Barbara McLendon, President
Barbara graduated from Wesleyan College in Macon, Georgia, with a BA in English, moved to New York City, married Bob McLendon and has lived there ever since. She was the Assistant Director of the Yorkville Youth Council, which ran after-school centers in four public schools, until her daughter Beth was born in 1969. Since then, she has devoted her life to volunteer work. Barbara was a Girl Scout leader for 20 years and was on the board of Greer Woodycrest Children’s Services as well as president of the Women’s Association of the 5th Avenue Presbyterian Church. She has served as president of the Greater New York Bridge Association from 2008 to 2013 and has been a board member of the Schepp Foundation since 1980 and president since 2001.
William L. D. Barrett, Vice President
Bill Barrett has been a practicing lawyer in New York City since he graduated from Yale College and the Harvard Law School. He is currently of Counsel to Fulton Vittoria LLP, where he chiefly serves as a commercial and international arbitrator. He was for many years a partner of Webster & Sheffield, which he left to found Hollyer, Brady, Barrett & Hines. When that firm was acquired by the 160 year-old Detroit firm of Butzel Long PC, Bill became the managing shareholder of its New York office. He has been active for many years with the American Arbitration Association, serving as a director, a member of the Executive Committee and Chair of its Finance Committee. Bill received the Whitney North Seymour Medal for outstanding contributions to arbitration in 1993. He is a Fellow of the College of Commercial Arbitrators and from 2013-2016 served as co-Chair of the Arbitration Committee of the New York State Bar Association. Bill has been a trustee of the Schepp Foundation since 1986, serving as Vice President and member of the Executive Committee and as a member of the Finance Committee since 2004 and its Chair from 2004 to 2013.
Kathryn Batchelder Cashman, Vice President
After graduation from Kenyon College in 1973, Kathryn moved to New York City to work at Manufacturers Hanover Trust Company. She was a Corporate Lending Officer and in 1977 began Private Banking for MHT. In 1985 she left Banking to concentrate on her Charitable Work. In addition to the Schepp Foundation, Kathryn serves on Non-Profit Boards dealing with Education, the Elderly and Environmental and Farm Preservation. She has served as Chairman of the Alumni Association at Kenyon and two terms on the Board. She was President of the Brearley Parents Association and served in that capacity on the Board of Trustees. She was Vice Chairman of the Philander Chase Corporation and now continues in an Emeritus status on that Board. She has also been on the Board of the Burden Center for the Aging since 1983, serving as Chairman of Various Committees. Kathryn is married and has three children.
James Turino, Chairman Finance Committee
James is a co-founder and partner of Redwood Capital and a managing partner of LD&A Redwood. Over the past 20 years, he has advised numerous companies in the technology and communications industries on mergers and acquisitions and corporate finance transactions. In addition to his advisory roles, he has underwritten several principal equity and mezzanine investments in client companies.
Prior to joining Redwood Capital, James served as director of the Technology Investment Banking team in New York for SG Cowen, where he managed public and private equity offerings, principal investments, and mergers and acquisitions for emerging growth software companies. He was also director of the Media and Telecommunications Group for Prudential Securities in New York. Previously, he held the position of Vice President, Corporate Finance for ING Barings, where he started the Telecommunications Group. He holds an MBA from Columbia Business School and a Bachelor of Arts from Columbia College.
On the Schepp Foundation board, James serves as chairman of the Finance Committee and a member of the Executive Committee.
Francis C. Poli, Treasurer
Frank Poli is executive vice president, general counsel and secretary of Cohen & Steers, Inc. (NYSE: CNS), a diversified financial services firm with $50 billion in assets under management. He is a member of the firm’s executive committee and is president of their broker dealer. Frank is also secretary of Cohen & Steers Funds, a director of the firm’s non-U.S. funds and affiliates, and a member of the Internal Audit and Risk Committees.
Prior to joining Cohen & Steers in 2007, Frank spent nine years with Allianz Global Investors, one of the world’s largest asset managers, as managing director, chief legal officer and director of compliance. He was chairman of AGI’s Compliance Committee, and served on the Operating Committee and the Risk, Oversight and Controls Committee.
Previously, Frank was an associate general counsel at J.P. Morgan and a securities attorney for Kelley, Drye and Warren. Prior to making his way to Wall Street, he worked for IBM in the company’s Thomas J. Watson Research Center and founded and operated a sports recreation company.
Since 2006, Frank has been on the board of directors of QuantumSphere, Inc., a leading producer of high-quality nano catalysts for applications in portable power and clean energy sectors. He is a financial industry adviser to the Metropolitan Corporate Counsel and recently co-authored a C-Level business and legal book entitled, Inside the Minds: Understanding Legal Needs of Financial Service Companies. He earned his undergraduate degree at Boston College and law degree at Pace University. Frank is a member of the New York and Connecticut Bars, the New York City Bar Association and has been a trustee of the Schepp Foundation since 2012.
Susan Brenner, Trustee
Susan Brenner has an active private practice in individual, marital and family therapy. She holds a Master’s of Social Work degree from Fordham University and is certified in psychoanalytically oriented psychotherapy and in family therapy. She was manager of the Department of Social Work, Psychiatry Division, of St. Vincent’s Hospital and Medical Center until 1997. At St. Vincent’s she was responsible for overall administration and supervision of social work services for patients and families. Susan also served as an adjunct assistant professor at the Columbia University School of Social Work and the New York University School of Social Work and was a lecturer on family therapy at St. Vincent’s Minuchin Center and the Educational Alliance.
