| Susan L. Carney | Walter H. Morris, Jr. | Ana Maria Salazar |
| Christopher B. Field | Gilbert S. Omenn | Gwill Elaine York |
| Deanna Lee | Sanjay H. Patel |
Susan L. Carney
AB ’73 cum laude, JD ’77 magna cum laude
New Haven, CT
Susan L. Carney is a Judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
“My desire to serve on the Board of Overseers stems from my strong commitment to higher education and public service, first shaped at Harvard. I admire and relish the high standards, exceptional mastery, and deep curiosity that define a world-class research university. My knowledge of and affection for university culture give me insight into its special operational and strategic issues. To devote my time and effort to the Board and Harvard would be a pleasure and a privilege.”
Before being confirmed as a Circuit Judge, she practiced law in higher education for over a decade, serving as Associate, Deputy, and Acting General Counsel for Yale University. Her work there included counseling on legal aspects of research ethics, intellectual property, and international operations. She was active in the National Association of College & University Attorneys, where she became a member of the Board of Directors.
Earlier, she worked as Associate General Counsel for the U.S. Peace Corps and in private practice in Washington, D.C., where she was President of the Harvard Law School Association of D.C. and co-chaired the Harvard Schools and Scholarships Committee for the Washington, D.C. area.
A native of the Boston area, she has served on the boards of the Women Organizing Women Political Action Committee in Connecticut and of Fine By Me, a nonprofit organization supporting family and friends of LGBT individuals.
She and her husband, Lincoln Caplan AB ’72, JD ’76, have one daughter.
Christopher B. Field
AB ’75 summa cum laude; PhD ’81, Stanford University
Stanford, CA
Chris Field is the Director of the Department of Global Ecology at the Carnegie Institution for Science on the Stanford campus and holds the Melvin and Joan Lane Chair for Interdisciplinary Environmental Studies at Stanford University.
A research scientist specializing in the fields of climate change and biological diversity, he founded a new department devoted to research on the scientific foundations of a sustainable future. He has contributed to the creation of global ecology as a new discipline and has trained many of its leaders.
He has also been a national and international leader in bringing science to bear on the policy process, emphasizing the importance of linking science to societal needs. Currently, he leads a working group of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and was a member of the delegation that received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007.
He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
“The 21st century is presenting humanity and Earth with a series of monumental challenges. It is only by training leaders who are more thoughtful and more broadly aware that we can hope to not just cope, but actually solve these challenges. Harvard can play a key role in producing this century’s top thinkers and leaders.”
His enjoyment of the outdoors was fostered as an undergraduate member of the Harvard ski team and mountaineering club.
He and his wife, Nona Chiariello, have two children.
Deanna Lee
AB ’84 magna cum laude
New York, NY
Deanna Lee is the Chief Communications and Digital Strategies Officer for Carnegie Corporation of New York.
She was previously Vice President for Communications, Marketing, and Public Engagement at The New York Public Library, where she created the award-winning iPad application, Biblion: The Boundless Library.
The recipient of eight Emmy Awards for news and documentary, she also worked for more than twenty years as a producer for ABC News and PBS, before transitioning to nonprofit communications and marketing at the Asia Society.
“Higher education institutions, as drivers of intellectual and societal progress, require the engagement of people from a variety of fields and communities working to define the future. I am particularly excited about how Harvard can lead progress in developing and utilizing multimedia content, digital resources, and interactive tools to broaden its constituencies—enhancing how people learn and learn more deeply, the world over. It would be a privilege to contribute towards these and other vital goals on the Board of Overseers.”
An active member of the Harvard Asian American Alumni Alliance, she serves on the boards of the Asian American Justice Center and the New York Piano Society. She has one daughter, Emma Caraballo Lee.
“As the child of poor immigrants, I would only have been able to benefit from a Harvard education in a society where education is accessible and available to all. I am committed to working towards inclusiveness and promoting the value of diversity throughout our culture and institutions.”
Walter H. Morris, Jr.
AB ’73, MBA ’75
Potomac, MD
Walter Morris hails from the San Francisco area and arrived at Harvard during a tumultuous time. His desire to serve the university began early as he rose through the alumni ranks - serving as Elected Director, Chair of the Graduate Schools Relations Committee, and President of the Harvard Alumni Association. An HAA Alumni Service Award recipient, he focused his HAA presidency on celebrating the work of Harvard’s network, expanding alumni communities away from Cambridge and working to increase alumni engagement with Harvard.
“I have found my many years of volunteer service through the HAA to be incredibly rewarding and fulfilling. I especially enjoy seeing first-hand the academic developments and social changes in the university community that contribute to Harvard’s tradition of excellence. I hope to have an opportunity to continue to help Harvard as well as gain even greater perspective about the university through service on the Board of Overseers.”
He has always enjoyed career mentoring, and dedicates significant time to counseling students and young professionals. He is active with the Harvard Black Students Association and is a member of the Harvard Black Alumni Society, the Harvard Club of New York and the Harvard Club of Washington, DC where he served on its Board.
He serves on the stewards board of the Metropolitan AME Church in Washington and has extensive board experience with not-for-profit organizations. Professionally, he was a Principal of Ernst & Young after a twenty-year career in banking.
He and his wife, Cynthia, have two children and one son-in-law.
