Advancing excellence top priority for new board chair

(Press-News.org) At its annual meeting on Thursday, the University of Miami Board of Trustees (BOT) confirmed Manuel “Manny” Kadre as its new chair, Wayne Chaplin and Bill Morrison as new vice chairs, and welcomed a slate of new trustees. 

Kadre, chairman and chief executive officer of MBB Auto Group as well as a senior executive and shareholder of a number of beverage, automotive, health care, and real estate companies, first joined the board as a trustee in 2004. He served as a vice chair since June 2021 and more recently as board chair-elect. 

“The University has one of the great reputations and brand names anywhere in the world,” said Kadre. “Wherever I go, whether in Seattle or in Europe, if I’m wearing a UM shirt someone will flash me ‘The U.’ From a priority standpoint, it’s about having the U continue to be represented with such prestige. 

“Our health system is on its way to becoming one of the premiers in the world. We have an NCI-designated cancer center, and our neurologists, urologists, and other medical professionals are world class,” added Kadre, who serves as vice chair on the UHealth Board of Directors, chairing its Audit, Finance, and Strategy Committee, and has chaired the Finance Committee, the Government Affairs and Public Policy Committee, and the Master Planning and Construction Committee of the BOT. 

“We’re also focused on keeping the front-facing schools of the academy—business, engineering, and law—on their paths of excellence so they will be even more representative of what’s going on in Miami and South Florida as a whole,” added Kadre. 

In terms of athletics, he highlighted the recent success enjoyed by men’s and women’s basketball, while crediting coach Jim Larrañaga and former coach Katie Meier, respectively, for guiding the teams, and said the football program too is “getting back to greatness.” 

“You can feel it. Coach Mario [Cristobal] has really got us on that path,” said Kadre, who played a pivotal role in helping bring Cristobal back to his Miami hometown, according to the Miami Herald. 

The new chair likewise noted the importance of working with faculty through the shared governance model with the Faculty Senate as another of his leadership priorities. 

Kadre succeeds Laurie Silvers, who after 15 years as a board trustee assumed the chair role in June 2021. Silvers, a media entrepreneur, attorney, and double alumna, will remain on the BOT and will also serve as chair of the Centennial Honorary Committee, which has been formed ahead of the University celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2025. On the BOT, she will chair the Talent and Compensation subcommittee, and was appointed by Kadre to a new role as a member of the Executive Committee: Board Liaison to the Faculty Senate. 

Joining Kadre as new officers on the board are vice chairs Chaplin and Morrison.

Chaplin, a double alumnus who graduated magna cum laude as an undergraduate and later attended the School of Law, is president and chief executive officer of Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits, the country’s leading distributor of wine, spirits, beer, and other nonalcoholic beverages. 

Morrison has held a number of executive positions in the past with Northern Trust Corporation, including vice chairman, executive vice president, and chief financial officer. 

New trustees joining the board for initial one-year terms are: 

Jaret Davis, senior vice president and co-managing shareholder of the Miami office of the law firm Greenberg Traurig, is a double alumnus and the first African American chief of the Iron Arrow Honor Society. 

Al Dotson Jr., Bilzin Sumberg's chief executive officer and managing partner and nationally recognized for his work on infrastructure and public-private partnerships. 

Dr. Wayne Holman, a licensed physician, is the founder and CEO of Ridgeback Capital, co-founder of Ridgeback Biotherapeutics, and serves as co-chair of the Ridgeback-Merck Lagevrio (molnupiravir) Joint Steering Committee.

Julia Quinn is the deputy director of philanthropy at Citadel, where she works with Citadel founder and CEO Ken Griffin on his personal philanthropy and on the firm’s engagement in the communities where Citadel employees live and work. 

Daniel Sundheim is the founder and chief investment officer of D1 Capital Partners, a global investment firm that operates across public and private markets and focuses on investing in the global internet, technology, telecom, media, consumer, health care, financial, industrial, and real estate sectors. 

Alia Tutor is a prominent businesswoman and philanthropist who leads numerous successful private enterprises and is president of the Alia Tutor Family Foundation. An alumna of the University’s Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science, Tutor received her J.D. from Columbia Law School, achieving academic recognition as a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar. 

Kimberly Stone, the alumni trustee elected to a three-year term, received her M.B.A. in 2003 and currently is chief executive officer of the Washington Spirit of the National Women’s Soccer League that is based at Audi Field in Washington, D.C. She previously served as president of UBS Arena and executive vice president of Oak View Group (OVG) East Coast from 2022-2024. 

Roy Carrillo Zamora, who will serve a one-year term as student trustee, is a junior majoring in legal studies and business analytics in the Miami Herbert Business School. He is serving as the 2024-2025 president of the undergraduate Student Government and previously served as a first-year fellow in the Department of Housing and Residential Life.

Hector Tunidor, who will serve a two-year term as an ex-officio trustee and president of the Citizens Board, is second vice president of Strategic Engagement and managing partner of Ernst and Young. Based in Miami, he serves as a senior global client service partner on several of EY’s largest global clients.

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