Mr. Studzinski is Vice Chairman, Investor Relations and Business Development, and a senior managing director of Blackstone, where he holds special responsibility for a number of sovereign and international institutional relationships, as well as ultra-high-net-worth families outside the United States.
“We are delighted to welcome John Studzinski to the Getty Trust Board of Trustees,” said Mark S. Siegel, chair, on behalf of the entire Getty Board. “He brings a remarkable record of international philanthropy and achievement in the arts, cultural heritage, and human rights. In addition, he brings financial expertise that will benefit the Getty’s programs around the world.”
A graduate of Bowdoin College, Mr. Studzinski also has an MBA from the University of Chicago. He joined Morgan Stanley in New York in 1980 and since then has spent much of his career in London, where he served as Head of European Investment Banking and Deputy Chairman of Morgan Stanley International before moving to HSBC in 2003 as a member of the Group Management Board and Co-Head of the Investment Banking Division. In 2007, he was voted Banker of the Year by The Bank of England.
In November 2014, Mr. Studzinski received the Prince of Wales Medal for Arts Philanthropy, which complements the Prince of Wales Ambassador Award that in 2000 recognized his philanthropic work with the homeless. Since 2001 he has been Founder and Chairman of the Genesis Foundation, a UK-based charitable foundation he established to nurture the careers of outstanding young artists in theater, music and the visual arts, developing their talents and giving them access to influential mentors and valuable networks.
Mr. Studzinski is also chairman of Create London, which connects artists with communities, and is a driving force of the Tate Foundation, which raises and invests money for the Board of Trustees of the Tate Gallery.
He is Vice Chair of Human Rights Watch and President of the American Friends of The Royal Foundation of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry and serves on the boards of several organizations, including in the US, Bowdoin College and the Foundation for Art and Preservation in Embassies; in the UK, The Passage Day Centre, American Patrons of Tate, The Royal Parks Foundation and The Royal College of Art. In addition, he is Chairman of The Benjamin Franklin House Museum in London and a member of The Atlantic Council, The Council on Foreign Relations, and The Peterson Institute.
Mr. Studzinski holds the Papal honors of Knight of the Order of St. Gregory and Knight Commander of Saint Sylvester and in 2004 was awarded the Beacon Prize for Philanthropy. In 2008, the Queen’s New Year’s Honours List named him Commander of the British Empire (CBE) for services to the Arts and Charity. Mr. Studzinski has dual citizenship in the US and the UK, and maintains homes in New York City and London.
His term begins July 1, 2015. He joins a Getty Board of Trustees that includes leaders in art, education, and business who volunteer their time and expertise on behalf of the Getty. Members include Chair Mark S. Siegel, Vice-Chair Neil L. Rudenstine, Frances Daly Fergusson, Maria Hummer-Tuttle, Joanne C. Kozberg, Paul LeClerc, David Lee, Michael Lynton, Thelma Meléndez de Santa Ana, Stewart A. Resnick, James F. Rothenberg, William E.B. Siart, Ronald P. Spogli, Peter J. Taylor, Jay S. Wintrob, and James Cuno, president and CEO of the J. Paul Getty Trust.