Board Retirement
Walter C. Teagle, III
Walter C. Teagle, III retired from the Board of Directors after over 40 years of outstanding service (1981-2024) and became Chair Emeritus and Director Emeritus of The Teagle Foundation in July 2022 and July 2024 respectively. He is the President of Teagle Management Company, a private investment consulting firm and Chairman Emeritus of the Teagle Foundation. Previously he was the Founder and General Partner of Groton Partners, a small merchant banking firm. Over the last 25 years he has been a Founder, Director and Officer of several entrepreneurial companies. He started his investment career at Exxon Mobil Corporation in the Treasurer’s Office. After attending graduate school, he became a portfolio manager at Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. He currently serves as the Non-Executive Chairman of the First National Bank of Long Island. He also serves as a Director, Trustee and/or advisor to a number of philanthropic organizations. He graduated from the University of Maryland with a B.S. degree in economics and received an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
Board Retirement
Pauline Yu
Pauline Yu retired from the Board of Directors after over 20 years of dedicated service (2003-2024). Ms. Yu was formerly president of the American Council of Learned Societies and Dean of Humanities in the College of Letters and Science and Professor of East Asian Languages and Cultures at UCLA. Prior to that appointment, she was founding chair of the Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures at UC-Irvine and on the faculty of Columbia University and the University of Minnesota. She is the author or editor of five books and dozens of articles on classical Chinese poetry, literary theory, comparative poetics, and issues in the humanities. A fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a member of its board, she is also a member of the American Philosophical Society and the Committee of 100. She serves on the Board of Directors of the Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation for International Scholarly Exchange and The Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation. In addition, she is a trustee of the American Academy in Berlin and the National Humanities Center. She received her B.A. in history and literature from Harvard University and her M.A. and Ph.D. in comparative literature from Stanford University. Yu holds four honorary degrees and is a senior research scholar at Columbia University.
New Board Member
Eric O. Fornell
Eric Fornell is Vice Chairman of Investment Banking at Wells Fargo, where he focuses on utility and renewable energy clients. He is Chairman of the bank’s securities business in Canada and serves on the bank’s Capital Allocation Committee. Previously he led JPMorgan’s global natural resources investment banking business and was an investment banker at Goldman Sachs. Eric was an executive in two energy companies and served as Deputy Director of the Detroit/Wayne County Port Authority. Eric is Chairman of Community Solutions, a nonprofit organization working in over 100 communities to make homelessness rare and brief. He earned a B.A. at Amherst College and an M.A. from the University of Oxford where he was a Rhodes Scholar.
New Board Member
Roosevelt Montás
Roosevelt Montás is Senior Lecturer in American Studies and English at Columbia University. He is Director of Columbia’s Freedom and Citizenship Program, which introduces high school students from disadvantaged backgrounds to the Western political tradition through the study of primary texts and helps them prepare competitive applications to college. From 2008 to 2018, he was Director of the Center for the Core Curriculum at Columbia College. Roosevelt serves on the Board of Directors of the Association for Core Texts and Courses, the Great Questions Foundation, and the Catherine Project. He is also a member of the Academic Council of the Jack Miller Center. He is author of Rescuing Socrates: How the Great Books Changed My Life and Why They Matter for a New Generation (Princeton University Press, 2021) and of Becoming America: Four Documents That Shaped a Nation and Why Their Ideas Still Matter (forthcoming, Princeton University Press, 2026). He is co-editor of The Princeton History of American Political Thought (forthcoming, Princeton University Press, 2025). He speaks widely on the history, place, and future of liberal arts education and his opinion pieces have appeared in The Atlantic, The Los Angeles Times, The Financial Times, The New York Daily News, The Chronicle of Higher Education, Inside Higher Ed, and The Dispatch, among other publications. He holds an A.B. (1995), an M.A. (1996), and a Ph.D. (2004) in English and Comparative Literature from Columbia University as well as the degree of Doctor of Humane Letters honoris causa from Ursinus College.
Hinton earned a Ph.D. in religion and religious education with high honors from Fordham University, a Master of Arts degree in clinical child psychology from the University of Kansas, Lawrence, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology from Williams College. She also holds honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degrees from Misericordia University and the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts. Hinton is a member of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, was the recipient of the Bicentennial Medal from Williams College, and was recognized with Credo’s eighth annual Courageous Leadership Award.
New Board Member
Elsa M. Núñez
Dr. Elsa M. Núñez served as President of Eastern Connecticut State University from 2006 until her retirement in 2024, becoming the first Latina president of a public college or university in New England. With over 20 years of experience as a senior administrator at institutions such as the City University of New York and the University of Maine System, she significantly enhanced Eastern’s academic reputation, leading it to be ranked among the top public universities in the North Region by U.S. News & World Report and recognized by The Princeton Review. Dr. Núñez was a strong advocate for educational access and success for underrepresented students. Under her leadership, Eastern has achieved an 84% retention rate. She also served as chair of the American Association of Colleges and Universities and on the Board of Directors of the Nellie Mae Education Foundation. Committed to environmental sustainability, Eastern was awarded "Green Campus" status by The Princeton Review for 14 years and holds a Gold STARS rating from the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education. Dr. Núñez aimed for carbon neutrality by 2030.