Board of Trustees Biographies

Carlos is a 26-year Wall Street veteran, focused on the issuance of international debt for Latin American borrowers. Currently, Carlos is an Executive Director in J.P. Morgan’s Latin American Debt Capital Markets Group. He joined J.P. Morgan after a 17-year career at Barclays Capital. He is principally responsible for the origination and execution of debt instruments and liability management for sovereign clients across Latin America and for corporate accounts in Central America and the Caribbean.

Carlos holds a B.S. in Finance from Georgetown University (in Washington, D.C.) and is a native English and Spanish speaker.

Carlos was born in New York, the son of Cuban / Peruvian immigrants. He grew-up in Miami, FL, where he met his wife of more than 20 years, Annette S. Aspillaga. The Aspillaga family makes their home in New Canaan, CT together with their two boys, Charlie (‘22) and Gus (‘25).

Carroll W. Brewster, graduate of Yale College and the Yale Law School, served as legal assistant to the Chief Justice of the Sudan for three years and practiced law in Connecticut for five years. He then served as Dean of the College at Dartmouth College, President of Hollins College in Virginia, President of Hobart and William Smith Colleges, and as executive director of the Hole in the Wall Gang Fund. He lives on a family farm in Ridgefield where he grew up.

Matt is in his eighth year as Wooster's Head of School. Previous to Wooster he served as Assistant Superintendent for Secondary Education in the Darien (CT) Public School District. Before Darien, he was a high school principal in Brewster, New York and Novato, California. A life-long learner and educator, Mr. Byrnes has nearly two decades of experience as a teacher and educational administrator and holds degrees from Duke University, San Francisco State University and the University of California at Berkeley.

Matt is married to Madyn Gwynne and has three children at Wooster – Kernochan '17, Cooper '19, and Avery '24.

After completing his undergraduate studies in History at the University of Notre Dame, Chip Fortson was selected for the Navy’s Nuclear Power Program where he completed a graduate-level course of study in Nuclear, Electrical and Mechanical Engineering before reporting for duty as an Officer aboard the USS Memphis (SSN-691), a Los Angeles Class fast attack submarine.

After the Navy, Chip worked as an Investment Associate for Putnam Investments in Boston. He then received his MBA from Stanford’s Graduate School of Business. After business school, he worked in New York and London for Carlson Capital, a Dallas-based asset manager where he was a partner and portfolio manager. After Carlson, Chip was an equities portfolio manager for Citadel Global Equities.

A CFA Charterholder, Chip lives in Ridgefield, CT, with his wife Nicole and three sons.

Andrew, along with his wife Alison, and, then, two small boys moved to Ridgefield, CT ten years ago. Both of their sons are now attending Wooster School.

Andrew manages an alternative, option-based strategy focused on generating absolute returns in varied market conditions, especially during times of less-pronounced trends and higher oscillation within the equities markets. The strategy is designed to add significant diversification in institutional portfolios. In addition, he shares his market experience and derivative expertise across the Additive platform, contributing to both portfolio and client solutions.

Prior to joining Additive Advisory and Capital, Andrew was responsible for the development and management of option portfolios and funds as the Senior Managing Director at Acorn Derivatives Management Corp, where he dedicated 20 years and managed nearly $900 million at its peak. In addition to managing option strategies, he was the head trader, director of research, and actively engaged in marketing.

Earlier in his career, he worked at Tradition U.K. in London where he was a junior trader. Following his time in London, he worked on the floor of the Chicago Board Options Exchange.

Mr. Greeley is a CFA® charterholder. He is a member of NYSSA, CFA Institute, and the Market Technicians Association. Mr. Greeley received his MBA in Finance from the New York University Stern School of Business and a BS from New Hampshire College. He volunteers in support of the Boy Scouts of America and is currently serving as board member and Treasurer of the Ridgefield Amateur Hockey Association.

Along with his wife, Laura, Jim is the proud parent of three current Wooster students: Brogan '17, Kylie '18 and Megan '22. Raising his family in New Fairfield, CT, they joined the Wooster community in 2009. Jim joined the Board of Trustees in 2011 and after serving on the Development and Finance committees was elected Treasurer and Chair of the Finance Committee in 2013.

Jim has been working in the finance industry for over 20 years and is currently a Partner and Portfolio Manager at OTA LLC in Purchase, NY. He began as a Systems Administrator and then transitioned from a supporting role to Proprietary Trader. He has extensive experience in utilizing equities, options, bonds and derivatives to trade various strategies including mergers and acquisitions, special situations, convertible arbitrage and statistical arbitrage. He currently holds Series 7, 55, 63 and 24 licenses from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. He has served on the Nominating Committee for the NYSE ARCA exchange. He obtained a BS degree in Information Systems from Pace University while working at Reader’s Digest as a quantitative analyst.

