Curtis board taps real estate mogul as chairman
Following a molto allegro search process, the Curtis Institute of Music board on Thursday approved a new chairman. Real estate mogul Mark E. Rubenstein will succeed Nina Baroness von Maltzahn on June 1, after the end of the academic year, the school announced.
Following a
molto allegro
search process, the Curtis Institute of Music board on Thursday approved a new chairman. Real estate mogul Mark E. Rubenstein will succeed Nina Baroness von Maltzahn on June 1, after the end of the academic year, the school announced.
Rubenstein, 74, joined the board in 2009, and has been active in matters relating to facilities, governance, and fund-raising. He advised the school on construction of Lenfest Hall, and was a major contributor to the campaign to build the addition. He has supported student fellowships and helped to fund the purchase and renovation of an additional Locust Street building, now called the Rubenstein Centre.
Rubenstein and his wife, Robin, also have been involved in the Curtis on Tour program, hosting concerts in their homes in Gulf Stream, Fla., and Nantucket, Mass.
The board also on Thursday approved two new members whose election continues the school's push for support beyond Philadelphia: Chiona Schwarz of Munich, Germany, who heads the Schwarz Foundation, which presented Curtis on Tour in Athens, Greece, last summer, and William Stensrud of Reno, Nev., founder and president of InstantEncore, provider of Web and mobile technology to performing arts groups, and principal of the Sunnyvale, Calif., firm Interactive Fitness Holdings.
Rubenstein founded the Philadelphia-based Rubenstein Co. in 1969. When he sold it and retired in 2004, it had become the largest private office real estate investment trust in the eastern United States. He has been an active board member at his alma mater, Johns Hopkins University, and as a Philadelphia Museum of Art trustee has served as chairman of the strategic plan committee and facilities committee.
Maltzahn, who lives in Uruguay, Germany, Switzerland, and New York City, took over as board chair in 2013 from H.F. "Gerry" Lenfest, chairman and owner of Philadelphia Media Network, which owns The Inquirer, the Philadelphia Daily News, and Philly.com, who held the position for eight years. In September, she announced her intention to step down as chairwoman and remain on the board.
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