The annual meeting of the Alumni Association of the University of Michigan is scheduled for Friday, Sept. 13 at 3:15 p.m. at the University of Michigan Museum of Art, 525 S. State St., Ann Arbor, MI 48109
Members of the Association are welcome to attend and will be asked to vote to elect members of the board.
Officer candidates:
Kurtis T. Wilder, ’81, JD’84, Novi, Michigan
Wilder is a shareholder at Butzel Long, concentrating his practice in litigation and appeals; former Michigan Supreme Court Justice; former judge of the Michigan Court of Appeals and Washtenaw County Circuit Court; past president of the Michigan Judges Association; past chairman of the State Bar Judicial Conference; and former board chair of Interlochen Center for the Arts.
Board of Directors candidates:
Wayee Chu, ’97, San Francisco, (incumbent)
Chu is general partner of Reach Capital, a venture fund focused on early-stage entrepreneurs building across education and the future of work; co-founder of NewSchools Seed Fund, a fund focused on early-stage education technology companies across K-12; founding member of All Raise, Bay Area-based nonprofit organization that aims for greater access and parity in the venture capital ecosystem; and serves on the board of trustees of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and the leadership council of the University of Michigan Museum of Art.
Salene Hitchcock-Gear, ’84, Potomac, Maryland, (incumbent)
Hitchcock-Gear is president of Prudential Individual Life Insurance; previously served as president and CEO of Ameritas Investment Corp. and president and CEO of Acacia Life Insurance Company; serves as board chair of the American College of Financial Services trustees; is the 2023 Geneva Association Women in Insurance Award recipient; and hosted a group of LEAD Scholars at the Prudential headquarters in New Jersey.
Anup Popat, ’95, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, (incumbent)
Popat is co-owner and executive board member of the National Women’s Soccer League’s Portland Thorns FC; chair and CEO of Systems Technology Group, which specializes in providing clients with digital transformation and software engineering outsourcing solutions to Fortune 500; a member of the board of directors to the United Way SE Michigan, Detroit Children’s Fund, and YPO Motor City; and chair of Tech United which is focusing on reducing the Digital Divide in K-12 education.
Emilie Rubinfeld, ’96, New York City
Rubinfeld is president of Carolina Herrera; joined Carolina Herrera as vice president of global marketing and communications in 2012 after serving in executive marketing roles at Giorgio Armani and Akris; served as a panelist for Women in LEADership in 2022; and currently serves on the board for the Fashion Institute of Technology.
John Sabat, ’95, New York City
Sabat is a portfolio manager of Point72 Cubist Systematic Strategies; has been at the firm for 20 years as a portfolio manager and with the multi-manager quant business since its inception; actively involved with education nonprofits and serves on the board of trustees of Education Reform; minority owner of Minnesota Timberwolves; major donor to the LEAD Scholars program and to various programs across campus and serves on the Alumni Association’s campaign council; and is currently in a leadership role with U-M Latino Alumni affiliate group.
Sophie Wong, ’97, MSE’98, Shanghai, China
Wong is co-founder and executive director of talent development at Cornerstone Global Partners, which operates as CGP in mainland China; has been in the recruitment industry for more than 20 years; her company has received numerous awards including: VOTY 2022 – Best Executive Search Firm, VOTY Hong Kong – Best Recruitment Agency of the Year; has been engaged with the U-M Shanghai Alumni Association as a board member since the formal club started in 2016 and took over as president of the club in 2018.
