Emerson College Appoints Three New Trustees

Boston, MA — 

Chair of the Emerson College Board of Trustees Jeff Greenhawt ’68 and President Lee Pelton have announced the appointment of three new Trustees, effective immediately.

Communications executive and entrepreneur Andrea M. Montoni ’78; senior investment manager and former university professor Marc Reinganum, P ’15; and New England College President Michele D. Perkins, MA ’84, join 23 other Trustees who share fiduciary responsibility for the College and work in collaboration with the President, senior administrators, and faculty on strategic initiatives that will strengthen the Emerson experience for students now and into the future.

“I am pleased to welcome these new trustees to the Emerson Board,” said Chair Greenhawt. “Their varied and deep professional backgrounds expand and extends the impressive management expertise that we have on our Board. We are enormously grateful for their willingness to serve Emerson,” he said.

New Trustees

Andrea M. Montoni is a veteran marketing communications expert with experience in the broadcasting, cable, entertainment, publishing, and retail industries. She has planned and directed promotions for the premieres of films and album releases, and the grand openings of theaters and retail outlets. A civic leader, she has developed corporate contributions policies and has represented her organizations in a wide variety of local civic and business groups as well as served on professional boards and committees.

Currently president and owner of the Beach and Nature Company of Newburyport, Massachusetts, Montoni has served as the public relations director for Jones International; public relations director for The Denver Post; promotion director for KPKE-FM radio in Denver, Colorado; public relations and special events director for May D & F Department Stores; regional promotion and publicity manager, East Coast, for Columbia Pictures; and retail promotion director, New England, for A & M Records.

Among her many honors, she has been the recipient of two Silver Anvil Awards from the Public Relations Society of America; an International Gold Quill Award from the International Association of Business Communicators; and the Gold Pick Award from the Public Relations Society of America’s Colorado chapter.

Marc R. Reinganum, PhD, is an accomplished Senior Asset Management and Academic thought leader, innovator and practitioner. Most recently, Reinganum served as Senior Managing Director at State Street. Reinganum assumed direct management of SSGA’s US Dynamic Small Cap Mutual Fund (SVSCX) in October of 2010. As of September 2015, this fund was the number one performer in Morningstar’s Small Cap Blend Category; in 2011 the fund received a ‘Category King’ designation by the Wall Street Journal and in October 2015 Barron’s called this fund one of the five great overlooked funds. At State Street, Reinganum also served as Global Head of Active Equities and oversaw global and regional strategies managed by teams located across four continents. In his role as Chief Quantitative Strategist, Reinganum spearheaded efforts to innovate and create relevant, thoughtful, and outcome oriented client-centric solutions. He engaged and communicated with asset owners and their consultants on strategic thinking in a post-Modern Portfolio Theory world with a particular emphasis on dynamic factor-based investing and smart beta.

Reinganum is a recognized leading investment manager and academic who has been featured on the cover of Money magazine and interviewed by the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Bloomberg, Fortune, CNBC, and NPR for insights into the financial markets. He has comprehensive experience in research, portfolio management, enterprise-building, business development, client relationship management, human resources, entrepreneurship, and teaching. While working on his Ph.D. dissertation at the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business, he launched the field of stock market anomalies. In 2007, he correctly forecast the collapse of risk assets, and properly structured billions of dollars of mutual fund equity assets for the historic stock rebound in 2009.

Prior to joining SSGA at the end of 2009, Marc was co-head of the Main Street Team and Senior Portfolio Manager and Director of Quantitative Research at Oppenheimer Funds, where his group managed $30+ billion in small-cap, large-cap and multi-cap strategies. For 22 years he was President and CEO of Reinganum Consulting.

Reinganum is recognized as a leader by peers in the industry, currently serving as Executive Vice President of the Institute for Quantitative Research in Finance (Q-Group), and a member of the Economic Club of New York and the Chicago Quantitative Alliance.

In academia, Reinganum was the Mary Jo Vaughn Rauscher Chair in Financial Investments at SMU, where he also served as President of the Faculty of the Cox School of Business, Chairman of the Finance Department and Director of the Financial Markets Institute. Marc’s previous academic appointments included the University of Iowa, the University of Southern California and the University of Chicago.

Along with his wife, Alison Fox, he was co-chair of the Emerson College Parents Leadership Council in 2012. In addition, they serve as board members of the Founders Council at ArtsEmerson Their daughter, Claire Reinganum, graduated from Emerson in 2015 with a BA in film production.

Michele D. Perkins, EdD, brings a successful record of higher education leadership and transformation to her position as the fifteenth president of New England College. Dr. Perkins was appointed president in 2007, and her tenure as president has been highlighted by renewed strategic and campus planning, curriculum innovation, financial well-being, and enhanced external support. She has led an integrated process of optimal enrollment planning; as a result, New England College has grown to over 2,000 students, the highest enrollment in the College’s history. The College is nationally recognized for its commitment to civic engagement and experiential learning in its undergraduate and graduate programs.

Dr. Perkins began her service to New England College in the fall of 2001 as Vice President for Enrollment. Two years later, as Senior Vice President, her responsibilities included all areas of admission, student development, athletics, financial aid, student accounts, public information, and human resources. She was instrumental in founding New England College’s School of Graduate and Professional Studies, which currently offers diverse master’s and doctoral programs online, on campus, and on location in schools and businesses throughout New Hampshire and Maine. Since becoming President, New England College has tripled its enrollment and doubled its endowment.

Before serving New England College, Dr. Perkins held positions in admissions and enrollment management at White Pines College, New York Law School, Trinity College, and Emerson College. As an independent consultant, she has worked with colleges and universities across the country on a wide range of projects focused on admission marketing strategies, enrollment management, and long range planning. She was a co-founder of the National Association of Graduate Admissions Professionals (NAGAP).

Dr. Perkins earned her EdD in Higher Education Management from the University of Pennsylvania. She holds Bachelor and Master degrees in Theatre and Performance Studies from Northwestern University and Emerson College, respectively. Dr. Perkins currently serves on a number of boards and advisory groups in higher education. She is the immediate past Chair of both the New Hampshire College and University Council and Campus Compact for New Hampshire. Dr. Perkins is a member of the Executive Committee of both the New Hampshire Commission on Higher Education and the Council for Independent Colleges where she also serves as Vice Chair of the Public Information Committee. She is a member of the Board of Directors of the New England Council and was appointed by New Hampshire Governor Maggie Hassan to serve as a member of the New England Board of Higher Education.

Dr. Perkins and her husband live in Henniker, New Hampshire and their son attends Colby College.