Rosen takes the chair; Ride, Lee come aboard

Astronaut Sally Ride and Global Crossing cofounder David Lee, PhD ’74, have been named Caltech’s newest trustees, and vice-chairman Ben Rosen ’54 was named the new chairman of the board.

A longtime trustee, Rosen has served as the board’s vice-chairman since 1989. He earned his bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Caltech in 1954, and is the chairman emeritus of Compaq Computer Corporation. Legendary for his business acumen, he is almost as well known for his affable personality and his ability to balance chairs and golf clubs on his chin.

Rosen succeeds Gordon Moore, chairman emeritus of Intel Corporation, who stepped down after six years as chairman. A Caltech trustee since 1983, Moore will continue serving in that capacity.

New trustee Ride is best known as the first American woman in space. She flew aboard the space shuttle Challenger in 1983 and served on two additional shuttle crews as a NASA astronaut. Currently the Hibben Professor of Physics at the University of California, San Diego, Ride also conducts research at UCSD’s California Space Institute. She holds a PhD in physics from Stanford University.

A strong supporter of science and math education for young women, Ride has written three children’s books about space and has received many awards, including the Jefferson Award for Public Service and the National Spaceflight Medal.

Lee cofounded the transcontinental telecommunications firm Global Crossing in March 1997. Recently, he left that firm to cofound and become managing general partner of Clarity Partners, a venture capital firm.

Lee has established centers for advanced networking at Caltech and at the National Chiao Tung University in Taiwan. He continues to serve on the board of Global Crossing, as well as on that of New Focus, Inc., and of USC’s Keck School of Medicine. A graduate of McGill University, Lee holds a PhD in physics, with a minor in economics, from Caltech. He is also a certified public accountant.
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