Board of Trustees unanimously names Knox as new chairman

PUBLISHED by The Daily Free Press

The Boston University Board of Trustees named Robert Knox chairman of the board in a unanimous vote last Friday, officials said.


Knox, a '73 College of Arts and Sciences and '74 Graduate School of Management alumnus, has been vice chairman since 2004, BU spokesman Colin Riley said.

"He will begin his term at the annual meeting of the board in September," Riley said. "[Current Chairman] Alan Leventhal provided some wonderful leadership and Bob Knox is going to continue that."

Knox is currently the senior managing director of Cornerstone Equity Investors, a New York-based company he co-founded in 1984, and has been a member of BU's Board of Trustees since 1997, Riley said.

"Being chairman of the board requires long-term oversight, guidance, support and bringing all the knowledge and experience to provide council," Riley said. "They work very closely with the administration on how to guide, how they can help."

New governance rules put in place in 2007 will have Knox serving a maximum of six consecutive years, Riley said. The six-year limit is the reason Leventhal will step down.

"Alan Leventhal's term was up," he said. "There was a sub-committee that formed and eventually led to Bob Knox becoming chair."
Ivan Bernier, Board of Trustees assistant secretary, said the vote for Knox was unanimous.
"It was the consensus of the trustees that he would be the best candidate for the job," Bernier said. "He's involved in many of our committees. His dedication to the university and long service on the Board of Trustees made him an excellent candidate and at this point will serve him well as the new chairman."

Julie Sandell, ex-officio board member, said Knox qualifies for the position "because of the activities and work he's done for the board"

"For several years he's been one of the vice chairmen for the board, been the chairperson of several chair committees," said Sandell, who is also the chairwoman of the BU Faculty Council. "He's very enthusiastic and a very strong supporter of the university. He is really committed to BU."

Leventhal was chair during a time of transition, in which he handled the "reorganization of [the] board itself, the new term limits, new faculty council chair, finding a new president and the first couple of years of [a] new president," but Knox faces even more challenges from this transition, Sandell said.

"The new chairman of board will be person who is in place as the university moves forward," she said. "Now that we have our new president and that process has settled down, lots of strategic planning process is going on at the university, with plans to expand faculty and improve student services and buildings. The board is going to be very active and it's a very exciting time to be chairman of the body."

Knox and his wife Jeanne Knox donated $500,000 to the Fund for Leadership and Innovation in 2005, designated for President Robert Brown to use. Jeanne Knox chairs the Parents Leadership Council at BU and, outside of BU, Knox is the senior managing director for Health Management Associates, Inc.

Knox guest lectured at the School of Management and spoke at the 1999 SMG commencement. SMG also awarded Knox the Distinguished Alumni Award for Service to Alma Mater.

Staff reporter Rachel Rose-Sandow contributed reporting to this article.