Carleton College has announced the appointment of Michael Armacost, a 1958 Carleton graduate, as chair of the Board of Trustees. In addition, Howard Kushlan, a 2000 graduate, Polly Nason McCrea, a 1962 graduate, Heidi A. Schneider, a 1979 graduate, and Justin B. Wender, a 1991 graduate, have been appointed to the Board.
Michael Armacost received his bachelor’s degree in international relations from Carleton and his Ph.D. in public law and government from Columbia University. He began his career teaching at Pomona College and in 1969 was awarded a White House Fellowship. He spent nearly 25 years in government service at the State Department, on staff at the National Security Council and at the Defense Department. In 1982 he was appointed ambassador to the Philippines and in 1989 as ambassador to Japan. He spent two years at Stanford University before being appointed head of the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C. He now is the Shorenstein Distinguished Fellow at The Asia/Pacific Research Center at Stanford University.
Howard Kushlan received his bachelor’s degree in American studies. As president of the Carleton Student Association in 1999-2000, he enacted changes from the addition of clocks in the dining halls to the formation of an environmental advisory committee for the College. He also spent a summer working as an aide for foreign policy in the late U.S. Senator Paul Wellstone’s Washington, D.C., office, and spent a winter break as deputy press secretary for Bill Bradley’s presidential campaign. He is now principal of the AK&H Group, specializing in political research and communication.
Polly Nason McCrea received her bachelor of arts degree in biology and completed a humanitarian leadership course at Harvard Business School in June 2004. She served as a research assistant at Stanford Medical School and the University of Minnesota Heart Hospital. She was owner of The Needle Nest in Wayzata, Minn., and Collector’s Gallery in Long Lake, Minn. She is now a community volunteer, serving as vice chair of Opportunity International USA, board secretary of the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, a member of the steering committee for the Abbott Northwest Hospital Center for Integrative Medicine, co-chair of the 2005 Minnesota Prayer Breakfast and a member of the Lake Minnetonka Garden Club.
Heidi A. Schneider graduated magna cum laude with a degree in history from Carleton. She was a Joseph Klingenstein Fellow at Columbia University Teachers College, where she received her M.A. in education. She received her J.D. from the University of Minnesota. Schneider is a trial and appellate lawyer at Flynn Gaskins & Bennett, L.L.P. She advocates for clients in both large and small commercial disputes, focusing her practice on products liability, medical devices and insurance coverage litigation. After law school, Heidi worked as a lawyer for the Honorable George G. Fagg of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. Heidi provides pro bono legal services for Jewish Family and Children’s Services Citizenship Advocacy project for elderly and disabled immigrants. She serves on the board of trustees at Adath Jeshurun Congregation, where she also chairs the committee on adult learning and the annual campaign.
Justin B. Wender received his bachelor’s degree from Carleton in political science and his M.B.A. from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He is a senior managing director and the chief investment officer of Castle Harlan, Inc. Prior to joining Castle Harlan in 1993, Wender worked in the corporate finance group of Merrill Lynch & Co., where he assisted clients with a variety of corporate finance matters. He is a board member of McCormick & Schmick’s Holding Corp., Charlie Brown’s Inc., Morton’s Restaurant Group, Ames True Temper and Caribbean Restaurants, LLC. In addition, he currently serves as chair of the International Center for the Disabled and is a member of the board of the Pew Center on Global Climate Change.