Washington, DC - May 1, 2009 - The Aspen Institute recently announced changes to the membership of its Board of Trustees. Two new members--James S. Crown and Beatrice W. Welters--were elected as new trustees and will serve a two-year term that is currently in effect. Henrietta Holsman Fore was reinstated as an Institute Trustee following her tenure in the US Government, most recently as the administrator of the US Agency for International Development and director of United States Foreign Assistance. The Institute's board also elevated Trustees Lester Crown, Tarun Das, Andrew L. Stern, and Frederick B. Whittemore to Lifetime Trustee status. A trustee since 1988, Lester Crown has served as Vice Chairman of the board since 1991. Also announced was the resignation of John (Jake) P. Mascotte as a Lifetime Trustee.

Lifetime Trustees consist of former board members and other prominent individuals who have been elected by a majority of the membership of the Board. Their mission is to create a more involved and informed way to stay in touch with fellow Trustees and with the work of the Aspen Institute. Lifetime Trustees are responsible for providing advice on strategic issues facing the organization.

"We are so fortunate to have Jim Crown and Bea Welters as new Trustees and to welcome the return of Henrietta Holsman Fore to the Aspen Institute board," said Robert K. Steel, chairman of the Institute's Board of Trustees. He added: "With Jim's father Lester shifting to Lifetime Trustee status, we're delighted that Jim will be carrying on the great tradition of representing the Crown Family on our board. Jim will become an immediate asset as he helps us guide the Institute into the future. Bea Welters brings to our board an extraordinary breadth of knowledge and leadership in philanthropy and service to the underprivileged. And I expect that we'll be turning to Henrietta for counsel on global issues given her experience leading USAID. I look forward to working with Jim, Bea and Henrietta in the coming years."

Newly Elected Aspen Institute Trustees
James Schine Crown is President of Henry Crown and Company, a privately owned investment company that invests in public and private securities, real estate and operating companies. He is a director of General Dynamics Corporation, JPMorgan Chase and Sara Lee Corporation. Mr. Crown is Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the University of Chicago. He is also a trustee of the Museum of Science and Industry and the Orchestral Association. Jim Crown was born in Chicago in 1953, the son of Lester and Renée (Schine) Crown. Mr. Crown earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science in 1976 from Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts. He received his law degree in 1980 from Stanford Law School, where he was projects editor of the Stanford Law Review and a member of the Stanford Public Interest Law Foundation. Upon graduating, Mr. Crown joined Salomon Brothers Inc, in New York City, as an associate. He became a vice president of the Capital Markets Service Group in January 1983. In April 1985 he returned to Chicago to join his family's investment firm. Mr. Crown is a member of the Illinois State Bar Association. Mr. Crown has been married to the former Paula Hannaway since 1985. They have four children.

Henrietta Holsman Fore served as Administrator of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and as Director of US Foreign Assistance in the George W. Bush administration. She had previously been Under Secretary of State for Management. Prior to that appointment, Fore served as the 37th Director of the United States Mint in the Department of Treasury. She had also been a Presidential appointee at USAID from 1989-1993, first as Assistant Administrator for Private Enterprise in the US Agency for International Development and then Assistant Administrator for Asia. During this period she founded and served as the first Chairman of the United States Asia Environmental Partnership, a coalition of business, government, and community organization in the United States and 31 Asian nations. Fore also was a founder of the Financial Services Volunteer Corps. She was Chairman and President of Stockton Wire Products, a manufacturer and distributor of steel products, cement additives and wire building materials for the U.S. and European construction industry. She served on the Corporate Boards of the Dexter Corporation and HSB Group Inc., both listed on the New York Stock Exchange. She has a Bachelor of Arts degree in History from Wellesley College and a Master of Science degree in Public Administration from the University of Northern Colorado. She has also studied International Politics at Oxford University and studied at Stanford University Graduate School of Business. She is married and lives in Washington, D.C., and Nevada. She is a keen sailor and collector of antique Holsman Automobiles.

