New Trustee, Overseer Appointed

Longtime trustee Richard B. DeWolfe, a former chair of the Board of Trustees, was reelected to the board last month. In addition, Ken Slater, who has worked in the investment securities and real estate industry for more than 25 years, was elected a member of the Board of Overseers. Both appointments were made at the Board of Trustees meeting in September.

“Dick DeWolfe’s outstanding leadership, generosity, and dedication to Boston University have resulted in the creation of world-class facilities on our campus, like the DeWolfe Boathouse,” says Robert Knox (CAS’74, GSM’75), Board of Trustees chair. “Over many years, Dick has worked relentlessly to build Boston University, and he has created numerous opportunities and programs that have greatly enhanced the lives of our faculty and students.


“Similarly, the long and remarkable commitment of Ken Slater and his family to the College of Arts & Sciences has greatly benefited all members of the University community,” Knox says. “The trustees and overseers look forward to working with Dick and Ken to continue to bolster the University’s reputation as a center for excellence in higher education.”

DeWolfe (MET’71) is managing partner of DeWolfe & Company, LLC, a real estate management and investment consulting firm. He was a trustee from 1995 to 2009 and chair of the board from 2001 to 2003. He has served as chair of the board’s development, executive, and executive compensation committees and has been a member of its athletics, development, and finance and budget committees.

In 1996 DeWolfe initiated the Pulling Together capital campaign to fund construction of a boathouse with a $1 million gift in memory of his paternal grandparents. The Alice and Burpee L. DeWolfe Boathouse, which replaced a dilapidated shed, was dedicated in the fall of 1999 and is home to the men’s and women’s Terrier crew teams.

DeWolfe has has been honored many times by the University. In 2004, he received a Boston University Distinguished Alumni Award, BU’s highest honor to its graduates, and in 1991 he was given MET’s Alumni Award for Distinguished Service to the Profession.

He is a director and chair of the audit committee of Manulife Financial Corporation, the parent company of John Hancock Financial Services, Inc. He also serves as a director of Avantair, Inc., and O Beverage Corporation and is an honorary director of the Boston Center for Community and Justice.

Slater is the managing principal in a family-owned, multigenerational real estate and investment firm with real estate holdings primarily in New England, Canada, and Texas.

Slater’s family ties to BU are deep. His father, Alvin Slater (CAS’41), was involved with the University for more than 50 years. In 2005, Alvin Slater and his wife, Shirley, funded the Alvin J. Slater and Shirley Slater Chair in Jewish Holocaust Studies. Ken Slater’s brother, Richard Slater (CAS’71), earned a bachelor’s degree at BU, and his daughter is currently enrolled in the Graduate School of Management.

A Florida resident, Slater is a member of the Palm Beach Fellowship of Christians and Jews and is on the Florida board of directors for Operation Homefront, which provides emergency and other assistance to U.S. troops and their families and to wounded soldiers when they return home.

Cynthia K. Buccini can be reached at cbuccini@bu.edu.