Today, Vartan Gregorian announced that the board of trustees of Carnegie Corporation of New York has re-elected Governor Thomas H. Kean to the board for a four-year term, beginning March 3, 2005. This will be Kean's third term as a Carnegie Corporation trustee. He first joined the board in 1991 and assumed the office of chairman in 1997 during his second term, which coincided with Vartan Gregorian's presidency. Kean held this position for the next five years, until his retirement from the board in 2002. While chairman, Kean oversaw a realignment of Corporation priorities that led to new focuses on urban school education, teacher training, higher education and women's scholarship in Africa, higher education in Russia and strengthening U.S. democracy.
Carnegie Corporation president Vartan Gregorian welcomed Kean back to the Corporation's board, saying: "On behalf of Helene Kaplan, chair of the Corporation's board, the trustees and all my colleagues, we couldn't be more delighted that Tom Kean has accepted our invitation to rejoin the board. He has been a great leader for many years on the state and regional level, and his chairmanship of the 9/11 Commission proved to the nation why he attracts such respect. The nation owes much to Governor Kean for his bipartisan, respectful and diligent leadership that documented the events that led to the tragedy on September 11, 2001 and offered recommendations that would advance America's security. We will gain much from his continued leadership and wisdom on our board."
"It feels good to be coming home," said Kean as he rejoined the board. "For me, Carnegie Corporation has always been a place where board members have had the opportunity to learn and to serve. In these increasingly complicated times, I look forward to doing both."
In December 2002, Kean was tapped by President George W. Bush to head The National Commission on Terrorist Attacks on the United States (the "9/11 Commission"), a bipartisan panel charged with investigating the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, DC in 2001. The Commission gained national recognition for its respectful and responsive relationship with the 9/11 families and its commitment to fairness and bipartisanship. At the panel's conclusion in 2004, the results of the investigation were published in The 9/11 Commission Report, which has since become a best-selling book, even receiving a National Book Award nomination.
Kean has a long and distinguished record of public service. A moderate Republican, he served as the governor of New Jersey from 1982 to 1990. During his tenure in office, Kean was rated among America's five most effective state leaders by Newsweekand is credited with several welfare and education reforms and landmark environmental policies. He also served on the President's Education Policy Advisory Committee and chaired the Education Commission of the States and the National Governor's Association Task Force on Teaching.
After completing his second and final term as governor, Kean became president of Drew University in Madison, New Jersey where his leadership has resulted in record numbers of applications. In addition, during his tenure the university's endowment has nearly tripled. In his role as president of Drew, he headed the American delegation to the United Nations Conference on Youth in Thailand, served as Vice Chairman of the American delegation to the World Conference on Women in Beijing and on the President's Initiative on Race. Kean has announced he will retire from Drew this spring.
Governor Kean serves or has served on directorial boards for several corporate and nonprofit organizations and foundations, including the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the National Council of the World Wildlife Fund, Bell Atlantic, Amerada Hess and CIT Group. He is also chair of the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy.
Carnegie Corporation of New York was created by Andrew Carnegie in 1911 to promote "the advancement and diffusion of knowledge and understanding." As a grantmaking foundation, the Corporation seeks to carry out CarnegieÁs vision of philanthropy, which he said should aim "to do real and permanent good in the world." The CorporationÁs capital fund, originally donated at a value of about $135 million, had a market value of $1.9 billon on September 30, 2004. The Corporation awards grants totaling approximately $80 million a year in the areas of education, international peace and security, international development and strengthening U.S. democracy.