The Observer, November 17, 2006
Volume XXXIX, Issue 11
Board of Trustees adds Ohio
Case's Board of Trustees appointed two new members during its October meeting, Caroline Kovac and Paul Ostergard.
Kovac is the managing director of Burrill & Co. and a native of Chardon, Ohio who currently lives in Connecticut. She received her B.A. from Oberlin College and her Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Southern California.
She serves on the board of directors for the Foundation of the National Institutes of Health and Research America and is also a board member for Africa Harvest, a non-profit group which seeks to improve the well-being of Africans through biotechnology.
In her position at Burrill & Co., Kovac oversees investments in the development of health and medical technologies.
She is also a 23-year veteran of IBM, recently serving as the founder and general manager for the company's $5 billion healthcare and life sciences business.
Kovac has been recognized by Fortune as one of the 50 most powerful women in business and was a 2002 inductee into the Women in Technology International Hall of Fame.
Ostergard is the retired president and CEO of Junior Achievement International. He is a Case graduate from Akron, Ohio who currently resides in South Carolina. He received his law degree from the University of Michigan, a Masters in Public Administration from Harvard University, and a diploma of Hispanic Studies from the University of Madrid in Spain.
His previous positions include chairman and CEO of the Citigroup Foundation and president and CEO of the General Electric Foundation. He also serves as a board member and acting president and CEO of the Hispanic Scholarship Fund, is a board member of the Bond Market Foundation and Scholarship America, and is a trustee of the Master Card Foundation.
Ostergard helped launch the Committee to Encourage Corporate Philanthropy with actor and noted philanthropist Paul Newman. He also launched a College Bound program through the General Electric Foundation to increase the number of inner-city school students accepted to college.
"Over the past three years the Board's Committee on Trustees has moved to broader national representation by actively recruiting diverse members of our alumni and community to volunteer for our board," said Joie Gregor, committee chair and vice chair of the Board.
Alumni representation is currently 86 percent of the board; representation from outside the state is at 57 percent.
Both of the new trustees will serve renewable four-year terms beginning in 2007, raising the number of board members to 37.
"Service to our communities, country, and the world is an ideal that Case Western Reserve University likes to see in its students and graduates," said interim president Gregory Eastwood.
"These new board members have provided extraordinary service to their country in advancing the lives of young people and serve as role models of what it is to be a socially responsible corporate citizen," he said.
