By Ellen S. WilsonFrank Brooks Robinson has long been familiar with the history
and traditions of Carnegie Institute. A life member of the Board of Trustees, and
the immediate past chairman of the Carnegie Museum of Natural History Board, Robinson
is the new chairman of the board of Carnegie Institute and brings with him an understanding
and experience that will serve the organization well as it begins its second century.
Robinson was elected in May to serve a three-year term upon the retirement from chairmanship
of Konrad M. Weis.
“Stepping into Konrad’s shoes is a challenge,” Robinson says of his new
role. “The successful completion of the Second Century Fund, the opening of the
Andy Warhol Museum, and the Science Center’s spectacular attendance records are just
three of the accomplishments that mark his tenure.”
Weis was chairman from 1992 until 1996, bridging the gap between the presidencies
of Robert C. Wilburn, who left in 1992, and Ellsworth H. Brown, who arrived in the
spring of 1993. He will continue to be an active member of the board.
“Konrad was in fact the first chairman of the board,” explains Brown.
“He had to invent the position, and he has been immensely successful at that.
His powerful logic and openness to ideas made him a tremendous leader during a time
of great change and growth at the Institute.”
“As we continue to implement the recommendations from last fall’s strategic
planning project with McKinsey & Company, Inc., the role of the Board of Trustees
is engaging in the same philosophical shift that the institution as a whole is following.
Brooks will be able to continue this initiative, developing the board to keep pace
with the changing demographics of the population we serve,” Brown says.
“I’m eager to become as familiar with all the aspects of the Institute as
I have become with the Museum of Natural History,” says Robinson, who was first
appointed to the museum’s board in 1989 and elected its chairman in 1991. Those seven
years included the opening of two major halls, The Walton Hall of Ancient Egypt in
1990 and the Hall of African Wildlife in 1993, physical renovations to the building,
and the behind-the-scenes business of the museum, fieldwork.
“He’s been a superb chairman,” says Jim King, director of the Carnegie
Museum of Natural History. “He really follows through on ideas and makes things
happen. He has been a partner for me and for the staff as a whole, understanding the
issues we have to deal with and the competition for visitors’ leisure time. He recognizes
the diversity and complexity of this museum, and I’m delighted that he has moved up
to chair the Institute Board of Trustees.”
Robinson, president of the Regional Industrial Development Corporation of Southwestern
Pennsylvania, is a registered architect and a lifelong Pittsburgher. He graduated
from Yale University in 1954 and received his Bachelor of Architecture degree in 1960
from Carnegie Mellon University. He serves on several local and regional non-profit
boards, including the Pittsburgh High Technology Council, the Pittsburgh Symphony
Society, and Phipps Conservatory, and is a trustee of the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission.
An amateur naturalist, he takes regular fishing trips with his sons and sons-in-law.
His wife, Jean Robinson, serves on the boards of The Buhl Foundation and the Western
Pennsylvania Conservancy. They live in Squirrel Hill.
“I’m greatly honored to serve one of the region’s oldest and proudest cultural
institutions,” Robinson says. “The Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh have been
enriching the citizens of this city, the southwestern Pennsylvania region, and beyond
for a century. Playing a role in that process will be a great achievement for me personally
and I appreciate the confidence the board has placed in me. And I have great confidence
in the staff here as well. I hope to ensure that the staff and the trustees continue
working together and maintaining the unity of vision and effort so vital to this great
enterprise.”
New Life Trustees Named
Three new life trustees have been named to the Board of Carnegie Institute. Juliet
Lea H. Simonds has been actively involved in the Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh for
years, serving on the Institute’s Executive Committee, the Development Committee,
the Museum of Art Board and as the chair of the Andy Warhol Museum Board. She also
served on the Andy Warhol Museum Director Search Committee and is an advisory member
of the Women’s Committee of the Museum of Art.
Martin G. McGuinn, vice chairman of Retail Financial Services of Mellon Bank Corporation,
is also chairman of the Development Committee, and serves on the Executive Committee
and the Museum of Art Board. He sits on the Greater Pittsburgh Advisory Board of the
Salvation Army and the World Affairs Council of Pittsburgh, among other organizations.
Janie Thompson has been a term trustee and also serves on the Museum of Art Board.
She chairs the Centennial Celebration of the Carnegie Museums and Library of Pittsburgh,
and is a member of the Women’s Committee of the Museum of Art and the Steering and
Resource Committee of the Science Center.
Two term trustees are joining the Institute Board as well. Michael S. Graff is
a principal in the Pittsburgh office of McKinsey & Company, Inc., the organization
that worked with the Institute in last fall’s strategic planning project. Milton A.
Washington, chairman of SSM Industries, Inc., is the current chairman of the board
of Minority Enterprise Corp. and serves on the boards of other local organizations,
including the Greater Pittsburgh Chamber of Commerce and United Way of Allegheny County.
Cecile M. Springer has been named a life trustee of Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh,
and in that capacity also serves on the Board of Trustees of Carnegie Institute. The
president of Springer Associates, a consulting organization that specialized in corporate
and philanthropic programs and institutional development, she has served on the Board
of Trustees of Carlow College, and is a current board member of City Theatre and the
Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania, as well as other organizations.
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