Board Retirements

Sol Gittleman

A member of the Foundation's Board of Directors from 2004 to 2009, Sol Gittleman played a key role in advancing Teagle's mission of improving undergraduate student learning and engagement. Mr. Gittleman's deep knowledge of American higher education--honed by forty-five years (to date) as a college professor and twenty-one as an academic administrator—made him an invaluable contributor to the Foundation's work. He served with distinction on the audit and compensation committee, always offering a balanced perspective on important issues. As vice chair and then chair of the program committee, he skillfully—and exuberantly—led committee deliberations to successful conclusions. The Foundation is grateful to Sol Gittleman for his wise, experienced and spirited leadership of its program work and his unwavering dedication to its mission.

Mr. Gittleman's service to the Foundation is only one facet of a long career in higher education. He is currently the Alice and Nathan Gantcher University Professor at Tufts University, where he has taught since 1964 and served as provost from 1981 to 2002. A scholar of the American immigrant experience, and of German and Eastern Jewish literatures, Mr. Gittleman continues to teach courses on these topics, as well as on American baseball history, a long-time passion. He has been awarded honorary degrees from Hebrew College, Stonehill College, Drew University, and University of Tübingen, and received a citation as Professor of the Year from the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education. In 2009, he was the recipient of the Robert J. McKenna Award for Program Achievement from the New England Board of Higher Education.

Mary Patterson McPherson

Mary Patterson McPherson retired from the Foundation's Board of Directors in May 2009 after six years of distinguished service. A consummate champion of a liberal arts education, she brought to Teagle a unique perspective on American colleges and universities, informed by well-respected careers as a college president and then as a philanthropic leader supporting higher education. Ms. McPherson's participation at each Board meeting, and at the meetings of the program and investment committees on which she served, were consistently defined by a knowledgeable reading of the issues at hand, incisive questions that encouraged further debate, and wise counsel that ensured the Foundation's work was always of the highest quality. With speed and dexterity, she led the search committee for Teagle's next president, guaranteeing a steady course for the Foundation's future. Teagle is indebted to Mary Patterson McPherson for her strong commitment to its mission of bringing student learning in the liberal arts and sciences to the highest possible levels, and for the invaluable guidance and service she has provided during her tenure.

Currently the executive officer of the American Philosophical Society, Ms. McPherson was previously vice president of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation (1997-2007), and for nineteen years, the president of Bryn Mawr College (1978-1997). A philosopher, she received her AB from Smith College, MA from the University of Delaware, and PhD from Bryn Mawr College, where she also taught and served as assistant dean, associate dean, and dean of the undergraduate college before becoming president. Ms. McPherson holds numerous honorary degrees and is an elected member of the American Philosophical Society and elected fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. She currently sits on the boards of The Brearley School, the Central European University, Emeriti Retirement Health Solutions, the Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation, the Philadelphia Contributionship, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. She previously served on the boards of The Agnes Irwin School, Amherst College, Bank Street College, the Brookings Institution, the Carnegie Corporation of New York, the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, Dayton Hudson, Exeter Academy, Goldman Sachs Asset Management , JSTOR, the National Humanities Center, The Shipley School, Smith College, and the Spencer Foundation.