Advisory Board

Kathy A. Kwan, ’87 Microbiology & Immunology, M.B.A./M.P.H. ’93

President, Eustace-Kwan Family Foundation

Kathy Kwan is a local philanthropist who funds a broad range of educational, safety net, and leadership/career development programs in the San Francisco Bay Area. At UC Berkeley, Ms. Kwan supports programs in Student Affairs, the College of Computing, Data Science, and Society, the College of Letters & Science, and the School of Journalism. Previously, she funded projects at the Jacobs Institute for Design Innovation, the School of Public Health, and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. She also provided a match for the 2020 Student Emergency Fund. Ms. Kwan serves on the...

Doug McBeth, '87 Applied Math

Managing Director, Nomura Securities Inc.

Doug McBeth is a managing director at Nomura Securities Inc, a Japanese investment bank, based in New York. His banking career began at Lehman Brothers in 1996 starting in quantitative modeling and then trading interest rate derivatives. He soon moved to Lehman’s Tokyo office (1997–98) successfully managing his book through the volatility of the Asian Financial Crisis. After returning to New York, he focused on solutions for insurance industry capital issues, pioneering a number of groundbreaking transactions. He served as a director and president of Lehman Re and Congress Life...

Sean McCauley, Ph.D. ’98 Geology

Co-Founder, Alkali Earth

Sean studied Isotope Geochemistry at UC Berkeley in the 1990s, finishing his PhD in 1998 and a postdoc in atmospheric chemistry at LBNL in 1999. After leaving academics, he has spent 25 years in business at Charles Schwab, McKinsey and Co., Target Corporation, a short stint in Silicon Valley and 12 years at TPG Capital. He also helped to launch, run, and sell a specialty pharmacy that served Mayo Clinic patients. After selling that business, he co-founded Alkali Earth, a Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) company that leverages learnings from his PhD to deliver efficient, permanent carbon...

Akiko Mikumo, co-chair, '78 Asian Studies

Retired Senior Partner, Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP

Akiko Mikumo is a retired senior partner of Weil, Gotshal & Manges, a global law firm headquartered in New York City that she joined as an associate in 1982. She served on the firm’s management committee for 12 years, as Asia managing partner for 10 years, and as a senior mergers and acquisitions partner in their New York, London, and Hong Kong offices. In addition, she was founding partner of the Hong Kong office. She is recognized as one of the leading mergers and acquisitions lawyers by various publications. After retiring at the end of 2017, Ms. Mikumo was a...

Na’ilah Suad Nasir, ’93 Psychology & Social Welfare

President, Spencer Foundation

Na’ilah Suad Nasir is the sixth president of the Spencer Foundation, which funds education research nationally. Prior to joining Spencer, she held a faculty appointment in education and African American studies at UC Berkeley, where she also served as the chair of African American studies and as the Vice Chancellor for Equity and Inclusion. She has served on the faculty of the Stanford Graduate School of Education. Nasir’s research examines the racialized and cultural nature of learning and schooling, with a particular focus on the experiences of African American students....

Stacie Olivares, '97 Economics

Board Member, Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board

At the intersection of technology, finance, and policy, Stacie Olivares advances equity, economic growth, and environmental protection. Olivares is a member of the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board, appointed by President Biden to oversee the world’s largest defined contribution plan, the Thrift Savings Plan, on behalf of its 6.5 million participants. From 2019 to 2022, Olivares served as a member of the CalPERS Board of Administration, appointed by Governor Newsom to oversee the largest public pension fund in the United States. Previously, Olivares was the chief...

Maureen Orth, ’64 Political Science

Special Correspondent, Vanity Fair Magazine

Maureen Orth is a special correspondent for Vanity Fair. She began her career as one of the first woman writers at Newsweek, where she wrote seven cover stories and won a National Magazine Award. Her best-selling book, Vulgar Favors, was the basis of the Emmy- and Golden Globe-winning American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace. She has written for Vanity Fair since 1989, and has profiled everyone from Vladimir Putin and Karl...

Henry A. J. Ramos, ’80 Political Economy of Industrial Societies; J.D. ’90

Senior Fellow, The New School Institute on Race, Power and Political Economy

Henry A. J. Ramos is a senior fellow at The New School Institute on Race, Power and Political Economy. He is also a past author, editor, and project consultant at Arte Público Press, based at the University of Houston. From 2006 to 2009, Ramos led the Diversity in Philanthropy Project, a multi-year initiative of leading U.S. foundation executives and trustees committed to expanding diversity and inclusion in philanthropic appointments, grantmaking, and procurement. Over the years, he has worked on the program staffs of the Ford Foundation, the James Irvine Foundation, and the...

Carl "Chip" Robertson, ’94 History

Co-Managing Partner, Warland Investments Ltd

Carl W. “Chip” Robertson is co-managing partner at Warland Investments Company. Mr. Robertson serves as a member of the board of visitors for the UCLA Graduate School of Education and Information Studies, and the board of advisors for the UC/CSU Collaborative for Neurodiversity and Learning. He is vice chair of the board of directors of the UC Hastings College of Law. In addition, Robertson is a board member of the California Coalition for Public Higher Education.

Mark J. Robinson, ’88 History & Political Science

Partner, Centerview Partners

Mark Robinson is a partner at Centerview Partners, a leading global investment banking firm. Previously, he worked at Merrill Lynch & Co and was responsible for its global investment banking healthcare practice. Mr. Robinson is a past co-chair of the College of Letters & Science Advisory Board and a trustee of the UC Berkeley Foundation. Together with his wife Stephanie, he established the Robinson Program in Life Science Business and Entrepreneurship; a dual degree undergraduate program between the Haas School of Business and the Department of Molecular and Cell Biology at UC...