Nov 09, 2010 - Claremont, Calif. -

The Harvey Mudd College Board of Trustees approved the appointment of three new trustees—Ann McDermott ’81, Gregory P. Rae ’00 and John Vickery ’90/91— at the board’s meeting in October.

McDermott, a chemistry graduate, is Esther Breslow Professor of Biological Chemistry at Columbia University in New York. A member of the National Academy of Sciences and winner of the 1996 American Chemical Society Award for Pure Chemistry, her research focuses on the use of NMR spectroscopy to study a variety of biological systems, including photosystem reaction centers, peptides and proteins, paramagnetic solids and drug-binding sites and receptors. McDermott received her Ph.D. degree in chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley.

Rae returns to the board after serving from 2006 to 2009 as a young alumni trustee. After graduating from HMC with a degree in computer science and mathematics, Rae went on to co-found and become chief technology officer of Shiny Boxes. He worked as a software engineer at Google for six years then founded 22 by 7 Labs, an Internet technology company, in 2006. He serves on the board of several non-profits: Living Liberally, National Leadership Council, Lambda Legal, FriendFactor, Play Outdoors and The Tank Space.

Vickery earned a bachelor’s degree in physics and economics as well as a master’s in engineering from HMC. He is currently employed at Sony DADC where he is responsible for business development across all studios and content/distribution rights owners. He helped to define overall go-to-market strategy and identify potential clients for Sony’s leading-edge Digital Distribution platform. While a partner at Accenture, Vickery specialized in the media and entertainment industry. In June 2010, Vickery’s family was honored for a $1 million endowment of HMC’s Global Clinic Program.

The Harvey Mudd College Board of Trustees is made up of 36 individuals who direct the policies and funds of the institution.