Three leaders in education, governance and business have been elected to the Lawrence University Board of Trustees.
Jill Dolan, Sarah Schott and Abir Sen each began a three-year term on the Board Oct. 1. They join Martha Olson, who was appointed to the board in May, as four members of Lawrence’s 2013 class of trustees.
“Our four new members bring unique experiences in entrepreneurship, governance, law, theatre, the arts, institutional growth and corporate leadership to our Board,” said Board Chair Terry Franke, a 1968 Lawrence graduate. “They will expand the breadth and depth of our already very effective Board. With the unprecedented and non-traditional challenges facing higher education today, it is critical to have a Board with diversity of ideas and experience.”
First-year Lawrence President Mark Burstein said the new additions “strengthen an already excellent group of trustees. Each brings valuable talents that will help Lawrence continue its forward momentum.”
Photo: Hope VanCleaf
Jill Dolan
Dolan, one of the most highly regarded leaders in the field of theatre, performance studies and feminist theatre, teaches at Princeton University, where she is the Annan Professor in English, professor of theater in the Lewis Center for the Arts and the director of the program in Gender and Sexuality Studies.
A member of the Princeton faculty since 2008, Dolan previously spent nine years at the University of Texas at Austin, where she held the Zachary T. Scott Family Chair in Drama and headed the Department of Theatre and Dance’s MA/Ph.D. program. Her teaching career also includes appointments at the University of Wisconsin (1988-94) and the City University of New York (1994-99), where she taught in the Ph.D. program in theatre and was the executive director of the Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies at the Graduate Center.
Dolan was inducted into the University of Texas’ Academy of Distinguished Teachers in 2006, was inaugurated into the College of Fellows of the American Theatre at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., in 2009 and was the recipient of the 2011 Outstanding Teaching Award from the Association for Theatre in Higher Education.
She is the author of six books, including 2010’s “Theatre & Sexuality” and writes the arts criticism blog “The Feminist Spectator,” for which she received the prestigious George Jean Nathan Award for Dramatic Criticism in 2010.
She earned a Ph.D. in performance studies from New York University.
Sarah Schott ’97
Schott is an executive officer, vice president and chief compliance officer at Northwestern Mutual in Milwaukee. She joined Northwestern Mutual’s law department in 2007 as assistant general counsel assigned to investment products and advisory services. She subsequently served as director of strategic planning and consulting and as director of specialty life underwriting in the new business department. She also served as secretary to the company’s management and strategy execution committees.
Prior to joining Northwestern Mutual, Schott spent four years at B.C. Ziegler and Company, a financial services firm headquartered in Milwaukee, first as assistant general counsel and later as senior managing director – general counsel, with expertise in financing for schools and religious organizations.
From 2000 through 2003, she was an associate at Wildman, Harrold, Allen & Dixon, a national law firm headquartered in Chicago.
A resident of Glendale, Schott earned a bachelor’s degree magna cum laude in economics and geology from Lawrence in 1997 and is a 2000 graduate of Duke University School of Law. She is a former director of the Lawrence University Alumni Association and has served as a volunteer solicitor through the Viking Gift Committee, reunion committees and the Ambassador program. She also has been a career conference panelist and a volunteer for Lawrence network luncheons in the Milwaukee area.
Abir Sen ’97
A successful health care entrepreneur, Sen has founded a number of companies that have revolutionized the health benefits industry. He is the co-founder and CEO of Gravie, a company he launched in 2013 in response to the significant changes about to take effect in the health insurance market due to the Affordable Care Act.
Gravie helps individuals select, buy and pay for their own health insurance, and manage all their healthcare affairs in one place. By scouring the entire marketplace — including offerings on the private market as well as public exchanges — Gravie provides insight and guidance on the best product fit for individual consumers’ needs and also helps them apply for and receive government subsidies.
Sen previously co-founded Minneapolis-based Bloom Health in 2009 and served as its CEO. Under Sen, Bloom became a leader in the defined contribution health benefits marketplace while developing technology to run private health insurance exchanges. Bloom was acquired by Wellpoint and two other insurance companies in 2011.
Prior to Bloom Sen co-founded RedBrick Health, an innovative wellness company, in 2006 and served as its president. He also co-founded Definity Health, the first consumer-driven health plan, in 1998, just one year after earning a bachelor’s degree in economics from Lawrence.
In addition to his degree from Lawrence, Sen earned an MBA from Harvard Business School. He serves as a member of Lawrence’s Innovation and Entrepreneurship Committee. Originally from Mumbai, India, he currently resides in Minneapolis.
Martha Olson ’77
Olson just concluded a transition role in the merger of Warnaco, Inc. into the PVH, Inc. organization. Prior to the PVH acquisition of Warnaco, she served as a Warnaco Corporate Officer and the Group President of Calvin Klein Underwear Global and the Heritage Brands (Speedo, Chaps and Core Intimates Divisions). Under Olson’s leadership, the Calvin Klein Underwear business grew to $750 million globally, contributing 45 percent of Warnaco’s Operating Income.
Prior to being named a corporate officer in 2010, Olson held several positions of increasing responsibility within the Warnaco organization, including President, Core Intimates; President, U.S. Intimates; Group President, Intimates & Swim; Group President, Calvin Klein Underwear Global & Heritage Brands.
Before joining Warnaco, Olson was the president of the District Partnership Division of Edison Schools, the country’s largest for-profit public school manager. She was instrumental in setting the vision for accelerating revenue and profit growth through business model revisions.
Earlier in her career, Olson held several leadership positions with Sara Lee, including president of Ralph Lauren Intimates, president of Sara Lee Hosiery of Canada, vice president of marketing of Playtex Apparel and president of the Isotoner Canada Division of Sara Lee. She began her career in brand management, leading several iconic brands at General Mills and Nestle.
A resident of Darien, Conn., Olson graduated as a member of Phi Beta Kappa from Lawrence in 1977 with a bachelor of arts degree in psychology. She also earned a master’s degree in business administration from Northwestern University.
About Lawrence University
Founded in 1847, Lawrence University uniquely integrates a college of liberal arts and sciences with a nationally recognized conservatory of music, both devoted exclusively to undergraduate education. It was selected for inclusion in the Fiske Guide to Colleges 2014 and the book “Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think About College.” Individualized learning, the development of multiple interests and community engagement are central to the Lawrence experience. Lawrence draws its 1,500 students from nearly every state and more than 50 countries. Follow Lawrence on Facebook.
