Alumni Elect Five to Board of Overseers

As seniors vacated their dorm rooms June 10, five alumni prepared to settle in to their new roles with the University as members of the Board of Overseers.

Margaret A. Hamburg '77, Joseph J. O'Donnell '67, Karen Gordon Mills '75, Thomas E. Everhart '53 and Sheila James Kuehl were announced as new members at the annual meeting of the Harvard Alumni Association (HAA) on Commencement Day.

The Board of Overseers governs the University along with the Corporation, a group made up of the University President Neil L. Rudenstein and Fellows. The Board is responsible for approving some of the major decisions of its more powerful partner, along with advising Rudenstein and keeping close tabs on University activities.

The 30 overseers are elected at large by Harvard alumni. Over 35,000 alums--17.9 percent of degree holders--cast ballots for the candidates, who will serve six-year terms.

With roots in education, politics, charities and television, the new members are a diverse group. But all agree that they ran for the positions on the board because they want to support the institution they feel gave so much to them.

"I want to continue to give back to a place that so profoundly changed my life," Sheila James Kuehl wrote in her ballot statement.

Kuehl, a Harvard Law School alumna, is the only incumbent candidate among the winners. She was elected to fill a vacancy on the board two years ago and says she wants to continue that commitment.

Among her colleagues on the board, Kuehl has one of the more colorful histories. After a stint as a cast member on the televisions series "The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis," Kuehl later ran for public office and became the first openly gay or lesbian member to be elected to the California Legislature. She has sponsored bills on topics ranging from domestic violence to scams in the talent agency business.

Hamburg is involved in politics on the opposite coast, working as the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation at the US Department of Health and Human Services. A frequent lecturer and a Crimson editor, she says she feels strongly attached to the University.

"On a personal level, the connections to Harvard run deep," she wrote to the nominating committee. Hamburg's parents both served on Harvard's Faculty, and she met her husband their first year when they lived in the same dorm.

Everhart also has family ties to Harvard--his daughter Nancy graduated in 1980. But Everhart is more closely attached to the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), where he is President emeritus.

Everhart has held teaching positions at Cornell University, the University of Illinois and Caltech and said he would like the University to maintain a balance between education and research.

"Educating talented individuals is the University's most important contribution to both society and its own future well-being," his ballot statement reads.

Owner, founder and president of a private equity firm, Mills has her feet firmly planted in the business world. Mills was also a trustee of Radcliffe College for 10 years and says she would like to encourage issues of diversity at the University.

"Women have become an important force in corporate America...I've seen this diverse environment encourage new and challenging thinking," she wrote.

Entrepreneur O'Donnell is a former assistant dean at the business School and currently serves as chair of Boston Concessions Group. But he is better known in Boston as founder of the Joey Fund, a non-profit organization named for his late son and dedicated to helping those with cystic fibrosis.

O'Donnell calls Harvard "a great experience" and said he is also dedicated to serving a diverse group of students.

"As a former scholarship student," he said in his ballot statement, "I believe deeply in Harvard's policy of need-blind admissions."

As they begin their terms, the new overseers are looking forward to bringing their individual expertise to the workings of the University.

"Like so many who have benefited from Harvard, I am eager to give something back," Hamburg said.