Change Agents: Nonprofits and Education

5 Nonprofit Leaders

51. Michael Horvitz ’75

Supporter of American Cultural Institutions

Parkland Management Co. Chairman, Michael Horvitz ’75 has an extensive history on the boards of some of America’s most prominent cultural institutions, including the Milton A. and Charlotte R. Kramer Charitable Foundation, the Musical Arts Association, the Cleveland Museum of Art and The Frick Collection.

52. Jane Genster ’76

Focused on Education

Jane Genster ’76 is retired president and CEO, and continuing board member of Cristo Rey Network, a national network of 32 Catholic inner-city high schools that integrate rigorous academic preparation with four years of real-world work expe­rience to prepare students from economi­cally disadvantaged families for college. She is a former vice president and general counsel at Georgetown University.

53. David W. Carr Jr. ’83

Preserving the Environment

David W. Carr Jr. ’83 is general counsel and a public lands and renewable energy policy expert at the Southern Environmental Law Center in Charlottesville.

54. Katie Redford ’95

Merging Human Rights and the Earth’s Rights

The road to the pioneering Doe v. Unocal and EarthRights International began with two first-year law students, Katie Redford ’95 and Tyler Giannini ’95, study­ing human rights abuses in Burma related to the logging industry. There, they learned that additional human rights abuses — murder, rape and forced labor — were associated with a pipeline being built by the American-owned oil company Unocal, in associa­tion with the French-owned company Total.

Redford wrote a paper in her third year advancing her belief that American corpora­tions could be sued under the Alien Tort Claims Act. The act, dating back to 1789, pro­vided jurisdiction for “aliens” (someone who is not a citizen or national) to sue for “viola­tion of the law of nations or a treaty of the United States.”

A year after graduation, Redford put her theory to the test. In Doe v. Unocal, she and Giannini helped plaintiffs sue in California’s state and federal courts, resulting in an unprecedented settlement. Business Week reported a $30 million agreement was reached, calling it “a milestone in human rights advancement.” The onus of corporate accountability for human rights had shifted.

EarthRights International, which Redford and Giannini founded with Redford’s husband, Ka Hsaw Wa, while working on the case, was the winner of the Robert F. Ken­nedy Award for Public Service. Today, the group has offices in Thailand, Peru, Myanmar and Washington, D.C. Redford is direc­tor of the organi­zation. Giannini is a clinical pro­fessor of law and co-director of Harvard Law School’s Human Rights Program and its International Human Rights Clinic.

Redford has returned to the Law School frequently as a speaker and co-teacher of the International Human Rights Clinic.

55. Tim Phillips ’97

American Cancer Society

Tim Phillips ’97 is general counsel and assistant secretary of the American Cancer Society Inc. and the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network. Previously an attorney at Troutman Sanders, Phillips also serves on the board of visitors of the Georgia state UIniversity School of Law, the board of the Pro Bono Partnership of Atlanta, the advisory board of the Atlanta Legal Aid Society, and the boards of several veteran service organizations in an advisory capacity. He is counsel to the Navy SEAL Foundation.

5 Educational Leaders

56. Gloria Cordes Larson ’77

Shaping Bentley University

Gloria Cordes Larson ’77 was presi­dent of Bentley Uni­versity in Waltham, Massachusetts, for 11 years and is now president-in-resi­dence at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. At Bentley, Larson took over a regionally recognized business school and turned it into a nationally ranked university. In 2011, the school launched its Center for Women and Busi­ness and, upon her retirement, renamed the center in Larson’s honor.

57. Blake Morant ’78

Dean of Two Law Schools

Blake Morant ’78 re­cently announced he’s stepping down as dean of the George Washington Law School, a role he assumed in Septem­ber 2014. He is the first African-Amer­ican dean of the top-25 law school. He previously served as dean of Wake Forest University School of Law for seven years and as presi­dent of the Associa­tion of American Law Schools.

58. Elizabeth Garrett ’88

President of Cornell

Elizabeth Garrett ’88 was president of Cornell before her untimely death in March 2016. She took her post in July 2015, after serving as provost and senior vice president for academic affairs at the University of Southern California and starting her teaching career at UVA Law.
 

59. James E. Ryan ’92

Leading UVA

The ninth president of the University of Virginia, James E. Ryan ’92 previously served as dean of the Harvard Graduate School of Education and a professor at UVA Law.

60. M. Elizabeth Magill ’95

Stanford and University of Virginia

M. Elizabeth Magill ’95, dean of Stanford Law School from 2012 to March 2019, will become provost of the University of Vir­ginia this summer. She was previously vice dean and a pro­fessor at UVA Law.

Continue: 5 Who Were There to Make a Difference