Advisory Board

Maureen Orth, ’64 Political Science

Special Correspondent, Vanity Fair Magazine

Maureen Orth is a longtime special correspondent for Vanity Fair, profiling everyone from Madonna to Vladimir Putin. 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.”In 2004, she published The Importance of Being Famous: Behind the...

Ned Purdom, ’79 English

Retired teacher, Albany Unified School District

Ned Purdom is a retired teacher at Albany High School where he served as English department chair and journalism and broadcasting advisor. Prior to teaching, Mr. Purdom was managing director - Public Relations for Publicis Dialog, San Francisco, which acquired the family high technology PR agency, Purdom Public Relations. He continues to work in literacy as a tutor for Bridge the Gap College Prep serving students from Marin City, California. Together with his wife, Ellin, Mr. Purdom established the Purdom Family Fund for Student Access in the UC Berkeley Department of...

Sara Rahimian, B.S. ’99, Electrical Engineering & Computer Sciences

Entrepreneur and Technologist

Sara Rahimian graduated in 1999 with a focus in computer science and one course shy of a minor in Peace and Conflict Studies. She later completed a certificate in business management through UC Extension. Over the past three decades, Ms. Rahimian has worked as a software engineer and engineering leader across an array of industries, starting in elevator controllers at Motion Control Engineering (now Nidec), then legal self-help at Berkeley's Nolo Press, restaurant reservation systems at OpenTable, and health insurance systems at Collective Health. In 2021, Ms. Rahimian...

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...

Amy Sugarman, ’96 American Studies

Executive Producer, iHeartMedia

Amy Sugarman is a talent executive/executive producer at iHeartMedia. Upon becoming the fourth generation in her family to graduate from UC Berkeley (and as a member of the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority), Ms. Sugarman began her career at KTVU Fox Channel 2 in the Bay Area, launching a 25-year (and counting) career in the entertainment industry. She has long been affiliated with celebrity stalwarts such as Mario Lopez and Ryan Seacrest, with whom she has worked for more than two decades. In addition to producing television and radio, Ms. Sugarman has produced many of iHeartMedia’s...

Molly Harcos Tamariki, ’95, Rhetoric; J.D. '03

Americas Employee Relations Lead for Google DeepMind

Molly Harcos Tamariki has over 20 years of combined employment-law and employee-relations experience. Molly currently serves as the Americas Employee Relations Lead for Google DeepMind. She has worked in Employee Relations for Google LLC for over twelve years, consulting with the Alphabet Companies (i.e., the “Other Bets”) on employee relations issues, and previously serving as an Employee Relations Lead for Google, advising in the Americas and globally. Ms. Tamariki has advised fast-growing technology companies and organizations to ensure that employment law and employee-...

Nadine M. Tang, M.S.W. ’75

Associate Clinical Professor, University of California, Berkeley

Nadine Tang is a social worker in private practice and an associate professor of clinical psychology at UC Berkeley. She is also an adjunct professor in the psychology department of Tsinghua University in Beijing. She is a trustee emerita of the UC Berkeley Foundation and currently serves on the board of the Berkeley Endowment Management Company. Ms. Tang was previously chair of the UC Berkeley Foundation Board of Trustees from 2001–2003, co-chair of the Campaign for the New Century, and served on the National Campaign Steering Committee for the Light the Way Campaign. She...

John Thacher, '77 Art Practice

Chairman of the Board of Directors, Wilbur-Ellis

John Thacher currently serves as Chairman of the Board of Directors of Wilbur-Ellis, a 100-year-old family-owned company specializing in the marketing and distribution of agricultural products throughout North America. Mr. Thacher’s career began at Cuvaison Winery, where he worked for 25 years through 2001, ultimately becoming President. In 2002 he joined Wibur-Ellis to become part of the leadership team as Vice President of Strategic Planning and Business Development. He subsequently became President and CEO in 2006 until 2018 when he transitioned to Executive Chairman of...

Brian Marshall Turner, '95 Molecular & Cell Biology

Executive President of the Americas at Slalom

Brian Turner currently serves as the executive president of the Americas at Slalom. Brian works with clients, leaders and consultants across the globe to continuously drive impact and value for their clients and customers through strategy and technology. He has served in his current position since 2019, during which time he has led Slalom from $1B to over $3B in revenues with over 14,000 employees across 40 offices. Prior to joining Slalom, Mr. Turner held a variety of management positions with Andersen Consulting, ultimately becoming a partner with Accenture in their...

Judy Wade, ’85 Economics

Managing Director, CPP Investments

Judy Wade is managing director and head of the San Francisco office of CPP Investments. She leads CPP Investments’ Knowledge platform, global partnerships, and GenAI program. She speaks frequently on the role of investors in accelerating adoption of Responsible AI. Previously, she led Fuel, the McKinsey Company that helps startups and their investors accelerate their performance and get to the future faster. Earlier in her career, she was a partner at McKinsey, and before returning, she spent 10 years as a senior executive working with startups. Ms. Wade is an active member...