Oscar L. Tang '56          Thomas C. Israel '62

ANDOVER, Mass.—The Phillips Academy Board of Trustees Friday elected new officers in anticipation of the June retirement of David M. Underwood ’54, who has served 15 years as president. New York financier and philanthropist Oscar L. Tang ’56 will succeed Underwood as president. Thomas C. Israel ’62, chairman of a New York-based family investment firm and current chair of the Audit Committee of the Phillips Academy board, will succeed Tang as treasurer.

“We are extremely fortunate to have Oscar Tang and Tom Israel in these leadership roles for the board of trustees and the academy,” said Underwood. “Together, their business savvy, their keen grasp of finance and their deep commitment to Andover’s mission mean we have the most able minds and spirits guiding the future of this 226-year-old institution.”

“I am profoundly honored to assume the presidency of a board I greatly admire at a school I deeply love,” said Tang, who graduated from Andover in 1956 and is the school’s largest single benefactor, having donated more than $15 million. “Phillips Academy gave me my start in a new country after my family fled the Communist takeover of Shanghai in 1949. I learned lessons here that have guided me throughout life. I am eager to do what I can to ensure that Andover continues to thrive as a vital, excellent school.”

Tang was born in Shanghai and, at the age of 11, fled with his family to America. He enrolled in Andover as a 10th grader. After graduating from Andover, Tang received an engineering degree from Yale and a master’s degree in business administration from Harvard. In 1970, he co-founded Reich and Tang, a New York investment management firm, which he headed as president and chief executive officer until 1993. The firm is now part of the money management firm CDC Ixis.

A well-known philanthropist and a member of the board of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, Tang made an extraordinary gift to the museum in 1997, including 11 major paintings from the collection of C.C. Wang and funds toward rebuilding the Chinese painting galleries. Tang and his children also donated a major gift for the teaching museum and art gallery at Skidmore College named in honor of his first wife, Frances Young Tang, now deceased, whom he met and courted when she attended Abbot Academy, Andover’s sister school. She graduated from Skidmore College in 1961. Tang is also a trustee of the China Institute in America, Inc., and also of Skidmore College. He has served Phillips Academy in many volunteer roles over more than 20 years and has been a charter trustee since 1995.

Israel, one of the school’s most generous benefactors, expressed his enthusiasm for taking up the role of treasurer. “This has been an extremely well-run institution, and it is my pleasure to serve in this role at a time when financial management is increasingly important for educational institutions,” he said.

Israel is chairman of the family investment firm, A.C. Israel Enterprises, Inc., and director and president of the A.C. Israel Foundation, a family philanthropic organization. He is a graduate of Yale, where he is a member of the Yale Development Board and sits on the advisory board of the International Center for Finance at the Yale School of Management. He serves as a director of Asbury Auto Group and Griffin Land and Nurseries, Inc. Over the course of 30 years, he has played many volunteer roles at Andover and has been a charter trustee since 1997.

“The election of Oscar Tang and Thomas Israel, truly devoted alumni, as officers of the board, continues the academy’s remarkable good fortune in board leadership,” said Head of School Barbara Landis Chase. “David Underwood, a brilliant and tireless leader, has kept the highest standards during his 15-year tenure as president and throughout his 21 years of service on the board. The academy owes him a tremendous debt of gratitude for his hard work, his generosity and his wise counsel. "