Trustees

Jeffrey S. Gould

WSC '79
President, Portable, Inc.

Jeffrey S. Gould is the founder and president of Portable, Inc., a company that manufactures responsible, sustainable, living residences for workforce housing, home communities and people without homes.  After obtaining his Juris Doctorate, he joined his family business, Gould Publications/GouldLaw, founded by his parents, Norman and Jeanette Gould. This fully vertical manufacturing company provided our country’s law enforcement and criminal justice community with up-to-date laws and training materials. The family also owned residential and commercial real estate in Queens, NY. Gould serves on several philanthropic boards including the Federal Drug Agents Foundation, Walt Whitman Birthplace Association, the NYUAA, and NYU Board of Trustees. With his wife, Lenore, they created the 3E Fund (Education, Expression & Environment). He and his family also established several College Academic Scholarships, the Gould Law Library, a Criminal Justice Library, and a University Alumni and Student Welcome and Success Center. Gould is also a Dean’s advisory board member of; the NYU College of Arts & Sciences, the NYU School of Global Public Health and the NYU Stern Center for Sustainable Business. 

Lisa Yoo Hahn

Law '89
Partner, Asia Alpha

Lisa Yoo Hahn is a partner of Asia Alpha, investing in venture capital and technology across sectors including software and life sciences in Silicon Valley, New York, and Israel. Hahn and her husband James are philanthropists and actively support education and medical research. They have endowed scholarships at NYU College of Arts and Science, NYU Stern School of Business, Harvard University and have supported the tuition-free medical school initiative at NYU Robert I. Grossman School of Medicine. The Hahn family has also established the Hahn Cancer Fund at Dana Farber/Harvard Cancer Center. In addition to serving on the NYU Board of Trustees, Hahn is a member of the NYU President’s Global Council.

Boris Jordan

WSC '88
Founder and Executive Chairman, Curaleaf Holdings
Founder and CEO, Measure 8 Venture Partners
Founder, Renaissance Insurance

Boris Jordan is an American businessman, co-founder of Renaissance Capital Group and SPK Group, two international investment and advisory firms. In the early 1990s, Jordan was considered a key player in the development of privatization and the stock market in Russia. Jordan is a longstanding member of the Council on Foreign Relations. After founding SPK Group in 1999, Jordan has led the company in its investments in multiple industries with focus on the healthcare and financial sector (insurance) and their peripheral industries, through various financial instruments, including public equities, debts, private equity and venture capital investments. Since acquiring majority control of Curaleaf in 2014, Jordan has been impactful in the Company's emergence as an industry leader. Jordan also serves as a member of the Audit Committee, as well as a member of the CN Committee. In addition to the NYU Board of Trustees, Jordan is a member of the NYU President’s Global Council.

David A. Katz

Law '88
Partner, Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz

David A. Katz is a corporate partner at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, an adjunct professor at NYU School of Law, and co-chair of the Board of Advisors of the NYU Law Institute for Corporate Governance and Finance. Previously, he was an adjunct professor at Vanderbilt University Law School and at the Owen Graduate School of Management. He is a member of the NYU School of Law Foundation Board of Trustees. He is co-chair of the Tulane University Corporate Law Institute and writes a column about corporate governance for the New York Law Journal.

Alex Knaster

GSAS '22
Chairman, Pamplona Capital Management

Alexander Knaster is chairman and founder of Pamplona Capital Management, an investment management firm. His philanthropic interests are heavily focused on cancer research and education. He is founder of The Mark Foundation for Cancer Research, which funds translational cancer research focused on transforming the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of cancer. Knaster serves as an executive fellow at the London Business School and as a member of the Board of Dean’s Advisors at Harvard Business School. He also serves on the Board of Trustees at Columbia Grammar and Prep School. He is a co-founder of Genesis Philanthropy Group. Knaster is also the owner of Pisa Football Club. In addition to the NYU Board of Trustees, Knaster is a member of the NYU Faculty of Arts and Science Board.

