Whitehead Institute’s Chair of Board of Directors elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences

Cambridge, MA  – The American Academy of Arts and Sciences announced today that Charles D. Ellis, Ph.D., CFA, has been elected as one of the 213 exceptional scholars, leaders, artists, and innovators who comprise its class of 2018. Ellis has been Whitehead Institute’s chair of the Board of Directors since 2006.

"The past 11 years have been a time of great challenge--financially and otherwise--for academic institutions pursing the frontiers in fundamental biomedical research. Charley has been an indefatigable force in helping steer the Whitehead Institute through these times," says Whitehead Director and Member David Page. 

In 1972 Ellis started Greenwich Associates, an international strategy consulting firm for companies in professional financial markets. Among other services to the investment community, he has been governor of the CFA Institute and is one of fourteen individuals honored for lifetime contributions to the investment profession.

Ellis has held appointments to the faculties of the Harvard Business School and Yale School of Management. He has served as a successor trustee of Yale University, a trustee of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and an overseer of the Stern School of Business at New York University. Additionally, he is the author of 17 books, including What it Takes, The Partnership: The Making of Goldman Sachs, Winning the Loser’s Game, and, with Burt Malkiel, Elements of Investing.

With his election, Ellis will join five Whitehead Faculty who hold membership at the American Academy: Gerald Fink (1984), Rudolf Jaenisch (1992), Harvey Lodish (1999), David Page (2011), and Robert Weinberg (1989). Paul L. Joskow, a director emeritus of Whitehead's Board, is a member of the Academy's 1991 class.

The American Academy, which was founded in 1780, is one of the oldest learned societies and independent policy research centers in the country. Its members are leaders from the academic, business, and government sectors who share their knowledge and address critical challenges facing our society.

“Membership in the Academy is not only an honor, but also an opportunity and a responsibility,” said Jonathan Fanton, President of the American Academy. “Members can be inspired and engaged by connecting with one another and through Academy projects dedicated to the common good. The intellect, creativity, and commitment of the 2018 Class will enrich the work of the Academy and the world in which we live.”