The New York Public Library Names Five New Trustees

MAY 6, 2015 – The New York Public Library’s Board of Trustees elected five new members at its meeting today – Peter Baldwin, Lisa Blau, Arthur W. Koenig, Jane Lauder, and Charles Phillips.

“The Board of Trustees is very pleased to welcome these strong leaders, whose experience and expertise in the worlds of scholarship, business, philanthropy and civic engagement will greatly benefit the Library and the millions of people who rely on its services,” said NYPL Board of Trustees Chairman Evan Chesler.

"The New York Public Library is doing more for the public now than ever before, not only providing world-class traditional library services, but engaging in innovative projects to help close the digital divide, support the city's educational system, improve access to research materials and e-content, and address the needs of recent immigrants, among other things,” said NYPL President Tony Marx. “My esteemed colleagues on the Board have been critical at this time of expansion and change at the Library, and I am proud to work alongside them. I have no doubt that the five new Trustees named today will continue that grand tradition of excellent stewardship, and I look forward to their contributions."

"Today we welcomed five outstanding individuals to the Board of the Library.  They bring vital and wide-ranging capabilities and diverse perspectives that will enhance our ability to fulfill the Library’s mission,” said Abby Milstein, chair of the Executive Committee of the NYPL Board of Trustees.

Peter Baldwin is the Global Distinguished Professor at NYU's Center for European and Mediterranean Studies and Professor of History at the University of California, Los Angeles.  His main research focus has been the development of the modern state in its many aspects. He is the author of several scholarly works, including Contagion and the State in Europe, 1830-1930 (1999), Disease and Democracy: The Industrialized World Faces AIDS (2005), and The Narcissism of Minor Differences: How America and Europe are Alike (2009). His latest book, The Copyright Wars (2014), is a trans-national legal history of copyright from 1710 to the present. With his wife, Lisbet Rausing, he co-founded the London-based Arcadia Fund, a charitable fund that supports non-profits and scholarly institutions that preserve cultural heritage and the environment, and makes grants that promote open access to information. He is also Chairman of Arcadia’s Donor Board and Advisory Board. Since 2002, Arcadia has awarded more than $331 million to projects around the world.  Professor Baldwin received his B.A. from Yale in 1978 and his Ph.D. from Harvard in 1986.

Lisa Blau is an angel investor focused on consumer digital businesses founded in New York City.  She has invested in companies such as TheMuse.com, Lover.ly, Primary.com and Goop.com.  She is an active member of New York's digital media and start-up community with a particular interest in supporting women-led entrepreneurial ventures.  She is a board member of Girls Inc. of New York City, a board member of KIPP New York and a board member of the Mount Sinai Parenting Center.  At NYPL, she is a long standing member of the Library Council, and a founding Co-Chair of the Council Committee for Education.  Blau is married to Jeff T. Blau, Chief Executive Officer of Related Companies. Together they have three children. Blau has a B.A. from Duke University and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.

Arthur W. Koenig retired from a career in the steel trading business in 2006.  He served as president of Erlanger and Company, which he helped launch, and spent nearly a decade as chairman and managing partner of VitzStal, an electrical steel mill in Russia.  For more than 17 years, he worked for Duferco, an international steel company. Mr. Koenig graduated from Amherst College in 1966 and received a master’s degree in international relations from Columbia University. He is a trustee of Amherst College, where he established the Koenig Scholarship Fund to bring low-income students from Africa and Latin America to the college. Koenig has been an early and generous supporter of the NYPL’s latest educational initiatives.

Jane Lauder is the Global Brand President of Clinique with nearly two decades of experience in the beauty industry, including more than 17 years at The Estée Lauder Companies. Lauder was appointed Global Brand President of Clinique in April 2014. Prior to her tenure at Clinique, Lauder was the Global Brand President of the Origins, Ojon and Darphin brands. From 2006 to 2008, Lauder served as Senior Vice President of Global Marketing at Clinique. In 2004, she spearheaded the creation and launch of the American Beauty and Flirt! brands as Vice President of Marketing of BeautyBank, an entrepreneurial arm of the The Estée Lauder Companies. She also served as Vice President of Marketing for the Stila brand. She is the granddaughter of the founder and namesake of The Estée Lauder Companies and the daughter of Ronald S. Lauder, the Chairman of Clinique Laboratories, LLC.  Lauder is a graduate of Stanford University.

Charles Phillips is Chief Executive Officer of Infor, an enterprise software company with over 13,000 employees that specializes in business applications in the cloud. Prior to joining Infor, Mr. Phillips was President of Oracle Corporation from 2004 to 2010 and a Managing Director in the Technology Group at Morgan Stanley.  Before his 18-year career on Wall Street, Mr. Phillips was a Captain in the U.S. Marine Corps in the 2nd Battalion, 10th Marines artillery unit.  He earned a B.S. in computer science from the US Air Force Academy, a JD from New York Law School, and an MBA from Hampton University.  Mr. Phillips serves on the boards of Viacom Corporation; the American Museum of Natural History; the Posse Foundation; the US Air Force Academy Endowment Fund; New York Law School; the Apollo Theater; and Jazz at Lincoln Center. He is a past director of Morgan Stanley, Oracle Corporation, and the New York Historical Society.  He also served on President Obama’s Economic Recovery Board led by Paul Volcker. 

Contact:

Angela Montefinise | 212.592.7506 | angelamontefinise@nypl.org

About The New York Public Library

The New York Public Library is a free provider of education and information for the people of New York and beyond. With 92 locations—including research and branch libraries—throughout the Bronx, Manhattan, and Staten Island, the Library offers free materials, computer access, classes, exhibitions, programming and more to everyone from toddlers to scholars, and has seen record numbers of attendance and circulation in recent years. The New York Public Library serves more than 18 million patrons who come through its doors annually and millions more around the globe who use its resources at www.nypl.org. To offer this wide array of free programming, The New York Public Library relies on both public and private funding. Learn more about how to support the Library at nypl.org/support.