Brandeis International Business School

Trio of alumni join business school board

New Board of Advisors members Peter Lichtenthal ’78, Barbara Clarke, MA’91 and Joanne Aron, MA’94 lauded for experience, commitment to Brandeis

Peter Lichtenthal ’78, Barbara Clarke, MA ’91 and Joanne Aron, MA ’94 joined the Board of Advisors July 1.

Peter Lichtenthal ’78, Barbara Clarke, MA ’91 and Joanne Aron, MA ’94 joined the Board of Advisors July 1.

Brandeis International Business School is pleased to welcome three new members to the school’s Board of Advisors.

Peter Lichtenthal ’78, Barbara Clarke, MA’91, and Joanne Aron, MA’94 joined the board on July 1. They will serve three-year terms.

“We are honored to have such accomplished professionals advising the International Business School,” said Dean Kathryn Graddy. “Peter, Barbara and Joanne have a wealth of expertise to share and have remained committed to Brandeis University for many years. We are lucky to have them on the Board of Advisors.”

The new members bring a wide range of professional experiences to the board.

Lichtenthal spent nearly three decades in marketing and general management in the prestige beauty industry, rising up through The Estée Lauder Companies, where he spent most of his career, to become a global brand president. He retired from Estée Lauder in 2018 to focus on business consulting, advising, guest-lecturing at Brandeis and coaching senior executives.

“My Brandeis student experience is an unforgettable highlight of my life, one that also has had a profound effect on my career,” said Lichtenthal. “I’ve remained involved with Brandeis as a business school guest-lecturer, so when Dean Graddy offered me the opportunity to join the Advisory Board, I seized upon it immediately as a way not only to deepen my relationship with the university and help impact today’s students, but also as a way to give back for all that I have gained.”

Clarke founded The Impact Seat, a firm that invests in emerging technologies, including medical devices. To date, Clarke has invested in more than 60 companies and 12 funds in North America and Europe. Prior to that, she worked for more than a decade in management consulting firms. Clarke also serves on several boards.

“When Dean Graddy asked me to join the advisory board, I saw it as an opportunity to support a woman in leadership whom I admire greatly,” said Clarke. “I also saw it as an opportunity to broaden the voices at the table because I focus all of my efforts into creating a diverse team around me. In these challenging times, we need the best ideas coming forward and a diverse team always offers the best ideas.”

Aron spent nearly 21 years in various positions at Citigroup, starting her career in derivatives sales before moving into leveraged lending followed by project finance. She spent her last decade at Citi in the restructuring department before being named a managing director in the enterprise risk group. She is currently an executive vice president at HSBC, where she heads the global and U.S. risk governance and appetite team. In this role, she is responsible for defining and maintaining the risk governance and appetite frameworks for the firm globally.

“I didn’t need any convincing when Dean Graddy reached out to me about joining the Board of Advisors,” said Aron. “I owe so much to the Lemberg Program in International Economics and Finance, which led me to a career in international finance that I have enjoyed for the past 26 years. I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to get more involved in ensuring the ongoing success of a place that helped shape my life.”