The Yale Alumni Association Board of Governors assembled virtually for the final time in the 2021-22 academic year, meeting in late June to celebrate the year’s successes and bid a joyful – and at times tearful – goodbye to its departing members.
Those whose terms ended before or on June 30 are Regina Bain ’98, ’01 MFA, Paul Bosco ’84 MS, Andrew Burgie ’87, Devrim Celal ’96 MPPM, Brad Galiette ’08, ’11 MBA, ’12 MS, Elaine Gustafson ’86 MSN, and Sudip Mukherjee ’04 MBA, as well as immediate past chair Nancy Stratford ’77.
“To our departing members, we thank you for your service to the Yale Alumni Association Board of Governors and your dedication to Yale and the alumni community,” said YAA Executive Director Weili Cheng ’77. “Your contributions have been many and your impact immense. You will be missed on the board, and we look forward to continuing to work with you as alumni leaders in the years to come.”
Terms for the YAA Board of Governors run July 1 through June 30. The chair and vice chair of the board each serve two-year terms, with board members serving three-year terms and executive officers elected or re-elected on an annual basis.
There are four to five all-board sessions held each academic year, which operate as a mix of committee meetings and plenary sessions that range in topics from diversity, equity, and inclusion training to discussions with President Salovey ’86 PhD, Vice President for University Life Kimberly Goff-Crews ’83, ’86 JD, Vice President for Alumni Affairs and Development Joan O’Neill, and other university officials.
The board’s committees also meet regularly to ensure that YAA initiatives are moving forward and reaching a representative, diverse audience. Committees for 2021-22 included mentoring and networking, alumni communities, board governance, equity and inclusion, and volunteer pipeline development.
Board members are also the primary drivers of the Alumni Fellow Nominating Committee and the Yale Medal Committee, and originate and staff many of the ongoing webinars and online programs hosted each year.
“It has been another remarkable year for our board,” said outgoing YAA Board of Governors Chair Jerry Henry ’80 MDiv, “and once again, not under the easiest of circumstances. So, hats off to all our members. They skillfully navigated the pandemic, first with online programming and now with the transition to hybrid events. Throughout it all, they never lost focus of our primary goal, which is to engage alumni across the generations and deliver programs and offerings of interest that we hope will connect alums with each other and with the YAA and the university at large. I am excited about what the coming year will bring!”
