(New York, November 10, 2009)—Denis P. Kelleher has been elected to the Board of Trustees of The Metropolitan Museum of Art representing the Borough of Staten Island, it was announced today by James R. Houghton, the Museum's Chairman. The election took place at the November 10 meeting of the Board.
"We are very pleased to welcome Denis to the Board," commented Mr. Houghton in announcing the election. "With a long record of service that reaches well beyond his local community, and with numerous outstanding achievements in his profession, he will bring an important dimension to the Museum's Board."
Since 1980, Mr. Kelleher has been the chief executive officer of Wall Street Access, a financial services organization he founded. The firm is a member of the New York Stock Exchange and SIPC. Its affiliates are Wall Street Advisory Services and Wall Street Advanced Strategies (Fund of Funds). He was also the founder and CEO of Discount Brokerage Corporation; and the founder and president of Ruane Cunniff & Co., Inc., and vice president of its Sequoia Fund. He began his career in 1958 at Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, Inc.
Mr. Kelleher was born in Ireland and came to the United States in 1958. He served in the United States Army and received an Honorable Discharge in 1966. He was grand marshal of the 2005 New York City Saint Patrick's Day Parade, and has received awards for outstanding community service from the Mayor of the City of New York and the Staten Island Borough President, and for humanitarianism from various social service organizations.
Educated at St. John's University, the New York Institute of Finance, and St. Brendan's College (Ireland), Mr. Kelleher received an honorary doctorate in commercial science from St. John's University and an honorary doctor of laws degree from the National University of Ireland, Maynooth.
He was a member of the board of trustees at St. John's University from 1990 to 1999, prior to becoming chairman in 1999—a position in which he served for eight years before attaining emeritus status in 2007. Mr. Kelleher was once again elected to the board in 2008.
He has been a Patron member of The Metropolitan Museum of Art since 1997. In addition, he has served on the boards of the Snug Harbor Cultural Center, St. Augustine School of the Arts, and the American Irish Historical Society, and was on the advisory board of Lenox Hill Hospital. He also founded the civic group Staten Island New York (SINY) and St. Brendan's American Foundation, an internship program for the school's former students.
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