At its May 23 meeting, the Cornell Board of Trustees elected five new trustees to four-year terms: James F. Adelson '85; Todd C. Builione '96; Catherine L. Merrill '91; Amane A. Nakashima, MBA '89; and Rick S. Schlesinger.
Also at the meeting, six current trustees were reelected to a four-year term: Jessica M. Bibliowicz '81; William J. Lipinski '79; Ana G. Pinczuk '84, M.S. '85; Harriet P. Schleifer '74; Robert W. Selander '72; and Michael L. Thompson '77.
James F. Adelson '85
They join recent alumni-elected trustees Paul N. Hayre '91 and Karen E. Stewart '85, who will serve four-year terms, and Keten Abebe '27, who will serve as student-elected trustee for a two-year term.
Todd C. Builione '96
All the newly elected trustees' terms begin July 1.
Adelson is president and managing member of Nadel and Gussman LLC, a Tulsa, Oklahoma-based oil and gas production company. He serves on the College of Arts and Sciences (A&S) Advisory Council (2012-28) and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology Administrative Board (2019-25). He volunteered on the Cornell University Council (2010-14) and on his 20th Reunion Campaign Major Gifts Committee (2004-05).
Catherine L. Merrill '91
Amane A. Nakashima, MBA '89
Builione is CEO of North America at Marshall Wace, a provider of alternative investment solutions. He is a member of the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business Leadership Council (2022-25) and SC Johnson's Campaign Committee (2024-26) and mentors the SC Johnson Accelerator Scholars program. He previously served on the Dyson Undergraduate Advisory Council (2009-15), Cornell University Council (2011-15), Cornell Alumni Trustee Nominations Committee (2012-16) and the President's Circle Committee (2010-14).
Rick S. Schlesinger
Paul N. Hayre '91
Karen E. Stewart '85
Keten Abebe '27
Merrill is CEO and owner of Washingtonian Media, which publishes Washingtonian magazine. She currently serves on the A&S Advisory Council (since 2017), the President's Council of Cornell Women (since 2008) and the Cornell University Council (2012-28). Merrill also serves on the board of Ford's Theater, is a founding member of the Fallen Journalists Memorial Foundation and serves on the National Advisory Council for the Trust for the National Mall.
Nakashima is president of Nakashimato Co., a family-owned food, wine and hospitality distribution company based in Tokyo, Japan, and chairman of Kewpie Corporation and Wine To Style. Nakashima serves as president of the Cornell Club of Japan (2016-26) and is a member of the Cornell University Council (2017-21 and 2023-27), the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business Leadership Council (2021-27), and the Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management Advisory Council (2018-26).
Schlesinger, the parent of a College of Agriculture and Life Sciences graduate in the Class of 2012, is a former senior partner at McKinsey & Company, where he worked for 20 years. He serves on several boards in the entrepreneurial health care and nonprofit arenas, including The Joint Commission and Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Los Angeles. He has served on the Healthcare Advisory Board for Harvard Business School.
Hayre is the executive director of Harvard Grid, leading the acceleration of startup formation at Harvard University's School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.
He has been a member of the Cornell University Council since 2006 and was appointed a life member in 2024. He serves as vice president of the Class of 1991 (2021-26) and as chair of the Engineering College Council (2025-26). He previously served on the Student and Academic Services Advisory Council (2006-10), as vice president (2004-08) and president (2010-12) of the Cornell Club of Boston and as president of the Class of 1991 (2001-06).
Stewart is a personal finance coach with the Community Service Society of New York. A life member of the Cornell University Council since 2024, Stewart served on the Administrative Board (2016-20), and as vice chair (2018-19) and chair (2019-20) of the Ambassador Committee. She joined the President's Council of Cornell Women in 2012, serving as chair from 2019-21. She was a member of the Cornell Mosaic Executive Committee (2014-18) and committee chair of the Cornell Alumni Admissions Ambassador Network (2008-13). She is a member of the Class of 1985 Reunion Campaign Committee.
Abebe is majoring in public policy in the Cornell Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy and minoring in international relations, inequality studies, and law and society.
She serves as a liaison between students and the administration in her role as a Brooks School student ambassador. As a policy analyst for the Cornell Policy Group, she uses research and advocacy to address social issues impacting marginalized communities both locally and globally. Most recently, she successfully advocated for increasing health care access for immigrants in New York state.
