Washington, D.C. — The Board of Trustees at the Brookings Institution has elected four new members, Brookings President Strobe Talbott announced today. Ed Clark of TD Bank Group; Betsy Z. Cohen of The Bancorp; Arthur R. Collins of theGROUP; and Peter L. Scher of JPMorgan Chase & Co. were approved by the Board at its May meeting.
“With their diverse experiences and backgrounds, these new trustees will provide guidance and leadership that will greatly benefit the institution,” said President Strobe Talbott.
The Brookings Board comes from both political parties and from across the United States, as well as having added international members in recent years. They bring together a wide range of expertise and experiences, including having served in cabinet agencies in both Republican and Democratic administrations, international organizations, corporations, universities, non-governmental organizations and foundations.
John Thornton, co-chair of the board, said the new trustees will “bring a wealth of experience and knowledge to Brookings, and I look forward to working with them as we prepare for the Institution’s centenary in 2016.”
“It is an honor to welcome such skilled and successful individuals to the board,” added David Rubenstein, co-chair of the board. “We are fortunate to welcome them to the board at such an important time in the history of Brookings.”
Additionally, the Board reelected two former Trustees back as honorary Trustees of the Institution, former National Security Advisor Thomas E. Donilon and Henry Louis “Skip” Gates Jr., director of Harvard University’s Hutchins Center for African & African American Research.
Ed Clark is Group President and Chief Executive Officer of TD Bank Group.
In 2000, Ed joined TD Bank Group as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of TD Canada Trust.Shortly after, he served as President and Chief Operating Officer. Before joining TD, Ed was President and Chief Executive Officer of Canada Trust Financial Services.
In 1985, he joined Merrill Lynch, and three years later Ed was appointed Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Morgan Financial Corporation, a position he held until he joined Canada Trust Financial Services Inc. in 1991.
Ed was appointed to the Order of Canada in 2010 – one of the country’s highest distinctions – for his “contributions to Canada’s banking and financial industry, and for his voluntary and philanthropic endeavors.” Ed has also received Egale’s Leadership Award in honor of his leadership in supporting LGBT communities, and the inaugural Catalyst Canada Honour, awarded to individuals who have made a difference to women’s advancement. In 2010, Ed was named Canada’s Outstanding CEO of the Year – widely viewed as the most prestigious award in Canadian business.
Ed graduated from the University of Toronto with a Bachelor of Arts degree. He earned his Master’s degree and Doctorate in Economics from Harvard University. Ed and his wife Fran make their home in Toronto and have four grown children and nine grandchildren.
Betsy Z. Cohen is Chief Executive Officer of The Bancorp, (NASDAQ: TBBK).
Cohen has over 30 years of experience in banking, real estate and financial law. Betsy founded Jefferson Bank in 1974, serving as Chairman and CEO of the Bank and its holding company, JeffBanks, Inc. After selling JeffBanks, Inc. in 1999, Betsy founded The Bancorp Bank, an FDIC-insured virtual bank providing services to small and mid-size businesses and their principals in the Philadelphia-Wilmington market area. Betsy also taught business law at Rutgers University Law School and she co-founded a law firm specializing in complex real estate and financial concerns.
Working Woman magazine ranked Betsy as 89th in their list of the TOP 500 businesswomen in 1999. She was named one of the 50 Leading Female Entrepreneurs of the World in 1997. Betsy was the recipient of Philadelphia’s prestigious Paradigm Award in 1997, and in 1994, she was named Delaware Valley Master Entrepreneur of the Year in association with Inc. magazine.
Betsy serves as a Director of Aetna US Healthcare (NYSE); a Director of COPT (NYSE), Corporate Office Properties Trust; a Director of Maine Merchant Bank, LLC; a Trustee and Chair of the Audit Committee of the Board of Directors of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and Vice Chair of her alma mater, Bryn Mawr College.
Arthur (Art) R. Collins is the Managing Partner of theGROUP, and has over 25 years of experience as a valued advisor on political strategy, public policy and corporate campaigns.
Prior to founding theGROUP, Collins was Chairman and CEO of Public Private Partnership, Inc., which he established in 1989. He led the company’s multifaceted practice that counseled corporate, government, nonprofit and political clients in areas of national security, energy, healthcare, agriculture, information technology, transportation, manufacturing and financial services.
Collins also served as a Senior Political Strategist for the 2008 Obama for America presidential campaign, where he provided leadership on key constituencies in the primary and general elections. Following the general election, Collins was a Public Liaison for the Obama-Biden Transition Project. In 2004, he was a Senior Advisor to the Kerry Presidential Campaign, and in 1990, he served as Campaign Manager for now-retired Florida Supreme Court Justice Leander J. Shaw, Jr.
An advocate for innovative approaches to public policy, Collins serves on the board of the Meridian International Center, a leading non-partisan, non-profit organization dedicated to international understanding. He is a member of the Morehouse School of Medicine Board of Trustees and is Vice-Chair of its Governance and Nominating Committee. Additionally, he is Chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus Institute’s (CBCI) policy think tank, the 21st Century Council. Previous appointments include membership on the Florida Prepaid College Board, Florida Consumer Council, Florida Small and Minority Business Advisory Council, Florida Governor’s Business Advisory Council on Education, and Chairman of the Tallahassee-Leon County Planning Commission. Collins also served on Florida A&M University’s Board of Trustees, where he was elected its first Chairman.
Collins began his professional career as an engineer with the IBM Corporation, where he counseled elected officials and state government executives on management efficiency and delivery of vital services through emerging technology. He also served as the Legislative Director for the Florida Department of Insurance.
A graduate of Florida A&M University’s School of Business and Industry, Collins was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University in 2009. He has studied at the University of Miami School of Law and abroad at the University of Montpellier in Montpellier, France. Collins resides in Arlington, Virginia with his wife, youngest son and daughter.
Peter L. Scher is the Executive Vice President and Head of Corporate Responsibility for JPMorgan Chase & Co.
Scher is Chairman of the JP Morgan Chase Foundation, one of the largest corporate foundations in the United States. He led the firm’s development of the Brookings-JP Morgan Chase Global Cities Initiative to help metropolitan regions become more competitive in the global economy and New Skills at Work, the largest private-sector initiative to close the global skills gap.
Prior to joining JPMorgan Chase in 2008, Scher was the Managing Partner of the Washington, D.C. office of Mayer Brown LLP and earlier served as the Chairman of the firm’s Government and Global Trade Practice.
Scher has been active in government and public service. Nominated by President Clinton, he was confirmed by the United States Senate as the U.S. Special Trade Ambassador. He previously served as the Chief of Staff in the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative and at the U.S. Department of Commerce, where he advised on issues including technology, intellectual property and international trade. Earlier, Scher was the staff director for the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works and Chief of Staff to U.S. Senator Max Baucus. In 2009, Scher was appointed by the White House to serve as U.S. Representative to the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum (APEC) Business Advisory Council.
Scher serves on the Board of Trustees of American University, the board of Living Cities, and as a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. He received his B.A. from American University and his J.D. from AU’s Washington College of Law.