NEW YORK—Ronay Menschel, president of Phipps Houses and its subsidiary, Phipps Houses Services, Inc., has been elected to the board of directors of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, it was announced today.
Ms. Menschel succeeds William C. Steere, Jr., chairman and chief executive officer of Pfizer Inc., as a class B director. She will join the board immediately, filling the unexpired portion of the term ending December 31, 1998.
Ms. Menschel became president of Phipps Houses and its subsidiary, Phipps Houses Services, Inc., in April 1993. She has been chair of Phipps Community Development Corporation, an affiliate of Phipps Houses, since 1988.
The Phipps Houses Group of companies owns and manages 3,670 apartments for homeless, low- and moderate-income New Yorkers and manages an additional 5,000 apartments for other nonprofit organizations, including major hospitals. The Phipps Houses mission is to create and sustain communities through housing development, attentive property management, and residential and community-based human services.
Prior to joining Phipps Houses, Ms. Menschel served as deputy mayor, and subsequently as executive administrator, of New York City from 1978 to 1982.
She served on the board of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, specializing in consumer issues and the transit system's station environment from 1979 to 1990. She was chair of the New York City Advisory Commission for Cultural Affairs from 1984 to 1989.
Ms. Menschel headed the New York City Public Schools Chancellor's Advisory Council on Arts Education in 1991-92. She was a founder of Arts Partners, providing arts resources and programs to public schools.
Ms. Menschel is a director of the Municipal Art Society, the Citizens Housing and Planning Council, the Museum of the City of New York, and the Alliance for the Arts. She is a member of the Dean's Advisory Council of the Harvard Graduate School of Education and the Visiting Committee of Harvard College.
Ms. Menschel is a vice chairman of the board of trustees of Cornell University, serves on its executive committee and chairs the university's Academic Affairs and Campus Life Committee. Ms. Menschel received an A.B. degree from Cornell in 1964.
The Board of Directors of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York is comprised of nine members, six of whom (three class A and three class B directors) are elected by member banks in the Federal Reserve's Second District. The remaining three (class C directors) are appointed by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. Class A directors are drawn from the banking community. Class B and C directors are chosen from professions outside the banking community and typically represent business and industry, agriculture, labor and consumers.
