The Board of Trustees has elected three new members, according to an April 11 BrandeisNOW press release. The new trustees and their employers are, respectively, Lisa R. Kranc '75 of AutoZone, Inc; Michael G. Frieze of Gordon Brothers Group; and George D. Krupp of the Berkshire Group. University President Frederick Lawrence commented that each of the new trustees has relevant experience for governing Brandeis University. "Mike, George and Lisa combine to bring a wealth of experience to the board. Mike and George are profoundly significant members of the Boston philanthropic community. Lisa brings extremely valuable skills in marketing and human resources, especially when we are in the midst of strategic planning for our future," he said in the press release.

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Kranc is the senior vice president of marketing at Autozone, based in Memphis. After graduating from Brandeis, she received an M.B.A. from Columbia University, and worked at Hannaford Bros. Co., among other companies. She is currently the vice president of Brandeis' Alumni Association Board of Directors and is on the board of the Brooks Art Museum in Memphis.

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Kranc could not be reached for comment by press time.

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Frieze is the chairman of the board of directors of Gordon Brothers Group, where Malcolm Sherman, the chair of the Brandeis Board of Trustees, is the vice chairman. Gordon Brothers is "an advisory, lending and investment firm that helps growing, mature or distressed businesses manage through strategic change," according to its website.

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Frieze previously served as a trustee from 2001 to 2005, and his wife, Lisa, is a member of the Heller School Board of Overseers. He is currently a trustee of Children's Hospital and Dana Farber Cancer Institute, and is a supporter of the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, among other causes.

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He wrote in an email to the Justice that his admiration for Brandeis stems from "the University's commitment to social justice demonstrated by the POSSE and TYP programs as well as the Heller School."

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Frieze declined to comment on a host of recent controversial decisions made by the Board of Trustees, including those to raise tuition by 4.1 percent for returning students and to increase the size of the undergraduate body.

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Krupp is the co-founder and co-chairman of The Berkshire Group, an investment firm specializing in the multifamily real estate industry. He is a trustee of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, has donated a gallery at the Museum of Fine Arts and has supported the natural sciences at Ben-Gurion University in Israel and the Hornstein Jewish Professional Leadership Program at Brandeis, according to the BrandeisNOW press release.

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Krupp is also a founder of Gann Academy, a Jewish day school in Waltham. In the BrandeisNOW release he thanked President Emeritus Jehuda Reinharz for his logistical support during the school's first years, which he cited as a catalyst for his giving back to Brandeis. Asked what his top priority as a trustee will be, Krupp replied that he would work to keep tuition affordable. "My own view is universities in general cannot continue to raise tuitions and hope to sustain a diversified student body," he wrote in an email to the Justice. He declined to comment on recent issues before the Board of Trustees.

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Krupp and his wife, Liz, are consistent donors to the Democratic Party. They each gave $35,800 to President Obama and $30,800 to the Democratic National Committee in the most recent election cycle-the maximum legal contribution-according to the Huffington Post. They have also given to congressional and gubernatorial candidates, and together have given $139,200 to Democrats in this election cycle, according to the Huffington Post.

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The Board of Trustees now has 45 members and is permitted by its bylaws to have up to fifty. Additionally, there are seven trustees emeriti. The terms of the new trustees begin May 20.