Along with the excitement of welcoming new students to Barnard, the College has announced the appointment of five new Board of Trustees members to serve four-year terms. The new class includes: Alan H.H. Fleischmann P’26, founder, chairman and CEO of Laurel Strategies; Katherine Fleming ’87, P’25, President and CEO of the J. Paul Getty Trust in Los Angeles; Robert Kasdin, director of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance; Sooji Park ’90, partner and “scent sommelier” for Natscent; and Abigail Klem Spector, founder of Klem Strategic Consulting Inc.
“We are excited to have Abigail, Alan, Katherine, Robert, and Sooji join the Board, which will benefit from their experiences, skills, and insights,” said Cheryl Glicker Milstein, ’82, P’14, chair of the Board of Trustees. “My fellow Trustees and I look forward to partnering with them as we all work together to advance the College’s mission and values.”
The Board of Trustees are dedicated to overseeing the overall governance of the College and collaborate on strategic direction and large-scale programmatic initiatives. They are also responsible for the approval of budget and stewardship of the endowment.
“I look forward to welcoming our new Trustees,” said President Laura Rosenbury. “The talents and perspectives they bring will complement our Board in new and exciting ways, allowing us to build upon our strengths as a college toward an even more promising future.”
Barnard College’s new Trustees are:
Alan H.H. Fleischmann P’26 is the Founder, Chairman & CEO of Laurel Strategies, the global CEO strategic advisory firm for leaders, chief executives, and their C-suite. Laurel Strategies helps design comprehensive strategies while executing across all levels of implementation, bringing together the disciplines of financial and corporate communications, government affairs, crisis management, investor relations, media relations, corporate governance, talent advisory and coaching, in-depth research, and business intelligence capabilities. Drawing on deep expertise and experience in philanthropy, Laurel Strategies also serves as philanthropic advisors and as a family office for clients worldwide.
Previously, Fleischmann was the first new Partner and Principal of the global business strategy firm Albright Stonebridge Group when Stonebridge International and the Albright Group merged, co-founded with the late U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright. Fleischmann served as a member of the firm’s managing board and operating committee.
Fleischmann had earlier also served as a member of the leadership team of the strategic communications firm PSB Associates. Previously, Fleischmann was Chief of Staff to the Honorable Kathleen Kennedy Townsend and served in the State of Maryland Governor’s Cabinet, a Staff Director of the U.S. Congress Committee on Foreign Affairs and its Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, and a founding Vice President of the trade investment firm LATCORP.
Fleischmann was also the co-founder of ImagineNations Group, a global network that promotes youth investment, youth-led enterprise, and entrepreneurship. Fleischmann was awarded the Goodwin Prize in Siena, Italy, for ImagineNations’ global work to promote entrepreneurship.
Fleischmann was a lead member of the Obama Presidential Transition Team from 2008–2009 and was appointed by the Obama administration to serve as a member of the Board of Advisors of the Export-Import Bank of the United States (ExIm Bank), a member of the International Trade Advisory Commission (ITAC), and a member of White House Commission on Presidential Scholars.
Fleischmann serves on the boards of the Atlantic Council, the American Council on Germany (ACG), the Museum of the American Revolution, the Cal Ripken Foundation, the R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Emergency Medical Center, Morehouse College, the Washington National Opera of the John F. Kennedy Center, and JUST Capital. He is also a lifetime member of the Council on Foreign Relations, a member of the Leadership Council of the Robert F. Kennedy (RFK) Center, an advisory director serving on the Board of Trustees of Carnegie Hall, and was a founding member of the Clinton Global Initiative and formerly a board member of the Phillips Collection, the Eisenhower Fellowship, and the Deepak Chopra Foundation. He previously served on the boards of the Jane Goodall Institute and was a founding board member of the Jane Goodall Legacy Foundation, where he serves on Jane Goodall’s Council of Hope. Fleischmann is a member of the Global Philanthropists Circle (GPC) founded by the late David Rockefeller and his daughter Peggy Dulany.
