Ballot order set for Overseer and HAA director elections

Johnston Gate.

Photo by Grace DuVal

February 20, 2026 5 min read

Candidates finalized ahead of spring voting period

This spring, Harvard degree holders will have the opportunity to vote for new members of the Harvard Board of Overseers and for elected directors of the Harvard Alumni Association.

The election begins April 1, with completed ballots accepted until 5 p.m. on May 19. Harvard degree holders may vote online or by paper ballot to fill six anticipated vacancies on the Board of Overseers and six openings among HAA elected directors. An additional vacancy on the Board of Overseers is due to the resignation of Vikas Sukhatme, M.D. ’79, Robert W. Woodruff Professor of Medicine at Emory University; the sixth-place finisher will serve the remaining two years of Sukhatme’s term.

All Harvard degree holders as of Jan. 1, with the exception of officers of instruction and government at Harvard and members of the Harvard Corporation, are eligible to vote for Overseer candidates. All Harvard degree holders as of Jan. 1 are eligible to vote for HAA elected directors.

The candidates listed below were nominated by a committee appointed by the Harvard Alumni Association’s volunteer leadership. Candidates appear in ballot order, as determined by lot.

Overseer candidates

Nisha Kumar Behringer ’91, magna cum laude, M.B.A. ’95
Independent Director and Audit Committee Chair, Birkenstock Holding PLC
Greenwich, Connecticut

Arti Garg, Ph.D. ’08
A.B. & B.S. ’99, M.S. ’01, Stanford University; M.S. ’02, University of Washington
EVP and Chief Technologist, AVEVA
Hayward, California

Teresa Hillary Clarke ’84, cum laude, J.D. ’89, M.B.A. ’89
Chair and Executive Editor, Africa.com; Former Managing Director, Goldman Sachs & Co.
Miami

Nadine Burke Harris, M.P.H. ’02
B.A. ’96, University of California, Berkeley; M.D. ’01, University of California, Davis
Pediatrician and Former Surgeon General of California
Sebastopol, California

Alfredo Gutiérrez Ortiz Mena, L.L.M. ’98
J.D. ’95, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
Former Justice, Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation (Mexico)
Mexico City, Mexico

Philip L. Harrison ’86, magna cum laude, M.A.R. ’93 with distinction
Chief Executive Officer, Perkins&Will
Atlanta

Clive Chang, M.B.A. ’11
B.Mus. ’07 with honors, B.Com. ’07, McGill University; M.F.A. ’09, New York University
President and CEO, YoungArts: The National Foundation for the Advancement of Artists
Miami

Salvo Arena, L.L.M. ’00
J.D. ’93, Ph.D. ’99, University of Catania
Partner, Chiomenti
New York

Trey Grayson ’94, cum laude
J.D. ’98, M.B.A. ’98, University of Kentucky
Partner, FBT Gibbons; Former Secretary of State, Commonwealth of Kentucky
Walton, Kentucky

HAA elected director candidates

Allison Charney Epstein ’89, magna cum laude with highest honors
M.M. ’91, A.D. ’94, Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University
Opera Singer, Producer
New York

Jakob Haesler, M.P.A. ’99
M.Sc. ’97, University of St. Gallen
Global Head of Consulting, Forvis Mazars Group
Paris

Mia Esther Alpert ’99, cum laude
Founder and President Emerita, Harvardwood
Los Angeles

Jeffrey H. Tignor ’96, cum laude
J.D. ’99, Duke University
Attorney-Adviser, Federal Communications Commission; Senior Lecturing Fellow, Duke University School of Law
Washington, D.C.

Yoshiko “June” Nagao ’96, cum laude
Private Investor
Tokyo

Jimmy Biblarz ’14, magna cum laude, J.D. ’21, cum laude, Ph.D. ’23
Attorney, Hueston Hennigan; Lecturer in Law, UCLA School of Law
Los Angeles

Margarita Montoto-Escalera ’78, M.B.A. ’85
Consultant, Reichard & Escalera LLC
San Juan, Puerto Rico

Medha Gargeya ’14, magna cum laude, J.D. ’19
Senior Associate, WilmerHale; Lecturer on Law, Harvard Law School; Captain, U.S. Air Force Reserves
Washington, D.C.

David G. Lefer ’93, cum laude
M.Sc. ’95, Columbia University
Director of the Innovation and Technology Forum and Industry Associate Professor, New York University
New York

The nominating committee brings together 13 alumni with varied backgrounds and includes three current or former Overseers who have direct experience with the workings and needs of the board. The committee invites and receives suggestions about possible candidates from across the alumni community and reviews information on hundreds of prospective candidates as part of extensive deliberations throughout the fall term.

The committee seeks to develop a set of Overseer candidates that takes account of the board’s present composition and the University’s future needs. The committee considers experience and accomplishment in an academic or professional domain important to the University; interest in and concern for higher education and for Harvard University as a whole; commitment to the overall quality and continual improvement of Harvard’s programs of education and research; readiness to invest significant time in the visitation process, standing committees, advisory functions, and plenary deliberations of the board; understanding of complex organizations, and leadership and consensus-building skills.

The Board of Overseers is one of Harvard’s two governing boards, along with the President and Fellows, also known as the Corporation. Formally established in 1642, the board plays an integral role in the governance of the University, complementing the Corporation’s work as Harvard’s principal fiduciary board. As a central part of its work, the Board of Overseers directs the visitation process, the primary means for periodic external assessment of Harvard’s Schools and departments. Through its array of standing committees, and the roughly 50 visiting committees that report to them, the board probes the quality of Harvard’s programs and assures that the University remains true to its charter as a place of learning, bringing broad, informed perspective to issues of academic excellence, long-term planning, and institutional priorities. More generally, drawing on its members’ diverse experience and expertise, the board provides counsel to the University’s leadership on priorities, plans, and strategic initiatives, helping to inform decision-making across the University. The board also has the power of consent to certain actions, such as the election of Corporation members. The current membership of the board is listed here.

The HAA board, including its elected directors, is an advisory board that aims to foster a sense of community, engagement, and University citizenship among Harvard alumni around the world. The work focuses on developing volunteer leadership and increasing and deepening alumni engagement through an array of programs that support alumni communities worldwide. In recent years, the board’s priorities have included strengthening outreach to recent graduates and graduate school alumni and continuing to build and promote inclusive communities.