The Board of Trustees welcomed four new members at its meeting on Feb. 8. Daniel Doherty (H '03), Debra Knez (LA '82), Kathleen McCartney (J '77) and Rev. Gloria White-Hammond (M '76) attended their first official meeting after being elected to the Board in November.
"It was heartwarming to hear how honored they were to join the Board, and how eager they were to give back and contribute," said Linda Dixon, secretary of the trustees. "They were just so grateful for the opportunity to serve on this Board, and they love Tufts so much."
Doherty is the founder of Eastern Development LLC, which invests in commercial real estate. He has been an active principal in over 100 projects totaling over 10 million square feet and valued at more than $1 billion. The firm is one of New England's leading developers.
Doherty is excited to join the Board of Trustees. "It's an honor to be asked to be a trustee, so I take it as such," he said. "I hold the university very dear, and being a trustee is a huge responsibility but it also provides the opportunity to make a meaningful impact on a great institution."
After enrolling in 1982, Doherty was forced to leave Tufts after one year because of financial setbacks. But he received an honorary degree from President Lawrence Bacow in 2003.
Doherty serves on the Board of Overseers for Athletics and has worked on the alumni board of Delta Upsilon fraternity. He is currently the chairman of the board of Tufts University Development Corporation, and is overseeing the construction of the university's skyscraper above South Station.
Doherty said he is impressed with the direction of the university, which he called a dynamic and exciting place.
"I would say that Tufts has one of the best trajectories of any university in the country. I don't say that lightly," he said. "And that is really due in large part to a very strong administration and faculty, and a very committed group of alumni, both as overseers and as trustees. There are a lot of people that are pulling in the same direction to make Tufts a great place."
Kathleen McCartney is currently the dean of the Harvard Graduate School of Education and the school's Lesser Professor in Early Childhood Development. She said she is excited to serve Tufts, a university to which she feels indebted.
"I grew up in Medford and went to Tufts with substantial financial aid. I'm very grateful to Tufts. I feel like I owe my career to Tufts," she said. Becoming a trustee "provides an opportunity to give back to Tufts in a very meaningful way. I feel very proud to be serving in this role."
Besides teaching at Harvard, McCartney has been the principle investigator at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development since 1989. Her findings on the development of children from birth through 16 years were summarized in a 2005 book, "Child Care and Child Development," and she has been named a fellow by both the American Psychological Association and the American Psychological Society.
McCartney said that after her first trustee meeting, she was very impressed with Tufts senior staff members.
"It was very informative," McCartney said. "It's very clear that Tufts has an exceptionally strong senior leadership team. I feel like I'm in a good position to judge that from my own role in higher education."
McCartney said she would like to use that experience in higher education to help with curriculum development.
"I hope that I can be of use with academic planning and strategy going forward," McCartney said. "Obviously I'm at the point where I'm still learning about Tufts but that's where I hope I can make the biggest contribution."
Gloria White-Hammond currently serves on the Tisch College Board for Citizenship and Public Service.
White-Hammond is the co-pastor of Boston's Bethel AME Church and has been recognized by Tufts for her work as a humanitarian with the Alumni Association's Distinguished Service Award. She also received an honorary degree from Tufts in 2006.
She works as a pediatrician at the South End Community Health Center and is the founder and co-pastor of a ministry for high-risk African-American adolescent females called "Do the Write Thing." She has made several missionary trips to Africa, and serves as the co-chair of the Massachusetts Coalition to Save Darfur.
She also co-founded My Sister's Keeper, which works with women in Sudan, and has made many medical missionary trips to Botswana, C??te d'Ivoire and South Africa.
White-Hammond is a trustee of Brigham Women's Hospital in Boston.
Debra Knez is a trustee of the Knez Family Charitable Foundation and the Richard and Susan Smith Family Foundation. The two foundations support education and help fund economically disadvantaged children.
The Richard and Susan Smith Family Foundation, established by Knez' parents, invests in organizations that help economically disadvantaged youths succeed.
The Knez Family Foundation provides support for education and other help for children in the Boston area and Vermont. The Knez Family Foundation currently funds two three-year Junior Faculty Professorships in the School of Arts and Sciences.
The four new trustees comprise "a wonderful group of people, and we are lucky to have them," Dixon said.
