Three New Trustees Join Berkshire Museum Board
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Berkshire Museum welcomed three new trustees at the annual meeting on Monday, Sept. 19, at the museum.In addition to the election of Michael Addy, Ethan S. Klepetar and Debra Sullivan to the board, the meeting also included the election of a new slate of officers: William Hines Jr. was elected president; Carol Riordan, vice president and treasurer, and Lydia S. Rosner, secretary. Mary Huth, who completed two years service as president of the board, was elected chairman. Stacey Gillis Weber was elected chairman of corporators.
Huth and the board of trustees welcomed Van W. Shields, the museum’s new executive director, whose tenure began Sept. 12. Most recently, Shields spent 14 years as director and CEO for the Culture and Heritage Museums in Rock Hill, South Carolina, an organization that includes a historic site, a children’s museum, a theater, and an interdisciplinary museum of art, history and natural science; and previously, a stint at the Museum of the Moving Image in New York City.
"It's an exciting time at Berkshire Museum and I am proud and delighted to take on the leadership of the board," said Hines. "The trustees, who bring a wide range of skills and expertise to the museum, are a marvelous team and I anticipate a successful and satisfying year. In addition, I look forward to working with Van Shields, our new executive director, to continue to offer excellent programs, exhibitions, and educational opportunities to the wider community."
The board of trustees unanimously elected Michael Christopher a Crane Honorary Life Trustee, an honor bestowed upon a trustee who is "deemed by the board to have served the museum in an exemplary manner over an extended period." Christopher has served as a trustee of the museum for 17 years, leading the organization through the successful completion of the $10 million Wider Window Campaign, the renovation of the museum, and the opening of the Feigenbaum Hall of Innovation. While he is retiring from the board, Christopher will continue to serve on the Finance Committee.
"Michael Christopher has served this institution in an exceptional manner and deserves this historical recognition,” said Huth.
Trustees Elizabeth McGraw and Jeffrey Noble were re-elected for three-year terms. The other trustees continuing to serve are Jerome Anderson, Ursula Ehret-Dichter, Jake Eberwein, Helen Febbo, Charles Kittredge, Donna Krenicki, and Clare Stonesifer.
About the new Trustees
Addy, a Pittsfield native and resident, is lead operations adviser and a portfolio CEO at Cerberus Capital LLP. He has expertise in management, operations, and finance, and has previously worked for Allied Signal and GE. He holds a master’s degree in management from Rensselaer (N.Y.) Polytechnic Institute.
Klepetar is an attorney with the Law Offices of Sherwood Guernsey, where he focuses on civil litigation. He holds a degree in economics from Brandeis University and received his juris doctorate from the University of Minnesota Law School.
Sullivan’s career has been in education, including 14 years as a teacher at Westford Preschool. She also serves on the boards of Girls Inc. and Berkshire Children and Families.
About the officers
Hines, who joined the board in 2007, is managing director at Interprint Inc. He was formerly employed in Germany as an area sales manager for paper company PWA Dekor, handling sales to English-speaking markets such as South Africa, Australia, India and Pakistan. He holds a bachelor of science degree from Bridgewater State College.
Huth has been a trustee since 2005. She is quality manager for the Consumer Division of Crane & Co. and formerly was a marketing manager in the Business Papers division. She is a former officer of the Junior League of Berkshire County. Huth holds a bachelor of science degree from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.
Riordan, who joined the board last year, provides management consulting services for academic, health care and nonprofit organizations. She received her doctorate from the University of Essex and was a National Institutes of Health postdoctoral fellow at the University of California at Berkeley.
Rosner has served on the board for 2 years. Professor Emeritus of Sociology at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, City University of New York, she is a prior project director at the National Center for Public Productivity and assistant director of research at the Criminal Justice Center at John Jay College. She is a former chairman of the Greenburgh Nature Center.
Weber began her first term as a trustee in 2009. She is the former director of development for Beginning With Children School in Brooklyn, N.Y., and a former municipal finance investment banker at Drexel Burnham Lambert. She is chairman of the Berkshire Playwrights Lab board of trustees; a board member of the Afterschool Alliance; a member of the Parents Advisory Committee for Choate Rosemary Hall; and a member of the Dean’s Alumni Leadership Council, Harvard Kennedy School. Weber holds a bachelor of science in Economics from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, and a master in public administration, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University.
For more information, visit www.berkshiremuseum.org or call 413-443-7171.