Jim has had the opportunity to invest and participate in a number of private ventures. Partnered with two of his brothers, he has enjoyed the creation and opening in 2013 of J.A. Heneghan’s Restaurant and Tavern located in Point Lookout, NY.

In his leisure time, Jim and his family enjoy life on Candlewood Lake, skiing, hiking and spending time with their many pets.

Richard is Vice President of State Affairs for The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America and manages a multi-state legislative and regulatory agenda primarily focused on healthcare issues. He formerly held executive positions at GE Capital, Mastercard, and several global public relations consultancies.

Richard serves on the board of directors of the National Association of Dental Plans, the Association of California Life & Health Insurance Companies, the California Association of Dental Plans, and the Utah Life & Health Guaranty Association. He co-chairs the California Association of Dental Plan’s Legislative and Regulatory Committee and is chair of the National Association of Dental Plans’ Government Relations WorkGroup.

Richard holds a master's degree in journalism and a bachelor's degree in communications, both from Ohio University.

Neil Marcus first arrived on the Wooster School campus in the Fall of 1961 and he has never really left. Following upon his brother Michael's graduation (Class of '61) he spent four years preparing for admission to the University of Pennsylvania (B.A.) and subsequently New York University School of Law (J.D.). He is a principal in the Firm of Cohen and Wolf P.C. which he joined in 1973 and founded its Danbury office. He joined the Wooster Board in 1981 as President of the Alumni Council as has been a member ever since. His sons, Tim, Evan and Brandon all attended Wooster. He is married to Lisi and has a daughter ,Abby and two grandsons, Sam and Felix. He is a member of the CT. Milk Regulation Board as well as a number of community organization boards including The Aldrich Museum (past Chair), the Danbury Hospital (past Chair) and the Western CT Health Network Foundation.

Simon is an investment advisor overseeing separately managed accounts at First Manhattan Company.

He was born in Perth, Western Australia, attended Guildford Grammar School and graduated Murdoch University with a Bachelor of Commerce. He started his career in public accounting, with an audit and assurance services focus that lead to employment with Deloitte in New York. Simon qualified as a Chartered Accountant in Australia and earned his CPA license after moving to the United States. His financial and analytical background strengthens his present day work as a Portfolio Manager.

Simon and his wife Erin are raising their three boys Max ('22), Teddy ('25) and Henry ('29) on Candlewood Lake where the family enjoys boating, tennis and golf. Simon is also a competitive platform tennis player in leagues around Fairfield County.

Allen lives in Ridgefield with his wife Shira, and their four daughters, Lillian, Alice ‘21, Cecilia ‘23, and Charlotte ‘25. This is his fifth year on the Board of Trustees.

In 2000, Allen founded Purkiss Capital Advisors, LLC. PCA is an independent, fee-only, Registered Investment Advisor.

He is a graduate of Hobart College with a degree in Mathematics.

Mark D. Schneider attended Wooster School from 1972 to 1977, his year of graduation. He is currently Senior Counsel with Sidley Austin, LLP, the law firm where he has practiced since 1984, except for the years 1999-2002, when he served as a Senior Legal Advisor to FCC Commissioner Susan Ness, and then Associate General Counsel at the FCC to Chairman Michael Powell. He also has served as an Adjunct Professor of Law at the Georgetown University Law Center for fifteen years.

Mark also has served as a trustee on a number of civic and charitable boards, including:

• The Langley School in McLean, Virginia from 2001 to 2007, where he served as Board President, 2005-06 and Vice President and Treasurer, 2004-05.
• The FCBA Foundation (1996-98, 2011-14; Chair (2014)). The FCBA Foundation serves a number of constituencies, including awarding college scholarships to District of Columbia public and charter school students.
• Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation, Washington, DC/Virginia Chapter (2012-Present; President/Chair, 2014-2019).
• Coalition to Stop Gun Violence (2016-Present) and Educational Fund to Stop Gun Violence (2016-Present).
• Black Student Fund (2016-Present). The Black Student Fund provides financial assistance and support services to Washington, DC metropolitan area African-American students, grades pre-kindergarten to 12, and their families, serving as an advocate for all black children and striving to assure that black students and their families have equal access to every educational opportunity.

Mark is a graduate of Haverford College and the Georgetown University Law Center. He lives in McLean, Virginia with his wife Lisa. They have two children, Jeffrey and Allison.

