The process of choosing board members each year to fill vacancies starts with the selection of a Nominations Proposal Committee (NPC), which has in recent years consisted of six CAA board members and four non-board alumni. Traditionally, the four non-board members were recruited by the CAA board’s Governance Committee (GC), which is tasked with creating the NPC. The NPC’s task is to find candidates to fill the board vacancies and present them to the board to initiate the election process.

In this 2025 CAA board election cycle, rather than have GC search for NPC candidates, it was decided to have alumni nominate themselves, or another alum, for a position. We were pleased to receive 17 applications, including three from outside the U.S.

Using the NPC Selection Criteria, the GC evaluated the candidates by reading their applications and conducting telephone/zoom/email interviews.

During the interviews, five chose to not continue their candidacy and two withdrew to seek a board position instead. The 10 remaining candidates were evaluated with an eye to create a group who, by themselves and via their Techer networks, are as broad a representation of class years, undergrad vs graduate populations, academic and professional experiences, and geographical locations as possible.

The quality of the candidates was so high that the GC has taken the unprecedented step of inviting all the candidates to participate. We are pleased to announce this year’s NPC:

NPC non-board members (voting)

• Aneesh Acharya; PhD Bioengineering 2016; Pasadena, CA
• Daniel Kyme; BS CS 2021; New York, NY
• Anandi Raman Creath; BS Biology & Chemistry, 1996; Phoenix, AZ
• Greg Stone; BS ChemE 1974; MS ChemE 1974; Pasadena, CA

NPC Board Members (voting)

• Edgardo Garcia-Berrios; PhD Chem 2011; San Jose, CA
• Miral Kim-E; BS ChemE 1978; La Jolla, CA
• Liz Stameshkin; BS Biology 2003; San Francisco, CA
• Jay Turner; BS MechE 2001; Torrance, CA

NPC Board Members (nonvoting)

• Frederic Caldwell; BS Eng & Appied Science 1996; San Jose, CA
• Dan Liebling; BS Computational Neuroscience 2002; Seattle, WA

NPC US Advisory (non-board, nonvoting)

• Zvonimir Bandic; MS/PhD Applied Physics 1996/1999; San Jose, CA
• Ingrid Cotoros; BS Physics 2002; Hillsborough, CA
• Marty Sirkin; BS Eng & Applied Sciences, 1984; Mercer Island, WA

NPC International Advisory (non-board, nonvoting)

• Pui Ying Angel Kong; BS EE 2004; Hong Kong
• Edgard Schweig; MS,PhD EE 1982; Lima, Peru
• Gerry Wrixon; MSc EE 1965; Kinsale, Ireland

If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to direct them to Miral Kim-E, Vice Chair-Governance, at mek@mek.com.

Last updated: April 22, 2025

An effective member of the Nominations Proposal Committee will have the following traits:

1. Is a member in good standing;

2. Understands the skills and experience needed for CAA board service;

3. Has a deep understanding of the association’s mission and goals, particularly in advancing the CEO’s vision for furthering the interests of Caltech alumni;

4. Proven record of involvement in Caltech Alumni Association events, initiatives, or committees;

5. Awareness of the importance of diverse representation, including varied graduating classes, academic disciplines, geographic locations, and professional sectors;

6. Resourceful in leveraging personal and professional networks to identify potential candidates;

7. Ability to work effectively as part of a team and build consensus among committee members;

8. Willingness to invest time in the nominations process, including participating in meetings, candidate evaluations, and outreach efforts;

9. Strong communication skills to articulate the rationale for candidate selections;

10. Demonstrated ability to handle sensitive information with discretion;

11. Ability to work within budget constraints while ensuring a high-quality, inclusive selection process.