As the 2024-2025 academic year begins, Barnard College welcomes new students — and four new members of the Board of Trustees: Sima Saran Ahuja ’96, Aryella Frommer ’08, Kathleen Wu ’82, and Jill Zucker ’00.
“I am so delighted to welcome Aryella, Jill, Kathleen, and Sima to the Barnard Board of Trustees and excited about the new insights and experiences they will bring to this working Board,” said Cheryl Glicker Milstein ’82, P’14, Chair of the Board of Trustees. “I look forward to the four of them deepening their engagement with the Barnard community in this new way and to our work together with the full Board to advance the mission and values of the College.”
The Board of Trustees is dedicated to overseeing the overall governance of the College, with members collaborating on strategic direction and large-scale programmatic initiatives. It is also responsible for the approval of budget and stewardship of the endowment.
“Our new Trustees share a deep appreciation for Barnard's mission and values that will inform their work on behalf of our community,” said President Laura Rosenbury. “ Kathleen, Jill, Sima, and Aryella each bring unique talents to the Board, and I'm eager to partner with them as we continue our work of empowering the next generation of exceptional women.”
The College thanks the outgoing members for their service: William “Bill” Helman P’14; Jian Ni “Nina” Sun; Dipak Tanna P’23; and Amy Veltman ’89, former president of the Alumnae Association of Barnard College (AABC).
The new Class of Trustees, who will serve a four-year term, includes:
Sima Saran Ahuja ’96 graduated from Barnard College with a double major in political science and South Asian studies. While at Barnard, she was a resident assistant and vice president of Zamana, a South Asian students organization at the College. Ahuja was also a recipient of the Bear Pin Award her senior year for her service to the College. As an alumna, she has co-chaired the Alumni of Color Reunion dinner, served as a Westchester alumnae events chair, served on the awards committees, and interviewed applicants for Barnard. Ahuja currently serves as general counsel for Marist College in Poughkeepsie, New York, where she provides legal advice and counsel to the president and senior leadership team.
Previously, Ahuja was General Counsel at Metropolitan College of New York, and she served in the Office of General Counsel at The City University of New York. She has a generalist skill set that spans higher education and nonprofit law, litigation and regulatory compliance, employment, intellectual property, and complex agreements and transactions. Earlier in her career, Ahuja was Assistant General Counsel at ConvergEx and a Senior Associate with Fried Frank. She received her J.D. from Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, where she was trained to be a certified mediator and held the position of symposium editor of the Arts & Entertainment Law Journal.
Aryella Frommer ’08 is a partner and head of investor relations at Altas Partners, a North American private equity firm. Frommer leads the investor relations team and is responsible for all investor-related activities at the firm, including capital strategy, relationship management, business development, and public relations. She also serves as an active member of the firm’s Responsible Investing & Sustainable Ownership Working Group.
Prior to joining Altas, Frommer spent over nine years with Trian Partners, a highly engaged public equity strategy firm, where she served in various investor relations and business development roles since 2012. She was named Head of Investor Relations in 2015 and became a partner of the firm in 2018. Frommer led Trian’s investor relations, business development, and capital strategy efforts, globally. She was also a member of Trian’s ESG Working Group and its Risk and Compliance Oversight Committee. Before joining Trian, Frommer served as a sales and relationship management associate at Goldman Sachs Asset Management and was a sales strategy and business development analyst at Neuberger Berman. Frommer began her career as an analyst with Lehman Brothers Holdings as part of their investment management division.
Frommer graduated as a member of Phi Beta Kappa and summa cum laude with a degree in political science from Barnard College.
Kathleen Wu ’82 is a partner in the international law firm Hunton Andrews Kurth, where her practice focuses on real estate investment and finance. Clients from Wall Street to California appreciate her energy, innovative thinking, and calm demeanor as she develops strategy and facilitates the “end game.” Wu is known for her elevated understanding of clients’ businesses, anticipating and planning for the unexpected, and guiding clients through difficult legal and business matters. She also serves as the president of the United States Tennis Association Foundation, the charitable arm of the USTA.
Before heading the Foundation, Wu served on multiple USTA boards and committees, including the USTA Board of Directors — where she served as the national chair of the diversity and inclusion committee as well as the strategic planning committee. Wu also serves as General Counsel to USTA Texas and is actively engaged in many other civic and charitable organizations. She is the first Asian American woman chair appointed to the Board of Regents for Texas Woman’s University, a public university. She also serves on the Board of Trustees of the Southwest Medical Foundation, the Board of Directors of the Business Council for the Arts, and the Board of Directors of ReBuilding Together.
Jill Zucker ’00 is a senior partner and co-leader of McKinsey’s Global Growth Transformation Service Line, which is part of the firm’s Growth Marketing and Sales Practice. She is also a leader in the Financial Services Practice. Previously, Zucker was the Managing Partner of McKinsey’s New York Office and led its North America Wealth Management Practice.
As the co-lead of McKinsey’s Global Growth Transformation Service Line, Zucker works with cross-sector leaders to advise on strategic direction and to develop their Growth playbook and capabilities, while leveraging the full potential of today’s omnichannel opportunities. Within McKinsey’s Financial Services Practice, Zucker has counseled many management teams on issues relating to distribution, pricing, compensation, product manufacturing, and digital strategy as well as organizational issues. She also works on topics related to corporate center transformations.
Zucker led the North American Wealth Management Practice, where she expanded the firm’s knowledge development in areas of wealth and asset management. She is a board member of PriceMetrix (fully owned by McKinsey & Company) — an acquisition Zucker led on behalf of the Firm and she is a leader on McKinsey’s Partner Election Committee.
Zucker also serves as a trustee for McKinsey’s Retirement Trust and for the Battery Conservancy in lower Manhattan. Zucker lives in New York City with her husband and three daughters.