Shelika is an attorney admitted to the New York Bar, holds an LLM in Taxation and recently joined Grant Thornton as a Tax Associate in the International Tax Services practice in the Manhattan office. Prior to moving to CT, Shelika worked as an Associate Director of Admissions at University Liggett School, the oldest independent coeducational day school in Grosse Pointe Woods, MI. She received her JD and LLM, Magna Cum Laude from Western Michigan University Cooley Law School.

Shelika currently has 2 children attending Wooster School, Peter Jr. ’21 and Rebekah ’25. Their oldest daughter Saudia is a junior at Kalamazoo College. She and her husband Peter have been married for 21 years and moved to CT 2 years ago from southeast Michigan.

Jennifer Wadehra and her husband Raj live in Wilton, CT with their three daughters Riley, Alix (Wooster '19), and Avery (Wooster '21). Jennifer spent 15 years leading branding, education, and issues management campaigns for global brands at Ketchum Public Relations in Washington, DC, Chicag,o and New York City, and as a consultant. Choosing to stay closer to home with her children, she turned her passion for mindfulness and exercise into a small business and currently teaches pilates in Wilton.

Jennifer is a graduate of the Philip Merrill School of Journalism at the University of Maryland - College Park. She also volunteers with A Better Chance Wilton, a non-profit that provides quality high school education to minority boys and girls to increase their chances to attend college, and is a Wooster Parent Ambassador.

Leon was elected to the Wooster Board of Trustees in 2014 and began serving as President in 2016. Leon and his wife, Karen, reside in West Redding with their three children Liam, Elizabeth, and Caroline. Liam and Caroline attend Wooster School. Elizabeth attends Hotchkiss School.

Leon, a lawyer by training, retired from the internet business. For the past several years he has been actively involved at the board level of several education-related nonprofit entities, including the Redding Education Foundation, the Redding Elementary PTA, the Connecticut Friends School Steering Committee and the Montclair, NJ Northeast Elementary PTA.

Leon is a central Massachusetts native. He holds a B.S. in Communications from Fitchburg State University and did graduate work in technical writing at FSU, and in Network Architecture at Northeastern University. Leon also holds a JD from the Massachusetts School of Law and was admitted to the Massachusetts Bar in 1995. Currently, Leon is working towards his pilot's license. When time permits, he also enjoys international travel, playing ice hockey and skiing with his family.

Andy joined the Wilton Re, a leading provider of reinsurance solutions in the North America life insurance industry in 2004 and is the Senior Vice President and Group Chief Information Officer. They create customized solutions that address the industries capital, risk, and operational needs. Prior to Wilton Re, Andy was the North American Chief Technology Officer at Swiss Re Life & Health America Inc. He held several positions with Swiss Re including Global Research and Development Manager in the UK. The Swiss Re Group is a leading global wholesale provider of reinsurance, insurance, and other insurance-based forms of risk transfer. Prior to joining Swiss Re, Andy was with Mercantile & General Reinsurance in England.

Andy received a B.Sc. in Computing from North Gloucestershire College of Technology, England.

Andy has been on the Board of Green Chimneys for over 8 years and participates on both the technology and education committees. Green Chimneys provides residential, educational, clinical, and recreational services.

Andu is married to Millany, and they have two children at Wooster School. Maya '24 has been at Wooster since 9th Grade. Joshua '26 has just started at Wooster as a Freshmen and is in the Bridge Program.

Jay grew up on the Wooster campus, coming to the school as a child with his family in 1947 His father was along time Latin and music teacher at the school, well known for his original Chapel choir direction as well as the "Woosteria" musical comedies performed each year in the 1940s, 50's, and 60's.

Jay began as a student at Wooster in the Second Form in 1959 and was a member of the great class of 1964. His son Whitney '04, was in the inaugural kindergarten class in 1991. His daughter Katie started in kindergarten as well and graduated as Senior Prefect in 2008.

Jay's professional career began with military service in the United States Navy, flying crew on and off aircraft carriers in the late 60's. Upon his discharge he completed his undergraduate and graduate degrees in economics and business respectively at Fordham University in New York City. Over the next 42 years, he assumed various leadership roles in information technology at Stauffer Chemical Company, Pitney Bowes, Avon Products, and Hartford Financial Services. He retired from The Hartford in 2012 as Assistant Vice President/Director of Service Management in the Chief Technology Office.

Jay has been involved with and supported Wooster all ofhis life because he believes the core values of simplicity, hard work and intellectual excellence, that be learned as a child, still resonate and are part of Wooster today.

Over the years he has chaired annual fund campaigns, helped organize golf outings, the Athletic HÀll of Fame and the school archives. He was on the Alumni Council for many years and was elected President in 2013. He was honored in 2016 with the Alumni Award.

Jay lives in Oxford, CT and Lakewood Ranch, FL with his wife Sue.