Media Relations
News Releases
For Release Upon Receipt - October 27, 2009
Contact:
Colin Riley, 617-353-2240, criley@bu.edu
MICROSOFT'S ANDREA TAYLOR NAMED BOSTON UNIVERSITY TRUSTEE
(Boston) – Civic leader Andrea L. Taylor, director of North America Community Affairs for Microsoft Corporation and a former UN delegate, was appointed a trustee of Boston University at its recent board meeting, announced Board Chair Robert A. Knox.
Taylor, a 1968 graduate of BU’s College of Communication, sets the strategy for and manages the implementation of Microsoft’s Community Technology Skills Program and Elevate America, a public-private partnership that offers free E-Learning courses and certification exams, Puget Sound community engagement, and employee community programs in the U.S., including matching gifts and volunteering. She works closely with nonprofit organizations, governments and businesses in the U.S. and Canada to advance employability and workforce development for youth, women, seniors, and displaced and disabled workers.
“Andrea’s passion for education, her global perspective and her comprehensive understanding of new media are just three of the many valuable assets she brings to the board,” said Knox. “We look forward to a long and fruitful association with her.”
Before joining Redmond, Wash.-based Microsoft in June 2006, Taylor was the founding director of the Media Fund at the Ford Foundation, managing $50 million in support of global media projects, including Sesame Street in China and South Africa, acclaimed television series such as Eyes on the Prize and The Pacific Century, and National Public Radio. She began her career as a journalist, working as a reporter, producer, and on-air host for a variety of newspapers and public television stations, including The Boston Globe, The Bay State Banner and WGBH-TV in Boston.
Taylor is currently a trustee of WNYC Public Radio, Philanthropy Northwest, the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy and serves as a member of the National Advisory Board of the Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop. She has served as a trustee of numerous other cultural, civic, and human service organizations, including the Film Forum, the Amtrak Advisory Committee, the Ms. Foundation for Women, and the Council on Foundations, where she currently sits on the Council’s Contributions Committee.
Recently, Taylor was an adjunct faculty member at the Harvard Graduate School of Education where she developed and taught a new course, "New Media, Power, and Global Diversity," to help prepare the next generation of academic leaders for policy and practice in the age of digital media. She has participated in four global summits of the United Nations on development and information technology.
After earning her B.S. in journalism at BU, she pursued post-graduate studies in international politics at New York University. Several of her family members, including her mother and father (College of Fine Arts), sister (College of Arts & Sciences), and two uncles (School of Law, College of Fine Arts, respectively), are Boston University alumni. In 2008, Taylor received a Distinguished Alumni Award from the College of Communication for her contributions to the communications industry.
Founded in 1839, Boston University is an internationally recognized institution of higher education and research. With more than 30,000 students, it is the fourth largest independent university in the United States. BU consists of 17 colleges and schools along with a number of multi-disciplinary centers and institutes which are central to the school's research and teaching mission.
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