in underserved communities. Phyllis believes that education is the key to personal fulfillment and improving the quality of life in our communities. Her passion is to support the education and the development of others, and assist them in achieving their goals and living purpose driven lives.
She has received Con Edison's Living our Values Award, the most prestigious award presented to employees, and the Harlem Y's Black Achievers in Industry Award. She has also received awards from Goodwill Industries, The Black American Heritage Foundation and Newtown High School for outstanding community service. Most recently Phyllis received an award from the Trey Whitfield School for her outstanding community service; the Neighborhood Technical Assistance Clinic's Neighborhood Advocate Award, and Channel Thirteen/WNET New York's Community Leadership Award.
Phyllis is President of the Board of Reader's Theatre Workshop. In addition she is a member of the Board for the Lighthouse International; Brooklyn Children's Museum; The Brooklyn/Queens Conservatory of Music; Bridge Street Development Corporation; Retired and Senior Volunteer Program; The North Brooklyn YMCA; and NAACP Act-So. She is also a member of the education committee for The Orchestra of St. Luke's.
Phyllis has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business from Iona College, and a Master of Science Degree in Organizational Leadership (MSOL) from Mercy College.
In addition to her work at Con Edison, she is an Adjunct Professor in the Masters Program at Mercy College. She has a daughter, Lisa, two stepdaughters, Cheri and Michele, and lives with her husband, Hugh, in Hartsdale, New York.
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Jonathan M. Wainwright, Esq. -- Secretary
Jonathan M. Wainwright is a partner in the Corporate Department of Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP. His practice is concentrated in the areas of investment management and alternative investment products. Mr. Wainwright's practice focuses on structuring pooled investment entities, complex joint ventures and transactions for private and public companies, merchant banks, investment managers, and not-for-profit organizations. Mr. Wainwright also has extensive experience counseling private equity and investment funds, including partnerships, limited liability companies and off-shore structures. He represents and counsels U.S. and non-U.S. clients, including not-for-profit organizations, in corporate governance matters, private placements of debt and equity securities, mergers, acquisitions, sales, leveraged buyouts, exchange offers and significant investment issues. His clients include domestic and off-shore banks, hedge funds, fund of funds, private equity funds, venture capital funds, real estate funds and other investment managers' consulting firms, service companies, not-for-profit organizations, and family offices.
Mr. Wainwright is a member of the Federal Bar Council. He serves as a member of the Board of Directors of the managers of several large hedge funds, as well as numerous closely-held U.S. companies and foreign corporations.
Mr. Wainwright graduated with honors from Yale College in 1965, with a bachelor's degree in American Studies. He received his J.D. degree from New York University School of Law in 1968 and began working at Cadwalader the same year. He is admitted to practice in the State of New York (1968), the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (1975) and the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (1975).
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Brian S. Wood-- Treasurer
Mr. Wood is currently CEO of Brian S. Wood and Associates LLC which provides consulting services to the direct-to-consumer and internet industry. Previously he held the position of president at the Columbia House Company. Mr. Wood joined Columbia House Company in 1976. During his 30 years with the company, he held several senior management positions. As president of the company, Wood supervised the strategy and operations of the business which served 12 million members in North America.
Wood received his bachelor's degree in administration and management sciences in 1975, and a MBA in 1976 from Carnegie Mellon's Tepper School of Business.
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Lawrence A. Yannuzzi, MD
Larry Yannuzzi is a graduate of Harvard College and Boston University Medical School, where he was honored as a distinguished alumnus. He is a professor of clinical ophthalmology at Columbia University Medical School, vice-chairman and director of The Retinal Research Center of the Manhattan Eye, Ear & Throat Hospital, and founder and president of The Macula Foundation, Inc. He is a world renowned retinal specialist who has published more than 300 scientific papers and 11 textbooks, with particular interest in diseases of the macula, such as diabetic retinopathy and age-related macular degeneration. He has also been given awards and distinctions in his field for contributions on retinal imaging drug development, ophthalmic laser, and the diagnosis and treatment of macular and retinal diseases. His achievements have gained worldwide respect and admiration. Most recently, he was given an honorary doctorate at the University at Ancona, the Michelson Award for Retinal Vascular Disease Gent, the Alcon Research Institution Award, a distinguished alumnus award at Boston University, and a lifetime achievement award by the American Academy of Ophthalmology. This year he will receive the coveted Wacker Award from the International Retinal Society, the Club Jules Gonin.
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