Six Named to Northwestern Board of Trustees

EVANSTON, Ill. --- Six new members have been elected to the Northwestern University Board of Trustees.

They are:

• Edward C. Hutcheson, Jr., managing director, Platte River Ventures
• Mark A. Ledogar, senior vice president and principal, One Smooth Stone
• Michael A. Reinsdorf, president and chief operating officer, Chicago Bulls
• E. Scott Santi, president and chief executive officer, Illinois Tool Works Inc.
• Mark R. Walter, chief executive officer, member of the board and co-founder, Guggenheim Capital, LLC
• Michael R. Wilbon, co-host of ESPN’s award-winning “Pardon the Interruption”

Edward C. Hutcheson, Jr. is a managing director of Platte River Ventures, a Denver-based private equity firm. For the last two decades, he has served in senior management positions with publicly owned corporations in the telecommunications, financial services and oilfield services industries. He was the founding chairman and chief executive officer of Crown Castle International, where he continues to serve as a director. Previous assignments included serving as chief operating officer of Pinnacle Global Group Inc., president and chief operating officer of Baroid Corp. and senior vice president, marketing of Bernard Johnson Inc. He has served as a director of Baroid Corp., Titanium Metals Corp., Trico Marine Services, Inc. and Special Metals Corp. Hutcheson is currently a director of Bamberger Ranch Preserve and previously served as a board member of the Alley Theater and National Multiple Sclerosis Society of Houston. In 1968, he graduated from Northwestern University Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications.

 

Mark A. Ledogar is senior vice president and principal of One Smooth Stone, an event and communications agency based in Downers Grove, Ill. Ledogar serves as executive producer for a variety of the agency’s clients, providing strategic and creative message development, pre-event and on-site event production, presenter management and coaching, and team leadership. Prior to joining One Smooth Stone in 2000, Ledogar served as director of the Convention and Trade Show Division of SmithBucklin & Associates, an association management firm. He serves as advisor or board member to a number of nonprofit organizations, including Seven Generations Ahead, Good Shepherd Lutheran Church and the Northwestern Alumni Association. Ledogar, a recipient of the Northwestern Alumni Association’s Service Award, has also chaired committees for the University’s Alumni Association and served as director at large, secretary, vice president and, now, president-elect of the Alumni Association’s board. Ledogar is a graduate of the Northwestern University School of Communication.

 

Michael A. Reinsdorf was named president and chief operating officer of the Chicago Bulls in 2010. Reinsdorf has been involved in National Basketball Association (NBA) league matters on behalf of the Bulls since 2001. He is an NBA governor and serves on the NBA Media Committee and the NBA Planning Committee. Reinsdorf is a member of the Young Presidents’ Organization and serves on the boards of the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago Foundation, the Executives’ Club of Chicago, NorthShore University HealthSystem, After-School All-Stars and After School Matters. He is a founding partner of International Facilities Group, a consulting company specializing in the development of sports and entertainment facilities across the country. He is a graduate of the University of Arizona.

 

E. Scott Santi is the president and chief executive officer of Illinois Tool Works, Inc., a Fortune 200 global diversified industrial manufacturer of value added consumables and specialty equipment with related service businesses. Santi is a member of the board of directors of W.W. Grainger Inc. He is a member of the board of trustees of the Ravinia Festival Association, the Museum of Science and Industry, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Association and Rush University Medical Center, and he is a member of the Global Advisory Board of the Kellogg School of Management. Santi is also a member of the Civic Committee of the Commercial Club of Chicago and of the Economic Club of Chicago. In 1983, he graduated from the University of Illinois and in 1992 received his MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern.

Mark R. Walter is a business executive, investor and philanthropist. He is chief executive officer, member of the board and co-founder of Guggenheim Capital, LLC, a global investment and advisory firm. He is chairman and controlling owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Walter serves on the boards of several corporations and organizations, including the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, The Field Museum and Northwestern University. Walter received a B.S. from Creighton University and a J.D. from Northwestern University School of Law.

Michael R. Wilbon is co-host of ESPN’s “Pardon the Interruption” (PTI) and an NBA studio analyst for ABC and ESPN. After 31 years with the Washington Post, Wilbon left to assume an expanded role as a columnist for ESPN.com and ESPNChicago.com. He then joined Tony Kornheiser in 2001 to host PTI. Wilbon contributes to both the “NBA Sunday Countdown” on ABC and ESPN’s “NBA Shootaround.” He appears weekly on ESPN Radio 1000 in Chicago, with Scott Van Pelt on ESPN Radio and with Kornheiser on ESPN980 in Washington, D.C. Wilbon has received many honors including a Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Association of Journalists and the Washington Post’s Eugene Meyer Award. He was inducted into the Washington, D.C. Sports Hall of Fame for his coverage and commentary on sports in and around the nation’s capital. Wilbon graduated in 1980 from Northwestern’s Medill School and was inducted into the inaugural class of the Medill’s Hall of Achievement in 1997.  In June 2010, Wilbon delivered the commencement address at his alma mater.