The board’s members represent a broad range of backgrounds and have responsibility for stewardship of the university. Vice President Robert Tyburski ’74 serves as secretary to the board.
Membership on Colgate’s 35-seat board of trustees includes alumni, parents of students, and the university president. Six of Colgate’s trustees are members of the Alumni Council and serve as alumni trustees to provide council perspective and facilitate communication between the two groups. Additionally, the president of the Alumni Council sits with the board as a non-voting ex officio member.
The board chair is Denis F. Cronin ’69, retired senior partner, Vinson & Elkins and a former partner at the law firm of Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz. For decades, he has been an active volunteer for Colgate, including prior service as a member of the board (1999–2008). He chaired the silent phase of the Passion for the Climb capital campaign, was a member of the search committee that hired Jeffrey Herbst as Colgate’s 16th president, spent two years on the Alumni Council, and was a member of the Parents’ Steering Committee of the Society of Families. Two of his children, Denis and Megan, graduated from Colgate in 2009 and 2010, respectively, and his wife, Linda, served as a member of the Society of Families steering committee. After graduating from Colgate, Cronin earned a JD from Fordham University, where he is a trustee and past-president of the Fordham Law School Alumni Association.
MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIR
The board vice chair is Robert A. Kindler ’76, global head of mergers and acquisitions and vice chairman of Morgan Stanley. Kindler received a BA from Colgate in 1976 and a JD from New York University School of Law in 1980. He joined Morgan Stanley after having been global head of mergers and acquisitions at JPMorgan for six years. Prior to that, he was a senior partner at the law firm of Cravath, Swaine & Moore, where he specialized in mergers and acquisitions for more than 20 years. As well as serving on Colgate’s Board of Trustees since 2002, Kindler is also on the Board of Trustees of New York University School of Law, the Board of Directors of March of Dimes (New York division), and the Board of Directors of the Levin Institute. His daughter, Emily, is a member of the Class of 2004, son William is a member of the Class of 2008, and son Dylan graduated in 2012.