Chairman of the Board

‍Michael M. Crow became the sixteenth president of Arizona State University on July 1, 2002. He is guiding the transformation of ASU into one of the nation’s leading public metropolitan research universities, an institution that combines the highest levels of academic excellence, inclusiveness to a broad demographic, and maximum societal impact – a model he designed known as the “New American University.”

Under his leadership, ASU has established major interdisciplinary research initiatives such as the Biodesign Institute, Global Institute of Sustainability (GIOS), and more than a dozen new transdisciplinary schools, and witnessed an unprecedented academic infrastructure expansion, tripling of research expenditures, and attainment of record levels of diversity in the student body. 

Crow was previously Professor of Science and Technology Policy and Executive Vice Provost of Columbia University, where he served as Chief Strategist of Columbia’s research enterprise and technology transfer operations.

Peter J. Barris joined New Enterprise Associates (NEA) in 1992 and was the firm’s managing general partner from 1999 to 2017. Having retired in 2019, Peter now serves as Chairman Emeritus. During his 18 years at the helm, NEA’s assets under management grew from $1 billion to more than $20 billion and the organization scaled its operations to become one of the world’s largest venture capital firms. Under Peter’s leadership, NEA invested in industry-transforming technology companies like CareerBuilder, Databricks, Groupon, Juniper Networks, MongoDB, Salesforce.com, Tableau, TiVo, Uber, WebMD, and Workday. He has been named to Crain’s Chicago Business “Tech 50: Chicago’s Top Tech Stars”, to the Washington Tech Council’s Hall of Fame, to the Washington Business Hall of Fame, and several times to the Forbes Midas List of top technology investors. Peter has personally led investments in over three dozen technology companies that have successfully completed public offerings or mergers. He currently serves on the board of directors for public companies Sprout Social (SPT) and Tempus AI (TEM). Peter also serves as Chair of the Board of Trustees at Northwestern University and on the boards of IQT P33 and several private companies.

Prior to joining NEA, Peter was president of LEGENT Corporation (LGNT) and senior vice president of the Systems Software Division of UCCEL Corporation (UCE). Both companies were ultimately acquired at valuations that were record-breaking for their time. Earlier, he spent almost a decade at General Electric Company in a variety of management positions, including vice president and general manager at GE Information Services. Peter previously served on the executive committee of the board of the National Venture Capital Association and the Tuck School board of overseers and was a founding member of Venture Philanthropy Partners, a philanthropic organization in the Washington, DC area.  

Peter received his BSEE from Northwestern University and his MBA from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth.

Safra A. Catz has served as chief executive officer of Oracle Corporation since 2014 and a member of the company’s board of directors since 2001. She previously served as president of Oracle and has also served as the company’s chief financial officer. Prior to being named president, Catz held various other positions since starting at Oracle in 1999. She currently serves as a director of The Walt Disney Company and previously served as a director of HSBC Holdings plc.

Howard Cox is an Advisory Partner at Greylock, a national venture capital firm. Greylock, with committed capital of over $2 billion under management, has been an active investor in enterprise software, consumer internet, and healthcare.

Stephanie O’Sullivan is a former Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence (PDDNI). She was nominated by President Barack Obama for this role on January 5, 2011, at the recommendation of Director James R. Clapper. On February 15, 2011, the Senate Intelligence Committee voted unanimously to recommend O’Sullivan’s confirmation to the Senate, which later unanimously confirmed her.

In this role, she worked to assist the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) in managing the day-to-day operations of the intelligence community. Prior to serving PDDNI, she served as a senior leader at the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), rising to the Associate Director of the CIA before being confirmed as the PDDNI.

She served as the Associate Deputy Director of the CIA from December 2009 to February 2011. Prior to that position, Ms. O’Sullivan headed CIA’s Directorate of Science and Technology for 4 years. In that role, she managed CIA’s technological innovation and support to case officer operations. In all, Ms. O’Sullivan spent over 14 years combined in the Directorate of Science and Technology. Before the CIA she worked in the Office of Naval Intelligence, and at TRW, which is now part of Northrop Grumman.

She holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Civil Engineering from the Missouri University of Science and Technology.

Ben Sasse, former U.S. Senator for Nebraska, joined the University of Florida as professor and 13th president of the 170-year-old institution in February 2023. A two-time New York Times national best-selling author and a business turnaround guy, Ben has built dozens of teams that build winning strategies. In the U.S. Senate, his work on the intelligence, finance, and judiciary committees focused on the future of work/tech, the future of foreign policy, and the First Amendment.

Ted Schlein is a General Partner at Ballistic Ventures, and a General Partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. Schlein joined KPCB in 1996 with a focus on early-stage technology companies in the enterprise software and infrastructure markets, including ventures within the networking and consumer security arenas.

Jeffrey Smith is a retired partner from Arnold & Porter and former head of the firm’s National Security practice. He regularly counseled both U.S. and foreign companies on a wide range of national security issues. His practice included advising major defense and aerospace companies and representing major media organizations and individuals with respect to First Amendment issues and unauthorized disclosures of classified information.

Mr. Smith is a former General Counsel of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). He has also served as General Counsel of the Senate Armed Services Committee and was Senator Sam Nunn’s designee to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and the Iran/Contra Committee.

George J. Tenet is currently Chairman of Allen & Company LLC, a privately-held investment bank based in New York. Previously, Tenet served as the 18^th Director of Central Intelligence from 1997 until 2004.