Stanford University Board of Trustees elects four new members

The new trustees, selected through the alumni nominations process, begin their five-year terms on April 1.

The Stanford University Board of Trustees announced the election of four new members who will begin their five-year terms on April 1.

They are: Michelle R. Clayman, managing partner and chief investment officer of New Amsterdam Partners; James D. Halper, senior adviser at Leonard Green & Partners; Carol C. Lam, senior vice president and deputy general counsel of Qualcomm, Inc.; and Jeffrey E. Stone, chairman emeritus and senior partner of McDermott Will & Emery.

The new trustees were elected through the alumni nominations process. Every two-and-a-half years, the Stanford Alumni Association’s Alumni Committee on Trustee Nominations and the board’s Committee on Trusteeship present four names to the board for election. A total of eight seats on the board are reserved for trustees nominated through this process.

“We’re pleased to welcome these new trustees who bring with them a range of perspectives, deep expertise in their respective fields and a wealth of volunteer experience. In their years of service to Stanford they have demonstrated a passion for the university and a deep commitment to ensuring its success,” said Jeffrey Raikes, chair of the Stanford University Board of Trustees. “We’re grateful to the Stanford Alumni Association for its thoughtful and thorough work in bringing forward these exceptional individuals.”


Michelle R. Clayman

Michelle R. Clayman

Michelle R. Clayman (Image credit: Alan S. Orling)

Clayman is managing partner and chief investment officer of New Amsterdam Partners, an institutional money management firm in New York, which she co-founded in 1986.

She currently serves as chair of the Michelle R. Clayman Institute for Gender Research at Stanford.

A prominent voice in the financial community, Clayman sits on the boards of US SIF (The Forum for Sustainable and Responsible Investment), the Society of Quantitative Analysts and the Q Group (the Institute for Quantitative Research in Finance). She is also a volunteer for the CFA Institute, a global association of investment professionals.

Her work has been published regularly in various financial journals and she is a frequent commentator for Bloomberg and other financial media.

Clayman earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in philosophy, politics and economics from Oxford University in 1975 and an MBA from Stanford in 1979.

Her record of service at Stanford spans three decades. She has held numerous volunteer positions at the Graduate School of Business, including serving as a member of the Dean’s Advisory Council.

In recognition of her outstanding service, she has been the recipient of numerous university awards: two Stanford Associates Awards of Merit, the GSB Excellence in Leadership Award, the Stanford Medal and the John W. Gardner Volunteer Leadership Award.

Clayman is also an active volunteer in her community. She was a Girl Scout leader for 17 years and currently serves on the board of the Girl Scouts of Greater New York.


James D. Halper

James D. Halper

James D. Halper (Image credit: Alex Berliner/ BEImages)

Halper is senior adviser – formerly partner – at Leonard Green & Partners in Los Angeles, a private equity firm with more than $15 billion in capital. The firm focuses on companies that provide services, including those in consumer, business, health care and retail industries.

Previously, he was president of TDA Capital Partners and a principal of Odyssey Partners.  He currently serves on the boards of Lucky Brand, Tourneau, Topshop and Focus Brands, Inc.

At Stanford, Halper has played a key role in a broad range of activities.

He led fundraising efforts for his class reunions and served on the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies Advisory Board.

He is currently a member of the Parents’ Advisory Board and the Office of Development’s LEAD Council (Lifelong Engagement and Advocacy for Development). In addition, he is chair of the Haas Center for Public Service National Advisory Board, where he has been a champion of the Cardinal Service initiative.

His dedication and service to the university have been recognized with two Stanford Associates Awards of Merit and a Governors’ Award.

Halper earned a bachelor’s degree in economics at Stanford in 1981 and an MBA from Harvard University in 1985.


Carol C. Lam

Carol C. Lam

Carol C. Lam (Image credit: Courtesy Carol C. Lam)

Lam is senior vice president and deputy general counsel of Qualcomm, Inc., a mobile technologies firm headquartered in San Diego. In her role, she is responsible for overseeing the corporation’s worldwide legal operations.

Before joining Qualcomm in 2007, Lam was the U. S. attorney for the Southern District of California, a position she was appointed to after serving for two years as a San Diego Superior Court judge.

For many years, she was an assistant U.S. attorney in San Diego, where she prosecuted major health care fraud and corporate crime cases and served on the attorney general’s subcommittee on white collar crime. She received the attorney general’s award for distinguished service and the award for superior performance.

Lam earned a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from Yale University in 1981 and a JD from Stanford in 1985. She began her legal career as a clerk to the Honorable Irving R. Kaufman on the Second Circuit Court of Appeals.

She has served on the Stanford Alumni Committee on Trustee Nominations and the Stanford Law School Board of Visitors.

Lam’s other community work includes serving on the boards of the Bishop’s School, the La Jolla Music Society and the La Jolla Symphony & Chorus, as well as serving on the editorial advisory board of California Lawyer Magazine.

A flutist and pianist, she plays flute with the La Jolla Symphony & Chorus.


Jeffrey E. Stone

Jeffrey E. Stone

Jeffrey E. Stone (Image credit: Gittings Photography)

Stone is the chairman emeritus and a senior partner of McDermott Will & Emery, an international law firm with offices throughout the United States, Europe and Asia.

A former federal prosecutor, Stone represents corporations, boards of directors and senior executives in a variety of complex civil litigation and criminal prosecutions involving a range of industries, including health care, manufacturing and financial services.

At Stanford, Stone currently co-chairs the LEAD Council, which was formed in 2016 to prepare the next generation of volunteer leaders to help in future fundraising campaigns. He also serves on the Bing Overseas Studies Program Council and on the Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education Kitchen Cabinet advisory group.

Stone has been a longtime volunteer leader at Stanford. For 12 years, he was the national chair of The Stanford Fund. He was a vice-chair of the Campaign for Undergraduate Education and served as a member of the steering committee for The Stanford Challenge. In addition to his fundraising efforts, he was chair or co-chair of his 20th, 25th and 30th class reunions.

He has been widely recognized for his leadership at Stanford, receiving three Stanford Associates Awards of Merit. He was one of the inaugural recipients of the Stanford Medal in 2006. Ten years later, he was awarded the Gold Spike, Stanford’s highest annual award for sustained volunteer leadership.

Stone received a bachelor’s degree in international relations from Stanford in 1978 and a JD from Harvard Law School in 1983.