David Ko

Stern '93
Co-CEO and Board Member, Calm

David Ko is the co-CEO and serves on the Board of Directors of Calm, the leading app for sleep, meditation, and relaxation. Prior to joining Calm, Ko was the co-founder and CEO of the health tech company Ripple Health Group. The company was acquired by Calm in 2022 to help build out its mental health capabilities. Before founding his own company, Ko was a board member, president and COO of Rally Health, a digital health company. Rally’s solutions are available to nearly 55 million people through health plans, care providers, and more than 200,000 employers. Rally was acquired by UnitedHealth Group in 2017. Ko was also the COO at Zynga, which he helped take public in December 2011. In addition to the NYU Board of Trustees, Ko is a member of the NYU Stern School of Business Executive Board and the NYU Stern Tech MBA Advisory Board. In 2016 he established the NYU Stern Venture Fellows program for aspiring entrepreneurs.

Q&A with David Ko

Andre J.L. Koo

SPS '93, Stern '94
Chairman, Chailease Group

Andre Koo is chairman of Chailease Group, which is comprised of Chailease Holding and Yellowstone Holding. Founded in 1977, Chailease Holding is the market leader in leasing and installment sales in Taiwan, a top solar energy developer in the country, and the largest foreign-owned independent leasing company in China. Chailease Holding has operations in Taiwan, United States, Thailand, China, Vietnam, Malaysia, United Kingdom, Cambodia, the Philippines, and Indonesia. Through its subsidiaries, Yellowstone Holding is engaged in direct investment, trading, real estate development, interior design, hospitality, F&B, property management, and security. Koo is also chair of the NYU Stern Executive Board, a member of the NYU President’s Global Council, and president of the NYU Pan-Asia Alumni Association and the NYU Alumni Club in Taiwan.

Kenneth G. Langone

Stern '60
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Invemed Associates, LLC

Kenneth G. Langone is the founder and CEO of Invemed Associates LLC, a New York Stock Exchange member firm, and is a co-founder of Home Depot. He is chair of the NYU Langone Health Board of Trustees and a member of the NYU Stern School of Business Executive Board. He serves on the boards of Center for Strategic and International Studies, St. Patrick’s Cathedral, the Ronald McDonald House of NY, Horatio Alger Society Foundation, and the Harlem Children’s Zone and its charter school, the Promise Academy. He was previously a member of the Bucknell University Board of Trustees.

Traci Lerner

President, Chesapeake Partners

Traci Lerner serves as president and portfolio manager of Chesapeake Partners, a Baltimore-based hedge fund that she founded in 1991 investing in a wide range of extraordinary corporate events. In 2016, the fund converted into a family office managing a diverse portfolio of public and private securities. Lerner’s philanthropic commitments reflect her passion to achieve transformational change, principally focused on improving education, healthcare, food insecurity, and other poverty-related issues. In addition to the NYU Board of Trustees, Lerner serves on the board of Johns Hopkins Hospital and chairs both its endowment and pension committees. She long served on boards of The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Lerner also sits on numerous investment committees including those of Johns Hopkins University, Johns Hopkins Hospital, and the Associated: Jewish Community Federation of Baltimore. Lerner is a founder of KIPP: Baltimore and Baltimore’s Promise.

Q&A with Traci Lerner

Mark Leslie

Arts '66
Managing Director, Leslie Ventures

Mark Leslie is currently the managing director of Leslie Ventures, a private investment company. He is also a lecturer at Stanford Graduate School of Business where he teaches courses in entrepreneurship, ethics, and sales organization. In addition to the NYU Board of Trustees, Leslie is a member of the NYU Faculty of Arts and Science Board, the NYU Tandon School of Engineering Board, and the Executive Board of the NYU Innovation Fund. He also serves on the Board of Trustees of Stanford Health Systems (Stanford Hospital and Medical School), along with a number of privately held high-technology corporations.

Martin Lipton

Law '55
Partner, Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz

Martin Lipton, a founding partner of Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, specializes in advising major corporations on mergers and acquisitions and matters affecting corporate policy and strategy. In addition to serving as chair emeritus of the NYU Board of Trustees, he is a former chair and a current trustee of the NYU School of Law Foundation and a trustee of NYU Langone Health. He is an adjunct professor at NYU School of Law. He is also an emeritus member of the Council of the American Law Institute, a member of the Board of Advisors of the Institute of Judicial Administration, and an honorary chair of the American College of Governance Counsel. Lipton is a former co-chair and a member of the executive committee of the Partnership for New York City, a member of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, and a Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur. Lipton is an emeritus chairman of Prep for Prep, a leadership development program for students of color.