American Repertory Ballet Welcomes New Trustees

The American Repertory Ballet (ARB) is pleased to announce the addition of Peter G. Gerry and Melissa Marschner to its Board of Trustees, effective July 1, 2012, the beginning of ARB’s next fiscal year.

Gerry, a resident of the Princeton area for 35 years, is co-founder and Managing Partner of Sycamore Ventures (1995), a venture capital and private equity investment firm.

Marschner, a resident of Monroe Township, is an attorney who currently practices in the area of employment and ethics law and has experience in nonprofits and a passion for the arts.

Gerry is a graduate of Harvard College and received his M.B.A. from the Harvard Business School. Prior to attending business school, he served as a commissioned officer in the US Navy and completed two deployments in Vietnam.From 1973 to 1995,Peter was employed at Citicorp Venture Capital, Ltd. In 1984, he became President of Citicorp Venture Capital, Ltd. and Court Square Capital Ltd. During the course of his 22 years at Citicorp Venture Capital, Ltd., he served on the boards of 30 companies and was responsible for structuring and making more than 120 investments.Peter also served two terms as the Governor of the National Association of Small Business Investment Companies ("NASBIC"), and for six years as a director of the New York Venture Capital Forum, where he was President from 1985 to 1987.

Currently, Mr. Gerry is Chairman of the Board of Directors of U Systems, Inc. serves as a director of Consensus, Medical, Inc., Outlast Technologies, Inc. and Exclaim Mobility, Inc.

Active in the non-profit sector, Gerry currently serves as the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of The Rensselaerville Institute and as a trustee of the Harness Racing Museum & Hall of Fame, the Standardbred Retirement Foundation, the Lake Delaware Boys Camp, and St. James Church in Delhi, NY. Formerly he served as a trustee of the Princeton Day School (1989-1999), the Harness Horse Youth Foundation (1993-1997) and the Hambletonian Society (1980-2009).

Marschner earned her B.A., cum laude from Rutgers University and her J.D., cum laude from Seton Hall University School of Law. After clerking for the US District Court for the District of New Jersey, Marschner was an associate at Reed Smith LLP in their Princeton office, specializing in financial services litigation and complex commercial litigation.

She then joined the Office of Counsel to the Administrative Director of the Courts for the New Jersey Judiciary, where she was litigation liaison to the Attorney General’s Office; represented the Judiciary in administrative proceedings and arbitrations; and presided as a hearing officer at employee discipline and union grievance hearings.  In December 2010, Melissa created Marschner Professional Services LLC, through which she provides labor & employment, litigation and ethics law services to various clients.  Marschner’s Adjunct Professorship at Seton Hall Law began in 2008.

Marschner is also very active in her community, and a lot of her non-profit sector work has been within arts organizations. She is a member of the Seton Hall University School of Law Alumni Council, is a member of the Mercer County Inn of Court, is a Cantor and PreCana team member at her church, and regularly volunteers at her daughter’s nursery school. She was a Trustee for Princeton Dance Theatre from 2003 to 2004 and has been a Trustee and Co-Chair of the Governance Committee of Princeton Pro Musica since 2007. Also since 2007, Maschner has been an active volunteer attorney at New Jersey Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts.

“I’m thrilled that Mr. Gerry and Ms. Marschner will be joining ARB’s Board of Trustees. Their expertise, enthusiasm and support for this organization will be an asset at the board level, and I am confident their leadership will help uscontinue the wonderful momentum ARB is gaining as a leader in the dance world and in our community,” says Managing Director Christine Chen.