2023 Alumni Trustee Candidates

The Alumni Council has nominated three candidates to serve as members of Hamilton’s Board of Trustees. The positions will serve a four-year term beginning on July 1, 2023.

Alumni Trustee Candidates

Edvige Jean-François ’90

After graduating from Hamilton with a major in English and a minor in Spanish, Edvige received a master’s degree in journalism from Columbia University. For more than 20 years, she built a career in television, including positions at ABC News in New York City, Associated Press Television News in Washington, D.C., and CNN International in Atlanta.

Most recently, in support of the College, Edvige was an active member of her 30th reunion planning committee, led three online discussions at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, and has been engaged with Hamilton’s diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives. She was guest editor for “We Are Hamilton,” a Winter/Spring 2021 special edition of Hamilton magazine, which was featured in Inside Higher Ed and received a CASE Gold Circle of Excellence Award. In 2021, Edvige received a Hamilton College Key Award. Also in 2021, Dave Bolger ’99 interviewed her for his podcast Had I Known. In the summer of 2022, she delivered the Baccalaureate address for Hamilton’s rescheduled Class of 2020 graduation and received a doctorate of humane letters.

In July 2022, Edvige began a career in academia when she was appointed the inaugural executive director of the Center for Studies on Africa and Its Diaspora (CSAD) at Georgia State University’s College of Arts and Sciences in Atlanta. CSAD is an academic research center focused on increasing worldwide understanding of the African diaspora, the people from Africa, and their ongoing contributions to the world.

Kevin J. O’Donnell ’89, P’22,’25

Kevin graduated from Hamilton with a degree in economics. While at Hamilton, he played football and was a member of Delta Upsilon fraternity. He received a master of business administration from New York University’s Leonard N. Stern School of Business.

Kevin built his career in the reinsurance industry and is the president and chief executive officer of RenaissanceRe, a leading global property and casualty reinsurer. In addition, Kevin is actively involved with many industry and educational organizations and is the chair of ClimateWise, a current trustee of The Institutes, and a member of the board of overseers for St. John's University School of Risk Management, Insurance, and Actuarial Sciences.

Kevin hosted a Hamilton virtual event in 2020, “Reinsurance: The Most Interesting Industry You've Never Heard Of,” providing an education to both alumni and students considering career options. Currently, he is vice chair of the Hamilton Fund and will assume the chairmanship in July for a two-year term.

Kevin and his wife, Jennie Lee O’Donnell ’89, live in Bermuda. They have three daughters, Emma, Mollie ’22, and Hailey ’25.

William “Bill” C. Schmoker ’89

Bill was an economics major at Hamilton and earned his Master of Science degree from the London School of Economics as well as his Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation. As an undergraduate, he was a member of Hamilton’s tennis team and Alpha Delta Phi fraternity. He was president of the College’s Minnesota Alumni Association, a member of the Admission and Career Center volunteer programs, a class correspondent, and a leadership gift caller for the Hamilton Fund.

In recent years Bill has subsidized Hamilton’s spring trip in Nepal, associated with a class focused on adventure writing, and established a substantial endowment for the Outdoor Leadership program. He is a vice president and senior investment manager for the Principal Financial Group in Minneapolis. He was chairman of the board for Minnesota Children’s Museum, trustee for the Jeremiah Program, which disrupts the cycle of poverty for single mothers and their children, as well as trustee for the Breck School. Bill recently completed a term as board chair for Wilderness Inquiry, which promotes outdoor adventures for people of all ages and backgrounds.

In accordance with the Constitution of the Hamilton Alumni Association, alumni may submit additional nominations for alumni trustee by petition. Please contact Sam Welch, associate vice president for constituent engagement, at rswelch@hamilton.edu for more information about the process and requirements for the submission of a valid petition nomination. Petitions must be submitted by March 10, 2023.