Gates Foundation Names New Head of Effort to Improve Colleges

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Patrick Methvin, deputy director of the foundation’s postsecondary success strategy, has been promoted to director of the program, overseeing grants to improve student learning. Before joining the foundation, he was a principal in the Boston Consulting Group’s social-impact and consumer-goods practice areas.

Bravo Family Foundation

Guiomar García-Guerra, founding executive director of the Flamboyan Foundation, has been named the Puerto Rico foundation’s first executive director. Created by the financier Orlando Bravo, the foundation has pledged $25 million to help rebuild Puerto Rico in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria.

New England Aquarium

Vikki Spruill, president of the Council on Foundations for nearly six years, will join the Boston aquarium this summer as president and CEO. Read our coverage of Spruill’s departure and what it means for the future of the grant-makers group.

Ruth Mott Foundation

Handy Lindsey Jr. has announced he will retire as president in November or as soon as a successor is found. During his four-year tenure, Lindsey oversaw a strategic plan that shifted the foundation’s grant making to focus on north Flint, Mich.

More New CEOs

Elizabeth Andersen has joined the World Justice Project as executive director. Most recently, she was associate executive director for global programs at the American Bar Association and director of its Rule of Law Initiative.

David Deschenes, executive director of the Ironman Foundation, will become the first executive director of the USA Triathlon Foundation.

Alice Hunt, president of Chicago Theological Seminary, will now serve as the executive director of the American Academy of Religion.

Matías Tarnopolsky, executive and artistic director of Cal Performances at the University of California at Berkeley, has joined the Philadelphia Orchestra as president and CEO.

Tal Tsfany, a consultant and former vice president for customer success at Mulesoft, will become the Ayn Rand Institute’s new president and CEO on June 29. She will succeed Jim Brown, who is stepping down after two years.

Other Notable Appointments

Sharon Hill, charitable gift officer at the Interlochen Center for the Arts, has joined the University of Cincinnati Foundation as its assistant vice president for leadership and regional development for the New York Metro area and the Northeast region.

Sharon Kucia, founding president of Charlotte Legatus Chapter, an organization for Catholic CEOs, has been named senior vice president for GP Catholic Services, a division of Graham-Pelton Consulting.

Mary Bane Lackie, vice chancellor for university advancement and executive director of the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith Foundation, has been named executive director of development at the University of Central Arkansas.

Lauren Marshall, associate director of communications at the Harvard Art Museums, has joined the Cambridge Community Foundation as director of marketing and civic engagement.

Peter McDowell has become director of development for the American Friends of the Louvre, based in Los Angeles. He owns an arts-management consulting group and most recently was managing director of the musical ensemble Eighth Blackbird.

O’Neil Outar, interim vice chancellor of institutional advancement at the University of Pittsburgh, has become vice president of institutional engagement at the Rhode Island School of Design.

Elizabeth Reese, director of the New Territory Montessori School in Sugar Land, Tex., is now the director of education and mindfulness at the Crow Collection of Asian Art.

David Tuveson, director of the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Cancer Center, has been named chief scientist at the Lustgarten Foundation. Dr. Tuveson also previously served as research director at the foundation.

Departures

Wendy DuBoe, president and CEO of United Way of Metro Chicago since 2012, will step down later this year, pending the selection of a successor. She has served in a variety of leadership roles at the charity for 15 years.

Gary Godsey, executive director of the Association of Texas Professional Educators, plans to retire from his position, effective August 1.

Liza McFadden, CEO of the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy, has stepped down from her post. Chris Frangione, a board member, will serve as interim CEO during the search for a successor.

Ana Yáñez-Correa, director of the criminal-justice program at the Public Welfare Foundation, is leaving to become director of community engagement at Harris County Precinct One under Country Commissioner Rodney Ellis, in Houston.

Legacies

Jose Antonio Abreu, a Venezuelan government economist and orchestral conductor who founded El Sistema, an international network of youth orchestras, died on March 24. He was 78.

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Correction: This story had been updated to reflect the fact that the Bravo Family Foundation increased its pledge of assistance to Puerto Rico from $10 million to $25 million.