The Occidental College Board of Trustees welcomed six new members to its ranks in July. Trustees are elected to four-year terms and can serve up to 12 consecutive years following their initial appointment.
Nicolas Choumenkovitch ’86 majored in economics at Oxy and earned his MBA from the University of Virginia. He worked in the financial field in Buenos Aires and New York City before joining Wellington Management, a private, independent investment management firm in Boston, where he serves as a senior managing director and equity portfolio manager. He has been the portfolio manager for the Hartford International Opportunities Fund since 2000 and is involved in portfolio management and securities analysis for the Hartford Capital Appreciation HLS Fund.
Barbara Clarke P’19 graduated from Tufts University with a degree in quantitative economics and received her master’s in international economics and finance from Brandeis International Business School. She held senior management positions in the for-profit world and is a founding member of various nonprofit organizations. Clarke serves as an angel investor and entrepreneur adviser, and in 2022 she published Build Your Board, Build Your Business: The Path to Million Dollar Success Explained. Her daughter, Isabella Capeci, graduated from Occidental in 2019.
Chris Hamel ’76 double-majored in history and political science at Oxy and spent a semester in Washington, D.C, where he worked for a congressman during the Watergate hearings. After working with former Arizona Governor and U.S. Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt, Hamel joined RBC and served in various capacities until he retired in 2018 as managing director and head of the Municipal Finance Group at RBC Capital Markets. He is a leading voice on U.S. infrastructure policy and is passionate about sustainability.
Andrew Heath ’04 majored in economics for business management at Oxy and received his MBA from Babson College. He spent 10 years as chief financial officer and chief operating officer of Bombas, the private apparel e-commerce company he co-founded in 2013 with his brother, David, and partners Randy Goldberg and Aaron Wolk. Heath was awarded Oxy’s Alumni Seal Award for Professional Achievement in 2019.
Enrique López ’89 majored in psychology and minored in Spanish literature at Oxy. He holds a doctorate in clinical psychology from Pepperdine University and completed his postdoctoral fellowship in neuropsychology at UCLA. López has worked in mental health services at hospitals, has served as an expert witness for cases involving traumatic brain injury, and is currently an associate professor at the Chicago School of Professional Psychology.
Woody Studenmund retired from Occidental in 2022 as the Laurence de Rycke Professor of Economics Emeritus. He studied economics and mathematics as an undergraduate at Hamilton College and received his M.A. and Ph.D. in economics from Cornell University. Studenmund joined the College in 1970 as an assistant professor and chaired the Economics Department on and off for 40 years. Studenmund held many different positions at Oxy, including director of institutional planning and dean of admission and financial aid. He is the author of the best-selling textbook Using Economics, now in its seventh edition, and has received numerous honors, including the Alumni Seal Award.
Trustees who recently retired from the Board are Mike Gibby ’68 and Diane Evans ’76.