Fleischmann was awarded an M.A. with honors from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). He received a B.A. and B.S. with honors from American University, where he was valedictorian and student body president. He has previously served on the boards of SAIS and was the Chairman of the Board of the American University School of International Service (SIS).
Fleischmann is also the host of the show Leadership Matters on SiriusXM Radio and has authored numerous articles on leadership and CEO statesmanship.
He is married, lives in Washington, D.C., and is the father of two children.
Katherine Fleming ’87, P’25, is a member of the Barnard Class of 1987. Fleming is the President & CEO of the J. Paul Getty Trust in Los Angeles. From 2016 to 2022 she was Provost of NYU. A historian, Fleming holds graduate degrees from the University of Chicago (M.A.) and the University of California, Berkeley (Ph.D.) and specializes in the cultural history of the modern Mediterranean. She has been decorated Commander in the Greek Order of Beneficence, was made a Chevalier in the French Legion of Honor, and is an elected member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Robert Kasdin is currently Director of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance. He also serves as Director of Harbor Funds.
Robert has decades of experience as a leader in nonprofit management, operations, finances, and development across many institutions. Robert served as the Chief Financial and Chief Operating Officer of Johns Hopkins Medicine. Robert also held the roles of Senior Executive Vice President at Columbia University; Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer at University of Michigan; Treasurer and Chief Investment Office at the Metropolitan Museum of Art; and Vice President and General Counsel at Princeton University Investment Company. Robert began his career as a corporate attorney at Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP.
Robert received his A.B. from Princeton University and his J.D from Harvard Law School.
Robert is married to Claire Ullman, who is a political scientist and the co-founder and co-director of Students for Justice Internship Program. Claire received a Ph.D. in political science from Columbia University. She taught at Barnard College from 2013 to 2020 and at Columbia's School of International and Public Affairs from 2007 to 2013. They have three children.
Sooji Park ’90 is living her best life today with kindness and passion. Sooji is a single mom of three wonderful sons and blessed with an abundance of amazing friends! She practices gratitude daily and chooses to be joyful.
Sooji is a partner and “scent sommelier” for Natscent, a scent marketing company that is bridging the gap between retail and healthcare by intentionally and positively changing how the dental and healthcare industry smells. Sooji owns three additional companies, in college consulting, fundraising for NGOs, and she is also a private/personal chef.
Sooji is a firm believer that women need other women to support, encourage, and cheer for one another. In her new role as AABC president, she feels compelled to continue to do the same. The College and Barnard community continue to be places that refine her to be her best self, so she is committed to Barnard and believes she has the responsibility to pay it forward.
During Sooji’s next three years, she hopes to enthusiastically share who she is and her goals as AABC president with the resolution of being supportive, providing encouragement, and celebrating Barnard’s accomplishments:
I LOVE Barnard College and want alumnae and the world to love Barnard too.
Barnard is changing lives for the better! I hope to find creative, strategic, fun ways to increase both engagement and philanthropy.
I intend to find out what makes our alumnae community excited and foster ways to tie it back to Barnard!
Sooji loves her three sons, is an avid tennis player, and serves on the accounting team at her church, plus several boards.
Abigail Klem Spector founded Klem Strategic Consulting Inc. in 2019, advising founders, CEOs, and creatives at the intersection of design and commerciality. Formerly a corporate lawyer, Abigail Klem Spector moved to Diane von Furstenberg in 2003, rising to Executive Vice President of Merchandising in 2007. She came to lead Ivanka Trump’s namesake fashion brand as Chief Brand Officer in 2013 and was promoted to President in 2016. She also serves on the Board of Directors of KIPP NYC, a nonprofit network of free, open-enrollment public charter schools that prepare students for success in college and life.
Abigail received her B.A. in English literature from Indiana University Bloomington and her J.D. from University of California, Hastings College of the Law.
Abigail resides in New York City with her husband Warren and daughter Georgia.