Yale Appoints Three New Trustees

President Richard C. Levin announced today the appointment of three new trustees to the Yale Corporation, the governing board of the institution. The three new trustees, all of whom are graduates of Yale College, are:

• Jeffrey Bewkes, President and Chief Operating Officer of Time Warner, Inc.
• Donna Dubinsky, co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Numenta, Inc., who earlier co-founded Palm Computing and Handspring, Inc.
• Fareed Zakaria, Editor of Newsweek International and host of the PBS series “Foreign Exchange with Fareed Zakaria”

Zakaria will join the Corporation at its meeting in February, and Bewkes and Dubinsky will join the Corporation at the beginning of the University’s next fiscal year on July 1, 2006.

“I am delighted that these three outstanding individuals have agreed to serve their alma mater,” Levin said. “The perspectives they will bring to the Corporation’s deliberations will be invaluable, particularly as we pursue our internationalization efforts and as new technologies offer expanded opportunities for institutions of higher education. All are recognized leaders in their fields, and each has been a wise counselor to me and active participant at Yale.”

Fareed Zakaria, a 1986 alumnus of Yale College, is one of the country’s leading political commentators. He became managing editor of Foreign Affairs at the age of 28 and now serves as Editor of Newsweek International. He is also an award-winning columnist for Newsweek, a commentator for ABC News, and Managing Editor and host of the PBS series “Foreign Exchange with Fareed Zakaria.”

Zakaria was raised in Mumbai, India. After receiving his undergraduate degree from Yale with a major in history, he earned a Ph.D. in political science at Harvard in 1993 and ran a major research project on American foreign policy. He has taught international relations and political philosophy at Harvard and Columbia universities.

He has written for many publications including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The New Yorker, The New Republic and the webzine Slate. He is the author of “From Wealth to Power: The Unusual Origins of America’s World Role” and co-editor of “The American Encounter: The United States and the Making of the Modern World.” His book “The Future of Freedom: Illiberal Democracy at Home and Abroad,” published in 2003, was a New York Times bestseller and the subject of Levin’s welcoming address to the freshmen that year. It has been translated into 18 foreign languages. Zakaria has won numerous awards for his writing. He serves on several boards, including the Trilateral Commission, the International Institute of Strategic Studies and the Council on Foreign Relations.

Zakaria serves on the President’s Council on International Activities and has spoken on campus on several occasions. He gave the final lecture of the University’s post-September 11 series.

“Fareed Zakaria is a brilliant interpreter of contemporary world affairs. He will bring a wealth of insight to the governance of Yale as we seek to strengthen our connections around the world,” said Levin.

Jeffrey Bewkes has helped to redefine the entertainment industry. Bewkes, a 1974 Yale College graduate, received his M.B.A. in 1977 from Stanford Graduate School of Business. While at Stanford he was the operations director for Sonoma Vineyards. After graduating from Stanford, he spent two years in banking before joining Home Box Office. He rose through the ranks and in 1995 became Chief Executive Officer. At HBO, Bewkes is credited with converting HBO into the first on demand television network and with pioneering the concept of original programming for cable networks. HBO produced such hits as “The Sopranos,” “Sex and the City” and “Six Feet Under.” Bewkes also served on the management committee of the cable network Comedy Central and the board of Black Entertainment Television.

After AOL Time Warner merged with HBO, Bewkes was named in 2002 as chairman in charge of the Entertainment and Networks Group. He oversaw Time
Warner’s movie, television, and music interests, including cable networks like HBO and CNN, as well as the WB network, Warner Bros. Studio, New Line Cinema, Turner Broadcasting System and Warner Music. On December 21, 2005, he was promoted to President and Chief Operating Officer of Time Warner, Inc.

Bewkes serves on the boards of the Council on Foreign Relations, the American Museum of the Moving Image, Channel Thirteen/WNET and Time Warner Cable. Bewkes also serves on the advisory boards of Stanford University Graduate School of Business, the American Museum of Natural History, the Creative Coalition and the Museum of Television & Radio.

At Yale, Bewkes is a member of the University Council, which advises the President and Officers about selected academic and administrative issues. He also serves on the Executive Committee of Yale’s current fundraising campaign.

Levin said, “Jeff Bewkes will bring to the Corporation the experience of running a large multi-faceted organization that operates in a dynamically competitive environment. His proven success at encouraging innovation in a complex organization will serve us well.”

Donna Dubinsky, a 1977 graduate of Yale College, is co-founder and CEO of Numenta, Inc., and has the distinction of having led three innovative technology companies. After Yale she received an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School in 1981. She worked initially at Apple Computer, and then as a founder of Claris Corporation, before joining Jeff Hawkins shortly after he founded Palm Computing in 1992. Palm introduced the PalmPilot, which became the first successful handheld computer, in 1996. She served as President and CEO of Palm Computing, which was acquired by U.S. Robotics and then subsequently by 3Com Corporation. The PalmPilot was the fastest-selling computer and consumer electronics product in history at that time, with 1 million units sold in its first 18 months.

In 1998, Dubinsky and Hawkins left Palm to co-found Handspring Inc., a handheld computing and communications company. Handspring shipped the Visor handheld computer, quickly capturing 25% of the handheld market. The firm also became a leader in the emerging category of smartphones, developing the Treo, a category-defining product. Handspring merged in 2003 with Palm’s hardware group to create a new company, now called Palm, Inc., where Dubinsky serves as a director. Palm is a market leader in the field. In 2005, Dubinsky and Hawkins founded their present firm, Numenta, a technology development firm that is creating a new computer memory system modeled after the human brain’s neo-cortex.

Dubinsky also serves as a director of Intuit Corporation, which develops business and financial software for small businesses, and as a trustee of the Redwood Neuroscience Institute. She is also a trustee of the Computer History Museum, where she plays a leadership role in the capital campaign to support the museum’s permanent site in Mountain View, California.

At Yale, Dubinsky serves as a member of the University Council, which advises the President and Officers about selected academic and administrative issues. She also serves on the Executive Committee of Yale’s current fundraising campaign. Dubinsky has spoken on campus, including being a featured speaker for the Yale Entrepreneurial Society.

“Donna Dubinsky is recognized as one of the most successful, cutting-edge entrepreneurs of the IT industry,” Levin said. “She is a devoted alumna with a keen interest in the full range of the University’s activities. Her experience with strategic planning and entrepreneurship will be of great value to the Corporation’s deliberations.”