Seven named to Northwestern's Board of Trustees

Seven new members have been elected to the Northwestern University Board of Trustees. The new trustees include:

Alicia Boler Davis

Boler Davis was named executive vice president, General Motors Global Manufacturing in June 2016. Her responsibilities include leading GM’s global manufacturing operations, manufacturing engineering and labor relations organizations. She is a member of the GM Senior Leadership Team.

Boler Davis began her GM career in 1994 as a manufacturing engineer at the Midsize/Luxury Car Division in Warren, Mich. During her career, she has held many positions of increasing responsibility in manufacturing, engineering and product development and was the first African-American woman to manage a GM vehicle manufacturing plant.

Numerous organizations and publications have recognized Boler Davis for her professional accomplishments and community service. Of note, in late 2017 Boler Davis was named the prestigious 2018 Black Engineer of the Year. In addition, Automotive News named her its 2017 “All Star in Manufacturing.” In 2013, Fortune magazine named her as one of the 10 most powerful women in the automotive industry. In 2010, Automotive News included Boler Davis in its list of the 100 Leading Women in the North American Automotive Industry. In 2016, Trumpet Awards named her Corporate Executive of the Year.

She serves on the board of directors at General Mills and Beaumont Health. In addition, she is a member of the Northwestern University McCormick Advisory Council and a board trustee of the Care House of Oakland County. Boler Davis also serves as executive liaison for the GM WOMEN employee resource group.

Boler Davis has a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from Northwestern, a master’s degree in engineering science from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and an MBA from Indiana University.

Larry Gies

Gies is the founder, president and CEO of Madison Industries, one of the largest and most successful privately held companies in the world. Madison builds entrepreneurially driven, branded market leaders that are dedicated to making the world safer, healthier and more productive by creating innovative solutions that deliver outstanding customer value. 

Gies serves as the president of The Gies Foundation (which focuses on youth, education and health) and is a featured speaker at several universities. He was instrumental in establishing The Gies Campus of Chicago Jesuit Academy (a full scholarship school focused on 3rd – 8th grade education for boys on Chicago’s West Side). He has also coached numerous youth sports and serves on the boards of Amsted Industries (one of the largest ESOPs in the United States) and the Accelerate Institute (which is solving for the “achievement gap” in United States education). 

He received his MBA from Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management with concentrations in strategic management and marketing. He received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Illinois. In 2017, Gies named the Gies College of Business at the University of Illinois, one of the world’s leading business schools.

Larry Irving

Irving is the president and CEO of the Irving Group, a consulting firm providing strategic advice and assistance to international telecommunications and information technology companies, investors, philanthropies and non-profit organizations. From September 2009 to July 2011, Irving served as vice president for global government affairs for the Hewlett-Packard Company, the world’s largest technology company.

Prior to founding the Irving Group in 1999, Irving served for almost seven years as assistant secretary of commerce for communications and information and administrator of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), where he was a principal advisor to the president, vice president and secretary of commerce on domestic and international telecommunications and information technology issues.

Irving was one of the principal architects and advocates of the Clinton Administration's telecommunications and Internet policies, and was a point person in the Clinton Administration's successful efforts to reform the United States telecommunications law, resulting in passage of the most sweeping change in America’s telecommunications laws in 60 years.

In large part due to his work to promote policies and develop programs to ensure access to advanced telecommunications and information technologies, Irving was named one of the 50 most influential persons in the “Year of the Internet” by Newsweek Magazine.

Irving currently serves as a member of the boards of directors of the Public Broadcasting Service and ReliabilityFirst Corporation. He is a co-founder of the Mobile Alliance for Global Good. He also serves on the Board of Visitors for Stanford Law School, the Board of Visitors for the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences of Northwestern University and the Northwestern University Alumni Association Board of Regents.   

