Media Contact:
Derek Ferrar
Media Relations Specialist
East-West Center
Phone: (808) 944-7204
Email: ferrard@EastWestCenter.org
HONOLULU (Jan. 9, 2008) – U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice recently appointed four new members to three-year terms on the East-West Center’s Board of Governors. The new members are: Lori Forman, Microsoft director of community affairs for Asia; Theodore B. Lee, president of the Urban Land Company in San Francisco and Las Vegas; S. Linn Williams, executive vice president, general counsel and chief compliance officer of the Mirant Corporation; and Michael K. Young, president of the University of Utah.
In addition, Rice re-appointed former U.S. Rep. for Hawaii Patricia F. Saiki to a second term on the board.
EWC Board of Governors Chair Roland Lagareta and the other board members, along with Center President Charles E. Morrison, extended a warm welcome to the new members and expressed their sincere gratitude to outgoing members John Osborn, Tai-Young Lee and Albert Chang.
Based in Singapore, Lori Forman oversees the regional management of Microsoft’s competitive grants programs, disaster relief assistance and software donations in more than 45 countries and territories. Prior to joining Microsoft in 2003, she served as U.S. alternate executive director on the Asian Development Bank’s Board of Directors in Manila and assistant administrator for Asia and the Near East of the U.S. Agency for International Development. Previously, Forman served as the director of Japan programs for The Nature Conservancy and was also a visiting professor at Keio University, teaching courses on the management of non-governmental organizations. She holds a B.A. from Augustana College and a Master’s of Public Policy from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard.
Longtime real-estate developer in San Francisco and Las Vegas, and chairman of the Eureka Casino & Hotel, Theodore B. Lee has had a longstanding association with the East-West Center as a current board member of the East-West Center Foundation, the private fundraising organization that supports the Center’s mission, and former assistant to the Center’s vice chancellor in the early 1960s. As an attorney in private practice, he previously served as a redevelopment consultant to the City of Garden Grove, Calif., and an advisor on the development of low/moderate income housing in such minority communities as Sacramento’s Chinatown, Stockton’s Filipino Center and San Francisco’s Japantown and Fillmore District. He holds a B.A. from Harvard and both a law degree and an M.B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley.
Currently executive vice president and general counsel of the Atlanta-based independent power company Mirant, S. Linn Williams has an extensive background in international trade and investment, having previously served as an arbitrator with the International Chamber of Commerce and Deputy U.S. Trade Representative in the administration of former President George H.W. Bush. During the first term of President Ronald Reagan, he was appointed vice president and general counsel of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation. Williams has also practiced corporate law in Washington, D.C., and Tokyo, and has served on the boards of numerous organizations, including the Japan-America Society and the Inter-Pacific Bar Association. He holds a B.A. from Princeton and a law degree from Harvard.
Michael K. Young began his tenure as president of the University of Utah in 2004. Previously, he was dean of the George Washington University Law School and director of the Center for Japanese Legal Studies, the Center for Korean Legal Studies and the Project on Religion, Human Rights and Religious Freedom at Columbia University. Prior to joining the Columbia faculty, he served as a law clerk to Justice William H. Rehnquist of the U.S. Supreme Court. During the administration of the first President Bush, Young served as ambassador for trade and environmental affairs, deputy under-secretary for economic and agricultural affairs and deputy legal adviser to the Department of State. He holds a B.A. from Brigham Young University and a law degree from Harvard.
Patricia F. Saiki was first appointed to the East-West Board of Governors in 2003. She served as U.S. representative for Hawaii’s 1st congressional district from 1987 to 1991, and then as head of the federal Small Business Administration under the first President Bush.
The EWC Board of Governors consists of 18 members, including five appointed by the governor of Hawaii, five appointed by the U.S. secretary of state, five members from Asia and the Pacific Islands who are elected by the full board, and three ex-officio members who include the governor of Hawaii, the assistant secretary of state for educational and cultural affairs, and the president of the University of Hawaii.
The EAST-WEST CENTER is an education and research organization established by the U.S. Congress in 1960 to strengthen relations and understanding among the peoples and nations of Asia, the Pacific, and the United States. The Center contributes to a peaceful, prosperous and just Asia Pacific community by serving as a vigorous hub for cooperative research, education and dialogue on critical issues of common concern to the Asia Pacific region and the United States. Funding for the Center comes from the U.S. government, with additional support provided by private agencies, individuals, foundations, corporations and the governments of the region.
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