David M. Rubenstein Elected Chair of Board of Trustees

To: University Leaders, Boards, and Councils
From: Paul Alivisatos, President
Subject: David M. Rubenstein Elected Chair of Board of Trustees
Date: March 17, 2022

I am pleased to inform you that the University’s Board of Trustees has elected David M. Rubenstein, JD’73, an international leader in the areas of government, business, and support for higher education and the arts, as its next chair. David will begin his three-year term after the board’s annual meeting on May 26.

David will succeed Joseph Neubauer, MBA’65, who has served as chair since 2015. Joe’s exemplary leadership has helped greatly to advance the University’s ambitious agenda of research, education, and impact. Among his many accomplishments as chair, the University concluded The University of Chicago Campaign: Inquiry and Impact, the largest and most comprehensive campaign in our history. 

David is deeply committed to the University and its distinctive culture, and with his election as board chair the University will benefit in new ways from his extraordinary insight and counsel. He has expanded his leadership role on the board since becoming a trustee in 2007, most recently joining the Executive Committee and serving on the Presidential Search Committee.

David made a transformative gift in 2010 to help establish the Rubenstein Scholars Program, which today provides full-tuition scholarships for about 10 percent of students at the Law School. In 2014, he made a significant new gift to the University, which named its new building for convening and collaboration the David M. Rubenstein Forum, in recognition of his ongoing generosity to the University.

I’m very grateful for the impactful contributions that Joe made as board chair, and I greatly look forward to working with David in his new role.