At the Syracuse University Board of Trustees annual meeting, three individuals were elected as new trustees.
Lauren B. Cramer L’94 joined the New York law firm McLaughlin & Stern in 1995, and is a member of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York and the New York State Bar Association. Her areas of concentration include trust and estate administration, and tax-exempt organization work, focusing particularly on public charities and private foundations, as well as general corporate and litigation law.
Cramer earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from Northwestern University, and a J.D. from Syracuse University College of Law in 1994. Prior to law school, she pursued a career in finance and not-for-profit administration.
Cramer’s community affiliations include National Dance Institute (executive committee), Ballet NY (chair), and Impact Theatre (co-founder). She also has served as an officer and director of numerous civic and charitable organizations in a pro-bono capacity, advising both private foundations and public charities in issues relating to administration and the law. At SU, Cramer serves on the College of Visual and Performing Arts Advisory Council and has served as a guest lecturer.
Her Syracuse family includes her father, SU Trustee Emeritus Gerald B. Cramer ’52; her mother, Barbara Browne Cramer ’56; and her brothers, Douglas A. Cramer ’87 and Roy Raskin-Cramer ’95.
Lawrence S. Kramer ’72, founder of MarketWatch and a 40-year media industry veteran, was named president and publisher of the nation’s second-largest newspaper, USA Today, in May 2012. He is a member of the Gannett Leadership Team.
Following a 20-year career as a distinguished, award winning reporter and editor, Kramer earned a reputation as the most influential individual in Internet journalism and a successful media entrepreneur. His early venture, DataSport, Inc., sold to Data Broadcasting Corp., was followed by MarketWatch, Inc., an Internet financial information company where he was chairman, CEO and founder until its sale to Dow Jones in 2005. Kramer moved to CBS as founding president of its Digital Media Division. He next joined Polaris Venture Partners (Boston) as a senior adviser, working with portfolio companies and identifying new investment opportunities in digital media, advertising and e-commerce.
Kramer is the author of “C-Scape: Conquer the Forces Changing Business Today” (HarperBusiness, 2010), a book about the digital transformation of media and commerce.
Kramer earned a bachelor’s degree in magazine journalism from the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and an MBA at Harvard in 1974.
For SU, he chairs the Newhouse Advisory Board, serves as a media consultant, and sponsors students in immersion trips to New York City, where he resides. He is an adjunct professor at the Newhouse School (media management), as well as the Whitman School of Management (entrepreneurship). For the Newhouse School, Kramer named the “War Room” in the Digital Convergence Suite in Newhouse 3.
He and his wife, Myla F. Lerner ’73, are also producers for Broadway theatre.
Elliott I. Portnoy ’86 is Global CEO of SNR Denton, an international law firm based in Washington, D.C., with 1,500 lawyers worldwide serving clients in 43 countries.
SNR Denton is a law firm launched in 2010 with the combination of U.S.-based Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal, founded in 1906, and UK-based Denton Wilde Sapte, founded in 1785. Prior to the formation of SNR Denton, Portnoy served as the youngest chairman of Sonnenschein.
Portnoy graduated summa cum laude in 1986 from The College of Arts and Sciences and was selected as SU’s first Rhodes Scholar. He received a Ph.D. in politics from Oxford University, and later a J.D. cum laude from Harvard Law School.
He has been active in supporting The College of Arts and Sciences, serving as a member of its board of visitors. He is also a member of SU’s Washington Regional Campaign Council, and a recipient of a Chancellor’s Citation for Exceptional Academic Achievement and an Outstanding Young Alumni Award.
Portnoy is the founder of Kids Enjoy Exercise Now (KEEN), a nonprofit that provides sports opportunities to children with severe and profound disabilities in the U.S. and the U.K. KEEN has programs in Chicago, London, Los Angeles, New York, Oxford, Phoenix, San Francisco, St. Louis and Washington, D.C. The organization has trained more than 30,000 volunteers to serve young people with disabilities.
Portnoy lives outside Washington, D.C., with his wife, Estee, and their three children.
