Announcing Northwestern Buffett’s New Board Chair, Suneel Kamlani
The Northwestern Roberta Buffett Institute for Global Affairs’ Board of Advisors is a dynamic, creative group of thought leaders committed to the idea that universities can significantly impact the most complex global challenges—peace and security, sustainable development, inequality and the impact and opportunities surrounding technological change—by bringing the greatest thinkers together across institutional, national and disciplinary boundaries and by preparing the next generation of global leaders. The board’s mission is to advance these significant goals through advocacy, philanthropy and advice to the executive director.
We are delighted to announce the appointment of Suneel Kamlani as Chair of the Northwestern Buffett Board of Advisors. “Suneel’s experience, vision and wisdom have made him an invaluable member of our Board of Advisors and I am tremendously grateful for his willingness to lead us into the next phase of our growth,” said Annelise Riles, Executive Director of Northwestern Buffett.
Suneel’s personal and professional experiences have spanned the globe. Born in India and raised during his school days in Africa and India, he went on to earn his BA in Economics from Northwestern’s Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences. “I am deeply honored to assume this new role, and I look forward to working with the board to build on Northwestern Buffett’s success, expanding its reach and impact globally. We remain grateful to Annelise for her exemplary and transformative leadership, and to Roberta Buffett, whose vision, generosity and commitment have made this all possible,” said Suneel.
Over the course of his career, Suneel has advised major corporations, financial institutions and governments in more than 30 countries in addition to higher education institutions. He has over three decades of experience running investment banking businesses and currently serves as Chairman of the Board of MUFG Securities Americas as well as Independent Director of MUFG Americas Holdings Corporation, the US subsidiaries of the fifth largest global banking group, Mitsubishi UFJ. He also serves on the Director’s Advisory Council of Harvard University’s Advanced Leadership Initiative and was a Senior Advanced Leadership Fellow at Harvard in 2016–17. Previously, Suneel served as Chief Operating Officer at UBS Investment Bank and a member of the UBS Group Managing Board, after which he went on to assume leadership roles at the Royal Bank of Scotland as Co-Chief Executive Officer of Markets and President of Global Banking & Markets. He has also served on the boards of UBS Limited and SIFMA Europe as well as on advisory committees at the Bank of England, the International Monetary Fund and the Institute of International Finance. During his career, Suneel lived and worked in New York, London and Hong Kong.
In the year ahead, Suneel’s leadership will help guide the development and improvement of Northwestern Buffett’s initiatives to addressing pressing global challenges through collaborative teaching, research and problem solving, including new international research partnerships, our Idea Incubation Process, global learning opportunities and more.