Cooper-Hewitt Announces New Board Leadership and Appointment of New Trustees
Smithsonian Institution’s board of regents approved last week the appointment of new leadership and trustees to the board of Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum.
Paul Herzan: chairman (previously president)
Enid W. Morse: vice chairman (previously chairman)
James A. Rosenthal: president (previously treasurer)
Eric A. Green: treasurer
Beth Comstock: new trustee
Ronald M. Daignault: new trustee
Francine S. Kittredge: new trustee
Henry R. Muñoz, III: new trustee
Madeleine Rudin Johnson: new trustee
“The new leadership of the board of trustees underscores the dedication and commitment of these trustees to the future of the institution during this important time in the museum’s history,” noted director Paul Warwick Thompson. “I also welcome Beth Comstock, Ron Daignault, Francine Kittredge, Henry Muñoz and Madeleine Rudin Johnson to the already distinguished roster of trustees who are working so diligently to support the museum’s mission.”
Biographical Information
Chairman—Paul Herzan has served on the museum’s board of trustees for over 5 years and has been its president since 2003. He chairs the executive committee and sits on all other committees at Cooper-Hewitt. Herzan is a director of the Lily Auchincloss Foundation, a trustee of the New York Landmarks Conservancy, and is currently chairing a consortium of organizations led by the Design Trust for Public Space to redesign New York City’s yellow cabs. Previously, he worked as an executive in the Fragrance Division of International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. A graduate of Brown University, Herzan has a strong interest in industrial design, historic preservation and is a passionate enthusiast for sustainable design.
Vice Chairman—Enid W. Morse has served for three years as chairman and as a trustee at the museum since 1993. 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 bachelor’s degree from Manhattanville College. During her long tenure as a trustee of Cooper-Hewitt, Morse has actively supported programming, particularly education initiatives and the upcoming exhibition “Frederic Church, Winslow Homer, and Thomas Moran: Tourism and the American Landscape.”
President—James A. Rosenthal has served on the board of trustees at Cooper-Hewitt since September 2004 and is the chief financial officer of Tishman Speyer. Previously, he was managing director and member of the office of the chairman at Pequot Capital Management. Prior to that, he was the head of corporate strategy and corporate development at Lehman Brothers, and was a senior partner at McKinsey & Company. He is the author of a number of articles and a book on corporate strategy, “Securitization of Credit: Inside the New Technology of Finance,” (John Wiley & Sons, 1988). Rosenthal serves on the board of the New Visions For Public Schools. He received a bachelor’s degree from Yale and a juris doctorate from Harvard Law School.
Treasurer—Eric Green, a trustee at Cooper-Hewitt since March 2004, is a senior partner at FriedbergMilstein, a New York-based merchant bank, where he is responsible for structured investments, including mezzanine and growth equity transactions. Previously, he was a partner-group head and managing director of J.P. Morgan Partners, from 1998 to 2003. He was also a managing director in the Merchant Banking Group at Paribas for eight years, and has held corporate planning and other financial positions at GE Capital and GE Company. Green has served on numerous public and private company boards of directors. He received a bachelor’s degree from Wabash College and his master’s degree from New York University.
Trustee—Beth Comstock is president of Digital Media and Market Development at NBC Universal. She is accountable for driving NBC Universal’s digital strategy and leading the company’s content and distribution efforts to capitalize on new and emerging digital platforms. Prior to her current post, Comstock served as corporate vice president and chief marketing officer of General Electric. Before that, she held a succession of communications and publicity positions at NBC, Turner Broadcasting and CBS Entertainment, beginning in 1986. A native of Virginia, Comstock is a graduate of the College of William and Mary.
Trustee—Ronald M. Daignault, a partner in Jenner & Block’s New York office, is a member of the firm’s Intellectual Property, Litigation & Dispute Resolution and Trade Secrets and Unfair Competition Practices, Management and Pro Bono committees. Prior to joining Jenner & Block, Daignault was a partner at Jones Day and the former intellectual property boutique, Pennie & Edmonds. A graduate of the University of Michigan, Daignault received his juris doctorate from Washington University School of Law. Daignault is a member of the Park Slope Civic Council.
Trustee—Francine S. Kittredge, managing director of Lehman Brothers, currently serves as director of business development services, director of corporate philanthropy, and president of The Lehman Brothers’ Foundation. She joined Lehman Brothers in 1985 as an investment banking associate. Kittredge currently serves on the boards of the Baruch College Foundation; the business advisory council of the Zicklin School of Business of Baruch College; and the New York advisory board of Facing History and Ourselves. A graduate of Wellesley College, she received the Institute of Human Relation’s Harriet Jonas Award for lifetime distinguished community service in 1992, and was elected to the Academy of Women Achievers in 1999.
Trustee—Henry R. Muñoz, III is chairman of the board of directors and chief executive officer of Kell Muñoz Architects, Inc., the largest minority-owned architectural firm in Texas. Under his leadership, Kell Muñoz Architects has placed its design emphasis on incorporating the unique history, traditions, and cultural evolution of the people of the Texas/Mexico Borderlands. Muñoz was the founding president of Texas Public Radio and has served as a leader of the Greater San Antonio Chamber of Commerce and as the commissioner of the Texas Department of Transportation. He serves on numerous boards, including those of his alma mater Loyola University in New Orleans, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute, the Smithsonian Institution’s National Board, and the National Committee for the Performing Arts of the Kennedy Center. Muñoz is the founding chairman of the Smithsonian Affiliate, The Alameda, in San Antonio.
Trustee—Madeleine Rudin Johnson is an executive vice president of Rudin Management and a trustee of the May and Samuel Rudin Family Foundation, the Rudin Foundation, and the Louis and Rachel Rudin Foundation. Her interests include the restoration of mid-century modern and 1960s commercial and residential buildings. For many years Johnson was vice president of the board of The Children’s Storefront, an independent tuition-free school in Harlem. She is an alumna of Pine Manor College and American University.
