KU Endowment board elects 6 new trustees

LAWRENCE — At the KU Endowment Board of Trustees’ annual meeting Sept. 30, six new trustees were elected: Gene Camarena of Wichita; Laura Koenigs of Springfield, Massachusetts; Erica LeBlanc of Chicago; Daniel Martin of Olathe; Lisa Murray of Mission Hills; and David Pittaway of Naples, Florida.

Each brings a wealth of experience to their new role on the board.

Gene Camarena

Gene Camarena received his bachelor’s degree in accounting and business administration from the University of Kansas in 1979 and an MBA from Harvard University in 1987. He and his wife, Yolanda, live in Wichita. Camarena is president/CEO of La Raza Pizza Inc. His business interests include Pizza Hut restaurants, Marriott Hotels, banking and real estate development. Camarena has served three terms as the chairman of the board of directors of the International Pizza Hut Franchise Holders Association (IPHFHA) and was recently inducted into the IPHFHA Hall of Fame.

Camarena currently serves as chair of the board of directors for the Hispanic Scholarship Fund, which provides more than $30 million in scholarships to Hispanic college and graduate students annually. Camarena also serves on the Holy Savior Catholic Church Finance Committee and the board of directors for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Kansas, Empower, Quick Hire, Hispanics in Real Estate, United Way and the Pizza Hut Foundation.

Laura Pinkston Koenigs

Laura Pinkston Koenigs graduated from KU in 1978 with bachelor’s degrees in English and chemistry. She received her medical degree from KU in 1982. Koenigs and her husband, Ken (bachelor’s degree in chemistry in 1978, M.D. in 1982), completed residencies and fellowships at Yale University and live outside of Springfield, Massachusetts.

Koenigs recently retired from the Baystate Children’s Hospital, where she was the program director for the pediatric residency and an adolescent medicine physician and served as the chair of the American Board of Pediatrics Adolescent Medicine Subboard. She received the Rusty Leffel Concerned Student Award in 1978 in recognition of her “rabble-rousing” on the KU Athletic Corporation Board and work with the honor societies of Lambda Sigma and Mortar Board as they transitioned to become coeducational. She has been active on the Advisory Board for the Honors College and has served as a mentor for KU pre-med students. The couple are longstanding members of the Chancellors Club and Life Members of the Alumni Association.

Erica LeBlanc

Erica LeBlanc earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from KU in 2002 and an MBA from the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan in 2007. She and her husband, Todd, reside in the northern Chicago suburbs. LeBlanc is executive director, new ventures, at S.C. Johnson, where she has held marketing and general management roles of increasing responsibility across multiple divisions since 2007.

Prior to business school, LeBlanc was a consultant in Deloitte’s Human Capital practice, where she helped clients in a broad range of industries develop and execute change management and training plans. LeBlanc is passionate about mentoring and career coaching; she has been recognized as a best-in-class coach at S.C. Johnson’s Marketing Excellence Awards multiple years and is a frequent marketing guest lecturer and conference speaker. LeBlanc sits on both the Dean’s Advisory Board and Marketing Advisory Board at the KU School of Business, and she supports the Multicultural Business Scholars Program. In 2017, she was recognized as an Emerging Leader by the School of Business Dean’s Advisory Board, an award given in recognition of career achievements and community contributions.

Daniel Martin

Daniel Martin is a fourth-generation Kansan from Overland Park, with three degrees from KU including an MBA, juris doctor and doctorate in higher education policy and leadership as well as a doctorate in higher education management from the University of Pennsylvania. He received his bachelor’s degree from Southern Nazarene University.

Martin joined KU Endowment in August 2022 as president. He and his wife, Pam, moved to Kansas from Houston, where he served as the chief philanthropy officer at the Texas division of St. Luke’s Health. Prior to that, he served as president and CEO of Seattle Pacific University for nearly nine years. Martin is a certified fundraising executive who brings to KU Endowment extensive experience in higher education leadership and fundraising.

Lisa Murray

Lisa Murray earned a bachelor’s degree from Princeton University in 2004 and an MBA from Harvard Business School in 2009. She is a CFA holder. Murray and her husband, Thomas, live in Mission Hills. She is the chief investment officer for the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, where she leads the team that oversees a globally diversified $2 billion portfolio. Previously, Murray was the managing director in investments.

Prior to joining the Kauffman Foundation, she was an investment consultant for Angeles Investment Advisors, where she worked with foundations and endowments, advising on all aspects of their investment programs. Murray is a member of the board of trustees of the Kansas City Art Institute and previously served on the board of directors of United Women’s Empowerment (formerly The Women’s Foundation).

David Pittaway

David Pittaway received a bachelor’s in American studies, history and political science from KU in 1972. He received a juris doctor in 1975 and an MBA in 1982, both from Harvard University. He and his wife, Jeannine, live in Naples, Florida. Pittaway is vice chairman, senior managing director and chief compliance officer of Castle Harlan and is also vice chair and chief compliance officer of Branford Castle. He is responsible for the firm’s current ownership investments in Gold Star Foods, Colyar Technology Solutions, American Achievement Corporation, Statia Terminals Group N.V., Morton’s Restaurant Group, United Malt Holdings Inc. and Bravo Brio Restaurant Group.

Pittaway served for 20 years in the U. S. Army Reserve and, upon retiring as a major, co-founded the Armed Forces Reserve Family Assistance Fund, which provides needed support for families of American service members serving overseas. Pittaway is a member of the Chancellors Club and the KU Alumni Association’s Veterans Network. He and his wife are supporters of KU Debate and the Department of History.