Washington, D.C. — The Brookings Institution Board of Trustees has elected two new members, Dr. Hosein Khajeh-Hosseiny, Chairman of Trinity Sky LLP, and Tom Kaplan, Senior Managing Partner of the Wolfgang Puck Fine Dining Group (WPFDG).
The Brookings Board of Trustees is a governing body composed of distinguished individuals from a variety of backgrounds. The Board has fiduciary responsibility for the Institution’s leadership, integrity, financial health, and scholarly independence.
“It is with great pleasure that we welcome Dr. Hosein Khajeh-Hosseiny and Tom Kaplan to the Brookings Board of Trustees. I am certain that their leadership and support will greatly benefit the important work of this Institution, and we’re honored to have them as part of the team,” said Brookings President John R. Allen.
John Thornton, Chair of the Board, added that, “Brookings is fortunate to welcome individuals who are as respected and successful in their respective fields to the Institution. They will bring a wealth of knowledge and unique perspectives to Brookings at a critical point for the Institution and the nation.”
Tom Kaplan has been a nationally recognized and respected name in the food and beverage and hospitality industries for more than 36 years. As Senior Managing Partner of the Wolfgang Puck Fine Dining Group (WPFDG), Kaplan works alongside the renowned chef as a trusted partner and company thought-leader.
Throughout his tenure with WPFDG, Kaplan has nurtured key strategic partnerships with luxury hotel brands and major casino resorts such as the Four Seasons, Dorchester Collection, MGM Resorts International, and Sands Corporation, leading the company to extraordinary growth.
Together, Kaplan and Puck have expanded the company from several individual restaurants to one of the preeminent restaurant groups in the world, boasting an impressive collection of 27 domestic and international dining establishments. Day-to-day, Kaplan is directly responsible for overseeing business management and strategic development, as well as playing an instrumental role in the supervision of design, construction, philanthropy, and social responsibility for the company.
Intimately involved and passionate about community service, with a special focus on clean energy, sustainability, and the environment, Kaplan is a dedicated philanthropist and currently holds or has held leadership positions on a variety of boards and councils.
He is currently a member of the Brookings Institution Metropolitan Leadership Council, working closely with Brookings Mountain West at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and serves as a Trustee of the University of Nevada Las Vegas Foundation Board. He is Chairman of the Council for a Better Nevada and a Board Director for the Fulfillment Fund Las Vegas. He is an Emeritus Board member of the Animal Foundation and previously served for more than 25 years as Vice President of the Puck Lazaroff Charitable Foundation benefitting the Los Angeles chapters of Meals on Wheels. He was also a member of the City of Las Vegas Energy Advisory Committee, the Board of the Las Vegas Art Museum, and served on the Board of Directors for the Marshall Retail Group from 2006 – 2015.
Kaplan was named Nevada Restaurateur of the Year by the Las Vegas International Hotel & Restaurant Show in 2005 and one of the “50 Most Influential” in Nevada by In Business in 2008. In 2003, he was in the first induction group of the Las Vegas Dozen which honors men in the Vegas valley for their role in business and community involvement. In 2011, Kaplan was named “Humanitarian of the Year” by Greenspun Media Group’s publication Vegas Inc.
Raised in Stamford, Connecticut and New York City, Kaplan relocated to Los Angeles in 1980 after graduating Magna Cum Laude from Bowdoin College that same year with a Bachelor’s degree in Art History, Visual Arts and a coordinate major in Environmental Studies. He has been a resident of Las Vegas since 1992.
Dr. Hosein Khajeh-Hosseiny is Chairman of Trinity Sky LLP, a venture capital and private equity investor; Senior Advisor to McKinsey & Company on Innovation, Growth and Investments. From 2004 to June 2018 he served as the Managing Director, Managing Partner and CEO of Northgate Capital. During his tenure he helped the firm grow its AuM by 20x.
Khajeh-Hosseiny has advised CEOs and Boards of global corporations, been a member of the Advisory Boards of several private equity and venture capital firms in the US, Europe, Japan, China, and India, and has served on the Management Boards of venture-backed technology companies on the West Coast. Two of Khajeh-Hosseiny’s public service contributions to his home country, the United Kingdom, have focused on smart manufacturing and on social entrepreneurship. He has been sponsoring and advancing initiatives aimed at helping the UK’s small and mid-sized manufacturing firms to digitize more rapidly and transition towards smart manufacturing to help raise the country’s economic competitiveness and productivity.
Khajeh-Hosseiny helped co-found UnLTD, a foundation dedicated to financing and advancing social entrepreneurship in the UK. For the past 18 years, he has served on its prize-winning Investment Committee.
His key new public service priority is helping foster a much more potent, value-creating tapestry of trans-Atlantic collaboration between North America and European advanced (including high tech) industries and ecosystems. The three-fold objectives of this are to harness greater intra-industry growth and innovation; further the success of advanced industries in accelerating the technological empowerment and competitiveness of other economic sectors in the Western Hemisphere; and enhance the private sector’s success in inducing a more inclusive social and economic fabric.
Khajeh-Hosseiny holds a PhD in Applied Mathematics and Econometrics from Cambridge University, and has spoken to several years of Graduate classes at Cambridge’s Judge Business School on Ethics, Growth and Investing. He also has a Masters in Finance and a BA in Economics. Khajeh-Hosseiny and his wife live in San Francisco and London.