SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA.- The San Francisco Art Institute is pleased to announce the election of new members and officers to the Board of Trustees. Charles M. Collins will serve a second term as Chair of the Board of Trustees. The elected officers are David Coulter, Chair Emeritus; Sanford R. Robertson, Vice-Chair; Kay Dryden, Vice-Chair; Laura Sweeney, Treasurer; and Lydia Titcomb, Secretary.

“The strength of any institution ultimately lies in the strength of its leadership,” noted Collins. “The caliber of our officers and the merits of our newly elected Trustees speaks well to the extraordinary job we have done this year in addressing the challenges at hand. We move into the next fiscal year not only with a plan, but also with strong financial footing. Over $2.5 million in new donations from this Board of Trustees in the past two months are but an example of the dedication with which we begin this new year.” Collins, elected Chair of the Board of Trustees in 2001, welcomed eight new members to the Board, including new public trustees Karen Kubin, Jon Merriman, Paul Sack, and Jeffery White, and Trustee Emerita Agnes Bourne.

Karen Kubin is a partner in Cooley Godward LLP, a San Francisco-based law firm that is a recognized leader in the representation of high growth information technology and life science companies.  Karen has been with Cooley Godward since 1976, where she practices complex civil litigation, primarily in the areas of employment, trade secret theft, and competitive business practices law.  Karen received a J.D. in 1976 from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law and a B.A., cum laude, in 1970 from the University of Washington.  Karen’s outside interests include art, music, and children’s causes.  She is a member and Vice President-Finance of the Board of Directors of the San Francisco Girls Chorus. He has also served as a director of Children’s Garden of California and as a trustee of Cornelia Connelly School.

D. Jonathan Merriman serves as Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of RateXchange Corporation, the publicly traded parent company of RTX Securities Corporation, a San Francisco based investment bank, focused on the research, trading and financing of emerging growth companies.  Prior to joining RateXchange, he served as Managing Director and Head of the Equity Capital Markets Group of Wells Fargo Van Kasper and served on that firm’s Board of Directors. He is currently on the Board of Directors of RateXchange Corporation; Leading Brands, Inc.; Fiberstars, Inc.; the @Markets Association; the Internet Venture Fund, LLC.; and also serves on the Advisory Board of MicroCapital, a San Francisco based hedge fund. Mr. Merriman received his B.A. in Psychology from Dartmouth College. He is an avid photographer and hiker, and enjoys the martial arts, having taught Tae Kwan Do to youngsters in Los Angeles. He is active in the visual arts community and is a collector of contemporary art. While in Los Angeles he served on the Board of Directors of the Santa Monica Museum of Art.

Paul Sack is principal of The Paul Sack Properties, who have developed rental apartment projects, constructed for-sale condominiums, and developed raw land for single-family housing. From 1975-1992, he was a founding partner of The RREEF Funds, which manage over $17 billion of real estate. Mr. Sack worked with the Peace Corps from 1965-1969, including two year in Tanzania. Largely retired from business, Mr. Sack now focuses his time on collecting photography. His collection endeavors to present the history of photography from 1839 to about 1975 with the qualification that every image must contain an ownable or leaseable building. For the past few years, he has sponsored a prize at SFAI for a photograph containing a building. Mr. Sack received his B.A. and M.B.A. from Harvard University and his Ph.D. from UC Berkeley.  He has studied painting and drawing at the San Francisco Art Institute and has served on the Board of Trustees three times previously. He is also a trustee of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.

Jeffrey White, a seasoned insurance executive, is the Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Acacia Pacific Holdings, the parent company for a growing number of insurance and business entities. Acacia Pacific Holdings, with sales of over $350 million, provides strategic direction, financial guidance, and managerial support to its operating subsidiaries.  As COO, Mr. White is responsible for the group’s profitability and business planning as well as its daily operations. He also acts as the relationship manager for Acacia’s strategic partners and leads the company’s management team. In addition, Mr. White directs the company’s community service initiative that focuses on assisting children’s charities and programs. When not in the office, Mr. White speaks on topics such as growth management and organization accountability. Away from work, he is a fitness enthusiast, an avid cyclist and, has a passion for art and antiques.

Agnes Bourne, having completed three consecutive three-year terms as trustee, was elected Trustee Emerita in recognition of her exemplary history of leadership, service, and support to the San Francisco Art Institute and throughout the art community. Bourne served as Chair of the Board of Trustees from 1996-97, and Chair Emerita from 1997-98.

The new Constituency Trustees to this year’s Board are Amy Bark, BFA Student Representative; Ian Treasure, MFA Student Representative; Ann Chamberlain, Faculty Senate Representative; and Francesca Pastine, Artists Committee Representative. Sarah Murray remains the ex officio SFAI Council President.