At its May meeting, the Ithaca College Board of Trustees elected Thomas Grape as chair and David Lebow as vice chair. Each will serve a three-year term in their respective role.
First elected to the board in 2009, Grape (in far right photo) is the founder, chairman and chief executive officer of Benchmark Assisted Living, the largest provider of senior housing in the Northeast and recognized as one of the top 100 places to work by the “Boston Globe.” Active in many professional organizations, he is a past chairman of the Assisted Living Federation of America and former board member of the Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO).
Grape also serves on the boards of the Meadowbrook School and the Newton-Wellesley Hospital, and served for many years on the vestry and as chair of the Building Committee at the renowned Trinity Church of Boston. He has been honored with the International Corporate Social Responsibility Award from the YPO and recognized as the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year for real estate/hospitality in New England.
A 1980 graduate of the School of Humanities and Sciences, Grape has served as an adviser to the Ithaca College Gerontology Institute and was on the Business Professionals Alumni Advisory Committee.
Lebow (in near right photo) also joined the board of trustees in 2009. He is president-revenue at Group Commerce, a market-leading platform for publishers who want to succeed in e-commerce, where he is responsible for the overall customer experience. He is also a managing partner at Evolution One Digital.
A 1983 graduate of the Roy H. Park School of Communications, Lebow has had a lengthy career serving in leadership roles with media companies, including president and chief executive officer of Internet Broadcasting, executive vice president and general manager of AOL Media Networks, senior vice president of operations for Emmis Communications and executive vice president of AMFM (now Clear Channel Communications).
Lebow has served the college as a member of the Park School Advisory Committee and National Leadership Council. He and his wife established the David A. Lebow ’83 and Betsey Ladd Lebow ’84 Scholarship, which is awarded annually to an outstanding student in the Park School.
Grape and Lebow succeed C. William Schwab ’68 and Larry Alleva ’71 as chair and vice chair, respectively.
