In addition, two dedicated board members have been recognized for their contributions.
At its May meeting, the University of Rochester Board of Trustees elected five new board members and recognized two members for becoming trustees emeriti.
New trustees
Patrick Cunningham
Patrick Cunningham is the retired chief executive officer of investment advisory firm Manning & Napier, Inc. In 2022, he came out of retirement to serve as deputy mayor under City of Rochester Mayor Malik Evans ’02 until 2023.
Cunningham spent 24 years at Manning & Napier and was instrumental in growing the company and bringing it public in 2011. He spent most of his early career in engineering, first as a field engineer in the energy sector and later as co-owner of an engineering consulting firm.
He has served on several community boards, including the Rochester Museum & Science Center, the Rochester Area Community Foundation, and Cancer Wellness Connection. A long-time leadership volunteer with the Wilmot Cancer Institute, Cunningham currently serves as chair of its advisory board and has provided generous philanthropic support, including funding to enable ovarian cancer research in honor of his late wife, JoEll. He is also on the campaign steering committee of For Ever Better: The Campaign for the University of Rochester.
Cunningham holds a bachelor’s degree from MIT. He resides in Rochester and has two adult daughters.
Elina Ianchulev ’97
Elina Ianchulev is chief outcome officer at RemoniHealth, a digital health company that enables remote management of chronic conditions such as AMD, glaucoma, and diabetic retinopathy.
Her career has spanned Wall Street, global consulting, and health tech innovation, and she spent more than 20 years at Deloitte Consulting advising C-suite leaders across healthcare and technology. Earlier in her career, Ianchulev worked in capital markets at Merrill Lynch and held a business development role at Alfamedic, a Harvard University-affiliated medical informatics startup.
After earning her bachelor’s degree in economics from URochester, Ianchulev earned an MBA from MIT’s Sloan School of Management. She also studied at the London School of Economics.
Ianchulev and her husband, Sean ’95, are members of the University’s annual giving society, the George Eastman Circle, and also provide generous support to the University’s Strategic Opportunities Fund. They have two sons, including Alec ’28, and serve on the Parents Leadership Committee. They reside in Harrison, New York.
Akbar Rafiq ’98
Akbar Rafiq is chief investment officer at Fidera Vecta, a credit special situation fund. He has more than two decades of experience investing across global credit markets with a particular focus on complex and dislocated opportunities. He has held senior leadership and investment roles within leading global platforms, with responsibility spanning portfolio management, capital allocation, and credit strategy.
Prior to Fidera Vecta, Rafiq was a partner and head of European credit and co-portfolio manager for distressed and dislocated asset strategies at York Capital Management Europe (UK) Advisors. He also held roles at Deutsche Bank AG, Bear Stearns, and Alta Communications, Inc.
Rafiq and his wife, Lala ’99, have prioritized scholarship support in their philanthropy to the University, generously establishing the Rafiq International Endowed Fund. Members of the George Eastman Circle, the Rafiqs also support the Gwen M. Greene Center for Career Education and Connections.
After earning a bachelor’s degree in economics from URochester, Rafiq earned an MBA from the London Business School. He and Lala have two children and reside in London.
Meredith Rowe ’93, ’95W (MS)
Meredith Rowe is the Saul Zaentz Professor of Early Learning and Development at the Harvard University Graduate School of Education. She leads a research program on understanding the role of parent and family factors in children’s early language and cognitive development.
Rowe’s research has been funded by the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, and other private foundations, and she has published widely in education and psychology journals. She was associate editor of the journal Developmental Science for ten years and is currently on the executive committee of the International Association for the Study of Child Language.
Since 2021, Rowe has been a member of the Warner School of Education & Human Development National Council. In 2025, she established the Rowe Family Scholarship to support students in human development at the Warner School. Rowe and her husband, Christian Hart Nibbrig ’95, are members of the George Eastman Circle.
After earning a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a master’s degree in human development from the Warner School, Rowe went on to receive a doctoral degree in human development and psychology from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
She and her husband reside in Massachusetts with their three children.
Daniel Sabbah ’74, ’82 (PhD)
Danny Sabbah retired from IBM in 2015 as chief technology officer and general manager of IBM Cloud and Next Gen Computing. He spent more than 40 years at IBM, holding positions from research and software developer to general manager of various divisions within the company. He was responsible for creating IBM’s cloud platform and played a key role in driving the company’s successful expansion into internet software.
Today, Sabbah serves in a consulting capacity to numerous private equity and venture capital firms and is a senior advisor for Bridge Growth, LLC. In 2023, he coauthored his first book, The Heart of Innovation: A Field Guide for Navigating Authentic Demand.
At URochester, he serves on the national councils for the School of Arts & Sciences and the Hajim School of Engineering & Applied Sciences. He is also a member of the steering committee for the For Ever Better campaign.
In recognition of the 50th anniversary of the computer science department at URochester, Sabbah generously established a distinguished professorship in computer science in 2024. This built upon his earlier endowed support for faculty research and strategic initiatives. Since 2008, he and his wife, Karen Dana Carlson, have been members of the George Eastman Circle. They reside in Briarcliff Manor, New York, and have two adult children.
Trustees emeriti
At the May meeting, two board members moved to trustee emeritus status. Both have completed three terms as voting trustees, and their leadership, counsel, strategic partnership, and philanthropy have advanced the University in many meaningful ways.
Nomi Bergman
Nomi Bergman, founder of Bright House Networks and 1010data, joined the board in 2011 and has served as chair of the Nominations and Board Practices, Advancement, and Student Affairs Committees. She also served as cochair of the campaign planning committee before the public launch of the For Ever Better campaign. The parents of two URochester graduates, she and her husband, Neal, consistently championed student life by opening their home to welcome incoming students and their families to the URochester community.
Bergman has served on the national councils of both the Hajim School of Engineering and the School of Arts & Sciences, and as a member of the Laboratory for Laser Energetics Visiting Committee and the Hajim Dean’s Advisory Committee.
She provided early leadership that helped propel the Goergen Institute for Data Science and Artificial Intelligence to the forefront of the field and has been a champion of neurological research and education, student leadership, and outdoor education.
Bergman received the Arts, Sciences & Engineering John N. Wilder Award in 2010 for her inspirational philanthropy.
Carol Karp
Carol Karp, former chief regulatory officer at Prothena Biosciences, Inc., joined the board in 2011. She has served as a member of the Academic Affairs, Compliance and Compensation, Executive, Facilities and Campus Planning, Investment, Joint Health Affairs, and Research and Innovation Committees. As chair of the latter, she displayed her strong commitment to innovative practices and respect for the University’s role in disseminating global knowledge.
Karp also served as the inaugural board vice chair, serving as an essential strategic partner to both the president and board chair in supporting the work of the University while exhibiting leadership over the Executive Committee and serving as an ex officio member of all other board committees.
She co-established the Carol ’74 and Sarah Karp ’11 Endowed Library Fellows Fund, elevating exceptional students to provide peer-led training on the University Libraries’ programs and services while contributing to the program’s leadership, service, and research development. Karp was also recognized with the Robert F. Metzdorf Award in 2020 for her contributions and meritorious service to the University Libraries.