Emily Crawford, Trustee
Emily graduated from Wellesley College with a degree in mathematics, and earned an MBA from the Amos Tuck School, Dartmouth College. She started her career as a cash management consultant for Manufacturers Hanover. With a strong interest in both education and health care systems, she subsequently earned an MS in Health Care Policy from the Robert F. Wagner School of Public Service, NYU. She worked in the Planning Office at Weill Cornell Medical College, and was also a consultant to Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar. She is currently the administrator for the Office of Graduate Medical Education at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. The office oversees approximately 90 different clinical training programs for interns, residents and fellows, as well as educational programs for medical students.
Nancy Jacobs Grossman, Trustee
Nancy Grossman has spent her entire professional career in education. She graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a degree in history, a minor in music, and a secondary school teaching certificate. She completed an MA in Communications and Media and a PhD in Higher Education Administration, specialty higher education law, from New York University. She retired, with tenured full professor rank, from the Fashion Institute of Technology/State University of New York in 2010, where she served as Director of Student Life, for over 37 years. Prior to this position she served as Assistant Director of College Activities at Barnard College, Columbia University; as an educational consultant for General Learning Corporation, the educational affiliate of Time-Life and General Electric; and as a middle school social studies teacher in Whippany, New Jersey. In addition, Dr. Grossman created the course Higher Education and the Law for New York University’s School of Education and taught the course to graduate students for over 25 years. Dr. Grossman currently serves as the Board of Trustees chair for two New Visions Charter High Schools in the Bronx: AMSll and HUMll. In addition, Dr Grossman has been a director of the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts Education Board since 2010. She has served as a Trustee of the Leopold Schepp Foundation since 2009.
Diana Herrmann, Trustee
Diana Herrmann is a graduate of Colby College, where she majored in Human Development (a combination of psychology, sociology and philosophy) and art. Later, she earned a graduate degree from Harvard Business School’s Advanced Management Program. Diana currently serves as President and CEO of Aquila Management Corporation and Aquila Investment Management LLC, the sponsor and manager of the $4 billion Aquila Group of Funds (known for its strong commitment to service and approachability.), for which she serves as Vice Chair, President and Trustee. She is also a manager of Aquila Distributors, LLC. Diana previously held a variety of positions with European American Bank and was a board member and secretary of the Bank Credit Association. She is a governor of the Investment Company Institute (the U.S. mutual fund trade organization dedicated to protecting shareholder interests and educating the public about investing), prior chair of its Small Funds Committee, and a director and member of the executive committee of ICI Mutual Insurance Co. (the mutual fund industry captive insurance company). Diana has served as a trustee of the Leopold Schepp Foundation since 1995, has volunteered in numerous capacities for Colby College, is an Emergency Medical Technician, and volunteered on the ski patrol at Stratton Mountain, Vermont, for 40 years. Her penchant for giving back (time, effort and money) was ingrained in her early on. She is passionate about young people and the importance of education.
Michele Paige, Trustee
Michele founded PCM, LLC in May 2006. Ms. Paige earned her MBA at Harvard Business School and her JD at Yale Law School, where she was on the Law Review. She earned her AB magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa at Brown. Since 2002, Ms. Paige has been a trustee of The Leopold Schepp Foundation as well as a scholarship recipient of the Foundation. Ms. Paige was a Visiting Lecturer of Law and Finance at Yale Law School and Yale School of Management.
Bruno A. Quinson, Trustee
Bruno’s publishing career began at Simon & Schuster in 1960 after he graduated from Williams College and served in the U.S. Marine Corps. Five years later, he went to Golden Books and then became president of Larousse & Co., a subsidiary of Librairie Larousse in Paris, France. He stayed there for 12 years then moved to Macmillan Publishing as president of its General Books and Reference Division. In 1988, Bruno became CEO, Publisher and President of Henry Holt & Co. retiring in 1996. During his career in publishing, Bruno served as a member of the board of the American Association of Publishers as well as the National Book Foundation of which he was chairman for two years. Among its many activities, the National Book Foundation presides over the annual National Book Awards. Today, Bruno serves as a trustee of the Museum of the City of New York, the Leopold Schepp Foundation, and Graywolf Publishing. He has also served on a number of other boards, among them, the Eudora Welty Foundation, the Manhattan Theater Club, the Robert Frost Place and the Lycee Francais in New York.
After his retirement, Bruno decided he wanted to be involved directly in the arts, rather than just serving on boards. He took courses in an art school in the Berkshires where he owns a house, fell in love with watercolor and now paints on a regular basis either at the National Academy School of Art in New York or in the studio he added to his house in the Berkshires. He has had a few one-man shows and also participates in group shows in New York and the Berkshires.
Robert Reder, Trustee
Robert is a pediatric cardiologist who was a Schepp Scholar during his post graduate training in New York City. He practiced cardiology for several years and then changed to the practice of pharmaceutical medicine. Dr. Reder has worked for public health goals in the pharmaceutical industry from 1983 until his retirement from AbbVie in 2016. He maintains an active pharmaceutical consulting practice. He now resides in the mid-coastal area of Maine.
Banning Repplier, Treasurer
Banning has a BA in English literature from Amherst College and an MA in English from New York University. He has also participated in a number of writers’ workshops. Banning spent his early career teaching English language and literature abroad, first as a Peace Corps volunteer in the Ivory Coast, then as a Fulbright Teacher in Laos, and finally at Pahlavi University in Shiraz, Iran, just prior to the revolution. After living for several years in Paris, Banning returned to the US, where worked as a freelance journalist, specializing in travel writing, then took a job in publishing, and finally went into advertising, eventually becoming a creative director at Grey Global, focusing on product and corporate branding. Banning has a strong connection with the Schepp Foundation. Not only has he been a trustee for over 20 years, his great-grandmother was a friend of Leopold Schepp, our founder, and his aunt, Barbara Banning Estill, was a trustee for over 50 years. Now retired, Banning, in addition to serving on the Schepp board, volunteers for the Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy and participates in the Amherst College student mentoring program.