Northeastern University has elected two prominent business leaders to its Board of Trustees – Charles K. Gifford, chairman emeritus of Bank of America Corporation and a longtime member of the Northeastern Corporation; and Gabriel Jaramillo, special advisor to the Office of the United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Malaria. Six new members who were recently elected to the Northeastern Corporation will join them.

“The high-level of enthusiasm, business acumen, and vision that Charles and Gabriel bring to the Board will expand Northeastern’s international presence, foster innovation in education, advance interdisciplinary research and continue a proud tradition of community engagement, ” says Sy Sternberg, ME’68, chairman of the Board of Trustees.

The Board of Trustees is responsible for establishing the overall policy by which the university conducts its affairs and is vital to its ongoing success.

President Joseph Aoun echoed the excitement. “Trustees, Corporators and Trustees Emeriti make essential contributions that every day sustain and advance the University’s mission. The insights and wisdom they share with us is absolutely vital to our future growth.”

Gifford has served Northeastern as a member of the Corporation since 1988. The former chairman of Bank of America, he is highly respected in the business community for his leadership at numerous local, national and global banking entities.  Gifford is a member of the board of directors at Bank of America and is also a corporate director of CBS Corporation.

Jaramillo, as former chairman and chief executive officer of Santander Holdings USA, Inc., previously Sovereign Bancorp, Inc ., has more than 30 years of experience in the financial sector particularly in Latin America. Throughout his career, he has led the effort to build highly successful franchises during challenging economic environments and turbulent markets. In addition to his current role at the United Nations, Jaramillo serves as non-executive chairman of the board of directors of Santander Holdings USA, Inc.

Six new members were elected to the Northeastern University Corporation:

Nishith Acharya, AS’95 is executive director of the Deshpande Foundation, a prominent American philanthropy focused on economic development, health and education in India and the United States. He is also a United States board member of the Akshaya Patra Foundation, the world’s largest school lunch program.

Quincy L. Allen, E’82, most recently served as the chief executive officer of Vertis Communications, which provides targeted advertising and marketing solutions to leading retail and consumer services companies. Prior to Vertis, he worked at Xerox Corporation for 27 years.

Manuel A. Henriquez, BA’87, is co-founder, executive chairman and president of Hercules Technology Growth Capital Inc., which provides capital to technology and life sciences companies. Previously, he was a partner at VantagePoint Venture Partners.

Frances N. Janis, MBA’82, is a senior partner at Pomona Capital, a global private equity investment firm.  Prior to joining Pomona, she was a General Partner of Hambro International Equity Partners.

David J. Mondragon, MBA’85, is president and chief executive officer of Ford Motor Company of Canada, Limited. Since graduating from Northeastern, he has ascended through the Ford ranks over the last 25 years–ultimately taking charge of the automaker’s Canadian operations in summer 2008.

Susan A. Morelli is chief executive officer and president of ABP Corporation, the company that operates the Au Bon Pain bakery café chain. Previously, she worked in the cable television industry at American Cablesystems.

In addition, those elected to Trustee Emeriti status were: Frederick Brodsky, BA’66, founder and president of Fred Brodsky Company; and Ellen M. Zane, president and CEO of Tufts Medical Center. George W. Chamillard, UC’66, MBA’70, HD’07, former chief executive officer and president of Teradyne, was elected Vice Chair Emeritus.