Board of Trustees Group

As members of the NYU Board of Trustees, our job is to guide the NYU administration in ensuring that the University can fulfill its academic mission while remaining financially sound, now and in the future. In joining the Board, we take on a commitment to exercise oversight with diligence, prudence, and concern for all members of the NYU community.

All of us have a strong allegiance to NYU. Most of us (almost 80 percent) studied at NYU at one point. Serving on NYU’s not-for-profit Board is a voluntary and unpaid position. We willingly invest a significant portion of our time and energy on Board activities — attending Board meetings, serving on various committees, engaging with faculty, students, and administrators, and, in many cases, serving on individual school advisory boards.

My time as a student at NYU transformed my life and set me on a trajectory which has enabled me to come back and serve the University. All of us on the Board derive great satisfaction from helping the next generation fulfill its potential.

—William Berkley,
Board of Trustees Chair Emeritus
 

Here’s what our job entails:

  • Setting the overarching strategic direction of the University
  • Overseeing the financial health of the University
  • Ensuring compliance with the University’s legal obligations in the many jurisdictions in which it operates — local, state, federal, and international
  • Engaging in high-level risk management at the University
  • Approving significant real estate transactions
  • Appointing the president and ensuring accountability of the president's leadership team
  • Providing fundraising support

We do this because we are committed to NYU and its mission. Many of us feel a debt of gratitude to our alma mater, and we want to pass on the benefit of an NYU diploma. All of us believe in the transformative power of higher education—and want to do what we can to support it.