The Board of Trustees elected four new members, including three alumni, officials announced Tuesday.
Stacie Lissette, Jonathan Perlin and Ted Segal took office on June 1, and Kevin Brown will assume the position at the start of 2026, according to a University release. The election will raise the size of GW’s top governing body from 19 to 22 members after former Board secretary Ave Tucker left his post in May.
Over the last decade, officials have worked to downsize the Board, bringing the number of trustees from 43 to 21 members between 2013 and 2018 in an effort to strengthen the body’s productivity and communication among members.
Board Chair Grace Speights, who had her tenure extended for a year by the Board in March, said in the release that the new members are “critical” and bring a “wealth of expertise” across various fields. The new members span multiple fields, including engineering, real estate, philanthropy and health care, according to the release.
“Their contributions will be critical as we work with our community to propel the university forward during this significant period in GW’s history,” she said in the release.
University President Ellen Granberg said the new members’ insights and expertise are “invaluable” as officials launch the strategic framework.
“I look forward to working in partnership with them as we continue to advance GW’s missions of teaching, research and patient care,” Granberg said in the release.
Brown, who graduated from GW in 1994 with a Master of Science in engineering management, is the executive vice president for global operations and chief supply chain officer at Dell Technologies, according to the release. He serves on an advisory board for the School of Engineering & Applied Science.
Lissette graduated from GW Law in 1992 and is a philanthropist and former director of Utz Brands, Inc., a snack food company. She is the director of her family’s Rice Family Foundation, which supports organizations in the Hanover, Pennsylvania, area.
Segal is the founder and president of EJS Group and graduated from the University in 2003 with a Bachelor of Arts in political communication. He is the majority owner of the Houston Dynamo Football Club, which includes Major League Soccer’s Houston Dynamo and the National Women’s Soccer League’s Houston Dash.
Segal and his wife, Meredith Perla Segal, created an endowed fund that became the Sesno Series in honor of former School of Media & Public Affairs Director Frank Sesno. He was previously a member of the SMPA National Council until June 1.
Perlin is the president and CEO of The Joint Commission, a nonprofit organization that accredits and certifies more than 22,000 health care organizations and programs in the United States. Perlin and his wife Donna Perlin endowed a psychiatry professorship in the School of Medicine & Health Sciences in honor of Jonathan Perlin’s parents. Rome Hall is named after his mother’s cousin, Benjamin Rome.
The Board is the University’s top oversight body, and members are elected for a term of four years. The Board typically meets four times a session and has advised the University on issues like the arming of the GW Police Department and the strategic framework.
