New Chairman and President Elected at Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum
In May 2003, the Board of Trustees at the Smithsonian’s Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, approved a revised officer structure to include the roles of President, Treasurer and Secretary, in addition to the existing posts of Chairman and Vice Chairmen. This change reflects a new focus at the museum as it embarks on a period of growth. The new slate of officers elected to these positions is:
Enid W. Morse: Chairman
Nancy Marks and Arthur Ross: Vice Chairmen Paul Herzan: President
Jon W. Rotenstreich: Treasurer
Anne B. Ehrenkranz: Secretary
Commenting on the new appointments, Cooper-Hewitt Director Paul Warwick Thompson stated, “I am delighted to see the museum's future placed in the trusted hands of some of its greatest champions—civic leaders who know the institution deeply, and who are determined to see it fulfill its potential." The Board is composed of a broad spectrum of civic and business leaders, each committed to advancing the world of design. Recently energized with an influx of talented new trustees, including Reed Krakoff, President and Creative Director of Coach, Ruth Ann Stewart, Clinical Professor of Public Policy at the Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, New York University, Michael Maharam of Maharam Textiles, and Irvine Rafael Mac Manus, Director of the consulting firm Museum Planning and Programs, the Board is overseeing the museum’s ambitious plans for the future. Among the initiatives underway is the museum’s first gallery to be devoted to showing its permanent collection, the Nancy and Edwin Marks Collections Gallery, to be unveiled in October 2003, and a digital design gallery, scheduled to open in 2005. At this significant crossroads in the museum’s evolution, an expanded Board officer struc- ture has been implemented to lead the museum forward.
Biographical Information
Chairman—Enid W. Morse is trustee emeritus of Prep-for-Prep, and trustee and recent co-chair of the Board of Teachers College at Columbia University. She attended Smith College and received her B.A. from Manhattanville College. Mrs. Morse has been a long-time member of the Cooper-Hewitt Board of Trustees. She actively serves on the museum’s executive and education committees, as well as the collec- tions committee. “My husband and I have great admiration for the museum, its curators and its wonderful staff,” Mrs. Morse said. “We feel it occupies a very special place in New York City. In my new role as Chairman, I look forward to working with Paul Thompson, our gifted director, Paul Herzan, our dynamic president, and our committed and talented Board of Trustees.” Vice Chairman—Nancy Marks is the Chief Executive Officer of her own interior design firm and serves on the boards of the North Shore Child and Family Guidance Center, the Juilliard School of Music and the North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System Research Institute of the North Shore Hospital. She chairs the museum’s collections committee. “It is with great anticipation that I look forward to working with such an esteemed and talented group of colleagues. Together we shall continue to realize the inspired goals of Paul Thompson,” said Mrs. Marks.
Vice Chairman—Arthur Ross is a founding member of the Board of Trustees of Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum and currently sits on the museum’s executive committee and committee on trustees. Mr. Ross is Vice Chairman of Central National-Gottesman, Inc., President of Cenro Corporation, and Vice Chairman of the United Nations Association of the United States of America. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and a Director of the Foreign Policy Association. He currently serves as trustee of the American Museum of Natural History, Barnard College, the American Academy in Rome, and the Central Park Conservancy, and is an honorary Life Trustee of the Asia Society and Mt. Sinai Medical Center.
President—Paul Herzan is a director of the Lily Auchincloss Foundation, a trustee of the New York Landmarks Conservancy and formerly worked at International Flavors and Fragrances Inc. He has served as trustee of Cooper-Hewitt for two years and will assume the duties of this newly created position imme- diately. Herzan chairs the museum’s executive and exhibitions committees and sits on all other committees at the museum. Commenting on his appointment, Mr. Herzan said, “I am delighted to serve as Board President during this ambitious and exciting period in the museum’s history. I look forward to sharing in the leadership of this great organization as we move into the 21st century.”
Treasurer—Jon Rotenstreich has held a number of executive positions including Chairman and CEO of TIG Holdings Inc., President and Director of Torchmark Corporation and Vice President and Treasurer of IBM. He is now a financial consultant and private investor through his firm, Jon Rotenstreich Consultants, LLC, and is active in real estate development through a privately held company he co-found- ed in 1985. He is an advisory director and member of the finance committee with the Metropolitan Opera and serves on the boards of the Montefiore Medical Center, WNYC, and Temple Emanu-el. Mr. Rotenstreich serves on the museum’s executive and finance and planning committees. “I am honored to accept this expanded role and will work hard to ensure the continued stability and fiscal growth of Cooper- Hewitt," declared Mr. Rotenstreich.
Secretary—Anne Ehrenkranz joined the Cooper-Hewitt Board in 1998. She is a member of the photogra- phy committees at the Whitney Museum of American Art and the Museum of Modern Art. She is a trustee of the International Center of Photography, Studio Museum in Harlem, New School University and the Visiting Nurses Service. She also chairs the Vera List Center at the New School. She holds doctorates from New York University and City University of New York. Mrs. Ehrenkranz chairs the Cooper-Hewitt’s committee on trustees and also serves on the executive committee. The museum remains indebted to outgoing board chairman Kathleen B. Allaire, who served for two years as Chairman and will continue on the board as trustee—a position she has held since 1994. Under her stewardship, Ms. Allaire oversaw the launch of the museum’s National Design Awards program and initiat- ed the vigorous growth of the Board. She is also an alumna of Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum’s Masters Program in Decorative Arts and Design.
Ms. Allaire, along with former Cooper-Hewitt Chairmen Kenneth B. Miller and Harvey M. Krueger, are being formally honored for their leadership with the title Chairman Emeritus. Their service to the Board was acknowledged in a ceremony in Washington, D.C., hosted by Smithsonian Institution Secretary Lawrence Small this spring.
Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum Smithsonian Institution
Board of Trustees
Kathleen B. Allaire, Chairman Emeritus
Harvey M. Krueger, Chairman Emeritus
Kenneth B. Miller, Chairman Emeritus, Honorary
Enid W. Morse, Chairman Nancy Marks, Vice Chairman Arthur Ross, Vice Chairman Paul Herzan, President
Jon W. Rotenstreich, Treasurer Anne B. Ehrenkranz, Secretary
Agnes C. Bourne
Joan K. Davidson, Honorary Susan deMenil
William Drenttel
Alice Gottesman
Reed Krakoff
Irvine Mac Manus
Michael Maharam
Barbara A. Mandel
Richard Meier
Murray Moss
Abigail Rose
Richard M. Smith
Ruth Ann Stewart
Esme Usdan
Ex Officio
Smithsonian Institution
Lawrence M. Small, The Secretary
Thomas W. Lentz, Director, International Art Museums Division
Paul Warwick Thompson, Director, Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum
