Institute for Advanced Study Appoints Three New Trustees

The Institute for Advanced Study has appointed Afsaneh Mashayekhi Beschloss, Jonathan M. Nelson and Sandra E. Peterson to its Board of Trustees. These appointments were effective May 1, 2015.

Afsaneh M. Beschloss is Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Rock Creek, a global investment and advisory firm. Previously, she was Managing Director and Partner at the Carlyle Group. Prior to that, Beschloss was Treasurer and Chief Investment Officer of the World Bank, where she advised finance ministries and central banks on pension reform and financial policy.

She is currently a Director of the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS); the American Red Cross; the Urban Institute, where she chairs the Investment Committee; the World Resources Institute, where she is co-chair of the Global Advisory Council, and the Visiting Committee for the Center for Development Economics at Williams College. She has served as trustee of the Ford Foundation, where she chaired the Investment Committee, and the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. She has received the Robert F. Kennedy Ripple of Hope Award, was recognized as one of American Bankers’ Most Powerful Women in Banking, and was the recipient of the 100 Women in Hedge Fund Leadership Award. Beschloss is the co-author of The Economics of Natural Gas (Oxford University Press 1990) and author of numerous journal articles on energy policy. She holds an M.Phil. (Honors) in Economics from the University of Oxford, where she taught international trade and economic development.

Jonathan M. Nelson is Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Providence Equity Partners, a private equity and credit investment firm. Nelson is currently a director of The Chernin Group, MLS Media, Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB) and Univision Communications. He has also served as a director of numerous other Providence portfolio companies including Eircom, Hulu, Language Line, MetroNet (now AT&T Canada), VoiceStream Wireless (now Deutsche Telekom), Warner Music Group, Western Wireless (now Alltel Corp.) and Yankees Entertainment and Sports Network (YES).

Prior to founding Providence Equity Partners in 1989, Nelson was Managing Director of Narragansett Capital, which he joined in 1983. At Narragansett Capital, Nelson specialized in private equity investments in the cable television, broadcasting and publishing sectors. Nelson is also a trustee of Brown University and The Rockefeller University. He is a member of the board of Dean's Advisors at Harvard Business School and serves on the board of the Newport Festivals Foundation. Nelson received a Master of Business Administration from Harvard Business School and a Bachelor of Arts from Brown University.

Sandra E. Peterson is Group Worldwide Chairman of Johnson & Johnson, and is also a member of the Johnson & Johnson Executive Committee. She is responsible for both enterprise capabilities and consumer-facing businesses, overseeing the Consumer Group of Companies, consumer-directed medical device businesses Johnson & Johnson Vision Care and Johnson & Johnson Diabetes Solutions, and enterprise functions Johnson & Johnson Supply Chain, Information Technology, Health & Wellness and Global Strategic Design.

Before joining Johnson & Johnson in 2012, Peterson was Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Bayer CropScience AG in Germany. She also served at Bayer as President and Chief Executive Officer of Bayer Medical Care and President of Bayer HealthCare AG’s Diabetes Care Division. Peterson has also held positions at Medco Health Solutions, Nabisco, Inc., Whirlpool Corporation and McKinsey & Company, Inc. She is a member of the board of directors of the Dun & Bradstreet Corporation. Peterson holds a Bachelor of Arts in Government from Cornell University and a Master of Public Administration in Applied Economics from Princeton University.