Norman Rockwell Museum Welcomes New Board of Trustees Members

Stockbridge, MA, September 20, 2016—Norman Rockwell Museum welcomed new members to its Board of Trustees and National Council during the Museum’s annual meeting held on September 16, 2016. Robert Babcock, Peter Blum, Terry Burman, Marian Raser, and David Schwartz were elected as new trustees, starting this fall. New members for the National Council are Elizabeth Bender and William Zavarello, Douglas Clark and Ruth Ann McNeese, and Tucker Reed.

“We are extremely pleased to welcome such a talented group of new board and National Council members to Norman Rockwell Museum,” says Board Chairman Robert T. Horvath. “Their diverse talents and networks will help us continue to reach new audiences and advance the legacy of Norman Rockwell and American illustration art.”

In addition to Horvath, the Museum’s Board of Trustees Officers include President Alice Carter, First Vice President Jamie Williamson, Treasurer John V. Frank, and Clerk Peter Williams. Brian Alberg, Alexander Brown, Anthony Consigli, Walter and Mary Jo Engels, William Hargreaves, and George and Valerie Kennedy were also re-elected to three-year terms.
New Trustees

Robert Babcock has been the Market President of Central and Western Massachusetts of TD Bank since December 2010 and is responsible for managing retail, commercial, and small business banking and lending teams. Mr. Babcock has more than 30 years of experience in commercial banking in Massachusetts. He joined TD Bank in 2001, and has served in a variety of commercial lending leadership roles, including Regional Vice President for Central Massachusetts. Babcock and his wife have five children and live in Northborough, Massachusetts where he is an active member of the community, serving as a board member for The Barton Center for Diabetes Education, Inc. and the Mohegan Council Boy Scouts of America. He also has volunteered for many years fundraising for a local group that supports the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Babcock is a graduate of Nichols College in Dudley, Massachusetts.

Peter Blum is a founding Partner and President of Mayo Capital Partners, an equity investment management firm with $600 million of client assets under management since 2002. Mr. Blum worked for 22 years at Salomon Brothers as an equity trader and salesperson in the New York, London, and Boston offices, and was appointed Managing Director in charge of the equity business in Boston. In 1997 he left Salomon Brothers for GMO, a Boston-based investment management firm, as Managing Director and member of the Management Committee. Blum currently serves as Chairman of the Board of the World Peace Foundation and is also on the Board of the Concord Conservatory of Music. He served as a Trustee at Trinity College for ten years until 2012 and served as a board member at the Concord-Carlisle Community Chest. He graduated from Trinity College with a B.A. in Psychology in 1972 and earned his M.B.A. from Harvard Business School in 1976. Blum and his family live in Boston, and also have a summer home in Arlington, Vermont, where Norman Rockwell was an occasional dinner guest of his grandparents.

Terry Burman served as CEO of Signet Jewelers, Ltd., Hamilton, Bermuda between 2001 and 2011. From 1995 and 2001 he served as Chairman and CEO of Signet’s U.S. division. Signet operates as the world’s largest specialty retail jeweler with 1,900 stores worldwide and an annual revenue of $3.5 billion in 2011. After graduating from The University of Southern California with his B.S., Business Administration in 1968, Mr. Burman served as Lieutenant Junior Grade in the US Navy until 1971. Upon leaving the service, he began his successful career as an industry-acclaimed retail executive with Roberts Department Stores in Los Angeles. Burman currently serves as Chairman for the corporate board of Tuesday Morning and as a board member of Abercrombie and Fitch and Learning Care Group. He also serves as a board member of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, where he was the former Chairman of the Board. He served as Chairman of the Board at Zale Corporation from 2013 to 2014. Burman has received many awards and recognitions during his distinguished career, including the American Gem Society Lifetime Achievement Award (2010) and the Marguerite Piazza Healing Rose Humanitarian Award (2009) for outstanding dedication to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. He lives in Lenox, Massachusetts.

Marian Raser of Pittsfield, MA, is a Boston-area native who graduated from Emerson College majoring in Communications. Ms. Raser is also a graduate of the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) and a third generation jeweler who has been designing jewelry since childhood. Her jewelry has been featured in fashion shops, museums, and jewelry shows all over the east coast, from New England to Florida. Raser’s designs range from antique to contemporary, and sometimes a blend of both. She had the concession of estate and one of a kind jewelry in all six of the Cohoes fashion stores located in Virginia, Rhode Island, Connecticut, and two in New York and traveled the world for many years to find these pieces. She is married to Marshall Raser, President of Carr Hardware & Supply Co. a six-store chain with locations in Massachusetts and Connecticut. They have one adult son, Barton Raser, who is co-owner of the hardware business.

David Schwartz is a technology expert consulting to individuals and small businesses on technology needs. Mr. Schwartz formerly taught high school science and math in Eastern Massachusetts and was also the staff trainer and a math teacher at Hillcrest Educational Centers in Lenox. His passions range from politics and reading to running and hiking with his dog. A graduate of Wesleyan University, he and Nan Thompson, the vice principal of the regional elementary school, are neighbors of the Museum in Stockbridge. Schwartz also has homes in New York and Florida. He is the son of late artist Sol Schwartz whose work was previously exhibited at Norman Rockwell Museum.
New National Council Members

Elizabeth Bender & William Zavarello reside in Akron, Ohio. Ms. Bender is a surgeon with several publications in medical journals, having recently been awarded “Best Doctor for Surgery” by Cleveland Magazine in 2012. Mr. Zavarello is a founding partner of his own law practice, and holds distinctions in Super Lawyers and Top Attorneys in Ohio. They are longtime members of the Cleveland Art Museum and the Bennington Museum in Vermont.

Douglas Clark and Ruth Ann McNees live in Saratoga, California, with their family. Mr. Clark is managing partner of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati (WSGR). Since joining the firm in May 1993 as a litigator, he has focused primarily on securities litigation, representing defendants in more than 70 class and derivative actions. In addition to serving as managing partner of WSGR, Clark has also chaired the firm’s Compensation Committee and served as a member of many other key committees, including the Policy Committee.

Tucker Reed resides in New York City. He is the President of Downtown Brooklyn Partnership, a not-for-profit local development corporation that serves as the primary champion for Downtown Brooklyn as a world-class business, cultural, educational, residential, and retail destination. Tucker is the grandson of the esteemed late illustrator, Walter Reed.