Carnegie Mellon University: Three New Trustees Elected to CMU Board

Carnegie Mellon University’s Board of Trustees unanimously elected three new members during its Nov. 4 meeting: Darryl F. Britt, Nathalie Cowan and Sam Reiman. Britt is a 1982 graduate of the Mellon College of Science and a 1990 graduate of the Tepper School of Business, and Reiman is a 2004 graduate of the Heinz College of Information Systems and Public Policy. Cowan is the parent of a current School of Computer Science student.

A CMU banner”Our new trustees will provide valuable guidance to the university,” said David A. Coulter, chair of the Board of Trustees. “I look forward to working with them and tapping into their breadth of experience and leadership acumen as we advance Carnegie Mellon’s ambitious and important agenda in service of its students, faculty, staff, alumni and partners.”

“I am thrilled by the election of Darryl, Nathalie and Sam to our Board of Trustees,” said Carnegie Mellon President Farnam Jahanian. “I have had the opportunity to get to know these new trustees in recent years, and I continue to be impressed by their record of commitment to CMU and to our community. I look forward to relying on their counsel to help the university advance our mission in education, research and societal impact.”

Darryl BrittDarryl Britt (right) is the founder and president of Apprio, Inc., a provider of specialized technology solutions within federal and commercial health care. Under his leadership, Apprio has experienced significant growth, leading to recognition as one of the fastest-growing companies according to Inc. Magazine, the Washington Business Journal and Deloitte Consulting. Apprio developed the federal government’s Disaster Medical Information Suite, an electronic health record and situational awareness solution used to manage medical care during federal disasters and designated national security events. Examples include the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, the Haitian earthquakes and several recent hurricanes, including Sandy, Irma and Maria.

Apprio’s commercial subsidiary ApprioHealth, assists hospitals, clinics and health care providers to optimize portions of their revenue cycle as well as assist their uninsured patients to identify and secure health care coverage. ApprioHealth’s expertise includes Medicaid enrollment, robotic process automation (RPA), health care staff recruitment and provider credentialing. All services support efficient claims processing, and maximization of reimbursements for their customers.

Britt earned a bachelor of science degree in applied mathematics and statistics in 1982 and an MBA in 1990, both from CMU. He is a member of the Healthcare Information Management and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) and Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA).

Britt serves as a member of the Tepper Business Board of Advisors. He and his wife, Lawanda, supported the Tepper Quad project with a gift to name the dean’s suite.

Nathalie CowanNathalie Cowan (right) holds a degree in business administration and management from Boston University, and pursued a master’s degree in environmental science at San Jose State University from 1998-2001.

She is the founder and president of Abergel Homes, which works with architects, engineers and contractors to bring a new type of technology-enabled, smart, ecologically sensitive luxury homes to the Silicon Valley. Her previous roles have included founding Century Homes Capital in 2012, where she first developed the concept of the customized smart-tech home.

Cowan currently serves as a board member of HART, which collaborates with indigenous leaders and other NGOs worldwide to address the health care needs of targeted international communities through highly focused surgical and educational outreach to developing countries. She is a board member on the Kusoma International Foundation of Kenya, which is focused on bringing education to underserved children.

Previously, Cowan was a co-founder of the Silicon Valley-based BrainParenting Publishing company, which produced targeted information solutions for parents whose children have trouble learning due to dyslexia, dysgraphia or ADHD.

Cowan actively supports the College of Fine Arts, the Neuroscience Institute, and undergraduate research. She is the parent of Avery, a student in the School of Computer Science at CMU.

Sam ReimanSam Reiman (right) is director of the $3 billion Richard King Mellon Foundation, Southwestern Pennsylvania’s largest philanthropy and one of the 50 largest in the world. Reiman was named director of the Foundation in January 2019 and was elected to its Board of Trustees in June 2020. He leads the Foundation’s long-term strategic planning and its annual grantmaking program of more than $130 million. Reiman joined the foundation in December 2014 as associate director.

The Richard King Mellon Foundation has long been one of CMU’s most generous supporters. Since the 1960s the foundation had provided early funding for initiatives that have proved to be among the most important to the university. These include major investments in research and education in public policy, computer science, life sciences, energy and next-generation manufacturing. Its most recent and largest grant to CMU, announced earlier this year, will accelerate science and technology programs and includes the lead gift for CMU’s new science building, as well as investments in robotics and advanced and additive manufacturing at Hazelwood Green — a former steel mill site that is being redeveloped by the foundation and its Almono partners for the industries of the new economy.

Prior to his roles with the foundation, Sam was a senior program officer at the McCune Foundation, an associate with the Forbes Funds, and a senior consultant with Deloitte Consulting. Reiman holds two master’s degrees — one in public policy and management with a minor in business administration from CMU, and a second in biotechnology from Johns Hopkins University. His undergraduate degree is from Franklin & Marshall College, to which he had transferred after beginning his education at Harrisburg Area Community College.

Reiman serves on the boards of a number of Pittsburgh organizations including Advanced Robotics for Manufacturing Institute, Allegheny Conference on Community Development, Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, Latrobe Area Hospital Charitable Foundation and Thread International.

The Board of Trustees for Carnegie Mellon has fiduciary responsibility for the university and provides guidance and support as CMU pursues its mission of education, research and transfer of knowledge to society. Members offer expertise in financial and regulatory matters, are leaders in their respective fields and reflect diversity in all its dimensions, including gender, race, nationality and breadth of experience. They also are tasked with recruiting, supporting and evaluating the president. Trustees are elected to five-year terms.