Gilbert S. Omenn
MD ’65 magna cum laude; AB ’61, Princeton University; PhD ’72, University of Washington
Ann Arbor, MI
Gil Omenn is a professor of medicine, genetics and public health and director of the Center for Computational Medicine & Bioinformatics at the University of Michigan.
Throughout his career, he has forged connections between medicine and public health as physician, scientist, educator, mentor, and policymaker. He led advances in prenatal diagnosis and currently studies proteins and genomes in cancers.
Gil was Dean of the School of Public Health and Community Medicine at the University of Washington, and later Chief Executive Officer of the University of Michigan Health System. He was associate director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy and the Office of Management and Budget, and chaired the 1990s Presidential/Congressional Commission on Risk Assessment and Risk Management. He enjoys tennis and music.
“My academic experiences have given me deep appreciation of private and public universities, including student life and alumni engagement. From federal government and non-profit and corporate board service, I am familiar with competing priorities and large numbers. I am dedicated to transdisciplinary interactions for intellectual and practical benefits, bridging humanities and science, service and policy. I would love to contribute to discussions about how Harvard can positively influence society’s challenges, and how to enhance connections across the professional schools and the College.”
Class speaker at graduation and HMS 25th reunion, president of the Harvard Medical Alumni Association during his 45th reunion, Gil chaired the 2012 Overseers Committee to Visit the Harvard Medical School and the Harvard School of Dental Medicine.
He and his wife, Martha Darling, have three children and five grandchildren.
Sanjay H. Patel
AB ’83 magna cum laude, SM ’83; MBA ’87, Stanford University
London, England
“As a young boy growing up in India, financial aid opened the world for me. Eton allowed me to take their scholarship exam in Hindi, and I became the first non-British student to become Captain of the School. Harvard gave me a full scholarship, and I came to America for the first time as a Harvard freshman. I concentrated in Engineering but took advantage of Harvard’s breadth of choices particularly in the arts.”
Sanjay Patel is dedicated to globally creating opportunities and pathways for disadvantaged youth to achieve an education, which has led to his involvement on many foundations including on the Advisory Board for the Asian University for Women in Bangladesh. He works closely with Uganda Charity Trust Fund (UCTF), which develops youth sports and education. He has also served as trustee of the American School in London and the Brearley School in New York.
For Harvard, he has served as HAA Elected Director and as a member of the National Schools and Scholarships Committee, Task Force on International Studies, Overseers Committee to Visit the University Library, and the South Asia Institute. He has been co-chair for all his class reunions’ gift committees.
“I have spent half my life in the U.S. and the other half in India and England. I would bring this dual perspective to the Overseers and want to further help Harvard engage internationally.”
He is Managing Partner for Apollo Management International. He and his wife, Leslie, have two daughters, Alisha ’14 and India ’17.
Ana Maria Salazar
JD ’89; BA ’86, University of California, Berkeley
Mexico City, Mexico
Ana Maria Salazar is a bilingual anchor of three different media programs in Mexico, including a nation-wide news program, a daily political roundtable, and a weekly program on national security.
She is also the CEO of Grupo Salazar, a management consulting firm specializing in training and conferences, and has taught workshops and seminars on security, leadership, and negotiation at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, Mexico’s Army and Navy War Colleges, and the National Institute for Criminal Science in Mexico.
“Security issues, especially the prevention of violence against women and children, have been my main concern over the last ten years. In addition, I focus on freedom of expression in Mexico, which has been threatened by undue pressure and threats from organized crime. Finally, since I believe it is impossible for any democracy to grow without extraordinary leaders, I am committed to writing about and teaching leadership skills to politicians and public officials.”
Before moving to Mexico, she held several appointments in the U.S. government, serving as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Drug Enforcement Policy and Support, Assistant to the Envoy for the Americas at the White House, and Special Assistant at the US State Department’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs. She has also worked in conjunction with the former HLS Center for Criminal Justice in both Guatemala and Colombia, improving the administration of justice in those countries.
The mother of two, she hopes to address the issue of Latino enrollment at Harvard and the wider role Harvard can play in the world.
Gwill Elaine York
AB ’80 (’79) cum laude, MBA ’84
Cambridge, MA
A pioneering entrepreneur with 25 years of experience financing early stage high-tech and healthcare companies, Gwill York co-founded Lighthouse Capital Partners, based in Cambridge and Menlo Park, in 1994.
Volunteering for the Boston Museum of Science for over two decades and currently a trustee there, she has focused on encouraging young women in primary and secondary schools to explore the fields of science and engineering. Gwill is a trustee of the Brigham and Women’s Hospital, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, and the International Mental Health Research Organization. She is an active mentor and Entrepreneur-in-Residence at the Harvard i-lab and the Harvard Business School Rock Center, and head judge of the HBS Business Plan Contest.
Gwill has served in numerous roles for the university, including co-chairing the Harvard College Fund and five college class reunion committees. She is a member of the Harvard Medical School Board of Fellows and the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences Campaign Advisory Group. A three-sport athlete at Harvard, she served on the Overseers Committee to Visit the Department of Athletics.
“Growing up in Cleveland, attending Harvard, and my family are the cornerstones of who I am. Harvard makes a difference in the lives of people around the world, and I have experienced this firsthand. I will bring a useful set of experiences, skills, and knowledge, filtered through a deep affection for Harvard, to the work of the Board of Overseers.”
Gwill and her husband, Paul Maeder, MBA ’84, have two sons.