South Middlesex Times

Amy L. Towers, founder of The Nduna Foundation and former chief operating officer of a capital management firm, has been elected to a one-year term as chair of the Rutgers University Board of Governors. Tilak Lal, a trustee governor who leads investment risk management at Lighthouse Partners and who previously served for 12 years on the Joint Committee on Investments for the Board of Trustees and Board of Governors, was selected to serve as vice chair. Their terms begin July 1, 2024.

Towers, appointed by Gov. Phil Murphy to the board in 2020, established The Nduna Foundation in 2007 to advance interventions in nutrition and public health, community redevelopment, and human rights. Over the past 20 years, she has served on several nonprofit boards ranging from community-based organizations to large national and multinational boards – including UNICEF and the CDC Foundation – providing leadership on international issues and public health.

Towers currently serves as the chair of the Rutgers University Foundation Board of Directors, the board chair of MANA Nutrition, and as a board member of the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, Institute of International Education, International Peace Institute, Center for Civilians in Conflict (CIVIC), and President’s Council on Sports, Fitness and Nutrition. She was also a founding member of the board of advisors to The Elders.

A graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, she has been recognized for her humanitarian efforts globally. She is a recipient of UNICEF’s Audrey Hepburn Humanitarian Award and has also been recognized by several foundations including Dikembe Mutombo Foundation and Elizabeth Glazer Pediatric AIDS Foundation.

Tilak Lal is a past chair and vice chair of the Board of Trustees. He is a graduate from Rutgers School of Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, and Columbia Business School. Lal has served on various committees within Rutgers’ governance structure including its Executive Committee; Committees on Finance; Facilities; Athletics; Academic Affairs; Student Affairs; Industry Advisory Board for Rutgers School Of Engineering; and Rutgers University Foundation Board Of Directors.

The Rutgers Board Of Governors consists Of 15 voting members responsible for overseeing university governance while an advisory Board Of Trustees with 41 voting members holds fiduciary responsibilities over pre-1956 assets.