He received a bachelor’s degree from Northwestern, and is a recipient of the University’s Alumni Merit Award for distinguished professional achievement and is a Salute to Excellence Honoree of the Northwestern University Black Alumni Association. He is also a graduate of Stanford Law School, where he was elected president of his graduating class and is a Stanford Associate.

Jennifer Leischner Litowitz

Leischner Litowitz is a stay-at-home mother and director of the Litowitz Family Foundation, which focuses on supporting community, education and the arts. Leischner Litowitz also is active as a manager of Litowitz Family Office, which invests across real estate, venture capital and hospitality. Prior to raising her children, Leischner Litowitz was employed as a staff attorney in the legal department of a healthcare facility management company.  

Leischner Litowitz and her husband opened Guildhall Restaurant to support the arts and culture of Glencoe and its neighboring communities. She is engaged in many capacities with several non-profit entities, including her long-standing tenure as a member of the board of directors of Writers Theatre where she serves on the executive committee.

Leischner Litowitz graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Northwestern in 1991 with a bachelor’s degree in English literature. She went on to attend Loyola University Chicago School of Law, earning her J.D. in 1994. 

Dennis Muilenburg

Muilenburg is chairman of the board, president and chief executive officer of The Boeing Company. Muilenburg oversees the strategic direction of the Chicago-based, $93.4 billion aerospace company. With roughly 140,000 employees across the United States and in more than 65 countries, Boeing is the world's largest aerospace company and top U.S. exporter. It is the leading manufacturer of commercial airplanes, military aircraft, and space and security systems, and a provider of global services; it supports airlines and U.S. and allied government customers in more than 150 nations.

Muilenburg is a member of the board of directors of Caterpillar Inc., the U.S.-China Business Council, the Congressional Medal of Honor Foundation, and FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science & Technology). He is past chairman of the Aerospace Industries Association (AIA) board of governors and a current AIA executive committee member. He is an executive committee member of Business Roundtable, an association of chief executive officers of leading U.S. companies. Appointed by the administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, he serves on the National Space Council’s Users Advisory Group. He also serves on the board of trustees for the National World War II Museum. 

He is a fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) and the Royal Aeronautical Society.

Muilenburg holds a bachelor's degree in aerospace engineering and an honorary doctor of science degree from Iowa State University as well as a master's degree in aeronautics and astronautics from the University of Washington. 

Purnima Puri

Puri is a governing partner of HPS Investment Partners and is the portfolio manager for the public credit strategies, which include various funds and managed accounts.

Prior to joining HPS in 2007, Puri was a principal at Redwood Capital Management, a credit opportunities hedge fund. Before joining Redwood, she was with Goldman Sachs for five years on both the credit arbitrage desk, a proprietary trading desk at Goldman Sachs, and in the principal investment area. From 1993 to 1995, Puri was part of Lazard Frères’ Restructuring and Mergers and Acquisitions Group.

Puri holds a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Northwestern and an MBA from Harvard Business School. She is a member of Robinhood’s Leadership Council and Mount Sinai Hospital Children’s Center Foundation Board.

Paul Schneider

Schneider has more than 20 years of experience in strategic finance and supply chain management, including multi-billion-dollar capital fundraising and mergers and acquisitions.

Schneider is principal of Schneider Resource Holdings, which owns Schneider National, a $4 billion global leader in logistics. He leads the Schneider family office and co-founded SLK Finance, its business capital group. He assesses private equity investments for various holding companies. He was a M&A analyst for investment bank Morgan Stanley. He has held general manager roles at Schneider and led operations, marketing, engineering, and corporate development, including the acquisition of Schneider Logistics (Tianjin) Co., one of the 10 largest transportation companies in China.

Schneider is on the advisory board of the Northwestern University Transportation Center. He is a co-chair of the We Will Campaign in Wisconsin.

Schneider has an executive MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, an MSIS from the University of Wisconsin- Oshkosh and a bachelor’s degree in economics from Northwestern.

Schneider’s daughter, Amolia Schneider, is an undergraduate student at Northwestern (SESP ’22).