Board of Trustees

Alan Dillon is a Partner and President at Dillon & Dillon, LLC, a family-owned law firm involved in all aspects of commercial and negligence litigation in the New York, Connecticut, and New Jersey federal and state courts. Mr. Dillon has extensive experience in appellate practice, corporate law, and business law (including the representation of international clients in the U.S., Europe and Japan). Mr. Dillon graduated from Pace University School of Law and has served with several law firms in New York City and Westchester County. Mr. Dillon is President of the Hispanic Business and Professional Association of Westchester and President of the Armonk-Bedford Rotary Club. He is also on the Board of the Bedford Riding Lanes Association, the Hudson Valley Alzheimer’s Association, the Hudson Valley Gateway Chamber of Commerce, and Atmosphere Foundation.

Dr. Michael Lagas served as the Director of Finance and Operations for New Canaan Public Schools in Connecticut, a district of over 4,000 students, from 1995 until 2011. Earlier in his career, Dr. Lagas was a Client Solution Executive with IBM. Dr. Lagas currently works as an education consultant and adjunct professor at Fordham University. Dr. Lagas holds an Education Doctorate in Educational Leadership from Fordham University and a Professional Diploma in School Business Administration from Fordham University.

Jesse J. Greene, Jr. was a Senior Fellow at the Richard Paul Richman Center for Business Law, and Public Policy (a joint venture between Columbia Law School and Columbia Business School) from 2011-2018. Mr. Greene also sat on the Board of Directors of Caterpillar from 2011-2017. Previously, Mr. Greene was the VP Financial Management and Chief Financial Risk Officer at IBM, where he was responsible for the identification, assessment, and monitoring of financial risks of the corporation as well as the company’s Enterprise Risk Management program. Mr. Greene began his career at IBM in 1971, and has held a broad range of positions in IBM as an engineer, tax attorney, and financial executive. In 1994, Mr. Greene left IBM to join Eastman Kodak as Treasurer, VP Finance, acting CFO and Senior VP, Strategy and Information Technology. In 2000, he joined Compaq Computer Corporation as CFO and Senior VP of Strategic Planning. In 2002 he returned to IBM as VP and Treasurer and was later named VP, Financial Management and Chief Financial Risk Officer. Mr. Greene graduated from Columbia Law School with a Juris Doctorate and Columbia Business School with a Master of Business Administration. He also holds a Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering and Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from NYU School of Engineering and Science. He is a member of the New York State Bar Association, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, and the Economic Club of New York and has also served on the Board of Directors of the Strong Medical Center in Rochester, NY.

Mervin Burton serves as Director of Investments at Lafayette College, overseeing $850 million of endowment and separately invested assets. Previously, he served as Senior Investment Manager at IBM Retirement Funds, helping to oversee $50 billion in pension fund assets. At both Lafayette and IBM, Mr. Burton’s responsibilities included developing investment strategy, investing in financial markets, monitoring portfolio risk, and maintaining proper governance. Prior to his career in investment management, Mr. Burton worked in various finance and consulting roles within IBM Finance, PriceWaterhouseCoopers, and Goldman Sachs. Mr. Burton is a CFA Charterholder, and a member of the CFA Institute. He also serves on the Administrative Leadership Team for Lafayette College. He graduated with a B.S. in Economics, with a concentration in Finance, from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

James Spitzer Jr. is a New York real estate attorney and a partner in Holland and Knight’s Real Estate practice. His clients include national real estate equity funds; hotel developers, owners and operators; and local, national and multinational developers and investors. During his extensive career, he has acted as lead counsel in a variety of complex transactions, including preferred equity investments and mezzanine loans, development and financing of hotels, hotel management agreements, leasing and joint ventures of food and beverage operations, the sale of a publicly traded REIT, the sale to an UPREIT of a multifamily portfolio owned by multiple partnerships and net lease transactions.