Berklee Announces New Trustees

Berklee announces several new appointees to the Baord of Trustees, bringing a diverse set of perspectives on music, the music industry, technology, entrepreneurship, and endowment management. 

December 15, 2014

Berklee announces several new trustees who are joining Berklee, bringing a diverse set of perspectives on music, the music industry, technology, entrepreneurship, and endowment management. These individuals add new layers of expertise and experience to the college's already-strong board. 

Joel Katz


Joel Katz, former chairman of the American Bar Association’s (ABA) entertainment and sports law section, is widely recognized as a leader in the field of entertainment law. More than 30 years ago, Katz founded Katz, Smith & Cohen, which became one of the country’s largest music entertainment law firms. James Brown was his very first client and remained his friend for more than 30 years. His client list includes some of the world’s most well-known entertainers, music producers, record companies, concert promoters, and Fortune 500 companies. In 1998, Katz merged his practice with Greenberg Traurig.

Katz is an active participant in industry events, having served as a speaker or panelist at the Recording Academy’s Grammy in the Schools Program, at the Atlanta Downtown Partnership’s Music Industry Symposium, and at various lectures and panels for the Entertainment and Sports Industry Forum of the ABA and the entertainment and sports law section of the State Bar of Georgia. Katz has also authored and co-authored many articles and commentary pieces on various topics concerning entertainment law.

Jane L. Mendillo

Jane Mendillo became president and chief executive officer of Harvard Management Company (HMC) on July 1, 2008. Mendillo, who had worked at HMC for 15 years earlier in her career, returned after serving as chief investment officer at Wellesley College from 2002-2008, where she built the college's first investment office and restructured its investment portfolio. Since rejoining HMC, she has reoriented and grown HMC’s investment platform and organization to position the portfolio for continued long-term success.

Mendillo began her business career as a management consultant with Bain & Company in Boston. She earned a B.A. and an M.B.A. from Yale University. She is a CFA® charterholder and a member of the Boston Security Analysts Society, Inc., the Council on Foreign Relations, the Boston Committee on Foreign Relations, and the Boston Economic Club. Mendillo serves as a member of the board of directors for the Boston Foundation, as well as on the Investment Committee at both Partners HealthCare and the Rockefeller Foundation.

Alex Rigopulos

Alex Rigopulos is the cofounder, chairman, and chief creative officer of Harmonix Music Systems, Inc., a video game development studio in Cambridge, Massachusetts specializing in music-based games such as Guitar Hero and Rock Band, two of the most successful franchises in the history of video games. Rigopulos and his co-founder were included in TIME Magazine’s annual list of the “100 most influential people in the world” in 2008. Harmonix also created the Dance Central series of dance games and most recently, the company developed Fantasia: Music Evolved with the Walt Disney Company.

Rigopulos served as Harmonix’s CEO from its inception in 1995 through the spring of 2014, at which point he transitioned into his current role. He studied music composition as an undergraduate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and computer music in graduate school at the MIT Media Lab. Rigopulos attended the Berklee Summer Performance Program in 1987 and is married to Sachi Sato, a Berklee alumna. Their son, Simon, is a past participant in the Berklee City Music Program.

Mónica Giraldo

Alumna Mónica Giraldo is a singer-songwriter who released two independent albums before earning a nomination for Best New Artist at the 2008 Latin Grammys. While living in Boston and attending Berklee, she led a folkloric dance and music group that helped inner city teenagers connect with their Colombian heritage. Since her return to Colombia, she has recorded several albums and collaborated with various artists, receiving two Billboard recognitions as a singer-songwriter and performing at venues throughout Colombia, Mexico, the United States, France, and Japan, among others.

Giraldo also holds a degree in architecture from Universidad de los Andes in Bogotá. She formerly worked as an architect at CBT Architects in Boston as well as at other leading architectural firms in Spain and Colombia, where she has combined traditional and local views on design with international methods and ideas. She is the mother of two children, Daniel and Tomás, and lives in Bogotá with her husband, Kenneth Mendiwelson.

Read the Spanish version of Giraldo's appointment.