Kennett F. Burnes Elected Chair of the Board of Trustees

Former CEO, President,
and Chair of
Cabot Corporation,
Burnes Is Currently
NEC Trustee, Chair of
Audit Committee, Chair
of Board of Visitors

Will Preside Over
Final Financing Phase,
Construction, and
Opening of New
Student Life and
Performance Center

New England Conservatory’s Board of Trustees has elected Kennett F. Burnes, former head of Cabot Corporation, as Chair. A member of the Conservatory’s Executive Committee and out-going Chair of the Board of Visitors, Burnes has also served on its Board of Trustees for several years and has served as Chair of the Audit Committee and as a member of the Finance Committee. He took over his new position August 1.

Burnes brings considerable expertise and experience to the chairmanship. Educated at Harvard College and Harvard Law School, he served as Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer of Cabot Corporation—a NYSE-listed manufacturer of specialty chemicals and performance materials—over a career of more than 20 years. Burnes is currently a Director of State Street Corporation and Watts Water Technologies, Inc., a member of the Dana Farber Cancer Institute's Board of Trustees, and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Schepens Eye Research Institute.

“I look forward to working with Ken in this role,” said Tony Woodcock, NEC President. “He knows the Conservatory well and will continue to provide excellent leadership through a period of transformation with the final financing, construction, and opening of our new Student Life and Performance Center in 2017.” President Woodcock also expressed gratitude to outgoing Chair Frank Wisneski, praising his “tireless advocacy for volunteerism and philanthropy, and his excellent guidance to NEC through a period of global economic instability as NEC launched its strategic planning and campus redevelopment initiatives.”