Beatrice Wilkinson Welters is the Founder and Chairman of the AnBryce Foundation and the Vincent Wilkinson Foundation. These foundations focus on underserved youth and young adults to provide multiple settings for their personal and scholastic development. A passion for assisting underprivileged youth remains her top priority and the foundations continue to expand programming to accommodate growth. The foundation, through its partnership with New York University School of Law, has committed to providing 30 full-tuition scholarships to students of high merit who come from backgrounds of severe economic disadvantage to be the first in their families to be attending graduate school. In 2007, the foundation began a similar program at the undergraduate level. Over 10 years ago, Mrs. Welters created the Camp Dogwood Summer Academy, an affiliate of the AnBryce Foundation, which is located in Wolftown, Virginia, and accommodates over 90 young campers each summer. Upon leaving the Camp Dogwood Summer Academy, participants continue to receive academic assistance from the foundation through its after-school and Saturday academic enrichment programs in the Washington, DC metropolitan area. Mrs. Welters serves on the boards of many distinguished Washington, DC institutions. She was appointed to the Kennedy Center Board of Trustees in 1992 and serves on its Executive Committee and Education Committee. She serves as a board member of the National Symphony Orchestra and as its Vice President for Community Development. She serves on the board of the Library of Congress as a member of the James Madison Council Steering Committee and as Co-Chair of the Acquisitions Committee, as a board member at the Brookings Institution, on the board of the Washington Jesuit Academy, and as a Trustee at the Maret School. Mrs. Welters also participates in numerous other programs that she has funded to bring theatre and the arts to underserved youth. Mrs. Welters earned her undergraduate degree from Manhattanville College and her graduate degree from the John Jay College of Criminal Justice. She recently received an Honorary Doctorate from Livingstone College in Salisbury, North Carolina. She and her husband, Anthony, reside in McLean, Virginia, with their sons, Bryant, age 19, a college student at Notre Dame, and Andrew, age 17, a senior at the Maret School.

Newly Elected Aspen Institute Lifetime Trustees
Lester Crown is chairman of Henry Crown and Company. He holds a B.S. in chemical engineering from Northwestern University and an MBA from Harvard Graduate School of Business. Mr. Crown serves on the boards of Northwestern University, Children's Memorial Medical Center, Lyric Opera of Chicago, The Jerusalem Foundation, The Jewish Theological Seminary, and is Chairman of The Chicago Council on Global Affairs and of The Civic Committee of The Commercial Club of Chicago.

Tarun Das is the Chief Mentor of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). CII is a national organization servicing and representing Indian Industry. He is also the President of Aspen Institute India and the non-executive Chairman of the Haldia Petrochemicals Ltd (HPL). He is also a member of the National Security Advisory Board of Government of India, member of Coca-Cola Company International Advisory Board, Member of the Board of Governors, East West Center, Honolulu and a Non-Executive Director, John Keells Holdings Ltd, Sri Lanka. He has been conferred an Honorary CBE by Her Majesty the Queen for his contribution to Indo-British relations. He has also been conferred with the Singapore National Award (Public Service Medal) for his contribution to strengthening economic ties between India and Singapore, and awarded the Padma Bhushan, one of the highest Indian Civilian Decoration, for his contribution in the field of Trade and Industry, by the President of India.

Andrew Stern is president of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), the nation's largest and fastest-growing union. The New York Times Magazine described Stern as a man who "intends to create a new, more dynamic labor movement" that can meet the challenges of the 21st century global economy. Stern envisions partnerships between multinational companies and overseas unions to raise wages and standards for workers, while helping businesses become more competitive in America and internationally. After launching a widely publicized debate about the fundamental change needed to reverse labor’s decline, Stern led SEIU out of the AFL-CIO to focus the movement on uniting the nine out of 10 American workers not yet in a union, and was the driving force behind the formation of Change to Win, a new labor federation of seven major unions representing 6 million members. An aggressive advocate for a health care system that helps U.S. companies control costs while providing quality, affordable coverage to every American, Stern has also invited business leaders to join forces with labor in the national political arena to establish a more efficient, cost-effective model to replace our ailing employer-based structure.

Frederick B. Whittemore, a senior banker, partner, managing director, and advisory director of Morgan Stanley and Company in New York, has been with the firm for 50 years. He has served as vice chairman of the American Stock Exchange, international president of the Pacific Basin Economic Council, and chairman of the U.S. National Committee for Economic Cooperation. Whittemore is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

The Aspen Institute mission is twofold: to foster values-based leadership, encouraging individuals to reflect on the ideals and ideas that define a good society, and to provide a neutral and balanced venue for discussing and acting on critical issues. The Aspen Institute does this primarily in four ways: seminars, young-leader fellowships around the globe, policy programs, and public conferences and events. The Institute is based in Washington, DC, Aspen, CO, and on the Wye River on Maryland's Eastern Shore and has an international network of partners. For more information, visit www.aspeninstitute.org.

Aspen Institute

Aspen Institute

The Aspen Institute is an educational and policy studies organization based in Washington, DC. Its mission is to foster leadership based on enduring values and to provide a nonpartisan venue for dealing with critical issues. The Institute has campuses in Aspen, Colorado, and on the Wye River on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. It also maintains offices in New York City and has an international network of partners. For more information, visit www.aspeninstitute.org or follow on Twitter @AspenInstitute.

More from Aspen Institute