(New York, November 14, 2006)--Wellington Z. Chen has been elected to the Board of Trustees of The Metropolitan Museum of Art representing the borough of Queens, it was announced today by James R. Houghton, the Museum's Chairman. The election took place at the November 14 meeting of the Board.
Since 2005, Mr. Chen has been the executive director of Chinatown Partnership LDC, a community-based organization created to mitigate the effects of 9/11 on the Chinatown and Lower East Side neighborhoods in Manhattan. From 1995 to 2005, he was a principal of the Planning Advocacy Group, providing strategic advice for organizations in Queens, and from 1990 to 1995, he served as a commissioner on the New York City Board of Standards and Appeals.
"We are pleased to welcome Wellington to the board," commented Mr. Houghton in announcing the election. "With his long record of community service and his understanding of cultural tourism and its important place in the continued prosperity of the city, he will bring an important dimension to the Museum board."
A graduate of the School of Architecture and Environmental Studies at City College of New York, Mr. Chen was a staff member of I. M. Pei & Partners (now Pei Cobb Freed & Partners) for five years before joining Urban Living, Inc., where he designed and built mixed-use projects throughout the city. He was subsequently a co-founder of Tri Plus Construction Corporation, which specializes in building affordable housing in New York City.
A trustee of City University of New York, Mr. Chen also serves on the advisory board of the Brooklyn-Queens Conservatory of Music, the Queens Botanical Garden, and numerous business and community development organizations. In 2000, he received the Community Service Award from the Flushing Council on Culture and the Arts, and, in 2004, the Robert Gavin Finance Award from the NAACP North East Branch. In 2003 he was named Business Person of the Year by the Queens Chamber of Commerce.
Mr. Chen, who has resided in Queens for the past 37 years, now lives with his wife and daughter in Little Neck, Queens.
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