Michael Chu '68 was elected to the Board of Trustees over the weekend Board meeting.
Chu will take his seat on June 11, when the alumni seat vacated by Richard M. Page '54 becomes available.
Chu will serve as one of seven alumni Trustees. The 16-member Board also includes seven charter Trustee seats and two ex officio positons for the President of the College and the Governor of New Hampshire, currently James Wright and Jeanne Shaheen, respectively.
Alumni Trustees are nominated by the College and elected by the Board.
During his undergraduate years, Chu headed a Tucker Foundation Upward Bound program, chaired the Undergraduate and Interdormitory Council and was a member of Delta Upsilon fraternity.
Palaeopitus awarded him the Ray W. Smith award for outstanding leadership.
In a previous interview with The Dartmouth, Chu reflected on some of his memories of his life as a student at the College.
He told The Dartmouth he remembered "the quality of minds that were around me," and not just the beautiful campus. "People were bright, but there was always a real down to earth feeling."
As a Trustee, Chu told The Dartmouth previously that he would strive to preserve the ideals of liberal arts education, which prepares students for an ever-changing world.
Chu himself has had experience in career changes in today's society. He left his job as a limited partner in a consulting firm to join the nonprofit ACCION.
Chu quickly moved up the ranks, becoming president and then CEO of ACCION International, a non-profit organization that fights poverty through microfinancing -- giving small, short-term loans to the self-employed poor, people normally considered "bad credit risks." The successful loaning policy has proven the stigma wrong, and has donated over $2 billion in loans in its 27 year history.
Chu is a native of China who grew up in Montevideo, Uruguay. At Dartmouth, he majored in government, graduating with honors in the field. He moved on to pursue a Master's degree at Harvard University before going into consulting, general management and investment and merchant banking.
After working for two consulting corporations -- City Investing International and Pace Industries in Boston and serving as a limited partner in Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and Co. in 1989 -- he left to join ACCION.
