Five trustees elected to Rice University board

Contact:
B.J. Almond
713-348-6770
balmond@rice.edu

Five prominent leaders in the business world have been elected to the Rice University Board of Trustees. Lawrence Guffey, a senior managing director in the Private Equity Group at the Blackstone Group; John Jaggers, a general partner at the Dallas headquarters of Sevin Rosen Funds; and Ralph Parks, chairman of the Hong Kong office and senior adviser at Oaktree Capital Management L.P., are serving their first term on the board. James Turley, chairman and chief executive officer of Ernst & Young, was re-elected for his second term. Lynn Laverty Elsenhans, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Sunoco, has served two previous terms and, after taking a year off as required by the board’s bylaws, was re-elected to a third term.

”These are all gifted and respected leaders with wide-ranging global business experience who will make great contributions to our Board of Trustees and Rice,” said Rice Chairman Jim Crownover. ”We’re grateful for their dedication to Rice.”

”This group of trustees, both new and returning, brings extraordinary insight and commitment to our university,” Rice President David Leebron said. ”Each of them is regarded as being at the very top of their fields and is an accomplished leader. I look forward to working with them to continue implementing our ambitious plans for Rice.”

Guffey joined the Blackstone Group in 1991. Based in London, he leads all media and communications-related investments for one of the world’s top investment and advisory firms and manages Blackstone Communications Advisors. Prior to Blackstone, Guffey worked in the Acquisitions Group at Trammel Crow Ventures, the principal investment arm of Trammell Crow Co. He has a B.A. in managerial studies and English from Rice.

Jaggers has financial, legal and administrative responsibilities at Sevin Rosen. This top-tier venture capital firm helps build businesses that transform high-technology markets, produce exceptionally high returns and continue to prosper long after the startup phase. Jaggers joined the firm in 1988 and was originally focused on software and information technology companies. Prior to Sevin Rosen, Jaggers was a venture capitalist at Rotan Mosle Inc. He has a B.A. and an M.E.E. in electrical engineering from Rice and an MBA from Harvard.

Parks joined Oaktree Capital Management in 2007 and has been responsible for developing investment opportunities and building closer relationships with governments, regulators and companies across the Asia Pacific region. He has held senior management positions in the Asia Pacific region, Europe and the United States and was chairman and CEO at JPMorgan Asia Pacific before working at Oaktree. Parks has a B.A. in history from Rice and an MBA from Columbia University Graduate School of Business.

Turley leads one of the world’s largest professional services organizations that provides assurance, tax, transaction and advisory expertise. His career with Ernst & Young began in 1977 as an auditor in the firm’s Houston office. He became chairman and CEO in 2001. Now based in New York and London, Turley serves as senior advisory partner for many of the firm’s largest global clients. He served his first term on Rice’s board from 2007 to 2011. He has a B.A. in economics and a master’s in accounting from Rice.

Elsenhans joined Sunoco as its CEO and president in 2008 and was named chairman of the board in 2009. In addition to overseeing one of the largest independent oil refiners in the U.S., she also serves as chairman of Sunoco Partners LLC. Elsenhans was previously executive vice president of global manufacturing at Shell Oil Co. In 2009 she was No. 10 on Forbes’ list of the 100 most powerful women. She previously served on the Rice board from 2002 to 2010. She has a B.A. in mathematical sciences from Rice and an MBA from Harvard.